Resolving to Resolve

This year has been filled with challenges. Some of them great, some small. Some affecting communitities and nations. Some influencing only me. The most obvious challenges are the ones I've created: learning more about the world, saving money, losing weight, and, more recently, to read more books. The country has also been challenged with a new president, a new administration, and a new way of thinking about race. This upcoming year will also have its challenges. Many will be the same one's I've tried to battle in 2008.

Of all the challenges, I am finding my battle with weight the most difficult. I am not huge (yet), but I don't want to have to get there before I realize I have to stop gaining weight. Part of my challenge in learning about the world now must also encompass learning more about myself if I am to win. I must overcome my excuses for not exercising.

Centers like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and such are available, but at what cost? There is not only the financial investment, which is not an option given my financial goal, but there is also the investment of time and other resources. Are there free weight loss centers?

Automatic Saver

I've announced already that part of my challenge will include learning more about money, saving, and finances. As of today, I'm taking it a step further and issuing a challenge to myself to save at least $2,600 in 2009. That's $25 per week for 52 weeks, a full year of saving. That amount, $2600, in and of itself isn't a lot. I have student loans and past due tuition up the wazoo. However, saving just that small sum consistently will be the mark of a breakthrough.

In the past, when I've tried to save consistently, some sort of emergency would inevitably show up. And then when the money was gone, it would be easy not to start all over again. I know this one simple act of saving consistently is the first step in realizing financial independence. One of my favorite money books, The Automatic Millionaire (by David Bach), is based on this principle. But as I've learned throughout this challenge, reading and knowing how to do something is very different from actually doing it.

At first, I started with the idea of saving $40 a week. Then I suppose I felt that amount was just too comfortable, so I upped it by $10. The truth is, saving $40 is actually no easy task. I'm really living paycheck to paycheck. One wrong move, and I'm out. I've got to think about what I'm spending my money on, what I'm not spending on, and how I can go about reducing my spending where I can.

I already know I spend a lot of income eating out. Sometimes, it will be at a restaurant. Other times, it's just fast food. Least of all will I spend time actually cooking, though it is both the cheapest and healthiest way to eat. It might also help contribute to my weight loss. (Follow my weight loss on my other blog: www.poundapound.blogspot.com.) Eating out, I think I spend about $75 or more a week. It's not just because I like to either. Eating out is convenient when you spend lots of time at the office.

I will also try to chronicle how I save money. I think I'm paying too much on my cell phone bill already. That's something else I can cut back on. But I don't want to become a penny pincher. I don't want to live in fear of not having enough. I want to live comfortably and be debt free with considerable wealth.