One Step At A Time

January 2nd 2014. Wow. In  five days I would be employed for 12 months straight. That’s an achievement for me because other than working from home for four years I haven’t worked anywhere for longer than ten months. I am celebrating with a trip to Las Vegas. I know, not very frugal but I forego’ed (forewent?) going to a Rihanna concert in Denver for my birthday last year and I feel like I need a break for a little bit away from work.

I work at a call center and I know it’s not as high-pressure as being a surgeon or a CEO but the commission is performance based. I work really hard, I’m quite good at it but this is not my end game. I am hoping to be promoted this year. Yep. 2014 is the year I will make an advancement in my “career”.

Quick updates:

• Today I opened a Traditional IRA account at Vanguard. I started with the minimum $1,000 and will make monthly contributions to max it out. Until it reaches $3,000 though, I would have to settle with the Target Retirement Fund. But it will do for now. I feel like I’m starting the year right.
• I recently dabbled into jewelry making and I have sold two sets so far and earned $40. I plan to separate that “income” from my paycheck and use that to buy supplies when I need them. The keyword is NEED. So… for now I plan to not buy anything bead-wise for a month. I will work with what I already have. Wish me luck!
• I’m really going to work on de-cluttering my life. I get three days off a week so maybe dedicate a couple of hours to sorting through clothes, crap and junk. Lots of crap and junk. I might just keep my appointment on Monday to have a professional organizer drop by and take a look around. It’s free and they don’t judge. We haven’t had anyone inside our place other than our next door neighbor (one time), the landlord when he did a walkthrough (one time) and the plumber (twice). Our place is a mess and it’s really frustrating me but I am going to work at it instead of just complaining and whining. (I’m really good at both though.)
• I finally bought YNAB! For $15! Hurry and get it! Still learning but I love the idea of living a month ahead or using your current income to pay for the month ahead. something like that.
• I’ve been meaning to start a smartypig account just so I could do the cool savings goals, etc but they are taking forever to approve my application. I got tired of waiting so I just added five new “accounts” in my Ally online savings and named them and will set up monthly transfers to build them up. This way I can see them all in one place.

That’s it for now. I have to remind myself that I am looking for progress, not perfection. I get easily disappointed and overwhelmed when I want EVERYTHING done at once. Take a breath. One step at a time. I can do this.