+1 goal for Sept

In addition to my self imposed buying restrictions for September, I am also going to make a goal of writing at least 10 blog posts. I seem to struggle with that... this will be my 9th for August and I haven't done better than that in awhile.

I'm also in the early stages of planning a trip! Since prices for travel have dropped drastically in the past year (plus my serious wanderlust) places that were once completely out of affordibility range now can be done for a long weekend. Currently I'm looking at Boston or San Francisco, but I may have to stick a little closer to home with New Orleans or something.

Any suggestions on cities that are a decent, cheap flight from almost anywhere?

New Andrea Camilleri translation!

SO excited for the newest translation of the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri, Wings of the Sphinx! It'll be released December 29, 2009... I can't wait!

Are there any new books you can't wait to be released?

The State of my Roth IRA

The past several years have wreaked havoc on people's retirement accounts as stocks plummeted and recovery is slow. Luckily I have 40 more years before I can retire so my teensy account has plenty of time to recover....

But today, for the heck of it, I checked my Roth IRA. On the right-hand side of the screen capture below, you can see where I have put in exactly $8,150 and my currently value if cashed out today would be $8,080.62 for a return of -69.38. Now, considering the state the economy has been in I consider this great news. Not a 10% return over the past few years, but I have been able to essentially stockpile shares at low, low prices while I waited for the market to recover.

My 401(k) should be beginning soon and I am looking forward to the opportunity to grow my retirement fund. That will be a whole different post when I have to figure out how to allocate funds to both in order to maximize my investments...

How do you manage your retirement funds? Do you have multiple accounts across different types of investments?

Perfect Painting for a Kitchen

I love the little teapot painting by Yellow Owl Workshop! If my kitchen weren't painted that hideous attempt at moss green I would scoop it up and put it behind my sink.

Month of no frivolous spending

I decided today that September will be the month of no frivolous spending. That means no clothes, makeup, books, iPhone games, iTunes music, notebooks, plants, etc. Things that are on my "can buy" list right now are food, household essentials and gifts (just in case!). Oh, and for books I can just PaperbackSwap them until October. :)

I stopped at HEB on the way home from work and ran across this lovely bouquet of peachy-pink roses and thought "what the hey?" and got them. Just a little something to brighten up my day.

Succulent Centerpieces

(Photos by Choco Studio via Style Me Pretty)

I absolutely love these succulents as centerpieces! I could totally imagine using that last planter with small dinosaur toys instead of animals...

Just for fun

Top (left to right): umbrella - Brad Ward / chair - Eva Lindh / gown - Vera Wang Look 7 Center: dress - Jenny You / cupcakes - SweetTiers by Hester / invitation - Ugly Kitty / lights -SideHike Bottom: flowers - Real Flower Company / boots - Burberry / candles - Martha Stewart Weddings

I put this inspiration board together for a competition last month and I liked it so much I wanted to share. The idea was sort of a romantic, rainy day garden party where nobody lets the rain ruin their happiness!

Fourteen.

(photo via lululemon)

Yesterday I read that it takes 13 classes to really get into Bikram yoga. Today was my 14th class. And let me tell you, it was leaps and bounds better than the last.

The first Bikram class I attended, I hated every minute of. During savasana I stared at the ceiling thinking how much I wanted "normal" yoga right at that moment and was never coming back, screw the 10-day pass I'd just purchased. But after I left the room the first time, I felt incredible. So I went back the next day, and again, I hated it, but not quite so much as the first time... and again, when I left the room, I felt incredible. Here I am, 3 weeks and 14 classes later committed to approximately 12 months of unlimited Bikram yoga.

How did I get here from where I was 3 weeks ago? I have no idea. But I know my shoulder pain is mostly gone. I eat less. I drink more water. I sleep better. Etc etc etc.

My poses have improved drastically over the past several weeks as well. Day 1--I'm slightly embarassed to say--I was so proud of myself with how well I could do all the poses, and I only had to lay down three times! But I didn't do the poses correctly, and that's okay. Now I pick a specific body part to focus on (it's been legs the past few classes) and make sure I have that body part correct in every single pose.

Today I pushed my backbend further than I have before and it felt amazing! My spine popped a little but I almost felt as though I could hold the pose forever...

Do you practice any form of yoga? How long have you been practicing? What changes, good or bad, have you noticed?

A tale of two checking accounts

Happy Saturday everyone! After this past month I've decided there has to be a better way to handle my finances between necessity/non-necessity. Currently I've been transferring X amount of money to my savings account and having the rest sit in my no-interest Bank of America checking.

So this past week I decided to open up a second checking with the same bank as my highest interest savings accounts, ING Direct. I did this for 2 reasons: 1) The checking actually earns interest so any money sitting there is getting more than my BOA savings account and 2) I can do same day transfers between my savings/ING checking.

Number 2 is really important to me because I can put money into my savings but transfer to the checking if absolutely necessary.

I also calculated how much I am approximately spending per month on bills... for me this involves rent, cell, energy, water, yoga, student loan repayment, etc.--let's say $1000 for simplicity's sake. Then, I changed my paycheck direct deposit to put in exactly $1000 per month, or $500 per paycheck. That way, I know the bill money will not be confused with the other money.

The rest of the paycheck is deposited into BOA checking and I have that for everything else! Retirement savings, emergency fund, groceries, shopping, etc will all come out of it.

Is there a special way you help manage your finances?