What I got

So I am sure everyone and their mom is sick of the trite “these are my goals for the year” but I finally figured out what I’m gonna do this year. Feel free to read on or feel free to click away, it’s up to you!

*Pay off one credit card by 2/15/11.  I will be so happy when that one will be done with. I also need to work on my other high balance credit card that’s currently enjoying a 0% interest rate until July. I get offers all the time for 0% balance transfers so whenever this one runs its course, I’ll just transfer it again. Ideally, I wanted to pay the high balance one off by 11/30/11 but I’m going to……..

*Quit my job. Wow, writing that out as a goal is a bit scary. I’ve thought long and hard about this and it’s what I have to do in attempt to be a happier me. I would love to put in my two weeks notice tomorrow but I need to take care of some doctors appointments first, save up some extra cash, etc. Target date is going to be late March/ early April. This will give me some time to take a road trip (with or without Lincoln–we will see!), figure things out and end my lease.

*Check out cities that could potentially be my new home. This August will be my fifth year in Charlotte and I am just not diggin it. Ideally, it seemed like a nice place to live since it’s a growing city but it’s too conservative, preppy, vanilla and southern for me. I’ve made friends but friends alone can’t keep me in one spot and alot of people look like cookie cutter versions of J Crew catalogues. If you dig that, fine, but I need some diversity and not a city full of the same people. Also, the dating here has kinda sucked. I would like to meet a normal man but all of the guys here seem to be on one each of the spectrum: young John Edwards-esque prepsters who were pastels (um, no), Croakies who can only hold conversations about golfing, the NRA or their MBA or country boys who are looking for a redneck princess. Just not what I’m looking for in a dude.

For those of you who don’t know what Croakies are:

*Pay a little more on my car payment each month so I can pay it off quicker

*Cut down on Starbucks and eating out. This pains me but I spend way too much money on my coffee each week when I have a perfectly good coffee maker at home to make coffee with. Starbucks used to be an indulgence for me but now it seems to be an every day thing, even if I do just get their drip coffee. I eat about two or three times a week and try to use a coupon every time I do so I will either cut down on that or nix the hooch when I do go out.

*No new clothes until March. I have a lot of clothes, even after donating a bunch to the Salvation Army last week. So to cut down on the crap in my closet that I may wear a few times, no new clothes until March. This means no Ross, Marshalls, JCP, etc. I will still buy cheap threads at the thrift store but want to see if I can go two months without buying new digs.

*Plan a stay-cation instead of jetsetting all around the country. A majority of my disposable money goes to traveling. I love to see my friends and visit different places but if I cut down on this each year, I could save thousands of money. I only have one trip planned this year for my best friends 30th birthday in Phoenix and that’s it. I need to keep it to a minimum for once.

*Sell what I don’t need. I used to be the ebay queen and miss the extra cash it brought me! It started in college when my boyfriend broke up with me so being the vindictive, bitter girl I once was, I listed all of his crap he wouldn’t pick up from my place on ebay with low starting prices (like cents not dollars low). To be even extra evil, I sent him a link of all of his stuff online. My motto-break my heart, I sell your stuff.

*Try out new ethnic recipes. I seem to stick to Mexican, Italian and Chinese when cooking at home so I want to step out of my comfort zone and starting making dishes I’ve never attempted before.

*Be more consistent with taking my vitamins. I have a bottle of vitamins at both work and home but rarely seem to take them. I am going to be aware of taking them and try to take one every day after lunch.

*Cut down on my meat intake. If you’ve noticed a theme in the past week, it’s been a lot less meat than I normally eat. I don’t think I will every go full on vegetarian but I can definitely cut down on my chicken, pork and red meat consumption.

*Use skim milk or almond milk in my coffee instead of half and half.

So, more goals to come I am sure but that’s all I got for right now. I started off this morning anything but perky. That Craigslist Killer movie freaked me out! Plus being the true crime buff I am, I stayed up until midnight watching the behind the mind of the craigslist killer segment with the cops who caught him and an interview with one of the chicks he assaulted. Pair that up with three cups of coffee earlier in the day and sleep was not coming easy to me. I had leftover coffee from yesterday so I wouldn’t have to worry about making coffee this morning and made an older but goodie-iced coffee!

If you haven’t heard, Starbucks is offering $2 Artisan breakfast sandwiches with any drink purchase this week!

I got the turkey bacon, egg white and cheese sandwich.

Mmmmm, hello gooey cheese, I am going to eat you. $3.50 for coffee and a savory sandwich, not too shabby.

Dinner wise, I was planning on leftovers but two enchiladas weren’t going to hold me over so I made a salad out of the veggies in my fridge: red and orange peppers, celery, broccoli and green onions. I threw the veggies in my magic bullet and poured in a little dressing along with them to soften them up.

I did that while heating up my enchiladas. They were looking a bit measly so I poured some extra El Pato sauce on them and sprinkled with more cheese. A vegan, I shall never be.

A perfect, random meal. Love.

So yeah, that’s all I got. Hope everyone is having a lovely Tuesday!!