Often I feel like what I write in a blog post would be what I would share if I were on a coffee date with a friend-whatever has been on my mind lately. That's exactly what I want to do right now. I don't drink coffee, but I do drink hot tea, so I'm going to sip on some while I catch you up on a few things I've been obsessing over lately. (Because I don't just think about things, I obsess.)
Running
I'm so so thrilled to be a runner again. On the blog over the years, (5 by the way! I completely forgot about my blogiversary.) I've recapped various races and fitness goals. In fact, in my office I have all of my race bibs displayed, and I think there are at least 30. So, I guess I've always been a runner. But it's been a very long time since I've felt like one!
It all started with finding my 30 Before 30 list. I wrote it when I was like 24, and now that I'm 29 I realize how ridiculous my aspirations were! So, I rewrote it. Some of the things on the list remained the same, one of them being running a half marathon. After almost spending over $200 on a Disney race, I found a half marathon in my home town for $40 and decided to sign up. It's in the beginning of February, which gives me plenty of time to prepare.
I also signed up my reluctant sister and mom. We found a half marathon training schedule and have stuck with it for 4 weeks. I'm super proud. The mileage has been low so far, so we've been working on endurance and speed. It's SO exciting to see progress from run to run.
Budgeting
Blake and I have always been very inconsistent with our monthly budget. Over the years, we've been really strict, and other times very nonchalant. One of those nonchalant times was in August. After adding up how much we spent on eating out during that statement period, I was floored! It was absurd. Granted, some of that was because I was recovering from surgery, and Blake got take out pretty much every night...but still. Not acceptable in my opinion.
We had a family budget meeting, which is something that I highly recommend. It was so awesome to get on the same page and take ownership. I really feel like that meeting made us a team in this department. The two of us researched our monthly bills and made a pretty sweet spreadsheet. I'm very pleased with how September and October have gone so far.
We also took stock of some unnecessary bills. I'm pleased to say we didn't have too many of those, but we did cancel Netflix and our Disney passes officially. (We will be subscribing to Disney+ when it comes out in November though.) I've also been going crazy looking for things to sell for some extra cash. I feel like one day I will be done decluttering, but for now there is always something to be found that I can get rid of.
Additionally, I went back to using Ibotta after I got lazy with it. In fact in just over a week I had already earned $10. (If you don't already use Ibotta, you can sign up with my link! You earn rebates on things you buy at the grocery store and online purchases.) In fact, I was pumped when I saw you can get cash back on your Instacart delivery! I had no idea that was included now, so I'm happy I got back on the app. (Instacart is something that I will definitely not be removing from our budget!! I actually wrote about how using it saves us money.)
I also learned about Fetch rewards. Fetch rewards is another app. After you grocery shop, all you have to do is upload a picture of your receipt and you earn points. Sometimes the points are for the brands you buy, and sometimes you just get points for uploading at all. Then you can redeem your points for gift cards. (Good gift cards too, like Amazon or restaurants. Or donate it to charity.)
I have a referral code for Fetch too: it's DCHUC . Use that when you sign up and you will get 2000 points automatically.
Journaling
I've started a new morning routine in the last month that has rocked my world! It has changed everything about how my day goes. Maybe I will do an entire post on it, but in short, I wake up at least 30 minutes earlier than I used to. The first thing I do after brushing my teeth and what not, is go to my desk. First, I read my Bible. I am doing a chronological reading schedule, but very slowly. Right now I am reading about 1 chapter a day, depending on how long it is. After I read, I pray. I've even been writing a few things down to pray for because it's hard to think and pray at the same time.
After that I get out my planner and write down my priorities for the day. Nothing grand, it's things like chores I need to do. THEN, I journal.
Journaling is something I have done literally since I could read and write. I get major second hand embarrassment thinking about the things I wrote in my Winnie the Pooh diary. But, it's also interesting to see what 11 year old me wrote on September 11th. Anyway, when I started blogging, I stopped writing. Mainly because I've been writing digitally for the past 5 years. But, there are SO many things I cannot write on a public forum like this.
I randomly bought a hardback journal from Walmart and just started writing one day. It's been so therapeutic and I'm very happy to be back at it. I'm not writing anything groundbreaking. Most of the time it's boring, even to me. But, then, one day I was having a particularly challenging time expressing myself about a certain situation that came up in our life. I was feeling a lot of feelings even I didn't know how to explain. Writing them out helped me so much. I was able to figure out exactly what I was feeling, and then, the act of writing it down helped me work through it without making it a whole thing out loud. It was so helpful.
This morning routine in general has been helpful. It sets me up for a great day every day. I just love that.
Alright guys, since this was a coffee date, now it's your turn to catch me up! What's been on your plate lately? Are you adopting any new habits or routines? Give me all the tips you have if you are a runner, are a good budgeter or have journaled regularly!
This post contains referral links!
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