traaki's lucky number seven.

[traaki]

It's my seventh challenge and I'm ready to do this!

 

Whatever this is.  I'm ready for that.

 

---

 

Quest #1: Workout 3x per week (continuation/upgrade from last challenge)

 

My yearly goal is to work out 2 x per week. I'm eleven workouts behind, so if I just add one extra per week, it's still gonna take nearly the rest of the year to catch up...which means it's definitely time to scale this up.  The good news: I'm feeling really motivated to workout more. The bad news: More workouts take more time. So I will keep these workouts short and sweet. I will do them before work in the morning. I will succeed.

 

Quest #2: Lights out at 10 pm (continuation from last challenge)

 

I am still committed to getting to bed earlier, and my partner is in on it. Strategies that will help: Not overscheduling myself, heeding my alarms at 9:20 that I need to get in bed. 

 

Quest #3: Write a poem every other day and post it before 9 pm (continuation/upgrade from last challenge)

 

This quest messed up my bed time quest last time because I like to stay in bed and write. I also feel more pressure to produce really good poems as the project goes on longer, so I spend more time on them. Which is fine--but I'd like to have a deadline.

 

Quest #4: Manage my $$ (new quest!)

 

I used to be A+ 100% amazing at keeping up with YNAB and various other money-related tasks. It's been minimum two months since I've done that. My partner and I have a shared money date (as we call it) and I have a solo money date where I sit down and do a bunch of boring money stuff and usually have a treat as well.  

 

I  will reschedule my solo money time because it's still in the middle of the day on Tuesday...even though I haven't worked for myself in almost a year.  I am committing to at least one session of one hour per week of managing my money, whether it is on my own or with my partner.

 

Overall thoughts

I wish I were doing a nutrition quest but I think the upgraded time commitments on both money management and workouts is going to be a lot to handle. I've pretty well built a habit of eating veggies where possible (okay, I don't order salad when I eat out because it makes me sad) so I'll keep up the basic levels of good eatin' I currently have. 

[Twilight]

Hi! Following

[JessOfAllTrades]

Solid goals - best of luck this challenge!

[traaki]

2 hours ago, JessOfAllTrades said:

Solid goals - best of luck this challenge!

 

On 8/15/2017 at 11:01 AM, Twilight said:

Hi! Following

Yay! Thank you both! 

 

Update so far: 

 

Quest #1: Workout 3x per week (continuation/upgrade from last challenge)

I've worked out once this week and have plans for Friday & Sunday. In general I think I can settle into a Tues/Fri/Sun workout schedule, which is exciting--it's been ad hoc for a while.  

Next week I'm going to New Orleans for about six days so I'm a liiiiittle worried about getting all three in. Might try to get a workout in with my sister.

 

Quest #2: Lights out at 10 pm (continuation from last challenge)

 

 

I have succeeded EVERY NIGHT. I feel like a genius on this one.  The 9:20 pm alarm has really helped, I've been putting less stuff in my to-do list in the evenings, and the poem deadline being earlier has really helped.  I've also been getting more reading done because I'm in bed a bit earlier. 

 

Quest #3: Write a poem every other day and post it before 9 pm (continuation/upgrade from last challenge)

 

I missed last night but it's okay to miss one (never miss two!) here and there. As I said the 9 pm deadline is AWESOME--it gets me to finish this on time and then it's also the perfect time to start getting ready for bed. 

 

Quest #4: Manage my $$ (new quest!)

 

Last night my partner & I did our money date for an hour--and we found we were in great shape, even after two months of not tracking or keeping up with YNAB! It's been a really hard six months financially (we moved and had a huge rent increase, we had to take out a loan for $6k for emergency cat surgery AND we were saving up for a long trip to the UK).  What we discovered last night is we did all those things! We paid off the loan before the interest-free period ended, we saved enough for our trip (even though it cost more than we expected) and now we are focused on paying down debt and saving for a car (if we decide we need to get a car).  We also realized we don't need to buy an air conditioner, though we saved up for it--so now we can switch to fancying up our patio. Eeeeee! Super exciting.

[Lilmissbri]

5 minutes ago, traaki said:

Last night my partner & I did our money date for an hour--and we found we were in great shape, even after two months of not tracking or keeping up with YNAB! It's been a really hard six months financially (we moved and had a huge rent increase, we had to take out a loan for $6k for emergency cat surgery AND we were saving up for a long trip to the UK).  What we discovered last night is we did all those things! We paid off the loan before the interest-free period ended, we saved enough for our trip (even though it cost more than we expected) and now we are focused on paying down debt and saving for a car (if we decide we need to get a car).  We also realized we don't need to buy an air conditioner, though we saved up for it--so now we can switch to fancying up our patio. Eeeeee! Super exciting.

Wow!! That's awesome!

 

Well done!

 

Please tell me more about YNAB.  

[traaki]

4 hours ago, Lilmissbri said:

Wow!! That's awesome!

 

Well done!

 

Please tell me more about YNAB.  

Happily! I'm a total YNAB evangelist. 

 

YNAB stands for You Need A Budget. It's a money budgeting app, but most importantly, it's the only money budgeting system that has EVER WORKED FOR ME. I used to be a person who just avoided thinking about money as much as possible.  Now I know exactly how much money I spend on everything in my life ANNNNNND I feel great about that.  

 

One of the things about YNAB is that I love the Rules: https://www.youneedabudget.com/method/

 

Mint didn't work for me because I only found out after the fact that I had overspent. YNAB makes me feel like I'm in control of my money, not the other way around.  If you want to try it out, using this link will give us both a free month. No pressure from me, though.

 

Do you use any kind of budgeting system? 

[Lilmissbri]

Oh wow! Thank you for the passion, links, and thoughts. I will definitely check it out with my husband and I'll let ya know if we take part in that free month.  

 

We don't use any budgeting system right now, but I would like to because there are goals I want to accomplish (upgrading my home studio for voice acting, getting a gaming/streaming PC, etc) as well as paying bills. Plus, I'd like to measure out how I'm doing in my VA business. Cause as of right now any food (fast or restaurant) or entertainment expense is done with a bit of guilt because I feel like I should be saving it for all this other stuff. I'd love a system that helps me see exactly how (probably) little I am spending on "fun things".

[Lilmissbri]

47 minutes ago, traaki said:

One of the things about YNAB is that I love the Rules: https://www.youneedabudget.com/method/

 

 

Okay, I went to the site and, obviously, the rules are great. Common sense and wonderful. But they also seem like something you can do on your own. So what is benefit of paying month to month for this app? What do you like about the app/membership? I'm curious what it has to offer. 

[traaki]

2 hours ago, Lilmissbri said:

 

Okay, I went to the site and, obviously, the rules are great. Common sense and wonderful. But they also seem like something you can do on your own. So what is benefit of paying month to month for this app? What do you like about the app/membership? I'm curious what it has to offer. 

Definitely! In many ways you can implement a YNAB like system on your own.  For me I like the easy imports from my bank accounts and the overall flow of the money.  It's easy for me to reconcile my accounts, then I hop over to the budget and start putting money where I want to focus--I'm sure you could do it in a spreadsheet but I really don't want to build or maintain something of that complexity. 

 

The design of YNAB also really reinforces the rules for me--big glaring red numbers when I'm spending over budget, the ability to shift budgeted funds from one category to another.  I used to be a person who would move money I was saving for a purpose into a separate account....and then when I needed it I'd move some back...and it just felt like endless nonsense. Now it's all in one big pot and I know exactly how much I can spend on something. I can use the app on my phone to check current budget totals and boom, I feel a-ok about my spending. (Or I don't spend. Depending on what the numbers are. )

 

Totally familiar with that "Gosh should I really be spending this money on X?" feeling. I started using YNAB when I was running my own business because I just felt totally paralyzed by the baaaarely sufficient income and overwhelm. I basically keep a business budget, a personal budget, and a household budget--but you can do it however you like. 

Really, no pressure from me, I'm just a fan.

 

Edited to add: Some people find it's way too much work to keep up with.  It's not perfect for everyone. 

[Lilmissbri]

14 minutes ago, traaki said:

Really, no pressure from me, I'm just a fan.

No worries! I'm not one to feel pressure.  I feel the passion. 

 

This is all super interesting and I'll definitely be talking about it with my husband and see what he thinks.

Thanks for bringing it up!

[Lilmissbri]

YNAB Update:

 

So I talked to my husband about it and learned that he had already bought it when it was the classic version! Haha!! Crazy. He hadn't been using it, but it's so up my alley, I will be using it. Thank you for bringing it up. Now I will be a money budgeting fool!

 

Haha!

 

BTW, I'm following so keep up the amazing goals as well as budgeting!!

[traaki]

On 8/18/2017 at 9:44 AM, Lilmissbri said:

YNAB Update:

 

So I talked to my husband about it and learned that he had already bought it when it was the classic version! Haha!! Crazy. He hadn't been using it, but it's so up my alley, I will be using it. Thank you for bringing it up. Now I will be a money budgeting fool!

 

Haha!

 

BTW, I'm following so keep up the amazing goals as well as budgeting!!

Haha! That is hilarious. If you have questions, I'd be happy to take a stab at it. There's also a big community of users on reddit /ynab who are very helpful. 

[traaki]

Today was measurements day--my least favorite holiday.  I wrote at length about it on my battlelog but the one relevant thing to my challenge is this: next challenge I would like to instate daily-ish walks again. So I really need to succeed at one of these quests so I can take it off the list!

[traaki]

Week 1 summary!

 

Quest #1: Workout 3x per week = 3/3

 

Quest #2: Lights out at 10 pm = 5/5 

 

Quest #3: Write a poem every other day and post it before 9 pm = 5/7

 

I feel fine about missing days occasionally as long as I'm still over 50% and I don't miss two in a row.

 

Quest #4: Manage my $$ = 2/1

 

That's right--I managed my money not once last week, but twice! Like a giant boss! 

 

This coming week:

I'm going to be traveling Weds-Mon... to New Orleans, where I will consume my body weight in butter and alcohol every single day. Time to modify my goals a bit, I think:  

 

Quest 1: Work out 3 times a week. 

I'll be working out tomorrow before my vacation. The hotel has a gym so if I do at least ten minutes of bodyweight exercises at least twice, I will hit my goal. I also just texted my traveling buddy to see if she will join me for my workouts. THAT SAID I'm going to be walking SO MUCH. If I crack 10,000 steps in a day, that counts as exercise for the day. 

 

Quest 2: Lights out by 10 pm.

HA. Nope. But I will still track my bedtime just to keep myself aware of how I'm doing while I'm gone. 

Quest 3: Write a poem every day and post by 9 pm. 

I'm actually pretty good at this on vacation though the deadline might slip. 

 

Quest 4: Manage your $$ once a week. 

Getting this done before I go. 

[Twilight]

Right on!! Great work!

[traaki]

Post vacation update: 

Quest 1: Work out 3 times a week OR walk 10,000 steps in a day. 

I didn't work out at all, but I hit 10,000 steps 4 of the 5 days (the other day I hit 9880).  So, that's fine and means I passed!  

 

Honestly, the thing I feel best about for this one is just that I was able to adjust my goals for traveling and still succeed. 

 

Quest 2: Lights out by 10 pm.  Track bedtimes.

I didn't write down my bedtimes, but they ranged from 11 pm - 3 am.  The good news is one of my travel buddies is extremely pro-nap so we also took naps in the early evening. I don't feel totally wrecked and am excited to get back to my regularly scheduled bedtime (because that's how boring I am). 

 

Quest 3: Write a poem every day and post by 9 pm. 

Yes! I got all five poems done! I'm at 96 of 100! Now to figure out what comes next....

 

Quest 4: Manage your $$ once a week. 

Done before I left. 

 

Boom. 

 

[traaki]

Mid-week-3 check-in: 

 

Quest #1: Workout 3x per week = 1/3

I've worked out once this week--this morning. I guess the walking days don't necessarily hold the habit as well as I wanted. It's also just tough to come back from time away and my schedule has felt really full. 

 

I normally don't work out two days in a row but I'm going to do another one tomorrow.  This weekend I'm traveling again sooooo...might not make it to three. But that's kind of sad so I'm going to take my gear and try to do one body weight workout on Sunday. 

 

Quest #2: Lights out at 10 pm = 2/3

It's been hard to get back into this, but I only missed Monday.  Last night I was a touch late but not too bad. Just need to stay focused on it. I was hoping I could drop this on my next challenge, but I'm a night owl and it's going to take a while to retrain that, I guess. 

 

Quest #3: Write a poem every other day and post it before 9 pm

A+ on this so far. 

 

Quest #4: Manage my $$  

Did this last night.

[traaki]

Quest #1: Workout 3x per week = 2/3

 

Quest #2: Lights out at 10 pm = 5/5 

 

Quest #3: Write a poem every other day and post it before 9 pm 15 minutes per day on Kickstarter

The point of this was to finish my 100 poem challenge, which I did on Friday! 

 

Now I am shifting my focus to 15 minutes per day on preparing the Kickstarter for the poems I wrote. 

 

Quest #4: Manage my $$  = 1/1

 

This coming week should be a lot easier than the last couple. I'm home all week, no travel, and expect to kick ass at the last part of this challenge.  My partner is gone which makes some things harder but means I have a tiny bit more time to myself so I'm hoping to squeeze in two sessions of YNAB this week!

[traaki]

 

Quest #1: Workout 3x per week

 

What did you do to help your success?

 

I adjusted the goal when I needed to based on external factors (travel). I am letting myself take it all a little bit lighter until I get used to the 3x week nature of the workouts. I set a schedule for them (tues/fri/sun) which is helping me remember that it's a lot harder to fit in three if you don't get started early in the week.

 

What would you do differently next challenge?

 

I do wish I'd done at least one work out while travelling.

 

Goal One Grade:  92% (11/12)

 

Continue this goal next challenge? Yes

 

Quest #2: Lights out at 10 pm

 

What did you do to help your success?

 

I moved some activities I normally do *right* before bed a bit earlier in the day. I set an alarm for 9:20 so I can start getting ready for bed. I told my partner about it and got his help.

 

What would you do differently next challenge?

 

I think I just need to keep practicing this one. It's a big shift for me.

 

Goal Two Grade: 85% (17/20)

 

Continue this goal next challenge? Yes

 

Quest #3: Write a poem every other day and post it before 9 pm

 

What did you do to help your success?

 

I wrote while my partner cooked dinner so that I wouldn't have to worry about it right around the 9 pm time.

 

What would you do differently next challenge?

 

I feel like this really went well. I would like to try variations where I write first thing in the morning, for example, but I don't think that was a mistake this time around.

 

Goal Three Grade: 100%

 

Continue this goal next challenge? Other: 

 

Quest #4: Manage my $$

 

What did you do to help your success?

 

My partner and I were really committed and made sure time was scheduled each week. I also had good momentum up and often did some for myself as well.

 

What would you do differently next challenge?

 

I'm not sure there's anything to do differently. I slayed!

 

Goal Four Grade: 150% (6/4)

 

Continue this goal next challenge?   Other: 

 

Final Overall Challenge Grade

 

averaging all the scores, I got 107%! Yes!! Even if I don't allow for inflation that's still 95% which is a smashing success.

[traaki]

Overall here are my last thoughts concerning this challenge: 

 

I finished my 100 day poetry challenge and am really feeling the lack of structure. I also want to release the poems as a kickstarter and running a structured writing challenge WITH a kickstarter seems like....a lot.  So I'm still sorting out how that will transpire. 

 

I am not *quite* feeling set with my money management--in some ways once I get a few things figured out, I will be able to set it and forget it--auto pay credit cards, auto-save money, and then I'll just need to do weekly times to keep up with the basics and hopefully push farther.  

 

But I feel like I did SO WELL on this challenge that the next one needs to have a bit more stretch to it.  Hmmm.....

 

Thanks all for following along!! This was probably my most successful challenge yet. 

[Manarelle]

Congrats on smashing your goals! Having your partner help out makes such a difference in motivation, glad you were able to take advantage of that support! Looking forward to seeing you grow and beat more challenges.  You've got this!