Was my Traditional to Roth IRA conversion a mistake? May 17, 2013

Remember last year when I went through all the reasons I was going to convert my rollover IRA (from an old 401(k)) into my Roth IRA?  I had plenty of good reasons.  It wasn’t going to be that much money either way.  I wanted to have all my money in one place so I could buy funds with higher initial investments.  And of course…THE FISCAL CLIFF.  No one knew exactly what was going to happen on January 1, 2013.  I definitely didn’t.  But in retrospect, I should have known that congress would just kick the can down the road.

So on December 31, 2012 (seriously, I’m a bit of a procrastinator), I went ahead and converted my IRA to my Roth IRA.

Then, a few months ago, I sat down to fill out my taxes online, and I entered in all my numbers.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I knew I was going to have to pay taxes on the conversion amount.  But I hadn’t predicted how this added “income” due to conversion was going to impact eligibility for certain tax deductions.  Not that I should complain!  But apparently there’s a strict cut off for eligibility of the Student Loan Interest Deduction.  And with my conversion, I’m over the threshold.   There is a range where your increased income decreases the deduction.  But over the threshold, you’re out of luck.

I did check to make sure my conversion wasn’t going to put me into a new tax bracket.  I knew there was no danger in that happening.  But I hadn’t considered the Student Loan threshold (or any other tax deduction/credit cutoffs).

It’s not the biggest issue.  But in looking back, I probably could have planned out a little better how much of my IRA to convert so that I wasn’t over the limit.  In the end, it wasn’t a lot of money that I could have gotten back with the student loan deduction, but it would have been nice.  I’ve never really been the type of person to base financial decisions on tax liabilities…I figured that’s a problem the super wealthy have to deal with!

What tax and money decisions did you make leading up to the end of 2012?  Did you make any mistakes with your money decisions?  Are you already over it?

Free stuff: sometimes terrible, sometimes awesome! March 24, 2013

I know what you’re thinking:  How can free stuff ever be terrible?

There are a few cases of terrible free stuff.  Like the leftovers from meetings held near our offices.  Sometimes they’re great, like yogurt or a fruit cup.  And sometimes they’re delicious, but dreadfully bad for me, like the brownies and cookies I’ve gotten at plenty of meetings.  Blogger friend Budget or Fudget had a similar issue of being surrounded by free but unhealthy food from meetings or coworkers.  She had to remind herself that healthy is better than free.  And once we apparently got to the leftover sandwiches a bit too late, and ended up with food poisoning.  Even the most delicious things can be trouble!

And last week, someone had a lunch meeting, and a few of us hovered around the conference room waiting for leftover Bertucci’s.  And I was among them. And then I ate an entire meal and then some of food.  After I already ate lunch.  FAIL.  And then the next day was Pi Day so our admin brought in two pies for us.  And I ended up trying both of them.  Double FAIL.

Then there’s the other freebies.  I’m still a sucker for free stuff, so I’ll often register for the free samples that are aggregated on sites like AllYou, or mentioned on other blogs.  This usually results in me wasting time chasing stuff I don’t need, and then having no good place to put the stuff.  I’ve also joined in on BzzAgent and Influenster, sites that give you free or discounted stuff and encourage you to share your experiences with others.  Sometimes the free stuff is great, but then you feel weird about mentioning the products in casual conversation.  (If you’re interested in either of those sites, I can invite you!  Or you can probably just sign up on your own.  Keeping in mind what I just mentioned…)

I also try to enter giveaways hosted on other blogs.  I’m super glad to have won a few in the past.  But I’ve started to get a lot more selective with entering giveaways.  I don’t need to waste time going to sites to try to win things I don’t even need!  I’ve narrowed it down to only entering contests for blogs I read (or find out about on twitter), and then only for products that actually apply to me.

I definitely don’t mind doing reviews for websites once I’ve had a chance to try them out for a while.  This has been the case with many financial websites I’ve reviewed in the past.  And I wouldn’t mind reviewing fitness gear (shoes, clothes, electronics, etc.) or other experiences (I’ve done two fitness experiences reviews so far).  But I only want to share stuff that I think friends/readers would actually be interested in.  Either way, I’ll always be upfront about what I got for free, or how I came across the item or opportunity.  But you know that already!

Regardless, I need to become more selective on what “free” stuff I get.  I don’t need the extra calories from the unhealthy snacks, or the stress of finding a good way to naturally discuss a product that isn’t related to my interests, or the clutter from all the extra “stuff” I don’t need.

How are you when it comes to “free” stuff?  Is your cabinet cluttered with stuff you don’t need?  Do you find yourself browsing the “seagull table” (as we call it at work…all us seagulls hovering around for scraps)?  Have you gotten a bit of a reputation (like I have) of being the first at the table for free food?  Do you spend hours entering giveaways?  Or are you able to resist?  How do you convince yourself to stay away from those tasty treats coworkers offer up?  How do you weigh the cost (in time, calories, space) versus the benefit of getting something for free?

Paying someone to manage my portfolio: My review of Financial Engines February 21, 2013

A while back I discussed trying a portfolio managing service through my 401k.  Since they were giving me a 3-month free trial, I figured I’d try it out.

I had forgotten to write a review of the program until a friend of mine got a similar offer, and she wanted to hear what I thought of it.  So, here we go!

When I signed up, I think I told them my age, and what my other retirement accounts looked like, and I told them to go ahead and do their thing.  They changed the ratios of the funds that I’d “buy” each pay period.  Then every month, they’d slightly re-balance my portfolio, so as to not change everything over all at once.

The first time I called to cancel (before the 3 month trial period ended), they offered to give me another 3 months, so I kept it.  They hadn’t finished their re-balancing, so they wanted me to stay with the program to see if I’d like it more after they fully re-balanced my portfolio.  The 3 months passed, my portfolio got a bit less lopsided, but then it got to be a little over 3 months, so I ended up getting charged for some of the portfolio management (whoops!).   I paid a total of $9.25 in fees for my forgetfulness… not terrible, but annoying.  ALWAYS set a reminder for when you want to cancel something so you don’t get charged!

What I liked:  I got to be lazy, and let them make decisions for me.  I knew that my portfolio was  not set up very well, but I think I was a bit too chicken to actually change anything about it.  Knowing these people have experience in portfolio management and that they would do it in a smart way was helpful.  Because honestly, had I not signed up, my 401k would have remained very unbalanced and poorly planned. Let them worry, that’s their job!

What I didn’t like:  I couldn’t change anything on my own; I basically had signed over all control to them, so I couldn’t change anything directly myself.  So, if I wanted to change things, I’d probably have to call (which I didn’t).  They basically had a plan, and worked towards that plan (certain diversification plan).  Also, the way they do the reallocation, they do it bit by bit once a month, instead of all at once.  Which felt a bit slow to me, but I guess that’s a safer way to do it?

Also, having my 401(k) on autopilot, I sort of ignored my other retirement funds (my Rollover and Roth IRAs), and then realized once I stopped using Financial Engines, that I really should have been paying attention to all my accounts!

I think this program is good for getting your funds on the right track, and they do provide advice for your other accounts (they had ideas on my IRA since you could import your accounts for them to evaluate), but sometimes the advice doesn’t work (like recommending a fund that was unavailable required a huge minimum)

If you get a free trial for a portfolio management service, I think you should try it out, as long as you set a reminder for yourself before the trial period ends.  It’s a good way to make some changes to your portfolio that you may have been afraid to go ahead with, and if you don’t like it, you can cancel.  Keep in mind that the amount of time it will take for their entire re-allocation plan might be longer than the trial period.

Have you ever paid someone to manage your portfolio?  Or tried a program like Financial Engines? What did you think?  If you haven’t, would you?

Money: 2012 Year in Review January 9, 2013

Happy New Year!  It’s 2013! I’ve been posting my yearly changes in assets and debts for the past few years now.  One thing I noticed this time around is that the changes in my liquid assets and my student loans are just about the same as they were last time around. How much did my assets and debts change this past year?  Check it out:

Assets:

• Liquid assets (checking and savings accounts, including my new AbleBanking account ):  +$15,522

• Retirement (401(k), Roth IRA, Rollover IRA):  +$28,369

• Car (edmunds.com private sale value): -$938 (I know there’s a lot of debate over including cars in net worth calculations.  I initially included it to make myself feel better about my auto loan, to balance out the ugly dip in my net worth).

Debts:

• Student Loans: Reduced  payoff balance by $11,528 (It helps that I paid off my entire Sallie Mae loan)

• Credit cards: I pay them off every month, but if I want to be exact, I have $713 less to pay off as of the same time last year.

Change in net worth since last year:  +$55,194. Booya!

It turns out, I didn’t post very often.  Only 26 posts!  And quite a few of them talked about fitness.  That became quite a focus for me this year.  (More on that in a separate post).  Though I definitely thought about money and fitness together!

Looking back at my old personal finance related posts….remember the Approved Card from Suze Orman?  I wasn’t a fan.

I shared my story about getting into and (partially) out of student debt.

I confessed that I have a strange relationship with shopping, especially when it comes to Kohls.

I’m trying not to sweat the small stuff, and keep thinking about the big picture.

My nagging tendency was in full force when I told you that there were NO EXCUSES when it comes to opening an IRA.

I tackled the yearly concern of Benefits Open Enrollment.

I converted my traditional IRA into my Roth IRA.  Which also means that the networth numbers will be lowered in the next few months when I have to pay taxes on the converted amount.  Shhhhh.  Don’t worry, I have the money saved to pay the taxes, but we’ll recalculate things later.

And, even though this is more in the fitness than the personal finance category, I’m really glad I did the Walk For Hunger last year.  I look forward to doing it again in 2013!

I mused on twitter that I might try to pay off my entire student loan balance by the end of the year.  Not sure yet if I’ll actually do it, but I do have a plan in mind.  The cool part about that tweet?  The amazing, personal finance queen Gail Vaz-Oxlade replied to my tweet asking how I would do it!  So that might become a 2013 personal finance goal.

Happy New Year! How was your 2012?  What were your big events (positive or negative) for 2012?  What are your big plans for 2013!  Please share your own blog posts (if you have them) in the comments, I want to make sure I read all of your year-end wrap ups and your 2013 goals!

Converting my IRA to a Roth IRA December 16, 2012

Back when I was laid off from my old job in 2008, I took the money that was in my 401(k) and rolled it over into an IRA.  And since 2008, I’ve had my Rollover IRA just sort of sitting there.

I started the rollover IRA with $5,026.80

I bought a bit of a target date fund (2045, so it would be different from the 2050 fund in my Roth…because I thought that would be diversifying…whoops!) and kept the rest in the Cash/Money Market fund.  When it started, the return on the money market was around 2.4%.  Now it’s 0.01%.  Bleh.  And then I never touched the account again.

So, with the ups and downs of the market, after 4 years, as of this posting, I now have $5,308.69 in that account.  So my money has grown ~5.6% total in the past 4 years.  It’s not terrible.  Especially considering the financial crash.  But it’s not fantastic.

But here’s the thing.  I want to do more with this money.  Not crazy “invest in the next bubble” more.  Just put it into something normal like an index fund.  And apparently most low-cost index funds available to me in my IRA have minimum investments of $10k.  Which is hard to do if you only have $5k.  So I’d like to roll over my IRA into my Roth IRA.

Another reason I want to roll my IRA over is because I assume my 401(k) will remain larger than my Roth IRA, since 401(k) plans have higher contribution limits, AND my company puts money in through a match and a defined contribution plan.  So I’d like to be able to diversify my tax liability when I retire (you know, have more options on what distributions to take and when), and so the more I have in my Roth, the better!

Lastly, there’s the taxes themselves.  Everyone’s freaking out about the Fiscal Cliff. I’m honestly not sure what tax rates might change to in 2013.  They could stay the same.  Or they could increase due to phasing out of tax cuts we’ve enjoyed for years.  I honestly don’t know.  What I do know is that if any of the tax rates go up, I might as well convert now, just in case.  Plus, I’m still in a pretty low tax bracket at this point in my life, so I might as well take advantage of these rates as well.  (yeah it’s only taxes on a tiny bit of money.  So I might as well do it now!  And I guess it wouldn’t matter much either way).

As a reminder, I’m not a financial advisor.  I’m just sorting out my personal finance thoughts on this blog.  So please don’t take this as financial advice.  I mean, you can still convert an IRA to a Roth IRA if you want.  But talk to your own tax/money people!

Saying that, here is something I learned from my tax/money people (i.e. customer service at Fidelity):

“At the time of your conversion, you will have the option to have taxes withheld. Many investors choose to pay the taxes due on the conversion from another source, as any taxes withheld from the conversion will be considered an IRA distribution and will be subject to any applicable taxes and an early withdrawal penalty if you are under the age of 59 1/2.”

I am planning on paying the taxes using another source.  The taxes I have to pay on this conversion I will pay for out of my regular bank accounts.  The other (not preferred) option is to pay the taxes out of the money you’re converting…which just seems like a horrible idea, because you have to pay a withdrawal penalty for that amount, and you’re lowering the amount of money you’re putting into your retirement account.  I guess some people do it if they have no other option.  Though I’ve also heard of people only partially converting to a Roth so that they can pay taxes on it bit by bit.

As a reminder:  Converting or contributing to a Roth IRA isn’t for everyone.  Depending on your income, your age, your tax liabilities, and plenty of other issues, you might stick with a traditional IRA or try something different.

What tax-related steps are you taking before the end of the year?  Is the drama over the Fiscal Cliff impacting your decisions?  Have you ever converted one retirement account type to another?  Do you agree with my decision to convert my IRA to go into my Roth IRA?

Black Friday Ads are Stressing Me Out November 22, 2012

Here’s the thing.  I’ve NEVER gone to a Black Friday sale.  Our family tradition for the past many years has been to drop by a local shop owned by a friend of ours and shop around.  But that’s pretty much it.  No staying up all night.  No camping out in a long line.  No shoving down old ladies.  We don’t roll like that.

Even as an avid NPR listener, and a pro at fast-forwarding through commercials on TV, I still managed to hear and see plenty of ads.  I get emails and mailers from stores I shop at.  And I can’t fast forward through every ad on TV. There’s lots of yelling about the crazy deals that we’d be foolish to pass up on.

So it starts getting me a little stressed out.  I think this happens for two reasons.  Part of it is I’m not quite sure what I’m getting for everyone yet.  A few family members have wishlists set up, so that will help.  But I guess I’m starting to worry that I won’t know what to get for everyone!  And second, the ads make me worry that I’m missing out on the best sales of the season.

But!  I don’t think I’m going to let these ads get to me.  I’m trying not to sweat the small stuff.  So that means that if I only get a 30% off deal instead of a 50% off deal at Kohls, I’m not going to starve.  I’ve already “missed out” on a 30% deal at one of the stores I plan to shop at, but I have a feeling there will be a few more sales there before Christmas.  Plus, the “door busters” and other items that people get really excited about, i.e. electronics are not really anywhere on my shopping list.  If there was a specific big-ticket item I was looking for, and it was actually a really good deal, I might consider it.  But I don’t think I’d put in too big of an effort.  Maybe wait until the craziness slowed down.

So, as I said before, I’m not going to go to any of these wild Black Friday sales.  I’m just going to enjoy Friday with my family and do some window shopping at local small businesses.

What about you?  I know that Andrea is So Over Black Friday.  Sandy is also Anti-Black Friday.  And J$ knows of at least 7 things he’d rather do than go to Black Friday.

Anyone planning on picking up some specific deals tomorrow?  Camping out at a store?  Waiting until a reasonable hour and then strolling into the stores?  Just hoping to do some shopping online instead?  Getting ready for Cyber Monday?

No matter your plan, I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Benefits Open Enrollment: The Decision Looms November 9, 2012

Every year I know I have to do this.  And every year I just pick something last minute and hope it works out.

Like many companies, my employer offers a bunch of different benefits.  I know I’m lucky in some respects, because not all companies provide as many benefits or coverage.  Every year, we get a packet with information, along with links to a few sites that help you compare options.  This year, we have the choice between a Point of Service (POS) plan, an Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) plan, and two different High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) that include a Health Savings Account (HSA).  Yeah, it’s basically an Alphabet Soup of Health Plans.

Every year, I think I pick the same plan (or the closest available option).  I’m not sure it’s actually the best plan for me.  There’s a questionnaire on my company’s benefits page that you can fill out and it tells you what plan is the best for my needs/wants.  According to the questionnaire  I should go for the slightly pricier HSA plan, where I pay a bit more for the plan, and the company puts $500 into my HSA (versus $750 into an HSA for the cheaper plan), where I pay a smaller percent of every medical expense than the cheaper HSA.  Confused?  Yeah.

My other options (the EPO and the POS) both have set copays rather than the coinsurance percentage that you have to pay for each service for the HSA plans.  And that’s part of the reason I’m shying away from the HSA-based plans.  I have no idea what anything costs.  I understand that HSA plans are great because they enable a patient to take control of their expenses and are especially good for people who don’t have a lot of medical expenses or problems (the young and healthy).  But with the current health care market, I have no idea how to shop around for medical services.  I have no idea how much a specialist at one practice charges versus another, or how much tests costs.  Granted, for most things, there’s probably a phone number I could call, and maybe I could track down a price.  But to be honest, I don’t want to deal with that.

Things to consider:

Premium costs:  This is the amount I’ll be paying for my insurance plan for the year.  For me, the range is $930/year for the “cheapest” and $1660/year for the most expensive.  Interesting to note, with the cheapest plan, my company will contribute $750 to my HSA, which does make that plan look a lot more appealing.  Other interesting note about premiums:  in my company (and many others) you can pay for the premium with pre-tax dollars.  Which does take a little bit of the sting out of the price.

Deductible:  This is the amount I pay on medical expenses out of pocket before my plan will pay for benefits.  Before you reach the deductible, you pay 100% of your medical costs.  Beyond that, the insurance either covers most or all of the costs, but you usually have to pay a set dollar amount or a percentage of the cost.  That cheapest HSA plan I mentioned comes with a $2000 annual deductible, which means if I need any medical services (beyond a few expenses that are covered 100% before deductible, like preventative care and some maintenance drugs listed on the Treasury Guidance list / Preventative Therapy Drug List [pdf]) I’ll have to pay for all of it either out of pocket or with the money in my HSA.

Maximum Out-of-Pocket:  This is the maximum amount of money I’ll have to spend in a year on medical expenses.  This is where it really acts as an “insurance”.  Heaven forbid something bad happens to you.  Disease, accidents, other scary things like that.  Well, the Maximum Out-of-Pocket amount means a $40k hospital bill will only cost you up to your maximum (for my plan options the maximum is anywhere from $1500 to $4000).  This is the kind of thing where you would be glad to have you HSAs, FSAs, and of course, you emergency funds.

In Network vs. Out-of-network requirements:  For the EPO plan, I’m only covered if I go to a doctor that’s “in network”, which means there’s a list of approved doctors/facilities that I can go to.  I haven’t had a problem with this in the past, except when it turned out only some of the members of the medical practice were in my network, so I had to go to a different doctor within a practice.  For the POS plan, it’s similar to the EPO plan, in that you have copays for each visit.  But you have the option of going to out-of-network doctors.  However, it is more expensive to go out-of-network than it is to stay in-network (i.e. the insurance covers a smaller percentage or requires a higher copay for the out-of-network services).

The other considerations I needed to make was my expected medical expenses (checkups (though some of those are already covered at 100% regardless of plan I choose) specialist appointments, prescriptions, etc.).  And I need to consider what is covered for anything unexpected (small things like sprained ankles or strep throat, or big bad diseases or accidents).  What will I have to pay for those?

So, what did I pick?  I went with the EPO plan.  That’s the one with the highest premium, but I know there are certain healthcare expenses I’ll be incurring and the way the plans are set up, this looks to be my best option.  Plus, this plan has the lowest Maximum out of pocket (and max + premium ends up being the lowest out of all 4 options).  Also, with the high-deductible plans, I feel like there’s a bit of a disincentive to visiting the doctor.  And since I’m already pretty bad at going to the doctor when I should be going, I don’t want the money issue to make things worse.

Have you had to sort through all these confusing different medical plans?  Or are you given one option?  Do you have an employer-based plan, or are you shopping on the open market?  What impacted your health insurance decisions?

Birthday Fondue: A Delicious Tradition October 27, 2012

For the 5th year in a row, we hosted a fondue party to celebrate my birthday.  Basically, we buy the cheese and the chocolate, and a few bottles of wine, and some bread and fruit to start us off, and then ask that our friends bring along something to dip in the cheese or chocolate fondue.  This year, my boyfriend included an awesome flow chart to help our guests figure out what to bring:

I love hosting this party every year.  It’s fun to celebrate with friends and have different sets of friends meet each other!  And they’ve said how much they look forward to this every year  Plus I much prefer this to the birthday dinners out, where you invite a bunch of friends to a restaurant and at the end of the night there’s that awkward moment where everyone offers to pay for the birthday girl/boy.  Instead, friends come to my place, bring something way cheaper than a fancy meal at a restaurant, and get to chat and eat and have fun!

I prefer hosting this than any other potluck party.  Plenty of options, and as long as you know it tastes good in chocolate or cheese, you’re in the clear!

Suggestions for cheese fondue: bread, veggies, pretzels, crackers.

Suggestions for chocolate fondue: fruit, pretzels (again!), marshmallows, cookies.

Plus, if you think about it, it’s a pretty frugal party.  No one has to spend much money, and everyone gets plenty to eat!

We pick up cheese (and some wine) at Trader Joe’s.  We have a go-to recipe we use for the cheese fondue, though once we lucked out at Trader Joe’s because they had a pre-made fondue mix (all the ingredients in the linked recipe already added) and it was actually cheaper!  And just as delicious!

And chocolate fondue is pretty simple, too.  Chocolate chips, some heavy whipping cream, and then a splash of a flavorful liqueur (amaretto/almond, cherry, etc.) or extract.  Mmmmm.

And we’ve had the same electric fondue pot like this one for years.  It’s served us well for quite a few fondue parties.

So, have I convinced you that fondue parties are a frugal, delicious way to celebrate anything?  Do you host fondue parties?  Does it make you feel like you’re living in the 70s?  Are you jealous of the deliciousness?  Should I put you on the invite list for next year?  What are your favorite foods to dip in chocolate or cheese?

On not sweating the small stuff October 7, 2012

We’re often told not to sweat the small stuff.  And sometimes, it’s the small stuff that makes life that much better.  Grabbing coffee with a friend.  Getting pampered with a mani-pedi.  Going out on a double date with friends.  Or meeting up for beers at the local watering hole.

But at the same time, we hear the refrain from personal finance types:  Beware the latte effect!  Skip the salon!  Cook dinner at home!  Just order water or turn friends down!

It gets confusing.  On the one hand, I want to enjoy my life, and I think that, while there are plenty of things you can do for free, there’s lots of small stuff that does cost money (maybe $5, maybe $50).  But I don’t like having to stress about every expense.  Of course, all that money can add up.  All the little things you spend money on throughout the week (a cup of coffee, a few lunches, a cab ride or two) can start to make a decent dent in your wallet.

So, how do you weigh what’s actually important?  Or is it more important to cut out all spending when you’re in dire straights than it is once you’re on your feet and making decent money?

I sometimes feel guilty wanting to treat myself to something.  ”I could put the $10 for this meal towards paying off my student loans”.  ”Skipping the $4 ice cream sundae will probably help me lose weight and become a millionaire”.  I mean, I know that if I put that $4 into a savings account that somehow has an unobtainable interest rate, and I let it grow for 500 years, it’ll be worth millions.  But I also like going out for tasty crepes and hot fudge sundaes.

I go back and forth.  Some days I spend with abandon.  And by that I mean I go out for a few meals and buy a new dress.  Other days I force myself to walk away from a coffee shop or bakery.

So, which side do you lean to?  Saving every penny and aggressively saving and paying down debt?  Or do you treat yourself (or others)?  I’m wondering if it would help if I actually set a budget for “fun stuff” so that I’d know it’s okay to spend it.  How do you find the perfect balance and not sweat the small stuff?

Getting Back On Track September 19, 2012

Sometimes I find myself falling off the wagon.  And I have a lot of wagons to fall off of.  Exercise, eating right, blogging, and personal finance, to name a few.

While I exercised like crazy on my little vacation to Maine over Labor Day weekend (lots of biking and hiking) I also ate quite  a bit.  You know, vacation, where you can eat like crazy.  And then followed that with a business trip where I ate way too much and didn’t go to the hotel gym even once!

And, I haven’t blogged in, well, way too long.  Haven’t posted in over a month!.  Sorry about that!

And personal finance-wise, I feel like I’ve been spending a bit willy nilly.  Including last month when I bought a new TV.  It was technically a birthday present for my boyfriend, but of course, it kind of was also for me.  I researched our options, and found a pretty good deal.  And we’ve been thinking about getting  a new TV for over a year.  So, I don’t regret it!  You know I love buying gifts for others.  But still.  You know.  Spendy spendy.

The good news is, even when you fall of the wagon, you can get right back on!

Specifically, I’m glad to be getting back on the exercise and smart eating wagon.  I’ve been inspired by both a fitness competition at work (tracking exercise, steps, and weight) as well as the Hometown Wellness Showdown from  LoseIt.com and Boston.com (and the local YMCAs).  I started using Lose It awhile back and made some good progress on weight loss and getting in shape.  I became more mindful of what I ate and started working out a lot.  But like I said, I sort of fell off the wagon.  But these challenges are helping me get going.

So, I’m back!  Back on the healthy living wagon, and back to watching what I spend, and hopefully back to blogging.

Have you fallen off any wagons recently?  Or gotten back on track?  What keeps you focused?  Any ideas for blog posts so that I can keep on the blogging wagon?  What do you want to hear from me?