Snowballing my way to financial freedom

Today, I had a $50 payment due on a debt to my city. The total outstanding balance was $65 and knowing that if I only were to pay $50 I'd still have one more payment to go before the balance was zero really bothered me.

I wanted that balance to be ZERO and I wanted it badly!

I hesitated before paying off the full amount though. That would mean $15 LESS to spend on necessities or to set aside for an emergency or unexpected expense. Using that $15 now might mean that our already tight budget could potentially get even tighter.

I'm not religious, but I decided to suck it up and put this in the hands of faith--faith that if I paid this debt off entirely and something unexpected came up, the money to take care of it WILL find a way to me.

So....

I PAID OFF A DEBT IN FULL TODAY!

The original balance was $215 with payments due every month of $50. I'd whittled it down, slowly but surely to $65. It may only have been $65 and thus not much at all considering my total debt is nearly $110,000, but it is PROGRESS!

Now that this little nagging debt is GONE, I will snowball the $50 per month payments into my next debt--money owed to a friend when she helped us in an emergency ($490).

If you don't know what a debt snowball is, it basically means as you pay off a debt, you take the amount you were paying on the eliminated debt monthly and ADD IT to your payments on another debt until that one is gone. Then, you take the combined monthly payments on those two eliminated debts and add it to your monthly payments on your next debt and so on until you are FINANCIALLY FREE!

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DEBT TRACKING:
Original total: $110,000
Paid off today: $65
New total: $109,875*
*I am not tracking interest at the moment, but I know I should be.

Financial Peace Planner Accountability Check In #2 - Reframing my money fears

I struggled a lot this past week. It was highly emotional with some personal drama, work drama, and just things not going according to plan (what's that saying about life happening when you are busy making other plans?).

As a result, I had a really tough time sticking to my no spending, no soda goals. I also had a difficult time with the goals I set previously for the week according to the principles laid out in Chapter 1 of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Planner.

As of January 11th, I've gone only 6 days without soda and 7 days without unplanned spending. Granted, most of the unplanned spending was much LESS than it would have been had I not recommitted to my financial goals when I started this blog. Instead of just saying, "Screw it!" and going overboard at the grocery store, the cafeteria at work, or buying take away coffee, I really limited the coffees, made smarter choices at the grocery store, and only used the cafeteria at work on one day when I overslept and didn't have the time to make a lunch for work.

Over the last few days though, I've been making my lunches the night before when I have to work, setting up my coffee making station the night before, and setting out breakfast items the night before.

I wasn't able to save any money or pay off any debt in the first 11 days of January, but my earnings so far this month are a bit ahead of usual (which is a VERY GOOD THING!). I hope that will continue for the remainder of the month. I have been working hard on my Etsy shop and sold more coloring pages so far this month than I had at the same time last month also (check it out HERE).

Today, however, I will be putting another $50 towards my debt which will leave me with a mere $15 left to pay off a traffic ticket to the city! I cannot wait for that debt to be GONE!

This past week, I did join a couple of "kickstart" type of challenges for the new year that I hope will make a difference in my income and thus my ability to pay off debt and build savings. The challenge I am most excited about is Gina Horkey's "Kickstart Your Writing Biz" -- Gina is a freelance writer who teaches others to build freelance writing careers and thus financial freedom. I've worked through the first two exercises and am working on the third. Gina also teaches people how to build VA (virtual assistant) careers. Both freelance writing and being a VA can bring in supplemental income for anyone working to pay off debt or increase savings (or both). (check out Gina's site HERE)

As a reminder, here are Dave Ramsey's Seven Financial Baby Steps -- I am working on #1 and #2 now:

Dave Ramsey's Seven Financial Baby Steps:

1. Save $1,000 in an emergency fund. 
2. Pay off all of your debt except for a mortgage by using the debt snowball.
3. Complete your emergency fun by saving three to six months of expenses.
4. Fully fund your pre-tax retirements savings.
5. Save for your kids' college.
6. Pay off your home early.
7. Build wealth and give like crazy.

Chapter One of the Financial Peace Planner ends with two tasks, one of which is taking stock of your money fears. My top five money fears are (you can also read them in THIS post):

My top five money fears: 
ONE: I won't be able to fix my financial situation. 
TWO: There will never be enough money. 
THREE: My son will be stuck taking care of my financial needs later in life. 
FOUR: I'll lose my home due to lack of money to pay the rent. 
FIVE: My debt will grow instead of shrink.

In an effort to reframe my mindset and set myself up for success, here is how I have been thinking about these fears:
ONE: I won't be able to fix my financial situation. 

• REFRAMED: I AM actively taking steps to fix my financial situation. I WILL succeed.

TWO: There will never be enough money.

• REFRAMED: I AM actively building a financial foundation so that I will ALWAYS have enough money.

THREE: My son will be stuck taking care of my financial needs later in life.

• REFRAMED: I am teaching my son through my example and through being open with this process so that we both can build strong financial futures. Neither of us will need to be depending on others (including each other).

FOUR: I'll lose my home due to lack of money to pay the rent

• REFRAMED: At the moment, money is tight. However, I will NOT lose my home. Immediately, I can adjust my budget, sell things I don't need, provide services others will pay for, or if I am really stuck, I can seek community assistance. I have plenty of options. My home is safe. 

FIVE: My debt will grow instead of shrink.

• REFRAMED: My debt WILL shrink because I am taking active steps to get it under control and pay it down. I WILL have a ZERO debt balance.

I can't say that this is an easy process -- many things that are worth doing are not easy. I believe this is one of those things where my success will be directly related to the effort I put in.

How about you? What are your money fears and how are you reframing them to set yourself up for success?

Interested in following Dave Ramsey's plan? 

You can buy your own copy of The Financial Peace Planner HERE.

***This post may contain affiliate links.*** 

Getting the most from your grocery budget without extreme couponing

Just a little note before you read on, this is SUPER LONG with only the header picture and one other picture!

A lot of you already know that groceries are a HUGE area of the budget, but also an area that is often flexible. I read time and time again that cutting the grocery bill is one of the most important steps in taking control of your finances, and having done it in the past myself, I know this to be true.

And, I'm not talking about eating ramen noodles or other super cheap, not very good for you food, either.

As many, many blogs, financial experts, and nutrition experts will tell you, you CAN eat incredibly well (of course, "incredibly well" is subjective) on a tight budget. I wouldn't say my son and I eat "incredibly well" but we do eat adequately well--we eat a healthier diet than most of my coworkers, most of my extended family, and many people I know generally. We don't eat as well as we could, but we eat well enough.

So, how do I save money on groceries, still eat well enough, and not go crazy with extreme couponing (another subjective term--"extreme")?

I combine grocery weekly store ads + an inventory of my fridge, freezer, and pantry + SavingStar rebate offers + printable coupons from Coupons.com BUT printed via Swagbucks. When I started this process, it used to take me a few hours once every week. Now I have it down to about a single 30 minute session every Tuesday or Wednesday night (sometimes Sunday, depending on my work schedule).

Today, I'm going to walk you through my process. Incidentally, while preparing to write this, I realized that I neglected one step last week and ended up spending several dollars more than I would have if I'd stuck to my usual steps.

STEP ONE: I organize and mentally inventory my fridge, freezer, and pantry to make a list of things we NEED and things that we don't need now, but will need soon. I also include things I would LIKE, but could do without if I can't find a good price. I usually write it all down by hand, then go to my computer for step two.


STEP TWO:  I compare my written list of needs and wants against the grocery store weekly ads for the three shops I visit regularly that have weekly ads, in addition to keeping in mind items that I buy at Trader Joe's, WinCo, and Costco.

I list each store and the sale items and details on a spreadsheet, following these rules:

• Is the item something we need (as in, we are out or almost out of an item we already use)?
• Is the item something we will use up entirely before it will go bad?
• Is the item something we LIKE? (If you don't like something on your list, don't buy it! You aren't likely to use it or get it's full value.)
• Is the item actually a good price (the longer you follow this process, the easier it will be to tell a good price from an ok or a bad price)?

If I can answer YES to each of these questions, the item and details go on my spreadsheet. As I add items for each store, I also am comparing prices if multiple stores have similar or the same items on sale. If three stores have cucumbers on sale, but only one has the lowest price, I will then decide if that store has enough items on sale to make it worth going. If it does, I keep cucumbers listed under that store's list. If that store isn't worth going to because of how few items are on sale there on my list, I will go to the next cheapest source. It's not worth driving 20 minutes away JUST for cucumbers to save 9-cents. If the store 20 minutes away, however, has ten things on sale and I could save three or four dollars total, I might make that drive in conjunction with other errands that take me that direction anyhow.

STEP THREE: I visit SavingStar to see what rebates they are offering that week or month and activate the offers that interest me. SavingStar works by offering you rebates for certain purchases. They also have a healthy offer of the week (a particular produce item) and occasionally have a freebie offer. You buy the specified amounts, submit a picture of your receipt and type in the bar codes or produce codes on the items you purchased. Then, SavingStar employees review your entries and approve or don't approve them. As your entries are approved, you start to accrue rebates. Once you hit $5 minimum, you have the option to cash out. I believe there are a few methods available for receiving your rebate, but I always take mine via PayPal.

I activate offers BOTH for items on my grocery list AND for items I think I MIGHT want in the future if they aren't on my list for the current week. I then enter the details into my grocery list spreadsheet. Ideally, I'm looking for items that are on sale at my local stores AND have associated SavingStar offers.

STEP FOUR: Next, I visit the coupon section of Swagbucks (it's under the "shop" link and then you click "coupons" and then click "printable"). I ONLY clip and print coupons for items I KNOW I will buy since I don't want to waste printer ink or paper (aka--money!). Again, I am ideally looking for sales prices on my grocery list items+SavingStar rebate offers+coupons.

I feel like I've hit the jackpot when I can match up sale prices PLUS SavingStar rebates PLUS STORE coupons PLUS MANUFACTURER coupons. I have ONE such item on this week's list: Angel Soft toilet paper. I scored a great deal last grocery trip on some Angel Soft, but still have $7.50 worth that I would need to purchase in order to qualify for a SavingStar rebate ($5 rebate on $15 combined Angel Soft purchases).

Using these steps, I routinely save anywhere from 30 to 80% on every grocery trip, so long as I don't give in to impulse purchases.

So, now that I've explained my process, here is my grocery list for this week with some LOW PRIORITY items that can wait until the next two weeks, or even next month--HIGH PRIORITY items are boxed in green, LOW PRIORITY in red, and items that would be helpful but aren't essential are unboxed. 

Not including Costco, my total grocery budget for this trip will be $65 AFTER coupons but BEFORE SavingStar rebates. Then, for the remainder of the month, I will budget $20 for produce as well as rice milk from Trader Joe's if I don't make it to Costco. Although I want to go to Costco, it is quite far from our house and I could just pick up single cans or cartons of most items on my Costco list at fairly good prices. Costco will only happen if I earn an extra $75 between now and the end of the month. The crockpot listed under Fry's will also only happen if I earn an extra $20 before they go off sale.

I buy olive oil, frozen chicken, and frozen fruit almost exclusively at Trader Joe's because after three years of living in this area, I've found Trader Joe's to have the lowest prices on these items without sacrificing quality. 

You'll also notice that I have a crockpot listed. If I don't buy the crockpot during the current sale period, I will set aside $1 per pay period until I have $20 and then will just buy one when they are next on sale.

Now, why am I even considering BUYING a crockpot when I'm supposed to be doing a spending freeze (have I even written about my spending freeze yet?)??? Quite simply because it will HELP my spending freeze in the long run. The spending freeze is about NOT buying NON-essential items, and I believe I can make a good case for making the crockpot exception.

On days that I work 10 hour shifts or have a quick turn around between shifts, it is incredibly tempting to stop at the store for a freezer meal or to hit up fast food on the way home. The simple convenience of throw ingredients in, turn it on, and forget about it for hours is so easy! I can even put all the ingredients in a big bowl in the fridge and leave my son instructions to dump it in the crock pot and turn it on at a certain time. That kind of convenience could save me a lot of money in the long run.

When we lived in another city and I was working 60 hours per week with an additional 20 hours of commute time, the crock pot not only saved me a ton of energy, but it saved me a ton of money, AND it gave me peace of mind that my son could just dump everything in and turn it on at an appointed hour if I couldn't do it before I left for work. It also allowed me to make large portions of many meals and freeze half or two thirds for future easy thaw-and-heat meals. It also was easy to make up many recipes and freeze them UNcooked and then just dump them into the crockpot in the morning. I swear the crockpot saved us many times during that period in our lives! Unfortunately, I dropped the insert and it became unusable. I didn't replace it and slowly found myself spending way too much on reheatable processed foods and fast food on days that were draining mentally and physically.

What is your grocery strategy?

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You can read all of my grocery related posts HERE.

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Posts on this blog may include affiliate links.

January 2016: A peek inside my kitchen (how I organize to save money on groceries)

I see a lot of grocery savings posts and cooking posts that seem inspiring, but I often wonder, "What did they already have in their pantry and fridge??? How can they buy those particular things and no xyz and still eat well?" I also see perfect, beautiful, clean kitchens--I don't know about you, but my kitchen doesn't look like that on most days!

So, here is a peek inside my kitchen on January 6th, 2016. I'm showing you my messy counters, my before pictures of my cupboards, fridge, and freezer, and afters of those same areas.

After watching a video by The Former Mrs. Jones on YouTube about her grocery budget and a recent grocery trip followed by a clip of her cleaning her kitchen and some info on her meal plan for the next two weeks, I decided to tackle some similar stuff.

Ready?

Set.

Go...

Here's an overview of my kitchen--we cook fairly frequently and so we almost always have dishes to wash. We've gotten a lot better at washing dishes more often and all of these dishes on the counter and in the sink should be washed by end of day today. We also only wash by hand, turning the water OFF while we scrub. Hand washing, even though we have a dishwasher, saves us a ton on our electric bill--so much that the added time required to hand wash is well worth it! Often we wash dishes while watching Netflix to make the time pass a little faster.

And a few cupboards, the fridge, and pantry...

Hanging on the back of my pantry door, I have a shoe organizer. The top two rows of pockets hold medications, bandages, and health stuff. The third row from the top holds instant oatmeal packets and breakfast drink mix (all given to us for FREE) and some leftover Halloween candy. The fourth row holds my son's breakfast and snack bars. The fifth row holds a couple of my snacks (bulk purchased wasabi peas, Sesame Snaps), a pocket with paperclips and binder clips, and a pocket with napkins, plastic cutlery, and straws that we've picked up randomly. The bottom two rows hold dog supplies (heart worm medication, ear wash for one of our dogs, travel brochures from places we hope to visit in the next few years, a pouch of unopened mix-ins that I use in smoothies, and a roll of trash bags.

THIS over the door pocket shoe organizer is very similar to and several dollars LESS expensive than the one we bought.

In the cupboards and pantry shelf--it might not look like a did a whole ton of organizing on the pantry shelf or kitchen cupboard, but it feels like I did! I pulled a few canned items from random spots and put them on the pantry shelf and grouped items together. I also pulled two items out of the pantry that we won't eat (one was given to us and the other I bought on a whim and I will donate both).

In the cupboard, I pulled together boxed items, organized my herbs and spices a little better, pulled cereal out of its boxes (the boxes were too big and I couldn't close the door completely), grouped pasta together, grouped cereal together, and few other little things.

In the fridge and freezer, there wasn't a whole lot to do other than reorganize so I would know what I had. I couldn't clearly see what was in the freezer for the most part. While I don't have it organized in the most energy efficient manner, I do have it organized so I know what's there and where things are. For example, the door of the freezer is mostly filled with fruits and veggies--all fruits gathered together and veggies together. The ice cube tray actually doesn't have ice in it, but rather frozen pureed bananas that I use in smoothies. When bananas go on sale, I buy a bunch, puree them and freeze them.

In the fridge, I pulled together condiments and small jarred items, put food that needs to be eaten today on the top shelf, pulled together my son's Christmas candy leftovers, and then pulled together some other leftovers, veggies, and so on. I also have a container on the bottom shelf filled with leftover rice that we give to one of my dogs (she has digestive issues and plain rice seems to help her a lot--consult your vet before changing your dog's diet though!).

We have A LOT of condiments, sauces, and other small stuff in our fridge. I don't remember where I saw it, but someone posted a picture on social media showing how they used the bottom half of an egg carton to old condiments upside down so the dregs in the bottom of the jars would be pulled by gravity towards the lids and openings. BRILLIANT, right? I cut the bottom of an egg carton down a little bit so it would fit in our fridge door and popped our mustards, ketchup, and horseradish sauce into it. Works beautifully!

Now that I know what I have on hand, I can meal plan, make my grocery list for this coming weekend to fill in the gaps, and so on. Doing this kind of cleaning up and organizing at least every other month, if not monthly, allows me to save in the following ways:

• I don't double or triple buy unless it is strategic (like maybe there's a too good to be true sale price on something) because I know what we have on hand.
• I can group things in the fridge according to when they need to be eaten (TODAY items always go on the top shelf) so we waste a lot less food.
• I can STOP buying things we won't eat--if it's non-perishable that's been hanging around for months or a perishable that is going bad, I probably shouldn't buy them again.
• I can adjust quantities on my grocery list before going to the store so I don't over or under buy.
• I can create a meal plan (I do three days at a time) easily knowing what's on hand and not worry about needing to go to the store, thus I minimize impulse buying--you know how it is: you go in for one item and leave the store with four or five items.

My meal plan for the next three days:

Today:

• Breakfast: oatmeal with berries, coffee, tea
• Lunch: leftover pasta with cheese sauce and leftover taco bowl for JP; leftover pasta with marinara sauce and salad for me
• Dinner: mini meatballs with pasta and marinara sauce; salad; garlic bread

Tomorrow: 

• Breakfast: waffles, berries
• Lunch: dad and stepmom are taking us out to eat
• Dinner: tomato soup with hash browns (oven needs fixed before we do oven fries)

Two days from now:

• Breakfast: oatmeal, coffee, tea
• Lunch: whole fruit smoothies, hard boiled eggs for both of us; salad and tomatoes for me; Pasta Roni for JP
• Dinner: veggie soup; garlic bread

How do you keep your kitchen organized and how does it help you financially?

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Also, what are you watching on Netflix that you LOVE? I'm about to finish "Nurse Jackie" and need some suggestions. I've already watched "Jessica Jones" which I loved and also recently finished "Sons of Anarchy." Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

**Posts on this blog may contain affiliate links.**

Tracking spending and grocery shopping

Tracking my spending should be easy, but it's not. I find it rather difficult and always have. I think combining tracking spending with accountability with a spending freeze will make it a bit easier.

That said, today, I  spent $3.56 on take away coffee because I had failed to prepare adequately for my day. I made a lunch last night but didn't make any coffee or fill my water bottle. I also didn't set out anything for breakfast for this morning -- all things I should have done last night to prepare for a day on which I have to work.

What makes THIS time different?
I've been through many cycles of tracking, slipping up, and then giving up. But this is the first time I've ever felt like I have a chance of truly paying off my debts, saving a significant amount of money, and turning my financial life around.

This time, I have a plan. It didn't work perfectly today, but it worked better than it ever has before. I'm working on three days at a time for my spending freeze, looking ahead over the upcoming three days for possible pitfalls and other temptations, and taking steps to achieve my goals.

Yes, I slipped up today. I will probably have other slip ups in the future, but already my slip ups are far smaller than they ever have been before. I took a lunch to work. I took my water bottle even though I forgot to fill it. In the past, my slip up would have cost me a lot more than $3.56. It would have been more like $13.56 today followed by a slide into $13.56 every day.

Tomorrow, I don't have work. I have no reason to leave the house really except to take my dogs out for a walk. I have a meal plan in place for tomorrow too.

Tracking and improving my grocery budget:
I am proud to say though that I went to the grocery store yesterday with my son in tow -- usually a mistake -- and managed to spend a lot less than I usually would in that situation. I didn't save as much as I normally would, but still enough that I feel like I did a good job. Last night, I took the following steps to save on my groceries:

1. Evaluated my needs -- what was I out of, what was I too low on not to buy and made a list of those items
2. Evaluated the sales flyer from the nearest store and compared my list against the flyer
3. Evaluated available deals on Saving Star and activated deals that fit my list and also anticipated future needs
4. Evaluated my coupons and compared them to my list and Saving Star deals
5. Talked to my son about our budget and grocery needs vs wants
6. Allowed my son two wants that were on sale AND available deals on Saving Star AND that I had coupons for 
7. Allowed myself one want that was on sale AND an available deal on Saving Star AND that I had a coupon for

Here's the breakdown of my purchase, before coupons, after coupons, and after Saving Star:

• Original subtotal: $65.72
• After club card savings and coupons: $47.94
• After Saving Star rewards (pending approval): $45.04

If you haven't used Saving Star, you activate various offers (like say $5 back on a $15 Angel Soft toilet paper purchase). You submit bar code numbers for the qualifying items in your purchase and then scan and upload your receipt with those items on it. They evaluate your bar code numbers and receipt and either approve or don't approve the purchases. If they approve, you are given a rebate in the offer amounts. Once you reach $5 or more, you have the option to keep accumulating or to have the funds transferred to you via PayPal.

In the past, I used to be able to save 60% on a grocery purchase easily without going extreme on the couponing. My process, both then and now takes less than 30 minutes per week, not counting the actual shopping. Unfortunately, in the past my local store used to double coupons but they stopped quite some time ago.

Now that I've done a bit of grocery shopping, we'll be working meal plans and eating through everything before we go grocery shopping again, even if it means eating some really weird meals.

How are you saving on your groceries?

Financial Peace Planner Accountability Check-In Chapter 1

 

Last week, I posted about Chapter 1 of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Planner (read about it HERE). Well, today I thought I should check in.

Last week, I wrote out my top five money fears and then some goals for the week. The money fears were not really a problem, but the goals? Um, yeah, I didn't do so great at two of them--two out of four isn't terrible is it???

My top five money fears as laid out last week:
ONE: I won't be able to fix my financial situation. 
TWO: There will never be enough money. 
THREE: My son will be stuck taking care of my financial needs later in life. 
FOUR: I'll lose my home due to lack of money to pay the rent. 
FIVE: My debt will grow instead of shrink.

Well, I know I can avoid these money fears turning into reality if I am proactive EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. One way I'm doing this is by publicly posting some stats on a daily basis. I started on January 1st and you can see the stats in the sidebar to the right. But, here's a little screenshot as of January 3, 2016:

I am actually feeling incredibly proud of the days without soda and without unplanned spending! I even went to the grocery store and walked right past two of the spots where I would normally grab a soda and a cheap loaf of garlic bread--two of my grocery store temptations.

By tracking my goals and being focused on my desired end results, I'm at a much higher likelihood of success. I even earned an unexpected $20 on Sunday for a rush editing job! That little bit of extra income helped to bolster my determination to meet my goals.

The goals I set for last week: 
SPIRITUAL: Do yoga Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and focus on my breathing and clearing my mind. 
PHYSICAL: Exercise daily beyond yoga -- a walk or bicycling. 
MENTAL: Read a business, personal development, and social or political article every day. 
RELATIONAL: More hugs for my son and putting down whatever is in my hands and focusing on him when he has something that he wants to talk about.

I basically didn't do any yoga or bicycling, although I did get in a two mile walk. I also managed to read every single day, though not necessarily articles. Instead, I read books (you can read about my reading HERE).

This week:
My money fears haven't changed, but the grip they have over me has eased up a lot. My goals, however, are in flux. As I discussed in my reading post, reading more is a top priority. Reading is both spiritual and mental for me. And, connecting with my son is something that will always be essential. Physically, I probably won't get a lot of bicycling in this week, but I will be doing a lot of walking as we are house sitting a puppy and she needs LOTS of exercise. Walking is ideal and we have a great two mile loop. I also joined a walking and running club that meets three days per week. I plan to start with them next week.

I anticipate a good week. How about you?

January 2016 reading list

One of my goals for 2016 is to make reading a bigger part of my life on a daily basis. I LOVE to read, but recently realized how little of it I've been doing. Even more, I realized how negatively NOT reading is affecting my mood.

I have been incredibly bored.

I've been grouchy.

I've been disengaged.

Reading keeps me happy. It keeps me healthy. It keeps me going.

Some time ago I had begun tracking my reading, inspired by Nick Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree (read about it HERE) and the Rory Gilmore Reading List (find it HERE), but then I lost track, started reading a lot less, and generally kinda lost motivation for most things. It was a slow slide and I didn't really notice for a long time. Then, little by little last month I started to realize that a big part of my feeling depressed lately has been due to a lack of (among other things) reading.

Mid-December, I started picking up library books every time I met with a tutoring student and have had a consistent stack of books bedside, on my living room table, and on my desk ever since. Sure, I have books at home, but I was missing the excitement of something NEW to read -- I have many books that I read, read again, and read yet again, but I just needed NEW and CONSISTENT.

Then, today, two of my favorite people posted bookish items on Facebook. Michelle Ward of When I Grow Up Coach and Leonie Dawson from the Shining Biz + Life Academy both posted asking for book recommendations (in closed/private groups/pages so I can't link to the discussions...sorry!). Michelle was seeking more upbeat, funny, memoir-ish, essay-ish types of material and Leonie's was more of a "Whatcha reading that ya lovin?"

So, here's my list -- loosely broken out by category:

Personal Finance and Personal Development:

• Money: A Love Story by Kate Northrup 
• ~Ing by Gabby Bernstein
• Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better by Pema Chödrön
• Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Business, Work, and Career Development: 

• Wiser: Getting Beyond Group Think to Make Groups Smarter by Cass Sunstein and Reid Hastie
• Duct Tape Selling: Think Like a Marketer--Sell Like a Superstar by John Jantsch
• We: How to Increase Performance and Profits Through Full Engagement by Rudy Karsan and Kevin Kruse

Memoir/Biography/Autobiography:

• Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik

Fiction:

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (In SPANISH!)
• The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
• El tiempo entre costuras by María Dueña 

Poetry: 

• War of the Foxes by Richard Siken
• Erratic Facts by Kay Ryan
• We Mammals in Hospitable Times by Jynne Dilling Martin

Other Reading:

• Shades of Blue: Writers on Depression, Suicide, and Feeling Blue edited by Amy Ferris
• The End of Memory by Jay Ingram

I started many of these books in December, but have been really ramping up my reading over the last few days and anticipate finishing a few in the next couple of days and others within the next two weeks. 

In December, I finished:

• Beautiful Unbroken by Mary Jane Nealon (memoir)
• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (fiction)
• Like a Beggar by Ellen Bass (poetry)
• Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (memoir/personal development)

Over the past year, I've seen numerous articles about how the richest, most successful people are readers. They read a lot and regularly. Is it any wonder? Minimize television, increase reading. 

Actively engage your mind. 

Learn. 

Be curious. 

So, what are you reading? What have you read that you loved? What have you read that you hated?