Breathing Room

Having breathing room has always been a concept that I struggle with. I am definitely a Type A person who cannot say no. Let's just say I'm a fixer. If there is a problem to be solved, a volunteer event to volunteer for, I am there. Throughout the years, the amount of breathing room I have allowed myself has ebbed and flowed, but I was always in control of how much I had to spare. If I was feeling stressed, no problem, I would just cancel something, do a little rearranging, and voila, breathing room.

That said, it definitely took me a long time to get to that place. That place where I put myself before others, say no to things, and just took an afternoon off. I never quite got it 100% right 100% of the time, but I was working toward that.

Now queue in a new job with an hour and fifteen minute commute each way and pretty rigid hours. Over the past few weeks my breathing room has all but disappeared during the week. Now don't get me wrong, there is no feeling bad for myself here. I am now working for a company that values its employees, does have work life balance, and is way less taxing for more gratifying work. What has really thrown a wrench in everything is my choice to work such a long commute away from home.

So how do I find breathing room in a limited schedule. This is definitely something I am still working on, but here are some things that have helped me over the past few weeks.

1. Having a workout routine
I am someone who holds a lot of my stress physically, not just mentally. When I am stressed, I get muscle spasms that incapacitate me, I get sick, my body generally breaks down and goes on strike. By waking up just 30 minutes earlier and doing a quick workout, I have completely changed the way I feel over the past few weeks. Not only do I feel stronger, but I am more alert, have more energy, and can let things roll off my back much easier.

2. Weeknight chores
Although I get home pretty late compared to how early I go to bed (I'm an old lady with a 9pm bedtime), I have started doing at least one chore every night. It could be a load of laundry, tidying up, getting groceries on my way home, pretty much anything that I would have normally saved for the weekend. This has freed up my weekends tremendously and I find myself enjoying my time with family and friends so much more without having to worry about my list of chores.

3. To Do Lists
Now this is a tough one for someone with an obsessive, Type A personality. Through therapy, I learned to give up my lists a long time ago with the exception of work. I would always find myself over scheduled and write up these insane lists and obsess over every little things I didn't live up to. Pretty much a very unhealthy habit. Over the past few weeks, however, I have started slowly incorporating lists back into my daily routine. I am keeping them painstakingly simple and short to keep myself from spinning out of control, but they have allowed me to organize myself in a way that allows me to get more done during the week leaving my weekends free.

As has been the story of my life lately, just as I have begun to struggle with and try to get some breathing room in my life, my church has started a new series on the topic. I am so excited to see what I can learn from God's message about having a little more wiggle room in my life.

How do you find breathing room?

October Review

Now that the Halloween madness has subsided and the sugar coma is starting to set in, it is time to review my progress for the month.

I must admit, although I'm pretty good about sticking to the budget throughout the month, the last week of the month is usually where I go a little crazy when I see the extra money. I know that my "little crazy" is now pretty tame compared to some, but $20 here or there can really add up and go a long way. Luckily, I was really able to stick to me guns and pay off way more than I thought I would be able to.

Here is the tally on the extra I was able to pay off on my own:
Ann Taylor: $387.70
Bob's Furniture: $380
Navient: $350
Total extra: $1,117.70

My mom and I were also able to make more pasteles this month and we brought in an additional $670 which was sent off to the same Navient (aka Sallie Mae) loan that I was able to apply my own extra funds to. Thanks to all of these blessings, I have now paid off 7.28% of my debt since beginning my Total Money Makeover in July.

Above is a snippet of my November totals showing what I will have in extra funds at the end of month, God willing, as well as my progress so far. Words cannot describe how excited I am!! If all goes as planned for this month, I will not only be able to pay off another student loan, but I will also be able to make a significant dent into my next smallest credit card payment.

Check back at the end of the month to see how I've done.