I am holding tight to the tourniquet to hopefully staunch the bleeding . . . from my wallet. March is turning into an expensive month!
I paid off the $5890 for the trip (now to pay that back), plus $263 for my share of the single supplement. Travel insurance was $258.
I had my car in for the 75,000 mile check-up last week at the tune of $379. And now my Escrow shortage of $455 is due by March 31.
Can you say poor? Yes, that’s just over $7200 that has passed through my account this month. And it's only the 10th!!!
]]>Today is the half-way mark in my quest to go one month without eating out. I had a clean week, but it is difficult. I think about eating out every day. Starbucks is probably been the hardest to give up. Pei Wei would be a distant second. I guess I see Starbucks as a treat. Not something I do every day, but I've probably thought about it every day. For instance, I have a "lab" appointment with my doctor this week. When I saw it on my calendar, I automatically thought of it as a time that I could stop at Starbucks after. Then I remembered.
Obviously I've not been as successful posting every day here. I think about it. I even have a list of potential topics. I sit at my Mac every night. I just don't write.
I love my iPhone. But after last months text charges, I signed up for the $5 for 200 minutes deal. Cause apparently 300+ individually paid texts equals $68. I am such a ding-dong sometimes.
Mom got great news this week. She went to the oncologist for her three month checkup. She's coming up on the "gap" pat of her prescription insurance already. That meant $900+ for 90 days. So I suggested she ask Dr. K if he knows if that drug maker (or other program) helps cover the costs. Instead he got up, brought her 90 days of pills and told her to come back when she ran out. He told her not to "sweat" it, that he'd keep her in meds. He is such a good guy. If I ever get cancer, he is so my guy. Oh, and all is well on the breast cancer front!
I'm going to Africa. In 121 days!
I think about writing here most every day. I’ve had this title and topic ideas floating around in my head for days. It’s mostly written in my brain. It’s getting it here via the keyboard that’s the issue. I like Facebook because you can be communicative without really communicating. Know what I mean? Do you ever hesitate to talk about something for fear of jinxing yourself? For instance, before Christmas I ran out of Melatonin, which I’ve used most every night for the past 13 years. It helps me sleep. At the time, I couldn’t make it to Whole Foods to get some more and I was going to be on vacation soon, so I let it go. And I slept. All night. After easily falling asleep. It was a miracle. I was never super-consistent with the Altenolol because of a yucky side-effect. But after I was off the Melatonin a couple weeks, I noticed the PVCs had pretty much stopped. But I didn’t tell anyone about that either cause I didn’t want to jinx myself. Then there was the weight thing. The last two years, I’ve had numbers in my head that I’ve not told anyone. I’ve met each of those annual goals. The minute I wrote down this year’s here, I can’t stop snacking. Snacking, snacking, snacking. Then someone asked about my heart. And I told the entire story. And guess what? I can’t fall asleep easily anymore or stay asleep. *sigh* Why is that?? I finally broke down and bought some Melatonin this weekend. I took naps to makeup for the late-night fall asleeps and then continued with more late-night fall asleeps. I’m not going to take any tonight and see what happens. And now, Africa. Friggin’ economy. Here’s how it falls. I have the money. I feel pretty secure in my job. But with things the way they are, should I really be spending that kind of money right now? Should I leave it in the savings, just in case. Thankfully my traveling partners are thinking the same thing. See, I let myself get excited at the possibility and jinxed it all. Yep, the downturn in the economy is totally all my fault. Sorry y’all.
Last year I made a commitment to myself to pay off all my credit card debt. I was tired of lying in bed at night chiding myself for letting it get to be so much. On five or six different cards (I don’t remember now). I started by enrolling in Financial Peace University, a 12-week course "led" by Dave Ramsey. For the class I had to actually tally up what I owed. When you live in the land of denial, you never do such things. I swore I would never tell anyone how much it was. I was (am) too embarrassed that I let myself get that far into the hole. Let’s just say it had five figures ($00,000) and is probably more than you think. I buckled down and followed the rules. Got my $1,000 emergency fund set. Did the Debt Snowball. And in November I made my last credit card payment. It is so lovely to see the last balance finally at $0.00! It took 20 months. At first the projections of when I would be done were five and six years out. A lifetime away. It was very discouraging. Instead of letting it get me down, I just became more determined to not let it take that long. I set a strict budget for myself (which I’d never done before). Post bills, every last cent from my paycheck went towards the debt. As did every extra dollar that came my way. By the wayside went trips to the bookstore. The Hallmark store. Target (cause you can find everything there!). Basically all shopping outside the grocery store. I scrabbled together enough to take two weekend trips during that 20 months. Me, who used to take five – six – seven trips a year! It’s been a struggle, for sure. But, something inside of me pushed myself to get it all under control. With the economy the way it is today, I feel less worried now. If something happened tomorrow, I don’t need to go to Africa. I could get a job at B&N and still pay all my bills. That’s a burden lifted too. I should be starting Step 3, but instead I am paying for my trip to Tanzania (approximately $10,000). I plan to have that paid off by August. Then on to Stages 3 and 4. And I don’t need to worry about Stage 5 . . . whoot! I’m nearly there. And that feels great!
I added my first real widget today (lower right column) . . . it takes a second to load, but it clocks how many days are left until Tanzania!
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Day 1-2: Depart U.S. / Arrive Arusha Connect in Amsterdam with your flight to Kilimanjaro Airport, arriving late evening. You will be met by Thomson Safaris staff and transferred to your lodge. Day 3: Arusha Begin your exploration of Tanzania culture with a visit to Ng'iresi village on the slopes of Mount Meru. Learn about current development projects and experience local fare with a lunch prepared by the Juhudi Women's Group. Day 4: Arusha / Tarangire National Park Today you will depart Arusha, traveling southwest through the Maasai Steppe to Tarangire National Park, Tanzania's fourth largest. Day 5: Tarangire National Park Spend another day in Tarangire National Park, viewing some of Tanzania’s largest populations of elephant and enjoying the diverse scenery, including the dramatic baobab trees that are so typical of the park. Day 6: Tarangire / Mto Wa Mbu / Ngorongoro Highlands Depart Tarangire this morning, wildlife viewing along the way. Then, as you approach the Great Rift Valley Escarpment on your way to Gibbs Farm, you will make a few stops that are sure to increase your understanding of Tanzania's fascinating culture. Day 7: Ngorongoro Crater Depart Gibbs after a leisurely breakfast and head deeper into the highlands until reaching the Ngorongoro Crater rim. The crater is a geological marvel boasting several vegetation zones from lakes to forest to Savannah and being home to about 30,000 animals, despite its tiny size of only 10 miles across. Day 8: Ngorongoro Highlands With Gibbs Farm as your base, spend the day enjoying a myriad of activities and cultural pursuits in the Ngorongoro Highlands. Day 9: Oduvai Gorge / Serengeti National Park After breakfast, continue your journey into the heart of Tanzania by heading west, toward the Serengeti Plains. Day 10: Serengeti National Park Enjoy the vastness of the Serengeti "the land that flows on forever" along with some of the best game-viewing that Africa has to offer. Day 11: Serengeti National Park Enjoy another day of wildlife viewing from a second location deep in the Serengeti. Home to literally hundreds of thousands of hoofed animals, the Serengeti is a pristine and unique sanctuary that will give you a glimpse into "the world as it was in the beginning." Day 12: Serengeti National Park Spanning nearly 6,000 square miles, the Serengeti has even more to offer you today. With your skilled guides at the helm, the game viewing promises to be interesting on this last day of your adventure. Day 13: Serengeti / Arusha / Depart Depart the Serengeti late this morning and spend the rest of the day in Arusha, with a farewell lunch, some shopping and a dayroom to prepare for your flight home this evening. Day 14: Arrive U.S.Connect in Amsterdam and arrive in the U.S. Please check your flight itinerary for arrival dates and flight details. It's not too late to join us!
The day I leave for Africa.
]]>Put my down payment on my 2009 trip to Africa!
]]>Two friends from work and I are talking about taking a trip to Africa. So I've started a group blog so we can track our reasearch, ideas, itineraries and basically work out what we are each looking for (like sleeping in a permanent, perfectly safe tent versus some lodge). In the coming days, weeks, months and perhaps year(s), you'll see me writing about stuff here, but to get the full story you'll need to visit our Africa blog.
[Later: You'll be happy to know I figured out how to post about Africa on the group blog only. No sludging through us "compromising" here!]
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