“About Me” Archive

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Odd way to save cash…

I wear 6” heels every day to work. Before you jump on me for the future damage to my feet, ankles, and legs, hear me out.

I’m short and my leg to torso proportion closely resembles a crossbred Welsh corgi and a dachshund. I buy petite short pants… and have them hemmed.

Sure, I could ‘accept my God given shape’, ‘celebrate my uniqueness’, and believe all the other feel good sayings my mother told me OR… I could wear really, really, really tall shoes and live in denial.

Denial is the name of my game.

I never thought tall shoes would save me money until my co-workers started to ask me to accompany them to lunch. With the fantastic food offerings of downtown San Diego, it’s impossible to pass up… unless you can’t walk. It’s easy to say no when walking more than three steps causes me to beg God to take me from this earth and save me from pain.

So, I kick off my shoes, put on my slippers, and toast a sandwich.

Before you insult that lady at work with the ridiculous shoes, remember… she may be saving money… or maybe she’s self-conscious about her tiny legs… or maybe it’s both.

Posted by Beks on March 19, 2010 at 5:00 AM in About Me, Ways I Save Money, work | 7 Comments »
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Starting Over…

I met with my doctor for a follow-up appointment to check the progress of my pneumonia this morning. Unfortunately I’m still struggling with fluid in both lungs but I’m moving in the right direction toward recovering. She told me I’d lost a significant amount of lung function and instructed me to continue with my laundry list of medications and do lung exercises several times a day.

There’s nothing quite like being told your lungs are ‘out of shape’.

I quietly whispered, ‘Can I still do a sprint Triathlon in March?’ I whispered because I thought maybe she wouldn’t hear me clearly and nod yes without thinking.

‘WHAT?!? Absolutely not. Maybe by the end of summer if you’re lucky. If you push too hard too fast, you’ll do serious damage.’

I’m heartbroken.

Doing a triathlon, specifically this triathlon in an area I love, was a way to prove to myself that I am capable of stretching, changing, and growing. It’s been a nice distraction from my debt reduction path and for now, it’s gone.

It’s time to take a moment and sit still.

I’ve never been good at that.

Posted by Beks on January 15, 2010 at 5:00 AM in About Me | 11 Comments »
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Good News for the Weekend…

I’ve been involved in a lawsuit for nearly two years. I was being sued for something I had absolutely no involvement in. It’s been a difficult time for us since the lawsuit has been a financial and emotional drain. I don’t talk about it much here since it’s an open suit and I’ve been asked to keep the status confidential, but it’s been a heavy burden on my everyday life.

Since the lawsuit is still within the statute of limitations, I cannot say exactly what happened but I can say this…

It’s over – for now.

I received a call this afternoon from my attorney. The lawsuit against us has been dropped. Unfortunately, the statute of limitations won’t expire until March but for now, I’m very pleased.

Now if I can just survive the next 12 weeks!

Posted by Beks on January 8, 2010 at 7:58 PM in About Me, Spending Money | 15 Comments »
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Perhaps a trip to the doc is in order…

I’m a relatively patient person. When it comes to getting sick, I tend to wait things out or try my best to remedy problems myself with healthy foods, large amounts of water, and lots of sleep. It’s always worked in the past but…

I’ve been coughing… for 41 days.

I wanted to see a doctor about 3 weeks ago but our company was undergoing a major healthcare change and we were covered but didn’t have valid medical insurance cards. We were told to see a doctor if necessary and we would ‘likely’ be reimbursed for our expenses….Yeah. I didn’t fall for that either.

I decided to wait it out until my health insurance card arrived. Maybe this was a poor decision.

Especially since, today, my doctor told me I have pneumonia.

Oh but wait. There’s more.

My pneumonia initiated asthma.

The funny part about this is – I’m relieved. I’ve been feeling ridiculously overdramatic for the last few weeks as I cried because I couldn’t breathe and couldn’t stop coughing. My tears and misery have been vindicated!!

I’m off to take an insane amount of pharmaceuticals and sleep the week away.

Posted by Beks on January 5, 2010 at 8:59 PM in About Me | 14 Comments »
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Be Thankful This Christmas…

For the past few weeks, my family has lamented that we haven’t had a ‘good’ Christmas in a several years. Job loss and financial hardship have seemed to plague our family around the holidays. We have been wading in a giant pool of self pity for a while.

Monday, I was tossed violently from the pool.

I was sitting at my desk typing a report when a co-worker came up and admired the photo of my family – all 26 of us (my parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews). The photo looked normal to me. It was all the people I love, a sea of heads, each of us connected to each other. She counted each family member and carefully looked at each smiling face. She continued to stare for a long time and finally said to me, ‘You have no idea how lucky you are.’ (She lost her mother when she was young and her father passed on over the summer).

She walked away, visibly saddened at reminder of her loss.

I picked up the picture, looked at my family… and felt like the most ungrateful person in the world. How dare we complain about our finances and lack of gifts for each other when we are beyond blessed with something far more valuable than money?

I have an unbreakable bond 25 people who love me, who never judge me, who will laugh at me (um, I mean WITH me), and will fight any battle to protect me. I am more confident, more centered, and happier because of their presence in my life.

We were right in saying we hadn’t had a ‘good’ Christmas in years. We’ve had an amazing, great, unbelievable, wonderful, blessed Christmas every year.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Posted by Beks on December 25, 2009 at 5:00 AM in About Me | 12 Comments »
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Sprint vs. Marathon Finances…

When my husband first lost his job and I wrote about further ways to reduce my finances, a few readers gently pointed out that it looked as though I had missed making those cuts on my initial reductions for my debt free journey.

The truth is…

I didn’t.

I have two simple choices when it comes to reducing my debt. I can sprint or I can marathon.

I am currently sprinting. I’m pushing, giving it my all, and taking no breaks. Unemployment is forcing me to take a hard look at every dollar. There is no dinner with friends, no movies at theaters, no new clothes, no dental insurance, no doctor’s appointments, nothing. There is no waste.

Sure I could even go further. I could eat bread and water and be debt free faster. I could sell my car and bike to my bus stop in the dark and be debt free faster. I could stop wearing make-up, shower once weekly, and leave my electricity off and be debt free faster.

But my weariness would grow at the same sprinting pace and I would burn out before my balances ever read zero.

I can’t sprint forever and once my husband is employed again, I plan on slowing my pace to what is was before his layoff. Every once in a while, I think it’s OK to buy a $6 burger during happy hour at a nice restaurant. Once every few months, I like to buy my husband a bag of his favorite coffee.

This is my marathon. Sure, some folks will be faster and others will be slower but I’m running this debt marathon to finish – not to burn out before I see the finish line.

Are you sprinting or marathoning?

Posted by Beks on December 17, 2009 at 5:00 AM in About Me, Confessions, Spending Money, job loss | 15 Comments »
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Looking for Peaceful Sleep…

You know how I talked about my comatose stress reaction to my husband’s unemployment? Well, it didn’t last. Now I’m awake at all hours of the night.

I get drowsy at work and drink energy drinks to stay coherent – though I use the word ‘coherent’ loosely. It’s normal to randomly start singing ‘Jimmy Crack Corn’ at work right?

I counteract this sleep loss with sleeping pills. Makes sense right? OR, I could ‘theoretically’ stay awake after taking the twice the recommended dose of sleeping pills and then find myself suffering from the world’s worst sleep hangover known to man.

This is usually the start to a vicious cycle where I don’t sleep due to stress and then stress about not sleeping which causes me to not sleep at all. My doctor finds this cycle amusing – but maybe it’s because last time I sang ‘Oops I did it again’ in the waiting room and played hopscotch in the parking lot with tongue depressors – and tells me I need to reduce my stress levels.

Thanks Captain Obvious.

And then, unfortunately for you, I write posts that make sense to me… but uh… probably not to you.

Today I exercised, avoided caffeine, alcohol, and sugar, and tried to think of butterflies and rainbows but alas… it’s 2 AM and I’m here… awake.

So here’s the question of the day what are your secrets to sleep?

Posted by Beks on November 5, 2009 at 2:03 AM in About Me | 38 Comments »
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