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[midlifecrisisinplay-blog]

Budgeting

This weekend I also finished reading the YNAB book (You Need A Budget) which really inspired me to give budgeting a go again. I thought about brushing off my old course materials for a Dave Ramsey CORE program that my employer had offered a few years back. I may still review it, but I really like the simplicity of the YNAB system, and I just find it more intuitive and less like a “program.” The book was more of a motivational source more than anything, but I do like the YNAB system for its straight-forward approach.

The YNAB system consists of four rules:

1. Give every dollar a job 2. Embrace your true expenses 3. Roll with the punches 4. Age your money

I recommend reading more about YNAB for details on the steps. For now, I am on steps one and two, trying to take stock of my monthly income and the true expenses, the things I must pay for, and working on a plan for battling my debt.

The first step is that my lowest-interest credit card is offering a 0% interest special until the end of 2019, so I rolled the debt on my high-interest card to this card, and I now have some breathing room. The important thing is to get cracking on paying off this debt and making sure I don’t grow it any larger.

I spent the last hour going through my previous credit card and bank statements back to January 2018, and I was very surprised at what I found. I was searching for those shock expenses that I should know about but always cause me a bit of panic when I open the mailbox. These include annual vehicle property taxes, quarterly HOA dues, quarterly water bill, and gifts. These really should not come as a surprise, but since I didn’t have them classified properly in a monthly budget, these expenses always caught me off guard and gave me stress.

The second level of expenses that caught me eye were the ones I should know are coming, but I always fail to think about. These include: hair cuts for this family of four, medical check-ups, sports clothing and shoes, quarterly fees for my recreational center tennis courts, Turbo Tax and state income tax expenses, and other random stuff having to deal with home ownership, public school, vehicle ownership, etc. Take my AAA membership, for example. I have had it for five years, I let it expire this year and did not renew, and then the next day my car needed a tow. FML. I need to keep this guy for the just in case situations, especially since my car is getting older now and has more than 100k miles.

Finally, there was all of the fluff, such as eating out at restaurants, trips to the bar with my hombres, coffee at the local coffee shop, and breakfasts and lunches on the run. There is a lot to cut back on here!!! And cutting back here will certainly help with the weight-loss as well. A $5 breakfast burrito seems small, but it adds up over time.

I just wanted to say that it was a very informative and eye-awakening experience. I really ought to be doing this weekly!

[midlifecrisisinplay-blog]

Where to begin...

So, I am not actually having a true, classic mid-life crisis. I have not purchased a Ducati motorcycle, I have not sought out a woman half my age, and I have not left my family. However, I am dealing with three “issues” that I consider an onset of a crisis, which just happens to be during my late thirties. 

The first is I crossed a personal red-line on my weight. Since returning to the USA 9 years ago, I’ve managed to gain 70 lbs. Seventy~! The source of course is a combination of a sedentary job, commuting by automobile, eating out at restaurants, trying to raise two small children, and going to grad school in the evenings after work. I’ve always been on the big side, broad shoulders, hockey player build, etc. But I have crossed a line I never dreamt of ever crossing. Looking at a picture from my wedding, I don’t even see that man anymore--I’ve got too much “padding”. No more, going to fix that for once and all.

The second is consumer debt. When I lived overseas I was really good about budgeting because I did not have access to credit cards as a foreigner. Upon returning to the USA I got in the habit of using credit cards. Frankly, its just easier, quicker, and I like that I can go back and review what I purchased. I tried going cash-only back in 2013 and it didn’t go well, it was a hassle and I hated always walking around with a pocket full of change. Even gas stations around here do not offer the discount for cash purchases, so I might as well at least get the gas points. While in grad school in the evenings I became more careless due to all of the nights of going to bed at 1 AM and waking up at 6 AM for my full-time job. I started down that road where one uses this month’s pay checks to pay off last month’s spending. It seems OK on paper, until life’s surprises hit. Now I’m in the whole $10,000. Ten Thousand!!!!

Finally, I really do not like my job. It sound great during the interview, but I can feel my brain cells just dying while I fly the desk at work. I did not go back and put all of that effort into graduate school in the evenings just to be bored. I need to make a leap and get back to mentally stimulating work.

FML.

So there it is, I have three problems that I need to get on top of and find resolution. Stay tuned to see how I dig myself out of this mess. I may not be the smartest, fastest, or fittest, but I have tenacity and will see it through this mess I’ve made.