1 post tagged “change”
I don't do Spring cleaning like I don't do New Years resolutions. If one wants to clean behind the fridge or quit smoking, do it on October 4! Why not!
Due to a lack of coordinated effort toward heavy cleaning and a general disinclination to clean at all... I haven't really had a good housecleaning... Um, I'm not sure when actually. I clean up when I move. I clean some areas on occasion and then proceed to mess them up again in short order.
On January 1 I quit drinking alcohol. This could be looked on as a resolution of sorts, but it's really more of a major lifestyle change. So why not try Spring Cleaning this year too? Another major lifestyle change perhaps. I've made a list and plan to start as soon as I finish writing my final essay for my undergraduate career at the UW on Saturday. I plan to finish the Spring cleaning list as well as a weeklong detox sometime before I go to the hot springs on the 27th. I am generally a lazy and weak-willed person, but when I decide to do something I DO IT. We'll see if I come back moaning and making excuses at the end of April.
I have been thinking quite hard about my lifestyle and my values lately and the ways they don't exactly sync up in many ways. I am taking a hard line with my finances and coming to terms with just how much I have over-spent on nothing. I don't regret any of my travels, although they were not necessarily fiscally wise, but I do regret how I have learned to spend to try to make myself feel better. Very few of the shoes and clothes and cds and nights out have turned out to be worth the price, especially the price I end up paying for carrying a balance on my credit cards.
I am going to make a difficult and humiliating admission. My credit card debt is nearly $30K and I honestly can't think of more than a couple of things I have to show for it. A nice bed... Yeah, that's about it. I was about to launch into my usual rationalization but why bother. There's nothing wrong with me that isn't wrong with many others. We get sucked into the lifestyle that costs just slightly more than what we make. My checking account is currently overdrawn and I am making about twice as much as I ever have before. I always spend just slightly more than I make. So, another major lifestyle change. I'm going to start acting like I only make half as much as I do and get out of debt. It means no lifestyle upgrades or world travel. It means cooking for myself and bringing my lunch. It means skimping on Christmas gifts and wearing the same clothes for another year. It means simplifying.
It's hard to give up bad habits, but somebody's gotta do it.
