2014 was not my best year on this blog or in my daily life. I was consumed with a family member's illness, work and other life inconveniences; flat tires, broken computers, an aging sick dog, etc. I half-heartedly attempted to reinvent my career, but deep down I knew I would not be leaving my job and starting over any time soon. I even contemplated quitting blogging.
I know that I am at my happiest when I’m challenging myself and learning something new, so with the start of 2015 it is time for a new blog and life project:
In 2015 - I am challenging myself to live healthy on a budget.I came up with the idea when I read about the 1% rule (every week try to get better 1% physically, emotionally, mentally) in James Altrucher’s post the secrets of personal finance. I’ve always had an interest in healthy living and fitness, include a personal finance element and this may be a project I can stick with. Much better than my organizational resolutions from last year. My plan is to work towards becoming 1% healthier each week and share my progress here.
Who knows! If I’m still writing about living healthy on 12/31/15, I may rebrand this blog. In case you haven’t noticed, I am losing interest in writing about work and careers.
Tune in next week when I will be sharing what healthy living books I will be reading in January. Do you have a suggestion?
What is your favorite tip to live healthy on a budget?
This sounds like a good new direction, Savvy, and something that will be both personally rewarding and interesting to read. I think many of us have the same feeling of needing to renovate the blog every winter, but don't actually do it! Just one more thing to procrastinate.
ReplyDeleteHope this will be a good year for you and your family - even for your job.
The positive response really helps. I also like the idea of getting away from blogging about work and people I know. Thanks for the well wishes. And you will be glad to know I did not work today - a Saturday. I just need a break. It was an extremely busy year end.
DeleteOooooo, I am so excited for you. I love to eat chicken and a ton of roasted vegetables.... I make different sauces for the chicken, usually consisting of a chicken stock base. Tonight I pan seared the breasts and then added 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 cup cooking white wine, 3 table spoons of lemon juice and capers..... Simmer for 1/2 an hour, add roasted veggies..... Red peppers, asparagus and spring onions..... Oh so good!!!!! So going to be tuning in.... Congrats and Happy New Year!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds delicious. I love roasted veggies and plan to eat a lot of them in 2015. I'm going to try your recipe. It sounds easy.
DeleteI personally believe that health, wealth and happiness are interdependent and also dependent on a healthy planet. I think you should write about whatever feels right to you at the moment. Many people go beyond a typical niche in their blogs anyway. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI think you should write about whatever feels right to you at the moment - sounds like a great idea. I plan to include sustainability and a healthy planet in my posts. Don't even get me started on fish oil tablets.
DeleteI am looking forward to reading about you getting 1% healther each week. I would like to do that also. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe should do this together!!!
DeleteSounds like a great plan! I love taking things in small steps with small goals to keep you accountable! You'll have a new normal and higher goals to reach before you know it!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kristin. I hope so.
DeleteSounds like you know what you want in 2015 and beyond. I love eating healthier and can't wait to eat how you are working with this. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tammy. I've been working on healthy eating. I have more ideas than time to write about them.
DeleteI'm vegetarian which I find keeps expenses low. Beans and peanut butter are much cheaper than meat :)
ReplyDeletePeanut butter was a staple when I was starting out. I knew college students who lived on a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter for the week. Too bad my husband doesn't like beans. I can incorporate them in my lunch though and plan to do so.
DeleteI love that your going to concentrate on improving your health and healthy living! I am striving to do that too. Last year we did pretty good cutting down on processed food and eating better and this year I am going to focus more on green cleaning. I look forward to your posts.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to learning more about green cleaning. I love eating healthy, but it requires planning - something I watched you work on in 2014.
DeleteSavvy I cannot even tell you how excited I am to read your healthy life posts!!! I am so excited for you and can't wait to see what you come up with.
ReplyDeleteHealth Book Recommendations:
1. "Folks, this ain't normal" by Joel Salatin - I consider him the king of farming and would do anything to spend just one hour with him in person
2. "Make the Bread, Buy the Butter" by Jennifer Reese - she speaks from an economical perspective, something I think you would really enjoy as you're looking at this from a budget perspective!
3. "Maximizing Your Mini Farm" by Brett L. Markham - this book helps you learn how to produce food in small spaces and maybe even earn a little bit of money on the side! Definitely for when you want to start growing and planting...not sure if you're at that step yet but thought I'd toss it out there!
WOOT WOOT to healthy living, love! Best resolution ever!
You come through for me once again. I will be reading all of these. Thank you so much.
DeleteLooking forward to your healthy living suggestions!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteThis sounds like a great idea! I blog a little now and then and keep it focused on book reviews. If I wrote about work, friends, or family, I'm sure everyone would hate me. Regarding your job, I have found that I have to recommit myself to my job every few years. When I recommit myself, I commit to following through on certain goals (writing books reviews, teaching computer classes, etc.) and that helps me hang in there.
ReplyDeleteA book I read last summer that changed how I think about certain foods is "Year of No Sugar" by Eve Schaub. Although I haven't given up sugar for good, I read product labels more carefully and avoid as much processed food as possible.
I enjoy your blog and look forward to following along. Best wishes for the new year!
Thank you for the suggestions to help recommit to my job. In year's past accounting seminars have helped. December and January are always hard for me because I have to make more sacrifices and miss time/events with family. It gets old.
DeleteThanks for the book suggestion. I will be checking it out.
I'm learning how to eat healthier and struggle to stay on (or even make) a budget. Last year I started working for a natural and organic market and it has been a steep learning curve for me, but very exciting. I'm looking forward to reading your posts on healthy living and just followed you on Bloglovin' so I don't miss anything.
ReplyDeleteOMG - working for an organic market sounds like the perfect career for me. We have a small local one in my neighborhood. I think I will start stalking them - or at least visiting them regularly.
DeleteI would recommend looking into joining a CSA (community supported agriculture). We have done that the past two years and we definitely eat so much healthier and have learned to use lots of different vegetables in our cooking.
ReplyDeleteI've considered a CSA in the past, but thought it would be too much food for just me and my husband. I have seen CSA's where you can purchase a half box. Maybe I will do that and make it a challenge - how many meals can we get from the box. Thanks for the reminder.
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