Travelling on the frugal path to Freedom

We fell off track a little, but we have a plan.

We do have 2 debts to pay off. That said we do have savings and have maintained savings for the last 2 years. We do dip in on occasion but it's great.

We did lots of renovations, more than we thought we'd have to do some just weren't optional... windows, roof repairs(ughhh).

So we'll be tackling those really hard, all while continueing to build savings I know, DR would say debt first. But we have to find a happy medium between dh and my difference of opinion.

I have a check in my pocket right now, that is going straight to savings I'm working toward 1 year living expense in that account. Very exciting to see it grow, even with the set backs. I will have 2 more checks that will go straight to debt repayment by tomorrow. Plus dh payday, so more to savings and debt.

That said, we are complete in the black for every thing else. Debt #1 should be paid off in February. The next one by October/December, depending on our summer income. And our savings will have grown very very nicely. We'll be just shy of a year of bare bones expenses, no extras. We'll continue to build it, as I'm planning to go to school in a few years.

It's taken some time to really decide. I was looking at my income for my life time. The most I've ever earned was 20k. While we have life insurance, if dh died, if he were injured and can't work, we're sunk. So once my youngest is ready for jr high(4 years), I'm heading to work.

I'm going into trades. I'm looking at electrician. There are grants for woman returning to work force, and schooling. So my costs would be minimal. I want to take a course first, and it's pretty costly, and there would be no income for those 4 months and what ever time it takes to get a job. There are grants for that, but I'm not sure we'd qualify for full, so I want that tuition saved. It would be a great claim on the incometax return.

So, on top of that, I'm working on getting fit and healthy. I've become some what dumpy. I can't do that in trades. I want to be at the top of my game. I have approx 35-40 pounds to shed.

I've joined weightwatchers on line and LOVE it. The new program is sooo good. Fruit are 0 points, so when hungry, grabbing an apple or orange, is sooo great. I starved on the program before. They have more activities in their list, it's still not as comprehensive as it should be IMO, but it's better. I am able to eat what I'm cooking for the family, it's more of a planning and portion control. They look at me funny, a huge portion of salad or veggies and just a little meat. I weight it. I was SO far off on portion size. In less than a week I have lost 1.6 lbs. That is the best weight loss I've ever done with ww. It's all good.

I also am getting more active. I am walking 3x a week in the AM before the dayhome comes. I started with 1 km. Today I increased to 1.5 km I am working up to 5km. But there is limited time in the morning. I walked 5km to Jan1 in a row in 54 minutes in -20ºC weather, I should be able to do so in no snow mild weather. I might try this weekend.

I'm working at a solid 1-2 lbs per week weight loss. I hope to add some gym time too. I was doing good when I first started this, but our schedule changed and it got messy and I didn't make it.

Now it's not quite as busy, we'll see how it goes.