Put 1,037 dollars in! Yeah, I did! The 37 dollars was bits and peices I got from some money I got out of the bank to pay for some things that the kids were doing. There was 37 dollars left over, so I promptly put it into the Cash Stash. For those of you new to this blog, the cash stash is the investment stash that I have started. I have never done this before in my life. I just finally decided to do this. I have no idea how to do it. I am learning as I go. The more I learn about this, the better it is getting. The more I do it, the easier it is getting.
Anyway, the 1000 dollars is from savings. That money is part of the money that we got back from taxes. We put it into savings to keep to pay bills. Yeah, we have plenty like everyone else, but, we have decided to start putting some (actually, quite a bit) aside for this goal that we have. And now, when I say we, I mean my husband, too.
We have decided to of course pay the bills on time, but to not try to pay off everything first before we start investing. We want to build the investments while we are paying off the bills. Because if we wait to pay off everything, we will never invest. Because we have been saying all of our lives that we will pay off everything, and always, always, when we pay something off, we end up buying something else. Always...
Therefore, we are going to do it the way the rich do it. We are starting slow. But, that is also the way the rich do it. Everyone started somewhere. With one dollar. And, also for anyone that is new, they should know that this is not about the money. Even though as of this blog so far, it surely does sound like it. This is about the journey. To see how to improve and enjoy life along the way. How to succeed in all things as you go. For if you succeed in one thing, that leads to another.
So, as I have said before, I am trying this out everyday, and working on one thing and then another. My last blog was about boring housework, and My God, is it boring. So, as I said, I got that together over about 2 months, so that I could get it over with quickly every day and be done with it.
After my home, I went on to my vehicle. I spent about 3 days, literally, on it. Every nook and cranny. That sounds compulsive, and it was. I was determined to get it to the point that I could get in and out of it and basically just pick up whatever I had taken with me. I wanted it to look new, and I wanted to feel like I was successful in it. I wanted to be grateful for it as well. My kids are still allowed to be kids in it. They can eat in it and drink...whatever. And I don't make a scene at all about it. But, I just take the time each time throw the stuff out that was put in it. If I forget, I don't stress about it. It is just a habit now. It helps me be successful. One successful act leads to another.
Those are small examples. They seem compulsive, but honestly they are not. Like I said before, the housework takes about 30 minutes a day, and the car, about 30 seconds. But, it is the little things that help me move on to this goal.
Which brings me to the title of the blog. 3 miles. My next goal... my body. If you are someone who is in great shape who is reading this... I envy you. That is the truth. I am not overweight. I am 40 and I weigh about 150. So, that is not overweight at all. I would love to weigh 135 and be a size 8. I am a size 12 now. I can wear a size 10, but who is kidding who here? I don't want to think about my weight. I want to work on my body and just have the best body that I can have. I don't want it to be a weight issue. I don't think I even want it to be a size issue.
I want to run. I want to be in good shape. I want to have energy. What is amazing about my main goal of a million dollars is that it has made me begin to have so many other goals. I have always been very thin. The 150 is BIG for me. It has never even occured to me to work out, but now, I absolutely crave it. I mean, I am craving it.
So, the 3 miles title is to indicate that I am now walking 3 miles everyday. To those of you that work out regularly that is child's play. For me, this is a big deal. A really big deal. A success to the extreme. Again, I am proving to myself what I can do. Of course, I can walk 3 miles, but that is not the issue. WILL I walk three miles. Will I get up and do it? Will I do it every day? Will i set aside the time?
So far I have! And I am excited!
8 comments:
So that is where you had gone missing.. running away from this blog:) Well done!
Thanks for stopping by my blog recently.
I've read through all of your posts and I have to seriously say that of all the blogs I've read, yours is one of the most bizarre. I don't really mean that negatively, but I am confused...
You are building a "secret stash" by stealing/swiping/sneaking money out of your husband's/children's wallets. You talk about this as if you are "making money." But you aren't... you are just moving around your green assets. Have you considered ways to actually create wealth instead of moving it around?
I have not read any of the books you've talked about. I do agree with you that money is not the source of happiness. What we do with our money can be though.
As a previous commentor pointed out, I would encourage you to find ways to help people now. Being able to help in the little things may turn out to be more rewarding to you than claiming you stashed away one-million dollars, then doing something big with it. KWIM?
By the way, you haven't mentioned the smoking habit in a few posts... how is that going?
I can see where you are confused, Jennifer. It does sound that I am "stealing", but that is surely not the case. Anything that goes from my kiddos wallets always goes back within 24 hours. That is always taken out for a day and then put back.
As far as my husband's wallet, when I say that I "swipe" it, that is a way of saying that I am taking that money and putting it up for both of us. This is something that is new for both of us. If we have the money "on" us, then we will spend it needlessly, on take out, for example. If it is in the bank, we won't.
The goal is not to move around green assets, but to now start investing the green assets. That is the point of the Cash Stash. That is by far the silliest name I have come up with, and I am seriously aware of that.
We had to start somewhere. And if we had to take 20 dollars out of his wallet and put it in the bank and 20 dollars out of savings and put it in a separate account, then that is where we start. It is like taking money out of a paycheck and putting it in 401k. We just haven't figured it out yet.
I have taken in all you said and have thought it about it all, too ,along the way. Those are all the angles that I have to consider. That is part of it all. That is why this is such a big deal.
The smoking, ugh, not so well. Any tips there? I need to write more about that on my blog to get some help on it, huh?
Thanks so much for the input. That is exactly why I am writing this.
I am so pleased you took my comments with the positive spirit intended. I was worried you'd think I was trying to be down on you.
Might I suggest you find other words to describe growing your savings? Maybe you could just say that you rescued another $20 cash from your husband's wallet. That is really what you are doing. You are rescuing the money from being used in vending machines and coffee shops.
ANd to your "Cash Stash" (which doesn't sound too silly to me... are you at least depositing it into an interest bearing savings account? Interest is free money (well, until you take it out and have to pay taxes on it anyway). That would be one way to start "making" money.
Smoking Tip - My father-in-law went to his mother's funeral 10 years ago this summer. He had his last cigarette before he walked in to mourn her death from lung cancer. Maybe post pictures of smoke & tar filled lungs around your house?
Hi KC! Thank you for stopping by my blog and the kind words you shared. Please don't be a stranger.
I like the ideas you write about here and I'll be back! :)
Good that you're back.
Hey, thanks for stopping by! I say, if the thought of a big black snake helps you run, so be it. I usually think of something a bit more aggressive and larger, like... well, gosh, this could go in a ton of directions.
I'm a big cupcake and there's that guy Jerry from the Subway commericals behind me.
Or... ok, well, that's the only thing I came up with. Anyway, keep it up! And, you should put a subscription button on your site (let me know if you need help).
J
oops, I meant Jared. Don't mind me, it's early.
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