Piggy Bank

To save money for our trip (see last post) I was going to buy a piggy bank. But then I thought I'll save even more by making my own. Here's my piggy bank made from an Almond Rocca tin.
And the money's already adding up! I think I have at least 35 bucks in there!

England

Clockwise starting top left: Me, Amy, Sunny

My two closest friends now BOTH live in England together, and I'm left alone in Utah. I find myself wishing I was there, not for a vacation, but to be with them. When I got talking to Jake about it we started scheming a possible trip come this spring!

At first I thought it would be selfish of me to spend money on a trip abroad when we have so little. But that thought is starting to sound more and more ridiculous. Relationships are the most important thing to me and priority, and a relationship will die if you only see each other once a decade.

So I'm saving. Saving like it was a depression. I mentioned my plan to spend only what I earn through excersise on basically EVERYthing except bare essentials. That's still my plan, but I'm cutting back even more. Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without.

A workout at least 1 hour every day ($6), 6 days a week would earn over $1000 by April. Plus I put all my tips in the piggy bank. It's a bit of a sacrifice, but completely worth it. And with gas going down, flights will go down, and we will even be able to spend a little on sight seeing if the tickets are low.

I miss my girls!

MOTIVATION with MONEY to workout

I came up with a brilliant way to save money and motivate myself to exercise!!! Okay, well I didn't completely come up with the idea. It was briefly mentioned by Connie E Sokol during a lecture (Fit and Fabulous) at education week: "I know a woman who pays herself to excercise 10 dollars for every half hour."

This spark sat inside my head for a while. The race is what was really motivating me at that point. But that is over, and I really need some more motivation. I modified this idea a lot so it would really work for me and not against me. The fact that I worked out well one week shouldn't give me right to go out and spend money frivolously. Here's the brilliant plan rules:

• I workout for 10 minutes (any exercise), I get $1.


• Must stop time for breaks (only credit for moving time)


• Run 3 miles, get $5 (to my advantage to run faster and harder)


• May not spend any money on non-essentials unless it has already been earned (no tabs)

Now, the non-essentials part may be interpreted broadly when I really want something, so I have been specific with myself. Unless it is a business expense, food, gas, or basic toiletries (special shampoo/makeup do not count) then I must buy it with my workout fund. That means for more than a basic $8 trim from dollar cuts, I need to earn the $30 haircut by working out for 300 minutes or run 18 miles. I recently bought hangers with the money I accrued running the race. Now I'm completely broke. But my closet looks amazing and I'm really motivated to workout tonight so I can get more organizin materials. This really makes me think about what I'm spending and what my priorities are. Plus, no fee for the gym! Some people pay for the gym to motivate themselves because if they don't go, they are loosing money. What a waste!

Go money-saving, fat-ditching ME!