In the pursuit of joy

Two weeks into the new year, and I’m surprised the direction things have already taken.

My biggest goals for this year are around fun, finances, and fitness, and so far? I’m crushing it. (Shut the fuck up. I know it’s been two weeks, and it’s been stressful AF. And I’m STILL smashing them goals.)

I’ve hit barre and yoga classes. I’ve walked the extra mile (in the most literal sense). I remembered how good it feels to move.

I bought hot pink rainboots. Nights in and out with friends have been killer from New Year’s Day on, and I’ve got trips planned throughout the year. I’ll be in Mexico next month for my birthday, and I cannot WAIT.

And as for the finances? I’m still on point so far.

I’ll be honest, this last week was fucking brutal, though. Work required longer hours than usual to conduct our annual planning, and I missed a lot of time with my kids. It sucked, and I’m not letting it happen again, if I can help it.

It’s not a kid weekend for me, but my son’s dad let me steal him away to the zoo for a few hours. We kicked it on the carousel and lived large for a couple of hours before I started working through my pile of freelance work.

The past couple of weeks, there has been a decent chunk of it. To make my goal this year of getting all this debt paid off, I have to stay on track at about $1000 a week. I’m hoping to get there before the end of the year, and fitting $100 tasks into my spare time has actually been really effective.

Here’s what I did over the last two weeks for the curious:

– Edited a page of website content (3x)
– Adding an item to a Facebook page and created a basic ad strategy
– Business consultation
– Branding consultation
– (Preferred to remain anonymous)

The $100 tasks were fun, and they allowed me to work with new people at a low risk point. And the results? Some solid testimonials, and a grand total of $700 to put towards debt repayment. (I’d like to do 3 more of these. Pitch me a project. The worst that happens is I say no.)

And then, I sold a Fix this past week, writing a banging sales page and a 4-email funnel sequence for a therapist/dietitian team advancing the conversation on body positivity and weight neutral healthcare solutions to conscious providers. (It’s fucking awesome, btw – will share when it goes live.) That’s $1000 more towards paying the heap down. Woo!

It was a good week for found money, too. You know, like when you find out your apartment has a million fucking problems, and you finally get the balls to tell them off and ask for a week of free rent. That’s a few hundred dollars I don’t have to pay next month. Totally worth the 10 minutes of irate emails I had to write and send.

I also signed up for BillShark – a service that negotiates your bills down for you. You save money; they only take a cut if they can get your bill reduced. (Use my link, and we each get $10.)

And last but not least, let’s talk crypto.

My boyfriend got me started with my cryptocurrency portfolio for Christmas, and I’ve been having a blast learning about blockchain. I’ve invested a little bit more since then, and I’m starting to learn the ropes when it comes to discovering and vetting new ICOs. In less than a month it has 2x’d, which is freaking nuts, but hey, that’s the way it goes for the moment. It might not be as reliable as my Acorns investments (sign up through my link, and we both get $5), but it’s an exciting time to be involved in an industry so fast paced.

That’s the state of the debt repayment plan! So far, I’m right on track, but I’m going to have to keep up on this pretty aggressively at this rate. Here’s to hoping the bubble doesn’t pop before I cash out!