Challenge Updates

It felt so nice to take a brief break from the digital world. And now an update about my "Digital Cleanse"....

Although I cheated a few times and visited Facebook, I stayed away for 4 whole days and it was so nice not worrying about what other people were doing. I still like Facebook and will be active on the website, but I certainly don't need to be checking it 10 times a day.

The same goes for Twitter. I finally logged into Twitter last night for the first time in over a week and I have to be honest, I didn't really miss it. I would rather have a few good conversations through email or gchat with the people I actually like to keep in contact with. There are so many people I follow that annoy me and I don't know why I subject myself to them. It is a very strange phenomenon. I am sure I will pop up again in your Twitter feeds, but I am guessing it will only be sporadically.

As for texting...I cheated a couple days after beginning the cleanse because one of my college roommates texted me a picture of her engagement ring while on a trip to Hawaii. I just had to reply! She and her now fiance have been together for 10 years (!) and we all were just waiting for the day when they would finally get engaged. After that I was more lax with abstaining from texting, but I still took time to call my mom in my car on the way home from work most days, so that was nice. I just can't deny how easy it is to communicate through texting. Our family plan includes unlimited texting and it fits in with most people's lifestyles much easier. So although I will continue to be a texting machine, I am still going to try and make and active effort to talk on the phone with those who mean the most to me.

Not emailing from my phone was the easiest. I don't have my work email on my phone so I mostly get junk or stuff from friends, so it was easy to wait and reply when I got to a computer.

As for Improve Yourself! 2010, I am going strong with my goal to save money and put it in our house fund. Granted it has only been a week, but I menu planned last Monday and we actually stuck to it! Such a big feat for us. I have created another menu plan for this week, and after church this morning I hit up the grocery store. I saved $45 (and spent $58) by only buying stuff on sale and using coupons. Here is our menu for the week:

Sun: Spaghetti and homemade meatballs with side salads
Mon: My grandma's homemade chicken soup with crescent rolls
Tue: NY Strip Steaks with sauteed mushrooms, baked potatoes, and side salads
Wed: Tilapia over steamed spinach with a side of fettuccine alfredo
Thu: Quick Beef Soup with the leftover crescent rolls
Fri: Dinner out
Sat: Pizza (Maybe chicken, spinach, and tomato pizza, Landlocked Mermaid style)

Does anyone else have any other recommendations for how to stick with our financial goals? I am open to hearing anything!