Onward and Upward: Tackling the Spring Goals

(Pssst! Don't have any idea what I'm talking about? I would read about it here and then read Step One in my Effort to rid myself of Teh Craziness here)

ALRIGHT! I've done it! I spent some time with myself and I think that I have taken care of Spring Goal #1 (to find a new word to replace the B----- word, since clearly it doesn't do it for me) and have laid the ground work for #2 AND #3 in one fell swoop.

I must say that I am more than a little pleased with myself. I hardly ever follow through with this sort of stuff. But the idea of making the money management thing fun is what motivated me. Who doesn't love fun? Lame people don't love fun. And I am not a lame person. Mostly.

Anyway. Moving on:

Firstly, I would like to say that if you are reading this, and are at all interested in what I read when I'm online (other than your blog, of course!) I think you would benefit greatly if you went over and checked out Havi Brooks (she's @havi on Twitter), her duck Selma and her blog The Fluent Self because honestly ... WOW.

She makes me want to have a duck. And also to be exactly like her. She is my internet hero. The end.

OK - so, the reason I told you that is to tell you this: thanks to Havi and her brilliant blog, I think she may have helped me overcome my money stuck. Or at least has gotten me onto a path that has significantly less stuck on it (Confused? Seriously, read her blog. Then you will get it). A few weeks ago she decided to stop thinking about her team as a team and start thinking about her team in a new way. Havi decided that she wanted to think about her team as a Pirate Crew on board her Pirate Ship.

As a direct result of reading this post (and all her other posts where she talks about it), I decided to think about my Not-A-Budget in a way that I haven't ever before. I didn't wonder about which notebook I was going to keep track of my expenses in, I didn't look online for spreadsheets that I thought looked cool, I didn't try to make my own, I didn't sit down and crunch numbers in order to figure out how much I can spend in what category of my life ... I didn't do anything except try to think of a fun new name for my Not-A-Budget.

This is turning rather ramble-y, and I apologize, I'm just really excited and I want to share everything with you.

So I thought and thought and I couldn't really think of anything that worked well. Nothing that I thought of made me go "Oh, oh, oh! Yes! That's great! And fun!". But today I thought of something that I think could work for me ... my Not-A-Budget Treasure Map.

Yes, maybe, I was influenced a little by Havi the Pirate Queen - even though I am not calling myself a pirate queen; I prefer to think of myself as more like that lucky person in the movie (that I have made up in my head) that finds the beat up old treasure map in the back pocket of her great, great, great grandfather's coat and is compelled to follow it on the off-chance that there really is something to be found. Life altering adventures (and possibly a steamy romance with the first mate of the ship?) will ensue. Kind of like City Slickers II, only with less 1980's and more water. And more steamy, maritime romance.

But the metaphor works great! When you read a treasure map, you have to go a certain number of paces in a certain direction in order to get to the big red X on the map that marks where the treasure is buried.

Well, for my Not-A-Budget Treasure Map, the big red X is a metaphor for what I want to achieve (a plane ticket to visit Armini in China, a new laptop, a super fancy camera, or tickets to DISNEYLAND), the number of paces I have to take are a metaphor for the days of the month and the directions are replaced with months. BRILLIANT (if I do say so myself).

This revelation has come about in the nick of time too because I am leaving to go to San Francisco in about two months to run a half marathon. And THEN Armini and I going to celebrate his last days in the good ol' U.S of A in Disneyland. All of which is going to cost me money and of which I have exactly none of at this moment in time. If there was ever a time that I needed a Not-A-Budget Treasure Map, now is the time.

And just to make it that much more fun, I have a blank book at home that I am going to turn into my Captain's Log/Book of Maps (it's going to be like an Atlas of Treasure Maps, and it is going to be awesome).

I have many grand ideas for it ... AND it is in line with my Spring Goal #5 (be crafty without destroying my financial house of cards) because I already have everything that I need to make this happen in my apartment right. this. second. It's enough to make me go "Arg! Ack! Rable Rable!" and many other manner of noises that show just how impressed I am with the fact that this idea came out of my head. By itself. Mostly.

When I get my Captain's Log/Not-A-Budget Treasure Map Atlas made, I will post pictures. Because I know that you are drooling just thinking about how many levels of awesome it's going to be. I might even go so far as to write a post about how to make your very own Captain's Log/Not-A-Budget Treasure Map Atlas so that you too can make all manner of joyful noises at how crafty you are.

What I do after the Captain's Log/Not-A-Budget Treasure Map Atlas is done remains to be seen.

I have the idea right now, not so much the process. But I'm ok with that! I am fine with getting pumped up about it ... hopefully the "Pumped Up-Ness" will help with the "Sticking To It" part that is pretty vital to the whole "It Works!" part, which is the whole point of doing this in the first place.

And as one final thing before I end this post (that is forever long ... geez. Thanks for reading this far!), I just want to throw out a big, old thank you to Havi the Pirate Queen for just being awesome. And for sharing your awesome with the internet.

It's really nice to read about grown-ups who struggle with the same things that I do (because, you know, technically I'm a grown-up too. I just don't feel like it 99.9% of the time) and that there are also grown-ups out there who are dealing with the problems they have in a creative and 100% different way than what I've been trying. Because it not only helps A TON, it also gives me a little peace and hope that maybe someday I will know what the heck is going on.