Jocelyn's 101 Things in 1001 Days

February 2009 Update

2009-02-04T11:07:00.003-06:00

I just updated my list; a few more things are checked off! It's hard to believe that I only have about a year left! For a while I considered just starting my 1001 days over before they were done, but now I think I am going to stick it out just to see how many I can finish.

So, as for what I've completed or changed:

#6 and #10- I payed my Chase card off to a zero balance. I'm now only using it for groceries. I pay it off right away and earn 3% cash back! Also, I changed #10 from from making $50K in a year to paying off my Citi card. It just seems a bit more feasible right now.

#29- I've definitely been in bed before 10:30 quite a bit recently. Getting up at six will do that to you I guess...or maybe I'm just getting old :(

#68- I've read 39 books out of 101. I don't think I'm going to finish this one, but that's ok. Every book read is a small victory!

Not too many changes, but I still feel like I made huge strides financially in the last year. This year I'm going to keep up with the debt payments since they're pretty much habits now, but I'm also going to focus more on being happy and doing fun things I enjoy. I've started an emergency fund, a new car fund, and a travel fund; which I'm totally psyched about!

Even though I know I won't finish everything within the next year, I'm looking at it as a half-full cup. I'll think of it as XX number of things accomplished in the last 3 years instead of thinking how many I didn't do. That, and I'm definitely keeping whatever I don't accomplish on my next list :)

One More Done!

2008-09-23T09:09:00.002-05:00

#15 is officially complete. I got my student loan consolidation letter in the mail quoting my 4.75% APR. My monthly student loan payments will now be approximately $120 less per month, which is awesome! That will really help me pay off my non-student loan debt faster.

Once my credit cards are paid off, I would like to start saving for #8, which is the $1,000 emergency savings account. It took me a while to realize how important an emergency savings account would be. But after several setbacks from unexpected bills came up, I decided an emergency savings would be a great idea.

On a side note, I've decided that #85 and #90 will be the two most difficult ones. I'll have to really focus to accomplish these ones!

Well, that's all folks. Back to work for me!

Most Recent Update

2008-09-12T20:21:00.006-05:00

I just updated "THE LIST" to reflect my progress, and now my second post really makes no sense seeing as I've continually tweaked it as I've changed my mind about things :P

On the flip side, I must say I'm somewhat impressed with myself ;) I still have a little more than a year left, and I think I've made good progress!

I think that the best part is that I've completed almost all of my goals posted under the Financial heading. Some of those things were pretty damn tough to accomplish, and it's nice to see all of those highlighted :) The only one I see being a problem is #10; unless I can come up with an extra $18K on top of my job this year.

So, here's a quick summary of my some of my updates:

#3 - I paid off and closed my CapOne credit account. I had several other cards with much better rates and service.
#13 - I ended up totaling my car (not my fault!) and buying a wonderful Honda Civic that was super reliable. It gave me no problems. HOWEVER, a year later (aka, last month) I decided I didn't NEED a car, and sold it. Which leads to...
#4 and #5 - Selling my car allowed me to pay off my auto loan, and my Wells Fargo Visa completely. Last week I was also able to pay off my Washington Mutual Visa. Woot! :)
#11 - I finally had a rummage sale last month. It was awesome! Seriously, I have so much less clutter and junk it feels amazing. I also made a few hundred dollars! It's a win-win situation :)
#16 - I made a totally awesome table with every one of my debts, this has really helped me stay on track. Find it here.
#21 - Came with my sweet new job working for the county :P I get free health, life, and dental. Not to mention lots of vacation time and personal leave. Sorry, I'll stop talking it up now. I'm just an office drone, if it makes you feel better.
#35 - I signed up for a garden plot with our local Community Garden Program. It has been an amazing experience and I cannot wait until I have my own garden!
#61 - I finally finished my Money After College blog, and am now starting to post more regularly. Maintaining blogs is way harder that it seems, seriously. BTW, my old gardening blog got hacked :( Maybe I should put fixing that site on my list somewhere :S
#72 - The BF and I officially live together now...with 4 other people. Lol. It's a nice step because we have our own rooms, but it's really great not having to drive back and forth to each others' places.
#84 - I gave blood again last month.
#86 - I also donated my hair again. I spontaneously decided to have 9 inches of my hair hacked off on my lunch break one day. That was pretty exciting.
#87 - I have a list of 100 things that make me happy, and I look at it occasionally and try to pick out something new to do. It's kind of fun!

I'm making great progress on a lot of others, but I can tell that some of them are definitely not going to get done in a year. Right now I'm still making debt reduction my priority, so I don't forsee a lot of traveling going on. Boo :( I'm hoping to at least get to Michigan to see the fam, but overseas trips will probably have to wait until the next list.

More updates later!

:)

THE LIST

2007-06-06T22:41:00.001-05:00

Well, I finally finished the list a few nights ago. It was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be! My official start date of the list was March 27, 2007. That means that my official end date for this list will be February 20, 2010. So far, I have completed 4 of the things on my list.

1. Obviously I've finished this; I made the first one easy.

16. Lucky for me, I have a great boyfriend that bought me a new battery for my cell phone on eBay for only $10. I went into the local store to ask them about a new battery, and they wanted to charge me $40. Yeah right.

18. I finally went into the bank and completed all of my college loan deferment papers and got them faxed in. The guy was really nice, and it sounds like I should have no problem qualifying for the deferment by reason of "economic hardship." LOL.

58. I finished my paper on the topic of Buddhism in America, and submitted it to my professor. That is one incomplete taken care of, now I just need to finish the second to officially receive my Marketing degree. Jeez, I was such a slacker in college...

Anyways, it may sound like I'm off to a great start, but there's a problem. Even though I am still working very hard to finish some of the other ones right now (#59, #61, #65, #66, #71) I am getting bummed out fast. I've realized that pretty much all of my goals MUST be put on hold until I get a job. I have been applying for jobs like there's no tomorrow (that makes no sense, but whatever). Seriously, I applied for 6 jobs just yesterday! Out of all the jobs I've applied for in the last 3 to 4 months (which is about 40), I have gotten reject letters from about 3 or 4 companies.

I'm not a complete idiot, I know what I am doing! I have had both my resume and cover letters reviewed by several people, including professors, and all of them gave me positive feedback. I don't use a dumb, generic cover letter; I actually put a lot of time and effort into them. I am VERY motivated, and I am a fast learner; the only negative aspect of my application is my lack of previous experience. How am I supposed to get experience if no one will give me a chance? I am very much regretting the fact that I never applied for an internship while in college. I think that they should be required for all majors, that way students don't end up stuck in a situation like the one I'm in. Oh, what is a girl to do?

I guess right now my only option is to stick with #71 for as long as I have to. Hopefully I will start hearing back from people soon. If not, maybe I will just do something completely irrational and start my own business.

THE LIST Updated 02/04/2009

2007-04-12T20:18:00.004-05:00

101 Things in 1001 Days

Start Date: May 27, 2007

End Date: February 20, 2010

1. Finish this list/Break it up into categories

Finances & Investing

2. Budget and track spending for 6 months

3. Pay off Capital One card to zero balance --zero on 11/16/2007 closed 1/21/08

4. Pay off Wells Fargo card to zero balance by October 15, 2008

5. Pay off WaMu card to zero balance

6. Pay off Chase card to zero balance

7. Pay off Personal Loan by July 15, 2008. – paid off (w/help from Dan) on 3/25/08

8. Create an emergency savings acct w/at least $1000.00- use high-yield acct

9. Find an apartment for less than $450 per month rent by 9/1/07

10. Pay off Citi card to zero balance

11. Have a garage sale

12. Get my FICO score above 700 for 6 months or longer – officially above 700! Sept 1, 2008

13. Get a new car – one that is a good investment.

14. When I get my next cell phone/plan, get a GOOD/CHEAP one! May 2008?

15. Get a good rate (under 6%) on consolidation for federal student loans by July 1^st, 2008.

16. Get a loan repayment “Game Plan” and use it! -know interest rates, length of repayment, etc.

Health & Fitness

17. Maintain a weight under 145 lbs for 1 year or longer - under 145 for about 5 months. 141.5 on 9/23/07 (Started around 09/01/07)

a. Keeping track of this on my iGoogle acct…

18. Complete a half marathon (Grandma’s 5K in June 2008- it’s a start!)

a. Start Training for 5K

19. Ride a bike for at least 20 miles – get a bike first, lol.

20. Find UMD Swim Pass, and USE it up!

21. Get health insurance

22. Floss every day for 1 month

23. Go 2 months without drinking alcohol

24. Eat vegetarian for 2 weeks

25. Schedule an appointment to go to the dentist- and go!

26. Get a “rock massage,” I’ve heard they are AMAZING

27. LOVE my body

28. Wear a bikini in public (without being embarrassed!)

29. Be in bed by 10:30 pm every day for one week.

30. Practice meditation at least 3x per week for 4 weeks. – in progress

Hobbies

31. Sell $100 worth of photos on Dreamstime- then get out? ($80.05 on 02.04.09)

32. Sell another framed photo print

33. Buy a good digital camera – save up!

34. Sell my plants at a market- 2008? (Lois H. is chairman)

35. Grow my own fruits and veggies (Community Garden Plot)

a. Tomatoes

b. Lettuce

c. Strawberries

d. Raspberries

e. Onions

f. Spinach

g. Green & Yellow Beans

36. Get one of my Jade plants to flower!

37. Have one of my pictures published in a magazine.

Travel & Adventure

38. Visit Michigan to see family

39. Travel to Hawaii

40. Travel to Ireland

41. See the Louvre (same trip as Ireland???)

42. Go Camping (with a tent, bonfire, the works!)

43. Play on the beach and pick seashells

44. Go (learn) scubadiving (in Hawaii…)

45. Go to a BIG zoo (I at least want to see hippos, rhinos, and koala bears!)

46. Swim with dolphins! $150.00 per person :S 707-556-5216 “dolphin discovery”

a. http://www.sixflags.com/discoveryKingdom/animals/dolphindiscovery.aspx

47. Road trip to San Francisco w/Dan (sightsee on the way!) –rescheduled for September 2008

48. Take a dance class

49. Get list of visited states up to 25/50. (12/50)

a. Minnesota

b. Wisconsin

c. Michigan

d. Iowa

e. Indiana

f. Illinois

g. Georgia

h. Florida

i. Hawaii

j. Tennessee

k. Kentucky

l. Alabama

Work & Websites

50. Get my college degree in the mail

51. Finish Buddhism Paper

52. Finish Market Promotions Project

53. Buy a laptop (Macbook?)

54. Finish the LoveYourDorm.com site

55. Finish the triptheworld.net site, or sell it for $100 or more

56. Finish the jocelynbaker.com site

57. Get my real estate license (need to save up the money first!)

58. Get 30,000 visits to the Garden Corner site in 1 month

59. Create a website JUST for extra income – bpr

60. Post on the Garden Corner at least 2 x week for 6 months straight.

61. Finish the Money After College site

62. Post to MAC at least 2x per week for 6 months straight

Learning & Reading

63. Decide if I want to go back to school for my B.S. in Environmental Horticulture- research it!

64. Learn html/CSS

65. Learn PHP/mySQL

66. Read the 5th, 6th, and 7th Harry Potter books

67. Participate in a book club

68. Read 101 books in 1001 days – (39/101)

69. Learn/make my own jam

70. Learn to drive a car with manual transmission

71. Learn how to change a flat tire (ugh, it has to be done…)

Personal Growth & Relationships

72. Live w/Dan– June 1^st, 2008

73. Improve my French

74. Make new friends!

75. Start a conversation with a stranger

76. Try 10 foods I’ve never had before - (7/10)

a. Pickled Beets (not very good, they taste like dirt!)

b. Swiss Chard (pretty good, kind of like spinach.)

c. Edamame (soybeans, very good!)

d. Eggplant Burger (about as good as you would expect it to be, lol. Okay.)

e. Fig (alright, a little bit strange.)

f. Banana Peppers (YUM!)

g. Hot Pepper Jam (with Ritz and cream cheese…yummy!)

77. Sell or donate all the clothes that I haven’t worn in 2 months. – in progress

78. Contact someone I’ve lost contact with in past years

79. Clean out my email inboxes (argh!)

80. Keep my desk clean and organized for 1 month.

81. Un-clutter my life! Organize and file ALL papers, etc.

82. Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity again

83. Downsize the amount of stuff that I have (Until I feel like I have simplified enough) – in progress

84. Donate blood again

85. Stop venting for a week. No complaining without taking action.

86. Donate my hair again.

87. Make a list of 100 things that makes me happy, keep it nearby for reading

88. Make a list of 50 amazing things I’ve done in my life

89. Say “no” without feeling bad at least 10 times. (0/10)

90. Don’t worry for 2 weeks.

91. Practice being present, enjoy daily activities.

Miscellaneous Fun Stuff

92. Host a potluck or a dinner party

93. Take a nap in a hammock

94. Fly a kite

95. Make some of my own pots for my plants (rent equipment/kiln?)

96. Play paintball!

97. See a movie in a drive-in theater

98. Document an entire day with photos

99. Host another How to Host a Murder party

100. See a dinosaur skeleton

101. Have a new list of 101 things to do once I’m done with this one!