With everything going on since August I haven't had time to blog or even think about my blog. So much has happened the past few months and I am finally back to tell the tales and keep going on my journey!
I moved my blog here so the dates don't match up correctly for the past 3 posts, but from here on out, I am here to stay!
Since August 2011 my husband and I have moved into a new apartment (which we love) thanks to a nice pay raise that resulted from my promotion at my job to entry management. Things are going really well.
The last update I put out with our debt was one credit card paid off and one card sitting at $7000. I am happy to say that we are now at a balance of $4500! We have strayed a bit from the Dave Ramsey ideas of cash envelopes and starting using our other credit card again, but we have been able to pay it off as we use it and earn some sweet cash rewards with it! But i don't suggest deciding to do this lightly. It would be so easy to slip back into the old habits of "paying it off next week." My husband and I are committed to keeping it at a $0 balance and work hard every week to keep that commitment!
With all of these changes and busy schedules my health and fitness goals have been pushed to the back burner.
First, some back story on my health....
Back in April of 2011 I start my period as normal, and it never ended! For months it didn't end. I chocked it up to stress at first but after a couple of months of this i knew something was wrong! I finally got into my Gynecologist in July and after having multiple tests run including an ultrasound and an endometrial biopsy we discovered i didn't have cancer and no real reason for what was happening. Usually when this happens to a woman, the doctor will put them on Birth control, but in my case i weighed in at 290 lbs and had a blood pressure reading at 165/86. I was shocked by all of this information. This was the most i have ever weighed and my blood pressure was scary high and birth control would only make it worse.
This was when i had my breakthrough. I was literally going to kill myself one day from all of this, and i was so scared that i would never be able to have children! I had to do something! From that day I joined weight watchers and started watching my sodium content to shoot for 1500 mg a day. I also started frequenting the gym on a daily basis. Within a week and a half i lost 7 pounds and brought my BP down to 126/86. A huge improvement!
I came back in for my follow up with my gyno in august and had lost 11 pounds and brought my BP to 126/82 and he put me on birth control. I was thrilled, and after taking it for a month my period went away and i have been normal ever since.
I kept up this lifestyle through october and reached a peak of 21 lbs weighing in at 269, but the holidays derailed my progress. With the moving, job changes, stress and holiday food i was afraid to step on the scale. I didn't touch my WW app for a couple of months and started feeling my close getting tighter again. I finally stepped back on the scale yesterday (Feb. 19) and was pleasantly surprised that i had only gained back 3 pounds at 272.
This was enough motivation to get my back going! Starting tomorrow I am going to do a 7 day cleanse to get me going again and my husband and i are really going to utilize our new gym....
Heres to a happy and healthy 2012! This is my year, i can feel it! My next weight loss goal is 261, so 11 pounds! I know i can do it and i want to make sure that when i go back to my gyno for a check up in the next few months that he doesn't take me off my pills because of my BP.
I'll be back to let you know my progess! Stay tuned!
-Milly
Monday, February 20, 2012
August 19, 2011 One Card down!
I had orginally planned my next blog post to be about weightloss and fitness, but i am just to excited not to share this! We have officially paid off our first credit card! The bank statement now reads $0! We still have quite a ways to go with out other card and our car, but this is a great start and feels wonderful!
Anyways... I'll be back sometime soon for my next post, until then, Have a Great end of the weekend, i know i will!
-Milly
Anyways... I'll be back sometime soon for my next post, until then, Have a Great end of the weekend, i know i will!
-Milly
Being Financially Responcible
August 2011
So for anyone out there who hasn't heard of Dave Ramsey and struggles with debt, budgeting problems or just wants to become financially responsible, you should pick up Dave's Total Money Makeover next time you are at Wal-Mart or the book store. Reading this book has been quite eye opening for me and has made me take control of our finances in a way I never thought possible.
Along with the rest of the world, my husband and I have made some poor choices when it comes to money and credit cards. Mostly before we were married, but once we got married the bills piled up, we lived a money with no pay checks in a brand new city, the car needed tires, a new battery, a new battery mount and new CAR, medical bills and list goes on and on...unfortunately the childish decisions from pre-marriage made these situations astronomically more devastating on our bank account and somehow found ourselves $8000+ in debt. It seemed like every pay check I was making large payments, and I figured we would see a dent made in the card, but we never did and kept living our lives.
Finally one day, I had enough and I googled Dave Ramsey (after getting suggestions from my mom that we read his book) I read his website and his Baby Steps of his Total Money Makeover and realized that we already had Baby Step 1 ($1000 in an emergency fund) After reading the rest I had to have the book. It all spiraled from there and suddenly we have a budget and envelopes we put cash into each week for our spending money instead of our debit card. I say this happened suddenly but in reality it was a hard process to create the budget and implement the cash envelopes into our daily life.
Although living this way has had its hard moments, it is completely worth it. We haven't TOUCHED our credit cards since April and we have been sticking to our budget rather strictly. We have $350 left on one of our cards and we are thrilled that we will have it paid off by August 19!!! Now we just have to tackle our real demon, the visa with $7000 on it. Then we can move onto builiding a fully funded emergency fund, in case something happens to one of our jobs!
So like I said, Dave Ramsey is a miracle worker. Although he has no original advice or ideas (they are just simple logical ways to control your money) he delivers it in a way that makes it stick and gives you the motivation to move forward and be successful on your journey.
I am currently working on goals and rewards when those goals are met, i'll let you know what they are once i decide.
-Milly
So for anyone out there who hasn't heard of Dave Ramsey and struggles with debt, budgeting problems or just wants to become financially responsible, you should pick up Dave's Total Money Makeover next time you are at Wal-Mart or the book store. Reading this book has been quite eye opening for me and has made me take control of our finances in a way I never thought possible.
Along with the rest of the world, my husband and I have made some poor choices when it comes to money and credit cards. Mostly before we were married, but once we got married the bills piled up, we lived a money with no pay checks in a brand new city, the car needed tires, a new battery, a new battery mount and new CAR, medical bills and list goes on and on...unfortunately the childish decisions from pre-marriage made these situations astronomically more devastating on our bank account and somehow found ourselves $8000+ in debt. It seemed like every pay check I was making large payments, and I figured we would see a dent made in the card, but we never did and kept living our lives.
Finally one day, I had enough and I googled Dave Ramsey (after getting suggestions from my mom that we read his book) I read his website and his Baby Steps of his Total Money Makeover and realized that we already had Baby Step 1 ($1000 in an emergency fund) After reading the rest I had to have the book. It all spiraled from there and suddenly we have a budget and envelopes we put cash into each week for our spending money instead of our debit card. I say this happened suddenly but in reality it was a hard process to create the budget and implement the cash envelopes into our daily life.
Although living this way has had its hard moments, it is completely worth it. We haven't TOUCHED our credit cards since April and we have been sticking to our budget rather strictly. We have $350 left on one of our cards and we are thrilled that we will have it paid off by August 19!!! Now we just have to tackle our real demon, the visa with $7000 on it. Then we can move onto builiding a fully funded emergency fund, in case something happens to one of our jobs!
So like I said, Dave Ramsey is a miracle worker. Although he has no original advice or ideas (they are just simple logical ways to control your money) he delivers it in a way that makes it stick and gives you the motivation to move forward and be successful on your journey.
I am currently working on goals and rewards when those goals are met, i'll let you know what they are once i decide.
-Milly
A New Beginning
Well Hello There,
I guess I have jumped on the bandwagon of blogging. I've had the urge to create a blog for a long time now, but I've had nothing to write about. When I was in highschool, back when Livejournal was today's facebook I consitently kept my followers up to date with my happenings but that quickly faded away.
Now, I finally feel that i have something to write about. Although, I'm not sure I am ready to go public yet, well public as far as my friends and people i know personally. This blog, for now, will be my own safe haven. A place to get out my thoughts that no one wants to listen to. To scream, to cry, to celebrate and all in all a place to record my feelings and avoid insanity. Maybe one day I'll share it with my "real friends", but for now this is for me...and anyone who stumbles across it and finds it interesting. Who knows, maybe I'll inspire or help someone along the way....
I guess i should explain what my blog is about...As you can see by the title it is about changing my life. That is pretty vague I have to admit, so here we go.... I finally have the motivation and will power to make a change, to lose weight, get healthy, control my life, become financially stable and get my life on the track I want it to be. Here I will share all of my trials and tribulations about losing weight, sticking to a budget, trying to balance exercise, school, family, friends, work and being a wife without losing my mind in the process.
-Milly
I guess I have jumped on the bandwagon of blogging. I've had the urge to create a blog for a long time now, but I've had nothing to write about. When I was in highschool, back when Livejournal was today's facebook I consitently kept my followers up to date with my happenings but that quickly faded away.
Now, I finally feel that i have something to write about. Although, I'm not sure I am ready to go public yet, well public as far as my friends and people i know personally. This blog, for now, will be my own safe haven. A place to get out my thoughts that no one wants to listen to. To scream, to cry, to celebrate and all in all a place to record my feelings and avoid insanity. Maybe one day I'll share it with my "real friends", but for now this is for me...and anyone who stumbles across it and finds it interesting. Who knows, maybe I'll inspire or help someone along the way....
I guess i should explain what my blog is about...As you can see by the title it is about changing my life. That is pretty vague I have to admit, so here we go.... I finally have the motivation and will power to make a change, to lose weight, get healthy, control my life, become financially stable and get my life on the track I want it to be. Here I will share all of my trials and tribulations about losing weight, sticking to a budget, trying to balance exercise, school, family, friends, work and being a wife without losing my mind in the process.
-Milly
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