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Happy new year!

I don't know abut anyone else, but I was so darn glad to see the end of 2013. Overall the year was good, but from the end of September through the first part of December sucked big, hairy, smelly donkey nuts.

At the end of September our air conditioning went out and we had to get a new unit. Then we had some plumbing issues that we had to take care of.  We were hemorraging money, it felt like.Then November came. It went well for a while. Michael and I celebrated our 11th anniversary.  Then our car started acting up. It finally got to the point where we had to take it to get looked at.  After all, we only have one car and we didn't want to get left somewhere. We hoped it would be a simple and fairly inexpensive fix. Ha!  Little did we know. It turned out to be a bad transmission that would cost way, way more than we had.  So exactly eight years to the day we had gotten our Beetle we found ourselves getting a new car. I like the new car (2014 Camry), but I miss my bug. It was my dream car and so much fun!  And more importantly it was paid for.   To say all of that put a damper on our Christmas would be a vast understatement. I have been incredibly stressed out because of money and trying to make sure we can afford everything we need to.  I've also been sick off and on since October with sinus issues. I think I finally have that under control now, though.  Anyway, I'm ready for the fresh start of a new year.

I feel like I've got some exciting things in the works for 2014, mostly having to do with money. First of all, a coworker and I are doing a 52 week savings challenge. Each week you're supposed to put an amount of money into your savings. Week one= $1, week 2 = $2 and so on and so forth. We're doing it a little differently though. We're switching it around so that week 1 is $52, week 2 is $51...for me I'm doing it a little differently still. Every payday I'm transferring the amount for the 2 or 3 weeks into my savings.  I've already done all my calculations and scheduled all of the transfers into savings so that I wont have any excuses.  It's already done and I won't have to think about it at all. And the best thing is that by the end of the year I'll have saved $1387. Second of all the same coworker and I are doing a monthlong no spending challenge. Well, it's more of an only spend what you absolutely have to to survive challenge. We're keeping each other honest so far. I'm allowing myself to buy fresh fruits and veggies as needed, but not much else. We're also using the mint.com app on our phones to keep track of our spending and saving and to develope a good, workable budget for ourselves. My goal for the year is to pay off 2 small store credit cards, save the money for my next tattoo and to get a nice start on the money we'll need for our next big trip: London 2016 or 2015. I don't remember which one Michael and I agreed on.

I also want to make a plan for this blog. I neglect it because I don't have a plan to stick to. I need to make time to figure that out.  I also need to make time to respond to some people who have recently reached out to me. I tend to put stuff like that off until I have the perfect opportunity to focus on it, but sometimes you just have to make the opportunity instead of waiting for it to appear.

And last, but not least....weight. As of this morning I have lost 103 lbs!  I was sticking right at 98 lbs gone, but. This morning i made it!!  I have lost 100 lbs. all by myself with hard work and determination. My next goal is to make it to 230 lbs which is the weight on my driver's license. Overall, I'd like to lose at least 30 lbs, hopefully more by the end of the year. I'd love to be under 200 sometime this year, but I'm not going to let it stop me if I don't make it.