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Speaking of Health – Exercise on the Cheap

Speaking of health…Over the years, I have been very guilty of the mindset “if I pay for it, I’ll be more motivated to go” when it comes to gym memberships. In fact, just two years ago, when we first moved to Georgia and into my Grandmother’s house, I joined a gym for the family.

It was in walking distance of her house and gave us somewhere to go on a daily basis to get out of her way and burn off some steam. I was determined to lose some weight. And for about 4 months, I went daily. Every morning at 5am before I go to work, I would do 30 minutes of cardio there.

And then I fell off the wagon and we got settled in and we stopped using that outlet. Thank goodness there was no long term commitment and the cost was very affordable. About $35 dollars for the whole family, I think.

Need to Exercise

I know you are groaning now, aren’t you? Thinking I am now going to justify joining a gym again. Don’t worry, I’m not. Not even thinking about it. First of all, I never leave the house if I don’t have too, so going to a gym is not even on my radar.

But I do need to add some movement to my days. Working from home tends to make me a bit lazy…other than weekly yard work and taking the dogs out a few times a day, I really don’t have to move around a lot. And I need too.

Workout Plan

With the advent of the new school year this week, I’ve come up with a plan. Free plan, even!

At 6:20 a.m., I take the dogs out every morning. We typically just walk around a while or I tie them up and work in the yard for a while. But I’ve decided to add jump roping to my daily routine. It will get my heart rate up. I heard it’s one of the best “all over” exercises you can do. And doing that early in the morning gave little chance of many people seeing my fat jumping around.

Afternoon lull. I don’t know about you, but I tend to hit a wall in the early afternoon. I can hardly keep my eyes open. And my brain is fried from concentrating on work for the last 5-6 hours with few breaks. So I decided to add something super convenient, free and upbeat. I’m going to try doing the Dance Fitness with Jessica workouts that she posts for free access on YouTube. I literally can turn them on in my computer screen, slide my desk chair out of the way, and get to moving! I figure just doing one dance, at my very novice level, will be a good start. (Yes, you can laugh when you picture, I do.)

You have to admit they look like fun, right? This is my FREE fitness plan to add to my already tweaked eating and fasting plan I mentioned on Monday. What about you? What does your fitness routine look like? Are you a gym rat or do you have a home workout plan that is both cost-conscious and effective for you? I’d love to hear about it.

Hope

Hope is a resourceful and solutions-driven business manager who has spent nearly two decades helping clients streamline their operations and grow their businesses through project management, digital marketing, and tech expertise. Recently transitioning from her role as a single mom of five foster/adoptive children to an empty nester, Hope is navigating the emotional and practical challenges of redefining her life while maintaining her determination to regain financial control and eliminate debt.

Living in a cozy small town in northeast Georgia with her three dogs, Hope cherishes the serenity of the mountains over the bustle of the beach. Though her kids are now finding their footing in the world—pursuing education, careers, and independence—she remains deeply committed to supporting them in this next chapter, even as she faces the bittersweet tug of letting go.

Since joining the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015, Hope has candidly shared her journey of financial ups and downs. Now, with a renewed focus and a clear path ahead, she’s ready to tackle her finances with the same passion and perseverance that she’s brought to her life and career. Through her writing, she continues to inspire others to confront their own financial challenges and strive for a brighter future.

Little Victories with Side Gigs

by Elizabeth S.

Side gigs are looking good!

I’m flying high on recent good news regarding side gigs. I booked the dogsitting gig from Rover, and it will be for $160. In other exciting news, the boarder I mentioned is coming to stay with me tomorrow for $150 per week. I will need help with my pets while I am staying at the Rover gig, so I will kick some of that first-week money to a friend for help with my pets. He will stay at my house for next to nothing as it’s a break from his current housing situation.

Obviously, this isn’t a tenable long-term solution. I can’t be paid to watch other peoples’ animals while paying someone to watch my own, but in this case, I can make a tidy profit and hopefully get a good review in order to book more gigs. I’m actually not interested in dogsitting at all – I signed up for Rover for dog walking and medicine administration since I can give injections and IVs (and I am particularly good at giving cats pills. Happy to share the very strange technique I use should anyone be interested).

If things go well with the boarder, he can stay up to a month, which would mean an extra $600. He takes possession of his new place on September 15^th. We decided to reassess after each week so that we are both comfortable with the arrangement.

Spending mindfully

I’m continuing to track spending each day. I spent my weekend at the cottage with my family. I contributed some wine and brought nice thick pork chops from the butcher for one meal. They were an absolute steal at $3.99 a pound, and I was able to pick up five of them for less than $16. I picked up two small bottles of craft beer (I can’t resist a good sour!) and a t-shirt from the brewery on my way out of cottage country. The brewery has the same name as the lake my dad lives on and we love to represent the lake wherever we go. That was a $30 purchase I could have avoided but don’t regret. I take my credit card debt seriously, but I am not in dire financial straits. My last two lake t-shirts have holes in them from being worn so often!

Cottage views

On the way home from the cottage on Sunday, I stopped for groceries at a nicer grocery store (rather than a discount grocery store like I normally do). I spent $27 on house-made sausages, some butternut squash, kale, sardines, potatoes, cheese, and kefir. I haven’t spent any money since Sunday (woo!!). I’ve enjoyed homemade meals since. This morning, I will be ordering coffee and canned cat food from Amazon as I’m going to be out of the house from 8am to about 10pm. That’s another $32 to be divided out of the grocery and pet food buckets ($15 and $17 respectively).

Unplanned social expenses

Tonight will be a bit of a challenge, as one of my mentors from work is leaving. We have worked closely together for years, and she is a friend to me. There’s a going-away event at a restaurant, and I didn’t budget or plan for this. I am so happy to acknowledge that I can attend guilt-free without touching savings or my credit card – thanks to the extra cash I am bringing in from side gigs. If I have to find extra cash to fund my social life, I will happily do that rather than miss out. Could I be out of debt sooner if I directed every spare penny to debt? Of course, as one commenter pointed out yesterday (click if you would like to see me a bit defensive about my spending – oops). But that was never my intention.

My objective

My goal is to pay down debt while building savings and continuing to enjoy my life. I do want to be mindful of the fact that these “surprises” keep happening, and they really shouldn’t be considered surprises. I hope readers recognize I’ve never tracked spending or had a budget that I’ve honored before, and I intend to take this first month as a bit of a temperature reading. It would be grossly premature to set firm goals right now. I am someone who chases goals like a dog with a bone, and I want to assess this situation thoughtfully before making decisions. So, for now, I’m not making any earth-shattering changes. I’m collecting data, being mindful, and making sure I don’t add to my debt or take from my meager savings.

I am crazy proud of myself for finding some extra money with side gigs because I didn’t think it was possible with the kind of hours I keep. I’m going to end today’s post on that happy note and promise an update at the end of the week. Friday is payday, and I will share how I spent my last paycheck. Expect screenshots, some grocery receipts, and accountability.

Elizabeth S.

Elizabeth is a single woman in her early 30s, working as a manager at a software company and living in the most expensive city in Canada. She hopes to blog about her journey to eliminate debt and build savings for home ownership someday. Whenever she has taken two financial steps forward, she’s always taken a step back with a bad credit card purchase (we’re looking at you, unnecessary iPhone of May 2019). Elizabeth lives alone with her fur kids, a dog and cat, and when she’s not in front of the computer, she enjoys running, camping, reading, and baseball.