More 2010 Goals Completed

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It’s been a great year so far, and I’m excited to say that I’ve been able to check off a few items from my 2010 Action Plan!

  • I read through “His Needs, Her Needs” to re-touch on how to best satisfy my wife’s marital needs
  • We traveled to San Antonio with the Cats for Christ ministry over spring break and had a wonderful week!
  • Started reading through some of the books on my shelf, such as “The Jesus I Never Knew” – this is also a part of the Minimalist Experiment, as I’m not purchasing any new books until I read the ones I already have.
  • My sketchbooks are being filled, I’ve got at least half of one completed, which puts me around 1/4 of the way done
  • I’ve almost completely given up sodas this year, with only a sip or two here and there. One thing about stopping: when I re-taste one, I realize how little I actually like soda.
  • Emergency accounts have been created, and the money is set aside for them. There’s still a little bit of moving around to do, but the plan is in place.

    • I hope that you have made good progress on your year’s goals.
    I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year holds!

Spreading Spreadsheet

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I haven’t forgotten about my updated finance tracking/planning system. Unfortunately, as I’m working on it, I keep finding bugs and improvements that I want to make.

I did manage to get the tracking and budget pages put together for the whole year. Unfortunately, I forgot a couple of new categories and as I’m inserting those I am finding some bugs. Fortunately, I’m finding those bugs now instead of after I’ve started using the system.

It does seem that in order to meet my goals of “easy to use take little time, and provide a lot of useful output” I have to make it rather complicated behind-the-scenes. More than the planned 13 pages, but much less scrolling on each page.

Current pages & their features:

  • Financial Life on One Page
    • shows accounts and status of emergency funds
  • Averages
    • pulls actual spending for each month for each category
    • shows average over a year’s time, so that can easily make budget
  • Fixed
    • list monthly fixed expenses in one place, pulled to tracking/budgeting pages
    • list monthly fixed payments and dates in one place, pulled to tracking/budgeting pages
    • can list annual amount and have monthly amount calculated
  • Budget Page
    • one for each month
    • fills in last month’s numbers, so that don’t have to start from blank each month
    • pulls info from that month’s tracking page
    • compares budgeted amounts to actual spending
    • pulls fixed amounts so don’t have to enter in more than once
  • Tracking Page
    • one for each month
    • tracks multiple accounts on one page
    • pulls budget numbers, so can quickly compare
    • pulls any automatic payments and dates so don’t have to enter multiple times

Just wanted to let you know that I haven’t forgotten and am still putting it together. It might be more complicated than I initially planned, but it will be much easier to use and provide more useful results than my old system!

No Spend Week

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Do you ever realize that you just spent too much money? My wife and I did this weekend. To even out the budget, we’re going to have a “No Spend Week”. Fortunately, this fits in with the Minimalist Experiment quite nicely.

The concept is simple, we won’t spend any un-necessary money this week. So what do we consider necessary?

  • Gas. The tank’s about half-full, so we’ll have to fill ‘er back up in a few days.
  • Charitable donations. We’ve already planned our donations for the week and set the money aside, so it will be given just as we planned.
  • Rent. As with the donations, the money is already set aside. That and we like living here and don’t want to have a hard time with our landlords.

That’s it. Nothing else.

We have a fridge full of left-overs, and a well-stocked pantry. We certainly won’t go hungry this week, even without a trip to the grocery store. At worst we’ll have to forego fresh fruit with our lunches, instead breaking out the bag of frozen fruit we’ve stashed away.

It will be easy to avoid shopping, as we simply won’t head to any stores. We have enough daily-use items that we aren’t concerned about running out. I’ve already simplified my clothes so I know that I can get by without anything new for a while.

The hardest cut-off will be our coffee shop visits. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings I use them for their parking spaces. Those mornings I am playing taxi for my wife, waiting while she’s in class. It’s easy to find parking and I can generally get some work done (many posts have been hammered out in the 50 minutes I’m sitting on the sofas in the back.)

This week I’m hoping for nice weather, so that I can head over to the arboretum and possibly get some sketching done. This time of year, when the flowers are just beginning to bloom, it’s a beautiful place to be. If not, I’ll find somewhere else to while away the time.

While this week will provide us with some challenges, we know that we can do it. It will be quite an exciting feeling to know that we won’t have to be checking our account balances, since they won’t be changing this week!

Not-So-Simple Spreadsheet

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As I mentioned Monday, I’m working on a new financial tracking/planning system. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish it yet, but I have made good progress.

I have the budget and tracking sheets put together. There are a few more equations that I want to include, and then it’ll be ready to expand to a full year (each set of pages covers one month). After that, a quick “averages” page to help me see how my money is generally spent, and it should be good to go.

You might wonder how this work fits into the Minimalist Experiment. I’m not approaching minimalism as a way to stop doing things, but to get rid of the clutter. My previous tracking system grew to the point of being unwieldy. It became a hassle to use it.

I tried out Mint.com which does everything that I want my system to do, but it doesn’t recognize the credit union that I am a member of, so all of my data is not in one place. This meant I still had some extra steps to go through.

To make my financial tracking/planning as simple as possible, I want a streamlined system that shows me an overview of all my information in one place. I want to spend as little time entering information as possible. Furthermore, it needs to be easy to read.

While it might take me more work up front to create my own system, it will do everything that I want it to. I will know how it works, so that I can make any necessary changes. In the end, this extra work will allow me to work (and stress) less in the long run. Simple finances, what a great concept!

Simple Finances

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I find it amazing how complicated one can make their personal finances. Especially since all it really amounts to is “spend less than you earn.” (This is something I struggle with, as well.)

I know I’ve written about personal finance before, but I’ve recently been wanting to redo my tracking/planning system. As part of the Minimalist Experiment, I’m going to try and make it as simple as possible.

The tracking/planning system needs to be easy to use, take little time, and provide a lot of useful output. To these ends, I will be sticking with a spreadsheet. One page will be an over-view of my finances, and the other 12 will show each month’s budget and expenses. Since I’ve already created a tracking system, it shouldn’t be hard to come up with a newer, simpler one.

Hopefully I’ll have this ready to share by Wednesday. Check back to see what I come up with!

Minimalist Packing

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Cleaning out my closet really helped me as I packed for my spring break trip. It’s harder to over-pack when you don’t have much to carry in the first place!

I’ve already talked about how important it is to pack light when traveling, but in light of the Minimalist Experiment, I thought I would revisit this topic.

My wife and I are just finishing up our week-long spring break trip to San Antonio. Because of the added cost for any checked baggage, we made sure to bring everything we wanted in our carry-on luggage. Since I only kept about a week’s worth of clothing, this was a simple enough task. I just took everything I had. (Not really, but I did clear out a few drawers.)

So, the rule (1!) of minimalist packing: Don’t take anything that you won’t need. It’s that simple.

It’s very easy to pack extra things, “just in case”. One extra item in each category, and you quickly wind up with far more than you need or want to carry. Do you really need a separate outfit for every day, or can you get some laundry done at your destination? Can you just use the toiletries at the hotel instead of carrying your own (and having the hassle of airport security)? Will you really get so dirty that you need an extra outfit?

Our trip involved a good bit of work, would include working out three days a week, and, of course, a couple of plane rides. I didn’t need to dress up for anything, which always makes it easier. I managed to fit everything into my carry-on.

Packing List

  • 2 jeans – for working/ painting, etc
  • basketball shorts – for running, sleeping, lounging
  • 9 shirts – 1 for each day, and one for exercising
  • 9 socks – 1 for each day, and one for exercising
  • 9 underwear – 1 for each day, and one for exercising
  • hoodie – for the chilly night temperatures
  • 2 handkerchiefs – they take up no space, and are handy for many things
  • toiletries – since I will be sharing my room, I decided not to rely on hotel toiletries – deodorant, soap bar from last trip, toothbrush, and toothpaste
  • sketchpad, watercolors, waterbrush – I’m working on sketching more often throughout the day, I’ll get lots of practice in the airport/on the plane
  • notebook – studying to do, and also lets me write out my ever-present lists
  • book – distractions for the airport and before bed
  • assorted – camera, charger, phone, phone charger, water bottle

This might seem like a lot. However, it was planned so that upon returning home, everything I have has been used, and the only clean clothes are the ones I’m wearing. While I could have packed lighter and done a bit of laundry half-way through the week, I didn’t want to. I minimized the work necessary while still providing me with everything that I needed.

The trip was wonderful, and easier because I had less to deal with. One backpack is quite manageable. Flying with carry-on only is the way to go when possible!

Minimalist Art

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When I first started reading about minimalism on ZenHabits and mnmlist, I began thinking about what minimalist art would consist of. Would it be a solid-colored canvas? Perhaps a color field painting? Maybe a stylized landscape? Would my choice fit another minimalist’s criteria?

As a portrait artist, I tried to create a minimalist portrait. It took me longer than I thought it would, but I managed to capture Leo in the fewest details necessary.

You can see the picture I worked from on his about page. What do you think, did I create a successful minimalist portrait?

Simple Food

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Since beginning the Minimalist Experiment I have been wondering how I can simplify my food. Do I eat less, limit the number of ingredients that I use to cook with, or should I switch to only organic foods?

The simplest (and best) answer I’ve come up with is to eat consciously. I am guilty of eating quickly, then realizing that I didn’t taste a bite of what I just ate. I have to make myself slow down and pay attention to my food so that I can enjoy it.

Having started doing this, I have begun to notice more about my food; its flavors, textures, and aromas. Since I’m paying more attention to the flavor, I’ve discovered that I need less seasonings to make food enjoyable. Simpler foods have also begun to catch my attention. Before, I preferred foods that were spicy or included lots of ingredients, because I wasn’t paying enough attention enough to really appreciate the less-complex flavors.

Just a few days ago I finally tried a local restaurant that I’ve been hearing about for some time. The meal sounded simple enough on the menu but was surprisingly delicious! The Hoppin’ John included 6 ingredients: black-eyed peas, brown rice, Creole tomato sauce – topped with diced onions, green peppers, and cheddar cheese. The meal came with a wonderful slice of home-made bread and a heavenly bowl of soup (tomato bisque!)

Those six ingredients combined to create a wonderful, filling meal. (In fact, there was enough that I was able to get two meals out of it.) What truly helped to set the meal apart, however, is that I made myself slow down and eat consciously.

Pay attention to what you’re eating, and you’ll be surprised what you discover!

Exercise Simply

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Isn’t it amazing how complicated we tend to make things? To exercise, we so often think that we need a personal trainer, a gym membership, all of the equipment that we could ever think of, and special outfits. In reality, we need some good shoes, a set of appropriate clothes, and maybe some basic equipment.

My favorite weight-lifting routine focuses on a few exercises and requires only a few pieces of equipment. My preferred exercise, running, is very simple. (Preferred is not quite the right word. Least-disliked might be more correct. I love the feeling I have after exercising, but hate having to make myself do it.)

As part of my 2010 Action Plan I decided to complete three challenges: 100 Push Ups, 200 Sit Ups, and 200 Squats. I have delayed starting these challenges until now; I wanted to ease back into running first, so that the two sets of exercises would not interfere with each other.

Now it’s time for me to start working on those challenges. As suggested, I started out by testing myself to see what I am currently able to do.

  • Push Ups – 35
  • Sit Ups – 50
  • Squats – 50

Based on these results, I will follow the instructions on the respective challenges’ websites and work my way up the routines until I can complete the goals.

I feel that this basic routine successfully gives me a minimalist workout routine. It effectively captures the spirit of the Minimalist Experiment by cutting out the “extra” exercises so that I can focus on some basics and build from there.

Well, enough talk, time for me to go on today’s run!