What's getting my goat today?

^^Isn't that a funny expression? I use old time-y sayings all the time. I'm not sure why. Must be the Southern old lady in me.

Anyway, my current gripe about NZ is that they can't seem to link my credit card account to my bank account to set up autopay like I do for all of my US cc's. This is the screen I get when I try:

So, unless I want to switch banks for my main checking account, I have to manually log in every month, find out how much I owe, and go to my bank webpage to set up a transfer. My statement closes on the 24th of each month, and the balance is due on the 6th or 7th of the next month. This happens to be a problem this time around because I'm going away on a beach vacay for the duration of that period this month/next month and will not have great internet--and even if I did, I wouldn't want to spend my vacation days logging into my bank accounts on dodgy (?) wifi and setting up transfers! Grr. I'm forced to guess how much I'll owe, set up a future-scheduled transfer to take place while I'm away. I don't like it. Hrmph.

That about sums it up: the inability to set up autopay for credit card statements in NZ is getting my goat today. To be fair, people in the US still use checks, so...that will be getting my goat when I move back, I'm sure!

2016 Year Summary

Yeah. I did OK on my 2016 goals. Not perfectly but not bad, either. However, I'm still on the unhappy train I was on in 2015--the bad this year far outweighs the good:

The good

• I explored Chile and Brazil! I love Chile. 
• More travel is planned for 2017!
• I went on a fun ski trip!
• I did a ton of relaxing/not caring about PhD progress or impossible deadlines.
• I started a therapy course.
• I watched lots of great TV shows?
• I took a cooking course and started cooking meals for the week on Sundays.
• I made over my diet: less junk food, less red meat. I have lost about 5 pounds and my clothes fit a tiny bit better, but don't really feel any different!
• My family is still kicking, though have declined drastically in health.

The bad

• A very good friend moved away from NZ (good for him/bad for me).
• PhDs are the WORST. So much guilt and pressure and horrible political academia issues.
• I gave up on my dream of being in a long-term, committed relationship. TWICE. Meanwhile, SEVEN couples around me got engaged.
• (Relatedly, I was basically rejected by my best guy friend, after he initiated discussions about moving things in a different direction. Apparently I'm too awesome to date. This is not the first time this sentiment has been expressed to me. I get told I am a catch and NO ONE will/can tell me why I'm single. This happens almost on a monthly basis. I have tried my hardest. So I give up on this thing I cannot control.)
• I still have not found my keystone habit. 
• I still lay awake for far too late every night, mostly being sad and angry about not being able to find someone to commit to and share my life with.  
• My family's health is declining. This, combined with the above dating thing, makes me sad because I feel like I will end up very alone in the world.
• In society: 
• lots of amazing talents in the celebrity world passed away
• Brexit. Sigh.
• LE TRUMP. LE SIGH. 

I would really like to be happier in 2017, while also reaching my life goals and being healthy. Balancing these three is a tough job. For some reason, they don't intertwine as much as I thought that they did. In 2015, I dedicated everything to my PhD and became miserable. In 2016, I focused on health and largely ignored my PhD, and still I didn't feel happy. I mostly just felt guilt this year that I wasn't doing my PhD and guilt that I didn't fulfill my health goals each day perfectly. The thing making me unhappiest is that I am ready to settle down but don't see a future for me here in NZ: I don't have any partner options, can't afford a house, can't have a dog. I feel like my happiness is completely out of my control.

So 2017's theme for me will be balance. How can I reach my health goals while doing my PhD and work, and somehow identifying those things that make me happiest THAT I CAN CONTROL and also doing those??

December 2016 Goals

December is half over, yes, but better late than never!

I looked through my 2016 goal list. I've surprisingly done a lot of them. The rest probably cannot fit into this year, so will be moved to next year.

There are certain things that I seem to put off every year, or have trouble doing. I'll need to make a plan to address these and get these done or make a part of my routine.

Goals for December

Guidelines:

1. Get 8 hrs of sleep.
2. Wake up early.
3. Do exercises and stretches (push ups, splits, stretches, plank, rolling out my back, sit ups).
4.  Put on SPF.
5. Take vitamins.
6. Eat a healthy breakfast with fruits or veggies. Plan healthy lunch and pack it to go to work.
7. Meditate/quiet time/deep breathing.
8. Plan goal for day and write it down, with specific goals.
9. Go to work and plan work for the day.
10. Attend exercise class and/or take breaks with friends when it pops up.
11. Leave office by 5 pm.
12. Relax or walk 1 hour.
13. Eat a healthy dinner, planned earlier in the day. 
14. Fill out health tracking form.
15. Floss.
16. Go to bed earlier.

Also:

1. Go to physio once a week.
2. PhD pampering: get spa pedicure.
3. Fill out therapy form every week.

Other goals for December (non-health related):

1. Plan work/home trip next May/June and book air travel
2. Update my CV, LinkedIn, Twitter, blog, staff page, and Researchgate profiles for work. 
3. Check backup system at work. 
4. Go to one event where I know no one.
5.  Go through clothes and donate what I don't wear to Goodwill.

November Goal Update

I had a trip at the end of November which messed up most of my 'every day' goals. I also am in therapy and we are challenging some of my rigid standards and beliefs, which means I am experimenting with loosening up my goals and making 'guidelines' for living instead of hard-out rules.  When I break my 'rules,' I tend to look down on myself, and this is wreaking havoc on my self esteem.

However, I'm pretty much back on track with my daily goals/guidelines.

Goals for November
Every day:

1. Get 8 hrs of sleep. MOST DAYS
2. Wake up early. NOPE
3. Immediately get morning exercises out of the way (push ups, splits, stretches, plank, rolling out my back, sit ups). SOME DAYS
4.  Put on SPF. MOST DAYS
5. Take vitamins. SOME DAYS
6. Eat a healthy breakfast with fruits or veggies. Plan healthy lunch and pack it to go to work. MOST DAYS
7. Meditate/quiet time/deep breathing.SOME DAYS
8. Plan goal for day and write it down, with specific goals. SOME DAYS
9. Go to work and plan work for the day. SOME DAYS
10. Attend exercise class and/or take breaks with friends when it pops up. NOPE
11. Drink water. SOME DAYS
12. Leave office by 5 pm. MOST DAYS
13. Relax or walk 1 hour. NOPE
14. Eat a healthy dinner, planned earlier in the day. MOST DAYS
15. Floss. MOST DAYS
16. Go to bed earlier. NOPE

Also:

1.  Go to physio once a week. YEP
2. Try Float Tank again. NOPE
3. Fill out therapy form every week. YEP

Other goals for November (non-health related):

1. Check in with friend: figure out what date to fly out of SF to NZ next May/June and book air travel. STILL NEED TO CHECK IN W/ WORK. HAVE POSTPONED May/June trip
2. Update my CV, LinkedIn, Twitter, blog, staff page, and Researchgate profiles for work. NOPE
3. Back up my home laptop.
4.  Find something to do for Xmas and New Year's Eve 2016.
5. Go to one meetup event where I know no one. NOPE

Knock on wood...

I find myself getting a bit bored of blogging--generally I only do it when inspired and when I need to keep track of my monthly spending. I'm sorry about this. I blame my PhD. It has sucked all of the life/writing ability/motivation out of me. I use every ounce of my energy reserves to keep my head above water these days.

But I'll keep blogging, at least for the monthly spending reports. Many a time has this blog come in handy for these! My Excel budget spreadsheet (kept since about 2007(?)) has gone corrupt twice and I've had to recreate it from scratch. Luckily this blog has captured most of my spending and saving/Net Worth.

I'm grateful for the boredom with PF blogging, actually. It means that things are the same. Stable. Not changing. When my budget is a mess, it usually means that my life is, too. For better or worse. Right now, things are ticking over and I have a good handle on my spending and finances.

Knock. On. Wood.

December will be spendy, but I know the drill by now: even if I go overbudget one month, I self-correct afterward. It all evens out. Because: stability. I love that I have developed that kind of respect for and faith in myself.

Happy holidays to all who still read my blog despite my boring posts! :) 

Note to Self

Subtract $1,419.80* from one of my funds over there...I am sending my Mom some $$ for Xmas so she can go to Machu Picchu next year!!

(This is approximately equivalent to $1K USD right now.)

[Yes, I know this is a lot of money. But she really really wants to go, and says she can't quite afford it with everything my Dad has spent on crap recently. It's really unfair.]

November 2016 Expenses

blah blah blah budget

	Nov 2016 Budget
Category	Spent	Budgeted Amount	Balance
Rent	$900.00	$900.00	$0.00
Groceries	$374.52	$430.00	$55.48
Internet	$26.33	$26.33	$0.00
Electricity	$0.00	$50.00	$50.00
Eating Out	$132.60	$150.00	$17.40
Charity	$137.00	$50.00	-$87.00
Cell phone	$21.00	$40.00	$19.00
Medical	$26.00	$75.00	$49.00
Misc	$462.87	$700.00	$237.13
Savings	$500.00	$500.00	$0.00
Total	$2,580.32	$2,921.33	$341.01
Remainder	$340.84

blah spending blah

MISC
alcohol	$          59.20
entertainment	$               -
exercise	$               -
fees	$          75.00
gifts	$          13.00
goods and wants	$        194.68
transportation	$          80.00
travel	$          33.00

blah blah savings

DONE