Wrap-up of January 09 Goals

Finances

• Work through Your Money or Your Life  I’ve made good progress, but still have about half of the book to go.
• Update my budget for 2009  We’ll have enough to pay all interest on our mortgages and other loans and save about $30,000. Not as much as I would have liked, but better than nothing.
• Submit overdue tax returns I’ve done everything I can and am now waiting for news from my accountant.
• Claim all outstanding money

Work/Business

• Coordinate a function/party for work Done. It was a huge success
• Complete assignments for two work courses.
• Blog five times per week for the month Done.

Personal/Spiritual Development and Education

• Read daily and participate in Bookclub Done.
• Download podcasts and listen to them while walking the dog. I downloaded the podcasts, but didn’t get to listen to them.

Relationships

• Call my good friends in Australia Done
• Write at least one letter to someone not on email Done
• Go on a couple of dates with Hubby Done. We went to the Electric Vehicle presentation and for a hike. How romantic!

Social/Fun

• Finalise plans for my March travels Done. Flights are all booked.
• Catch up with local friends Done. Had a couple of fun catch-ups

Health

• 25 no alcohol days. Fail. I think I had about 20 no-alcohol days, so it’s wasn’t too bad.
• Train three days per week with Hubby I’m going to say I achieved this one, despite one week off for a bad back.
• Go on a 2+ hour hike at least twice Done
• Take weekly measurements to track progress Done

Household

• Implement an improved system for managing household paperwork. Sort of. It’s been operational for a few weeks, so we’ll see if it sticks.

Photo by: macwagen

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I want to buy a house

All this talk of buying houses by Early Retirement Middle Way and Money on My Mind has me yearning for another property of my own. Of course, it’s completely out of the question for the moment because:

• I’m in the USA for another two years so there is no point buying another house back in Australia now;
• My finances are such that I probably couldn’t get a loan for another property now anyway; and
• Apparently house prices have started dropping in Australia, so I can’t really recoup a profit from one of the other houses if I sold it.

Still, it doesn’t stop me dreaming. I love having my own place. I envisage having my own garden, putting in rainwater tanks and a greywater recycling system. I foresee a solar system on the roof. I want to live close to town so that we can do without a second vehicle and so we can walk or ride to shops, cafes and work. If we rent, we won’t be able to do any of these things.

Unfortunately, in order to buy a property close to the town I’m thinking, with enough land to have a garden and fruit trees, it’s going to cost a pretty penny. *Sigh* I guess I’m going to have to relegate this dream to the ‘longer term’ pile and just focus on the baby steps to reach that goal.

Photo by: Aaardvaark

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Electric Cars: Will we see them back in California soon?

Earlier this week, Hubby and I attended a local presentation on Electric Vehicles by an affiliate of the Electric Auto Association (EAA). Hubby is quite keen to learn how to convert an ordinary motor vehicle into an electric car, and I went along as an interested observer. While we don’t need a second car while we are living here in the USA, we both think it will make a great project for when we return to Australia. As luck would have it, we found out that there is a course running later this year which will provide hubby with two weeks of hands on experience in conducting the conversion. I think he’s just a little bit excited about getting his hands dirty again.

Some time last year we watched the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car. Much of what we learned in that movie was discussed at this weeks presentation, so I thought I’d provide a quick overview.

The movie deals with the history of the electric car, mostly focusing on the General Motors EV1 which was made available for lease in Southern California after the California Air Resources Board passed the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate in 1990. The movie also looks at the implications for air pollution, environmentalism, Middle East politics and global warming.

The film details the California Air Resources Board’s reversal of the mandate after lawsuits from automobile manufacturers, the oil industry and the George W. Bush administration.

The film discusses some of the reasons that the auto and oil industries worked to kill off the electric car and explores the future of automobile technologies including a deeply critical look at hydrogen vehicles and an upbeat discussion of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technologies. ~Wiki

California is now planning to re-introduce a regulation mandating more highly fuel-efficient vehicles. This could come into force as soon as the federal government grants the state a waiver from less-stringent national standards. The rule would require automakers to produce vehicles that cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2016, resulting in an average vehicle fuel-efficiency of 35.7 miles per gallon – far higher than the current federal standard of 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.3 mpg for SUVs and light trucks.

The rule had been delayed by the Bush administration since 2005 but on Monday, President Obama ordered his environmental officials to immediately review California’s regulation, strongly hinting that he would like to allow the state and 13 others to move forward with stricter emissions standards.

It’s quite exciting to be living in California at this time. I truly hope we see the comeback of the electric car in the near future. It would be nice to live without the constant smog.

 

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Operation Booty Buster: Week 3

Photo by: moriza

Week 3 of Operation Booty-Buster has been an improvement on week 2. Thank goodness.

• Hubby changed my training program to focus on exercises which will strengthen my back and core muscles. I guess there was no point pushing on with exercises which were aggravating the problem. By focusing on stabilising the areas which were weak, I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my lower back. It feels more stable and less painful already. We worked out three times this week, and I’m so happy to be back on track.  
• We had a big Australia Day party on Saturday. There was no way I wasn’t going to have a few wines to celebrate. I also had an Aussie friend stay with me over the weekend so we had a few drinks on Friday night while we were catching up. So that’s two alcohol days this week. It’s an improvement on last week.
• Once again I have taken little notice of what I’ve been eating. As soon as I become busy, my mindfulness goes right out the window. On the plus side, I managed to avoid eating out at all this week. Friends from work went out to lunch which I declined and when my friend came to stay, we ate home cooked meals. At least eating at home gives me some control over the quality of food I’m eating. Now I just need to focus on portion sizes.
• I went to see the doctor about my back pain. Even though I’ve seen the physical therapist previously about my lower back pain, I still have quite a lot of upper back and neck pain. I’m going back to the physical therapist to see if I can resolve all these problems once and for all.
• I’m enjoying riding to work. Now that it’s becoming a habit again, I actually find the daily journey very therapeutic.

In all, I’m much happier about my progress this week. I haven’t really lost any weight as such, but this is about so much more than just weight. It’s about creating a healthy lifestyle, making my body stronger and less painful and ensuring I can becoming an active old lady in the decades ahead. I have so much to do in my life, and I don’t want my body letting me down.

Given that this is call Operation Booty-Buster, I’m extremely proud to announce that I have lost 4.5cm (1.8in) from my hips in the last three weeks. Because I’m pear-shaped I tend to hold most of my weight in my hips, butt and thighs. Even if I don’t loss any weight per say, if I can keep shrinking my booty then I’ll be a happy woman.

Operation Booty-Buster: The beginning

Operation Booty-Buster: Week 1

Operation Booty-Buster: Week 2

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Would you volunteer in exchange for a reduction in student debt?

The Prime Minister of Australia has just announced a new initiate to encourage Australians to pull together to beat the rapidly worsening economic downturn. 

KEVIN Rudd wants to recruit an army of young volunteers to help the elderly, feed the homeless, and clean up the environment. 

In exchange for giving up their time, members of the new Community Corps would get discounts on their university <..> debts. The proposal could attract tens of thousands of volunteers from the 1.3 million Australians with a higher education debt. 

Corps members could deliver meals on wheels, youth and Aboriginal services, become volunteer firefighters, or assist the disabled and elderly. Landcare and water projects could also benefit. 

It is understood the Corps would operate within Australia, unlike the US Peace Corps, which works on projects across the globe.  ~ news.com.au

Thankfully I received a scholarship to attend University. For those of you who had to take on student loans, would you consider volunteering if it meant you could reduce your debts?

Photo by: Mil

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Link Love: Australia Day edition

Jan 26th is Australia Day and although it’s still the 25th here, it’s already tomorrow over there. Confused?

Yesterday I hosted a big Australia Day party. Today I’m exhausted and I’m so glad it’s over for another year. I can’t believe how quickly a day can go. I had a great time though. As an ex-pat living in a new country it’s really nice to a have a taste of home, even for just one day.

Here are a few posts I really enjoyed this week:

• Be the Change by Simple – Green – Frugal
• A good mind is a terrible thing to waste by Greeen Sheeep
• Gold for the Price of Lead by Bucolic Ambition

Photo by: Jamestee

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Sustainability Changes that Save Money – What we need to improve

In yesterday’s post I listed Sustainability Changes That Save Money which we have managed to successfully include in our life. Today I need to admit that there are many, mnay things that we need to improve upon.

• Barter and trade with neighbors and friends.

[D] I’ve thought about it…does that count? Yesterday, Hubby and I were actually brainstorming some ways we could do some of this inthe near future.

• Utilize Freecycle, Craigs List, and other local free exchanges.

[C] We use these where possible. It’s only been a recent pledge to buy pre-loved instead of new, so the habits are not yet ingrained.

• Shop at thrift stores and garage sales, and arrange clothing swaps with friends and family.

[C] I swap clothes with family and have shopped at thrifts stores in the past, but it isn’t a big part of my life now. I think I’m 90% ready to say no to new clothes for the remainder of this year. I’ll get there soon, I’m sure.

• Buy in bulk: buy from bulk bins at your local market, buy large quantities of staples via special order from your local market or online, buy a whole case which generally comes with a case discount, and buy large packages of food you use regularly. If buying in bulk leaves you with too much food, go in on the purchase with a friend or set up a community buying club.

[C] We buy bulk sugar, flour, beans and oats from Costco as well as canned goods. Honesly I think there is more that we could be doing in this area, and we plan to explore it further this year.

• Buy fruit and vegetable seconds and day old bakery items.  

[D] We don’t go out of our way to do this.

• Pick your own produce at a local farm.

[C] Where possible we buy at the local Farmer’s Market, however we need to embrace this more

• Grow your own food.

[D] We have straw bales to start our own Straw Bale vegetable garden, but at the moment they are just growing grass.

• Learn to preserve food by canning, drying, root cellaring, freezing, and pickling.  

[C] So far I’ve tried tomato relish and orange marmalade. I intend to experiment more when we have extra food in our own garden.

• Make your own cleaning and body products from simple and cheap ingredients like vinegar, baking soda/bicarb, hydrogen peroxide, corn starch, cooking oil, lemon juice, and water.  

[D] We’ve used vinegar for cleaning, but haven’t tried any of these other remedies yet.

• Unplug or turn off power switches to appliances when not in use, to save electricity.

[C]We turn off lights and appliances if they aren’t in use, but we really need to get power boards so that our appliances aren’t inadvertently sucking electricity.

• Reduce shower times, bathe less often, and use bath water to water outdoor plants and flush toilets.

[C] We are concious of reducing the water we use, but haven’t yet started to monitor our actual usage.

• Use coupons.  I recently bought a book of coupons for local shopping.  

[D] Not something we’ve even looked at yet.

I guess this is now a good opportunity to start working on bringing more of these elements into our lives.

Photo by: bitzcelt

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