Should I Take A Meditation Class?

The past few days I have been considering taking a meditation class this summer. I have a really hard time quieting my brain. There are two that sound interesting and are offered at a college not too far from where I live.

They are:

Relaxation & Stress Reduction Through Reiki
REIKI is a gentle, yet powerful, non-invasive hands-on healing technique. Discover for yourself the power of Reiki. This ancient healing system supports our body’s natural ability to heal holistically. Reiki promotes deep relaxation and inner-peace. Participate in a guided meditation, and then you will receive a Reiki mini-session while you sit in a chair. Come and share this peaceful, joyful experience.

Meditation for Stress Reduction
In Chinese medicine, the speed, sensation and sound of one's breathing can diagnose both physical and emotional conditions of one's past, present and future. Living in a time of fast
rhythm, mastering the breathing becomes the key of mastering the overall well-being. Step by step techniques of daily breathing awareness will be taught according to 5 different personality types. Experience the ancient art of Self-discovery & Transformation, attaining clarity and harmony of body, and consciousness.

The are both $150. The Reiki is only 2 sessions while the meditation is 8, though I will have to miss the last session because of vacation. I'm beginning to think the reason my fatigue started was because of stress. In fact, the fatigue started around the same time as I submitted my application to go back to graduate school. (I am so glad I'm not doing that anymore).

So I'm asking for some advice? Is $150 worth it? Or is that expensive? Which class would you take? Should I take a class at all?

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April Goal Update

I'd say the April was a mixed bag. I did really well for some goals and failed miserably in others. All in all I'm satisfied, though I'm welcoming May and a new budget.

Goal # 1: Come under budget by $50.
Failed. I went over budget by $60.

Goal #2: Continue my own lunch-challenge.
Awesome! I'm so good at this goal.

Goal #3: Shop smarter at the grocery store.
I actually did a pretty good job with this one. I'm joining Krystal's May challenge which should help me get even better at this.

Goal #4: Plan my trip to Denver into my budget.
Partly. The $60 I went over in my budget count towards my Denver trip. I'll be dipping into my travel fund to pay for this.

Goal #5: No more then an hour and 1/2 of tv a day during the week.
Partly. Most days I've been good about this, but when the weather sucks I tend to watch more TV.

Goal #6: Continue to be proactive about my health until I figure out what's causing the fatigue and other issues.
I've changed my eating habits, started exercising again (slowly), and tried to pay more attention to what my body is telling me. The results? Everyday I feel a little bit better. I'm hoping that soon I won't have to drag myself out of bed each morning.

Goal #7: Two no spend days a week.
I wasn't great at keeping track. I may try this goal again next month.

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Changing My Gift Goal

I've decided to readjust my gift fund goal from $1000 to $500. I'm not actually sure why I decided to have the goal at $1000. It seems high to me now.  

Lately I feel like I'm never going to reach my fund goals (or my emergency fund goal) by January 2009. I think I need to be more realistic about what I can save. I also need to focus on increasing my travel fund before July. 

Since I am not planning on getting a dog anytime soon I'm going to leave my Boston Terrier Fund at $100 for now and return to it once my travel account is fully funded. 

I've also decided that the majority of my stimulus check will go into my travel fund. I still plan on going summer shopping with at least $100, maybe $150. =)

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When My Class Is Over

The bad news is I'm taking a class that I don't like, the good news is that it's almost over. My paper is due on Wednesday and then I have a week to finish a final. I'm counting down the days. The tutoring that I'm doing also ends tomorrow. Soon my nights and weekends (currently spent doing work) will open up. I'm excited to finally get some things done that I have been putting off.

1. My apartment really needs to be cleaned.

2. Fix the wireless in my apartment.

3. Start running again. This time for real since I'm actually feeling better.

4. Finish my current knitting project and start something new.

5. Catch up on my magazines.

6. Start reading for fun again. 

7. Since I won't have to rush anymore, start walking home after work when the weather is nice.

I can't wait... =)

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April Recap

So how did my budget go this month? Not so great. I went over by $62.52. I've decided that I would take money from my travel fund to cover this. I can rationalize this since I did go away for a weekend, however that didn't make my goal of planning my trip into my regular monthly budget. 

On top of the $62.52 I also spent $107 for a 10-class card at a yoga studio. Instead of letting this sit on my credit card, as I would have in the past, I'm going to pay it out of my emergency fund and then pay my emergency fund back.

I will give you my official monthly goal update on Wednesday.

 

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Sharing Salaries

This weekend the New York Times had an article entitled Not-So-Personal Finance. The article looks at the trend of young professionals openly talking about their money and salaries. Obviously as pfbloggers we all share what we make and how we budget with each other. But do you share it with your friends?

When I started my blog I immediately shared it with my bf, but no one else. However, now I have slowly been sharing my blog with some friends. Okay, so only two friends so far. This article got me thinking about who we talk about money with and who we don't. I've always been pretty open about what I make, but there are some people I won't share this kind of information. I'm not exactly sure why, is it their hesitation or mine?

Sometimes the right moment to share this information never comes up. As the article says:
"While salaries may be disclosed casually among friends, that doesn’t mean most young professionals brag about their incomes at a cocktail party. There is still an etiquette to sharing the information — a proper way to divulge. "

My favorite part of the article was a quote from a 28 year old publicity director, Kate Hubin:
“For my generation, salary is one piece of the job satisfaction and self-worth puzzle, but not the only metric we use,” she wrote in an e-mail message. “Status is not just about money any more. Everyone knows you generally have to suffer to make a big income, so high-earners talk about their salary in the course of complaining — is all this worth $180,000? — while low-earners see their paltry salaries as a token of lifestyle freedom.”

This I truly believe. Money is important, but how many of us would scarf ice happiness, freedom and satisfaction in our jobs just for large salaries? As much as I wish I were making more money, I'm happy in my job and I'd rather just learn how to live within my income.

Now if only I could find the happiness, freedom and satisfaction I have in my job AND a large salary...

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Microfinance

Do you believe in microfinance? Wikipedia defines microfinance as this:

"Microfinance refers to the provision of financial services to low-income clients, including the self-employed.[1] The term also refers to the practice of sustainably delivering those services.
More broadly, it refers to a movement that envisions “a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers."

I was reminded today, through an email, that a while back I had given a $50 loan to a 34 year old single mother of three in Kenya. She had requested a total of a $1000 to help her expand her two small business. Her first business is creating and selling crafts. On top of this, taking care of her children and her parents she also collects recyclable garbage from dumping sites and sells them to a recycling company. So, how did I loan her $50? Through Kiva.

Kiva is a person-to-person micro-lending website that connects those of us in the developed world and those in the developing world. The following is from there website:

"The people you see on Kiva's site are real individuals in need of funding - not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs' profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need."

The email I received today informed me that the woman I lent my $50 to has paid back 55% of her $1000 loan. I'm amazed that this women, with all of her responsibilities plus the recent political struggle in Kenya, has already been able to pay back 55% of her loan.

Once she repays the entire loan and I get my $50 back I'm sure I'll loan it to someone else. I haven't been as good as I hoped with my goal of $25 a month to charity, often forgetting about it until I've already run out of money. While lending through Kiva isn't charity, I think I'm going to use my $25 a month to participate in more micro-loans. One of my fears about giving to charities is that the money will get caught up in administrative costs, or go to corrupt governments and never make it to the people who need it. Using Kiva I can be sure that my money is going to help someone who needs it, and when it is paid back, I can use it to help someone else. If you haven't already I urge you to check it out.

Note: This is not a sponsored post.

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Note About Weekly Goal Updates

I love having monthly goals . They help me focus and remind me to keep on track with my yearly goals. Plus I can cater them to what is currently happening my life.

However, I have decided I don't really like to update them every week. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it has been a long enough time to even know how I'm doing. Other times it feels tedious. So I've decided I will keep my monthly goals, but only give you an update on how they are doing twice a month.

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It's That Time Again

Goal update time!

Goal # 1: Come under budget by $50.
If all goes well...

Goal #2: Continue my own lunch-challenge.
Expect for the 90 cent candy bar, I'm still rocking this goal!

Goal #3: Shop smarter at the grocery store.
Yesterday I went and picked up $25 worth of stuff that will hopefully last until May. If it doesn't, then I guess I haven't been shopping smarter at the grocery store.

Goal #4: Plan my trip to Denver into my budget.
Accomplished!

Goal #5: No more then an hour and 1/2 of tv a day during the week.
I've been doing really well with this one.

Goal #6: Continue to be proactive about my health until I figure out what's causing the fatigue and other issues.
I've been feeling a lot better, though I still crash hard and night and have a difficult time getting up in the morning.

New Goal #7: Two no spend days a week.
Um, I can't remember last Wednesday, but at the very least I had one no spend day this week.

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Tagged By My Money Story

Tracy at My Money Story tagged me for a six word memoir:

Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post
4. Tag at least 3 more blogs =
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play

Here is my six-word memoir:

Striving to find the right balance.

Please tag yourself on this one!

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Chocolate Craving

Do you ever just need chocolate? Sadly, every once in a while the craving for a chocolate (and it's normally a craving for a real chocolate bar) takes over me.

I just spent 90 cents (90 cents!) on a twix from the vending machine. This is the first time I've bought any food since Krystal started her no buying lunch challenge. My new goal is to only buy lunch at work once a month. I guess I'll count this as a snack to my lunch out. =)

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Another No Spend Day

After all is said and done with the Denver trip, I have $115 for the rest of the month. Not bad, but it still may be difficult to reach my goal of coming under by $50. I desperately need to go to the grocery store, however my plan is to just buy the essentials: bread, fruit, cereal, snacks. Basically food for breakfast and lunch. Since I have to spend a good deal of time working on a paper for my class this weekend, it will hopefully be a low spend weekend. However, I do have a friends birthday party Saturday night and that could go either way.

I had a no spend day yesterday, mostly due to a good friend who just bought an apartment. Yesterday was the closing and I helped him move some stuff into his new place. It is a great studio with views of the Hudson and you can even see the George Washington Bridge from the bathroom window. He bought me dinner and a drink for helping him out, so unnecessary but I'm very grateful. My plan is to get him a really nice housewarming gift, perhaps from my travels this summer.

I will be spending money at the grocery store tonight, but I'm hoping to have a no spend day tomorrow.

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Denver Trip

I had an awesome time! I'm sad the weekend is over but alas it is time to get back to life and time to review what I spent:

Food and Drinks: $118.14

Bank Fee: $3.75

Snowboard Rental: $31.73

Lodging: $40.00

Total Spent: $193.62

$6.38 under my goal!!

Now I know you are wondering. How did I possibly go to Denver, spend under $200, and go snowboarding...

Well here's how:

Flight - my bf had a free flight and he graciously paid for the amount over (Thank you!).

Lodging - we stayed with my bf's friend, so only paid for the condo we stayed in the night before we went snowboarding. Because it was off-season (last weekend the mountain was open) we got a good size 1 bedroom condo for $120 and split it 3 ways.

Snowboarding - by renting from the place we were staying we got a 10% discount and my bf's friend was able to get two free lift tickets.

Eating and drinking - as you can see the majority of my money went towards eating and drinking. Free drinks on Saturday helped keep this amount as low as it is.

Bank Fee - sadly the atm I went to in nyc before leaving wasn't working so I had to take out some cash there. Next time I'll be smarter and plan ahead.

All in all it was a great trip, I came in under budget and had a great time. Oh, and the snowboarding...let's just say I spent more time sitting than standing. =)

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Weekly Goal Update

It's that time again...

Goal # 1: Come under budget by $50.
This is going to depend a lot on how much I spend this weekend. I still have hope though!

Goal #2: Continue my own lunch-challenge.
I'm doing awesome.

Goal #3: Shop smarter at the grocery store.
I haven't really gone grocery shopping this week, except to pick up bread. So I guess that means I'm doing well by default?

Goal #4: Plan my trip to Denver into my budget.
I will let you know how this goes after this weekend.

Goal #5: No more then an hour and 1/2 of tv a day during the week.
Um, half and half with this one. Last Thursday and Monday I definitely went over, but I have been good besides that!

Goal #6: Continue to be proactive about my health until I figure out what's causing the fatigue and other issues.
My doctors appointment went well and hopefully I will be able to start exercising again. It still takes me a while to get up in the morning but I'm much better once I get moving. Changing my diet has really helped.

New Goal #7: Two no spend days a week.
Done! Thursday and yesterday.

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Weekend Trip

Tomorrow my bf and I are going Denver for the weekend. I have a feeling this isn't going to be a cheap weekend. Especially since we are going skiing. I've never been skiing before so I'll have to rent everything and possibly get a lesson. Right now I'm trying to see if I can get a pair of snow pants. Yes, I don't even own snow pants.

Yesterday I was telling a friend I didn't have a pair and she seemed surprised. But really, if you don't ski or snowboard or go sledding all the time, why would you have a pair?

Anyways, that was a sidebar. I'm doing pretty well on my budget that even if I spend $200 I'll be able to make it through the month, though it will be tight. I also have my travel fund, but I would rather not have to taken money out of there. As it is I need to be funneling more money into my travel fund. So here is hoping all goes well!

Also, while I might post again today, I probably won't have time to post before leaving for the airport tomorrow. So this weekend will be a quiet one on the blogging front for me. I will post again on Monday when I get back.

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New May Challenge

I just joined Krystal's May monthly challenge. This time it's about groceries: Can you stay under your goal? My goal for May is not to spend over $150 in groceries. I'm actually not sure how much I spend on groceries a month, I don't have a set budget for them though it's easy to check. I do think $150 is a very doable goal, and will hopefully help me to think harder about what I buy.

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What Will You Do With Your Stimulus Check?

Our stimulus checks are on there way. You can go to the IRS website to find out when yours will be mailed or direct deposited. Mine will be direct deposited so I know it will be here before I realize, so lately I have been trying to figure out exactly what I will do with mine.

At first I thought I would just put it all into my emergency fund, but now I'm not so sure. I'm worried I won't have enough money in my travel fund and I'm itching to buy some spring/summer clothes. So I have been debating about what to do. I can put $500 into my emergency fund and $100 for shopping, or $300 in my e-fund, $200 in my travel and $100 for shopping. I could even switch it and put $300 in travel and $200 in my e-fund and $100 for shopping. I'm starting to lean towards putting more in travel, since if I don't have enough saved to cover my travels I'll probably end up taking money to pay my bills from my e-fund anyway.

As you can see the one thing I'm sure of is that I will use $100 to shop. $100 isn't a lot when buying clothes but I think with some bargain shopping I could pick up a summer dress, some shirts and a pair of shorts. Okay so I probably can't get away with getting that much for my money, but not harm in hoping for the best.

What do you plan on doing with your check?

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Not A Cheap Weekend

My goal of not spending very much money this weekend didn't happen. But it was a fun one so I have to say worth it, plus it could have been a lot worse.

Here's what I spent:

Drink on Friday night: $22
Breakfast on Saturday: $6.90
Yoga Mat: $21.19
Lunch on Saturday: $21.79
Train Ticket: $9.25
Desert & Bread Sunday night: $12.48

Total: $93.61

Okay so not horrible, but not great either. The good thing is that I shouldn't need to buy anything until Denver so I'm still in pretty good shape.

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7 Random Things About Me

I was tagged by Saving4Later to list 7 random facts about me. I have to say this was much harder to come up with then I expected!

1. I LOVE peanut butter & jelly. I've probably had it for lunch almost every day during the week since I was 5. I never get sick of it, and sometimes I end up eating my sandwich early just thinking about how good it is going to taste.

2. I have around 30 pairs of shoes, more if you count my flip flops. However, I end up wearing about 5 pairs in constant rotation and that's it. I want to wear my others, but it is just easier to leave a few pairs at work and change into them when I get here.

3. In college I loved my birkenstocks so much that I would wear them in the winter with wool socks. Boy I'm glad I grew out of that habit!

4. I've never had my hair very long. The longest it has been is probably two inches past my shoulder. Whenever I try to grow it out I get so sick of it I end up cutting it short again.

5. I don't like to touch people I don't know. I don't mind bumping into people but I hate when I'm on a train or subway and my arm is touching the arm of the person sitting next to me. It's strange I know.

6. I was incredibly shy growing up. I completely relied on my best friend to make friends for me. It is something I've worked very hard at overcoming, but it still sometimes takes me time to warm up to people in large groups. I'm also hoping to eventually take a public speaking class to help me get better at speaking in front of large groups. I sometimes forget to breathe.

7. I've always tended to have friends from different places or "cliques" and I've always wanted them all to be friends with each other. This doesn't always happen, but in high school and college I used to try to bring everyone together in hopes everyone would love each other. Luckily, I've moved past this as well.

I'm tagging Chicky Finance & Budgets Are Sexy. They both have already done a photo blog of items surrounding them in their office and home. It's pretty cool, you should check it out!

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Surveys

Around the same time as I started this blog I signed up to take surveys for money. I thought it would be an easy and convenient way to make some extra cash. This has turned out to be true, however I've discovered something about myself: I hate taking surveys.

They take up a lot of time. I feel as if I'm answering the same questions over and over again. And I just find them boring. So I've decided to stop. The extra cash would really help me move closer to having $5,000 in my emergency fund by 2009, but it's not worth it. I don't really need the money and it isn't enough money to make it worthwhile.

I've always wanted a job that I love and I've been lucky enough to find that. I'm not going to make myself miserable by doing something I hate for just a little extra money. However, I'm not sure if my decision would be the same if the money was really good. For example if I made $20 a survey I think I would probably stick it out.

How about my fellow pfbloggers out there. Would you do something you hate if the money was good enough?

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Weekly Goal Update

Okay so I know it's not Friday, but I totally forgot to give an update on how well my April goals are going. Looking right now at the calendar right above my computer screen I've decided that this month I will update my weekly goals every Wednesday. Why, you ask. Because the month ends on a Wednesday (okay, and mostly because I forgot to last Friday). So let me get down to business.


Goal # 1: Come under budget by $50.
It's too early to tell on this one, however now that I've decided to start taking yoga it may be more difficult then originally planned.


Goal #2: Continue my own lunch-challenge.
No problems here. I've really gotten to the point where I enjoy the lunch I bring over buying lunch. The key for me is to bring lots of snacks and vary them. Today I have a yogurt, apple, granola bar, carrot sticks and almonds. I have more then usual today since I won't be getting home until 10 and I don't want to buy dinner. Oh and I also have two sandwiches.


Goal #3: Shop smarter at the grocery store.
I'm in between on this one. I have had some good grocery store shopping, but when I went on Monday I failed to really think about what I was buying. This of course led me to buy salad without salad dressing. My salad last night was very sad indeed. I need to pay more attention to this goal.


Goal #4: Plan my trip to Denver into my budget.
I was very careful about not spending too much money this weekend and if I follow suit this weekend I'll be in a good place for Denver. I think I can definitely do this.


Goal #5: No more then an hour and 1/2 of tv a day during the week.
I've actually been doing really well with this goal. Last night I did end up watching for 15 minutes too long, but as soon as I realized I turned it off. Tonight I won't get home until 10 so that shouldn't be an issue and tomorrow I plan on going trader joe's and then home to do work. Oh and I don't consider Friday's as part of the week. If I want to watch a 2 hour movie on Friday night you better believe that I'm going too!

Goal #6: Continue to be proactive about my health until I figure out what's causing the fatigue and other issues.
I have a doctor's appointment on Monday and I'm being very active on trying to eat better. I also gave up caffeine yesterday. So this goal is moving along.

New Goal #7: Two no spend days a week.
Sunday and yesterday. Done!

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No Spend Days

I really enjoyed how well my no spend Sunday went. Many of you pfbloggers track your no spend days and I think I'm going to start doing that as well. I'm starting with a small goal of having 2 no spend days a week.

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Yoga

My friend and I have decided to start yoga. I've done it before and loved it, but the high prices have kept me away.

I have decided to make it a priority because I think it will benefit my health. I have one of those minds that never stops. As much as I try to calm it down it's always going in a couple directions at once. The last class I took was for an hour and 1/2 once a week and my favorite part was the meditation. After moving my body into poses I didn't think possible (I'm not very flexible either) actually being able to quiet my mind was amazing.

So what does it cost? I found a place near where both of us work that isn't too expensive. The first class is $10. A 10 class card is $107. $10.70 a class isn't so bad. If I take one class a week I can think of it as $50 a month and it seems very doable.

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Health Update

So I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I shouldn't have gone back to this doctor, but when my referral didn't go through for this new guy (and my doctor was on vacation last week) I got anxious and made an appointment with her.

She sucked. Basically told me that my biggest issue, the fatigue, isn't really a big deal. Okay so she said that in other words, but its the gist. She's a very by the blood work doctor and didn't take into account my other symptoms. So I left very very frustrated. On the point of tears.

Anyway I get back into work and I have a message from my primary care physician. She just got back from vacation and my test results came in. I tested positive for Epstein Barr antibodies. Finally validation that something is actually wrong with me! But it also sucks because there isn't much you can do for Epstein Barr. Oh, and I didn't test positive for mono.

My doctor thinks it may just be one piece to the puzzle so I'm going to continue to try and rule some stuff out. Has anyone had Epstein Barr? Does anyone have suggestions on what I can do to make myself feel better?

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Did I Make My No Spend Sunday?

YES!!!  And very easily too! =)  Sadly, my Monday didn't go as well. I spent $20 this morning on a doctor's copay and $36.22 on groceries this evening. I hope to do a health update later this evening.

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Can I Have A No Spend Sunday?

I've actually been pretty frugal this weekend. I did spend $49 on train tickets, but I won't have to spend money on my train ticket next weekend. My bf and I got treated to a really nice and delicious dinner on Friday night and last night we had pizza, $17.84. Not bad. 

So can I go all of today without spending money? Since we are having dinner at my parents I'm hoping it won't be a problem. 

Sunday Goal: Spend NO Money!

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DNA (Do Not Assume)

The Office of Disability Services at the institution I work gives away buttons with the acronym "dna". It stands for "do not assume". They use it to inform faculty that they should not assume a student doesn't have a disability just because one isn't visible. As a person of mixed-race I immediately liked the idea of dna, though for a different reason. You shouldn't assume a person's background from their looks or name alone. Today I attended a voluntary training event for allies of LGBTQ, where once again I was struck by the theme of not assuming.

This got me thinking. When it comes to personal finance it is again important not to assume. Just because you have a friend who always has the newest gadget, throws around money or has a well paying job doesn't mean that friend is doing well financially. And it works both ways, just because a neighbor has been driving the same car for years, or a relative lives in a small house doesn't mean they don't have millions stocked away. What do we really know about people before we sit down and talk to them? Very little.

So every time I get jealous because a friend can just splurge on an $80 haircut, or of another friends shopping spree, or even when I find out someones salary - I'm going to think DNA. Do Not Assume. Just because people have nice things, or get paid well doesn't mean they are rich or saving their money.

Sometimes it's good to remind yourself you never really know.

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Do You Ever Get Frustrated?

I sometimes feel (okay almost all of the time) that my savings are increasing so slowly. It can be so frustrating to look at my salary and then see how little I end up saving. I do have a set amount of money that I funnel in savings every month, but then my goal is to come under budget so I can add more. However, it seems like something always comes up and I never come under budget. I really want to have a comfortable savings account before I focus on fully funding my Roth IRA. Sometimes though, I feel like I'll never get there...

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Knitting

Today was one of those very hectic work days where I barely got a chance to sit down. The good thing about these days is I always end feeling very productive and they just fly! The sad thing is I don't have time to post or read any new posts from my fellow pf bloggers. Luckily today I'm hanging around here for another 2 hours since I have class later tonight. This gives me a chance to catch up with email, read my pf bloggers and do homework I still need to do (oops).

I did take an hour out of my day to go to our bi-monthly knitting lunches. I've been knitting for a couple of years now, but my skills haven't really progressed past scarfs and fingerless gloves. My coworker just started organizing these lunches about a month ago and so far it has been great. I've become motivated to start knitting again and I'm learning from those who are much more advanced then me (that's almost everyone). In fact I even started a more challenging project last night, a cute knitted bag that I'm hoping I'll be able to keep knitting stuff in.

During this meeting one of the women asked the group if any of us kept the things we knitted. I've kept very little, and what I do keep is normally the first product of a new project. Many times I end up doing things twice cause I screw up the first time. Now that I'm seeing all the great things that you can make I'm very excited for my skills to progress to the point where I can knit my gifts. Since I don't buy expensive yarn this would be a great way for me to save money.

By the way, I did awesome on my tv goal last night and I will definitely make it tonight since I won't get home until around 10. =)

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Is It Spring?

I just had a meeting in another building not attached to our basement tunnel so I was forced to go outside. Forced, you ask, well you see I had forgotten that it is Spring. But oh it is!

Even though it's a cloudy damp day, its warm. It's 60 degrees outside and absolutely love it. Here is hoping that Spring comes soon and actually stays...

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Free TV

I don't have cable. It's incredibly expensive for someone living by themselves and I get basic channels plus TBS by just plugging my cable in. It was sad to give up some shows I enjoyed when I moved in by myself, but honestly I don't really miss it. In fact TBS has a surprisingly lot to offer. =)

A while ago I signed up to receive from Daily Cents. I haven't really found them particularly helpful and normally I just skim them and delete. However, today they are highlighting hulu.com, which is a website that allows you to watch free tv and movies. In there own words:

"After we discovered that they are the real deal, it became clear the site is more of a hook than a catch. You can watch all of your favorite current television shows – Lipstick Jungle, Nip/Tuck, The Office, and Project Runway. Go old-school and watch episodes of In Living Color, Miami Vice, I Dream of Jeannie, or Who’s the Boss.

The movie selection at Hulu makes 400 channels satellite television look weak. Cinematic choices range from Working Girl to Robin Hood: Men in Tights to Juno.

Turn out sometimes there really isn’t a catch. So grab your popcorn and log on. "

Since I just got the email and I'm at work I haven't had a chance to really check it out yet. Has any of you used this site before? Is it really legit?

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