Stressed

I'm doing good with obtaining the necessary finances for my plane ticket butI'm still nervous that I'm going to fall short of my goal. I've seriously thought about taking out a personal. At this point right now, I've got about half of what I need. I realize I'm not leaving for another 90 days but I'd love to secure the ticket as soon as possible so that I can lock in my fare and not have to worry about the prices raising...yet again! I'll play it by ear for a little bit and see what happens. I'm going to have a yard sale and try to raise some funds that way. I just need to stop stressing and relax and have fun planning this move. It will all come together!

Something new for my future

Being single has its advantages and its disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is dating. Personally, I can't stand dating. It's a chore. It's sometimes humiliating trying to go through the whole "new couple" phase. I try to get to know someone before I ever go out with them, but invariably you'll still come across that person that is on a totally different page than yourself as far as the future is concerned. I've recently discovered MyFutureSpouse.com. The greatest thing about this site is that EVERYONE is a paid member. So obviously you don't have the creeps out there just trying to get a one night stand. I don't know about you but if I'm going to be paying a membership to use a service, I'm going to be serious about it. There is even a screening process and a photo verification process. I like this. It makes me feel a bit more secure about the person I might potentially meet. I think the biggest selling factor is that each member has the same mission in mind. Each person is looking for that person that they want to settle down with for life. No one night stands. No random hookups. It's like-minded individuals being able to find each other a little easier. I think I'm going to join. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Gimme the boot!

I am dying for a new pair of boots. The problem is, I can't find any ANYWHERE. Oh sure, I've found some beautiful pairs but none of them fit me. I don't have fat legs but I have thick legs. Boots aren't made for a woman who has a muscular calf on her. The problem is, with me moving to the Netherlands, it's a must to have a killer pair of boots but I most definitely cannot find a pair over there. The Dutch are notorious for their long, beautiful legs. I'll keep looking. There is bound to be some shoe designer out there who keeps bigger girls in mind.

Retrospect thinking

I was going back and going through my finances the other day and trying to see if I've been successful at saving money. All in all, I think I've done very well. I was worried that I went a bit overboard at Christmas but I really tried to be careful and get the best deals on my purchases. I started early with browsing the thanksgiving ads on the Black Friday sites and I made a list of each item I wanted and in which store it was located. When you're trying to save money, planning is the key factor. You can't really be spontaneous where money is concerned when you're on a budget. I'm a big fan of Target so I wanted to know well in advance everything that Target was going to have to offer in their Christmas Madness/Black Friday sale. The use of Black Friday ads was extremely beneficial in helping me to adhere to my budget that I'd enforced upon myself. This was the first year I'd ever done my planning online versus waiting for all of the print ads to come out. I can guarantee you, this will now be my routine.

Let's face it, for most of us, our lives are pretty much computer based. We do our jobs on computers, we manage our finances on computers and we even do our shopping on computers. So it makes perfect sense for me to be able to sit down and plan out a shopping strategy on the computer. I certainly hope they keep these sites active and promote them as much next Christmas as they did this previous holiday season. I'll still be on a budget and I'll also be 5,000 miles away from my family so I'm going to have to save money in any way that I can. Shipping charges are a real killer!!

Out with the old

I've been going through my closet in the attempts to weed out things that are not necessary for me to take to the Netherlands when I move. Can you imagine how difficult this is for me? I want to take EVERYTHING. My entire wardrobe. I even want to take the things I haven't worn in over a year because you know... I might eventually want to wear that sweater that went out of style three years ago. I might come back in style in the next 10 years. Clothes do that. They go through cycles. What was popular in the 70s is now coming back and is geared as "retro". Nevertheless, retro or not, I'm going to get rid of things. One of the key importances in fashion is knowing when to let go and say no to a particular item, no matter how much we love that item. Now the shoes and purses...well that's a different story! They're ALL going with me and I don't care if I have to pay an extra $100 to take a third piece of checked luggage. Nobody comes between me and my purses!