Today will be a short post. Its been a few months since I’ve last discussed my New Year’s Eve goals, but I feel that now is a good time to rehash it. The more I focus on them after all, the more likely it is that I will attain them! after all!
Spend next to nothing outside of food & utilities
With the bathroom remodeling going on, I failed this HARD. I’ve spent thousands of dollars that I was not fully expecting back in January. While you could say that this may net out to zero in the long run after I sell my house, in the short-term its taken money away from elsewhere. Moreover, I’ve been so busy in the evenings that I’ve not had enough time to make lunch for work ever day like I did last year, so I’ve eaten out more often. (and it doesn’t help when my Mom gives me coupons to these places either. Restaurant food at half price? That’s a good deal! (not)). That said, my relationship with the girl I was seeing fell through, so at least my dating expenses don’t exist anymore.
Outside of this, I’ve also spent some extra money on home decorations despite my earlier promises. I’m tired of looking at the random junk my parents put in my house when I moved here 2+ years ago and I wanted my own stuff on the mantle, things that I would actually find interesting to look at and would make the place feel like my own. I’ve still kept this down to under $100, so it hasn’t been too bad. We’ll see what happens come summer though. I expect I’ll buy a bunch of plants and break this resolution again.
Learn & practice new handyman skills
I’ve succeeded at this beyond my wildest dreams. Here are a number of things I’ve done lately for the first time, just in the last three months:
- Using a flat bar and hammer for quick demolition work (it really is an art).
- Using a jackhammer to drill holes and shave off uneven chuncks of concrete on the floor.
- Using an 8-guage nail gun for framing.
- Using a drop saw for framing timbers.
- Using a tile saw for cutting up subway tile for the shower.
- Installing, grouting, and cleaning whole tile walls for the shower.
- Installing vinyl click plank flooring.
- Mudding corners and large wall expanses for the bathroom.
Pay off personal loan and student loan
Still making good progress on this, but the big changes will occur later this year when my stocks mature.
Update the blog 3x a month
Still going strong on this! I’m thinking of orienting myself towards shorter posts so that I can write more frequently. I do not spent 20-30 hours on this weekly like the professional bloggers do, so the 1,000-1,5000 word tomes are harder to produce every other day. I can write 500 word posts much more often though, and on more random stuff that occurs in my life, so I think I’ll do that.
Staying fit and going to the gym 2-3x a week
This fell by the wayside as soon as construction started and I began hauling a ton of concrete. That just killed me for a few days and I have hardly gone back to the gym since. If I need to go to the gym 100-150x a year, I will need to be much more rigorous about it in future months to catch up with my previous pace. Fortunately, the bathroom will be done in about a week, so I really only have about 16-24 visits to make up for.
