Julie and Julia

One of my goals is to read one book each month.  My first was Julie and Juila.  I hated it.  It got great reviews, everyone wrote about how funny it was, and now it's a freakin movie.  I barely finished the thing before the end of the month.  I didn't find Julie to be at all likeable.  I thought she was obnoxious and self-centered, which, I know sounds a little odd considering it was an autobiography but the others I've read were not.  I just really disliked her as a person, so I think maybe that's why it was so hard to push myself throught it.  Plus, I was not at all invested in her "accomplishment", so I had nothing to celebrate at the end of the book.   Yes, she did it.  No, I don't care.  For some reason, eating organs soaked in butter for an entire year in an effort to actually finish something you've started and make up for your own lack of character is not exactly an ambitious goal in my eyes.  I feel like there are other, more important things to focus your efforts on.  This is what I feel should be included within the front cover of her book.

In summary, Julie and Julia sucked.  Julie, by herself, sucks more.



PS, if you liked it, sorry for my harshness, but it's true.

#95. Make sure I am added to Zac's health insurance.

After months of being uninsured, I have a few more to go.  I was eligible to be added to Zac's health insurance after we got married.  He had 30 days, I reminded him three times and when it came time for me to go for my yearly check up, he had forgotten.  We had to wait until this month to enroll me, and it takes effect in April.  Here's to hoping there are no babies or illnesses in my immediate future!

#54 Pay off the Ace account

As I mentioned before, I'm a debt freak.  Freak!  I would use down to like $5 in my checking and savings accounts and eat only boxed mac and cheese just to pay off debt one month sooner.  It killed me that we had a balance on our Ace account.  Ace, as in Ace Hardware, is in Shelbyville, which is nice because nothing else is.  When Zac and I were fixing up our second trailer, we went there a lot.  Sometimes multiple visits in a day.  Our bill never really got over a few hundred dollars, but it has only 2% interest.  My American Express balance was higher and had higher interest, so it had to be paid off first.  Zac and I are making headway and I feel so much more secure!

#63 Change Zac's contribution to this work 401K

Oddly enough, I didn't increase Zac's contribution, I lowered it.  Now I am a debt freak, can't stand it, can't stand the thought of it, so it is super important to me that Zac and I always put away money for retirement and our future children.  With that being said, this was my reasoning for cutting back on our savings....we have multiple retirement accounts.  I was very proud of Zac though.  He had been contributing 12% of each paycheck to his work 401K, which is awesome.  I bumped it down to 5%, the portion that the company matches, and will start moving 7% of his after tax pay into his Roth IRA.  Keep in mind readers, Roth IRA are taxed now, not later when your money has grown, which is the oppostite of a 401K.  Hit up your roth.....You can contribute a max of $5000 each year (yeah right) so that's the goal to shoot for!

And that concludes your mini financial lesson of the day :)

#62 Restart Zac's Contribution to his Roth IRA

I am so glad we finally got to do this.  We stopped after our honeymoon because we had so much debt to pay off, which is exactly what you are not supposed to do.  But, just 8 months later, we are up and running again!  We try to put in $120 for each of us every month, and add a little here and there when we can.  Once we get our emergency fund back up, it will be a non-issue to but in $250 for each of us each month.  That, I really look foward to!

#17. Get a deep conditioning treatment on my hair

Not too much to say on this one.  With Maggie being the master stylist that she is, my hair is rarely the same for long.  This, along with two failed perms left my hair a little fried.  It's better now...I'm gonna try to deep condition every other month or so.  I think this was a step in the right direction :)