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Miranda Writes

LOL! So cheesy, but cool!!

Monday, January 04, 2010

Presenting 2010

Christmas was really great. Nevaeh’s was so excited on Christmas morning when she discovered that Santa had eaten her cookies and drank his milk. She was spoiled rotten though. Not only did she get a bunch of toys from Santa, but also my grandma bought her this really nice computer/video hand held gaming thing called Leapstar. She has not put that thing down! She just plays it and plays it. I went out and bought her a carrying case for it because I wanted to make sure it stays nice. I saw some of the other games that they have and there are some cool ones. She obviously loves it and has a blast with it, and it’s educational! Plus whenever I need some peace I just give it to her and she goes off and sits in a corner for as long as I let her just playing and playing! Amazing grandma! You are amazing!
Nevaeh also got a huge bag of presents from Matt’s mom. She has so much crap I had to go through her old toys and throw a bunch of stuff away!
We really did have an amazing Christmas this year. I don’t think I could have made it this great alone though. I have to give props to Matt just for being there and helping make it great for Nevaeh.
So I’ve been keeping track of my weight and I keep fluctuating around the same weight. I want to break under this weight bracket (lbs. by the 10’s) by Jan. 1st giving myself a good start to incorporate physical activity into my lifestyle.
I also started my 2010 budget. Looking back and 2009 is a big eye opener. I can see how much money came in but also how many totals in the whole year I spent on certain things. It’s scary but also nice because I can see exactly where I need to try and improve in my budget this upcoming year.
One thing that I’d like to do, first and foremost is keep better track on what I’m spending on my credit cards. A lot of things were not accounted for on my 2009 budget because I charged it to my credit card and then just put it under ‘credit card payment’ and a lot of it was food, gas, clothes etc that should have been accounted for.
In reviewing 2009 and averaging out my income by month and calculating my average monthly necessities I should have almost $250 (this includes paychecks and child support) leftover give or take. Now this is based on 2009 where a lot of my spending happened on credit cards. I’m going to try and get away from that this year. I will still be paying on stuff I charged this year, but my goal is to charge no more…and if I do charge keep close track of it and pay it off right away so I can log it in my budget specifying what is actually it.
I plan to open up a savings account for Nevaeh. I should actually do that right after the New Year…like January 2nd!
Another idea that was brought to my attention that I could do that’s easy and would help me save money is not subtracting cents in my checkbook. Always rounding my purchases up to the nearest dollar and over time that could add up to some major cash that I could then transfer into my saving, or just leave in my checking as a cushion. A cushion that I don’t even have to think about because it’s literally cents a purchase! I thought that was pretty smart!
It’s so nice being at the end of 2009. 2010 seems so fresh and new and full of endless possibilities! I plan on making it great!
Note: Since writing this I’ve made a decision about my finances that I can attribute to some good advise I got from my dad. I am paying off all my credit cards and closing all the account once they’re paid. I have one card closed and 3 more to go!

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