We are already almost wrapping up the first month of 2020 — and that means I’m sure lots of people are excited to go back to their drinking routine when Dry January ends! Lol I stopped practicing Dry Jan a few years ago, because aside from being a good detox, I felt like it wasn’t the way I wanted to cut down on my alcohol intake. But to each his own!
Here are a few healthy habits I’m trying really hard to stick to this year.
Financial health
When it comes to managing my cash money, I’m the first to admit that I suck! Lol. Looking back, I don’t know how I made it this far without laying out realistic financial goals. Last year I got hit real hard with a major financial lesson that caused me so much distress. But in a way, it was prob the reality check I needed to see my bank account in a new light.
Here’s my cautionary tale! While I was buying my beloved iced latte at a Starbucks, my card got declined! Last I checked, I def had enough to buy myself an iced latte. To my shock, when I called my bank to see what was the issue, they had informed me that my account was garnished! Meaning all of my money was on hold to pay a debtor. I’m talking savings accounts, checking account, totally wiped out! Probably one of the worst days I had in 2019. I had zero money to get around. I remember sobbing about it to my best friends and later to my parents. This is when I learned my mom accidently forgot to show me a letter she got from Fairfax County Court addressed to my name, which warned me about the garnishment. I had forgotten to pay a big debt I had years ago and it came back to haunt me. Let me tell you! It took me a good five months to fix the situation, and during those months, I learned to manage all of my debts and to not be afraid of facing the reality of my financial status. I’m still recuperating from that mistake. I managed to work out a payment plan with the debtor, and through the process, I also was able to straighten out every other financial issue I had. If you are going though this yourself, don’t be embarrassed. It happens, and trust me! With apps such as Mint and YNAB, you can truly take full control of your debts. I also recommend you have monthly meetings with your bank account rep to find ways they can help you achieve your financial goals to keep you organized and on track.
Meal planning/drinking less
As most of you know, early last year,I did strict keto for around six months to lose a good portion of my weight. Once I reached my goal of 125 from 158, I decided to switch to a low carb/low sugar diet. I currently use the app Lifesum to keep track of my calories and sugar intake. I also now cook at home more often. Last year I realized how much I was eating and drinking out, and my wallet soon started to suffer. This year I’m also truly focusing on cutting down my happy hours and Sunday Fundays. I think I did a pretty good job shrinking the drinking last year, but I still had way more than one incident where I felt that I put myself in a danger zone. To achieve this, it’s important that you are honest with your “party friends” about your goals. This will help them not to encourage you to stay for that “one last drink” and to be honest with yourself and truly take that step to make a change, also let’s face it — nothing good really happens when you’re out after midnight anyway! Instead of a stream of unnecessary extra drinks, let’s cheers instead to healthier drinking habits and more coffee/ green juice dates! Lol
Meal planning is also something I will try to be more consistent about. I now try to write down my meals weekly to also make sure I don’t overdo it when I go grocery shopping (wasting vegetables is so sad!). I talk about this a lot on my gram so make sure to follow me there so you can be up-to-date with my healthy habit journey and Trader Joe’s grocery list suggestions for low-cal and yummy options.
Cutting back on fast fashion
This is a huge change for me! I don’t want to set unrealistic goals for myself here, but I’m truly trying to be more sustainable when it comes to my clothes. I thrift often, but my basics such as my shirts, bodysuits and jeans all come from fast fashion stores. A lot of sustainable brands are expensive, and since I do a lot of “outfit post” features on my Instagram, it’s important that I set myself a healthy budget to purchase new clothes. I did Rent the Runway for a few months, but it sadly did not satisfy my needs for the cost of almost $200 a month. I like the idea of renting but hated the process of sending back the items. I think it’s a great idea but not for me. So if you have any recs on stores that have long-term-investment threads that won’t break my bank account, please leave a link in the comment section. I’m also thinking of hosting a swap clothing party — thoughts on that? I used to host an event called “District Closets,” where local style bloggers would have the chance to sell their gently-used clothes. The planning part was a bit of a hassle, but I might bring it back this year in the name of leaving fast fashion behind me!
Using less car-sharing apps
Last year, I spent an average of around $350 a month on car share apps! That is a lot of money. I started to even book rides blindly, without even looking at the rate because I just wanted to get to my destination ASAP! I’m changing this habit and embracing commuting a lot more. I also decided to set my budget to $150. I will try to only use my car-sharing apps in situations where I truly need it. Winter is a bit rough since it’s so cold out and it gets dark sooner, but I’m not letting that be an excuse to break my monthly budget. I’m sure that there will be months where I will exceed my budget, but at least I will now be more conscious about my frequency of app use. This will probably cut out a lot of my unnecessary outings, but I’m OK with that. Need to save those coins to do more travel this year and also think about all that extra exhaust in the air! By timing my trips in line with Metro hours, that means I won’t be tempted to have that “one last drink” at last call!
More meditating sessions:
This has been a game changer for me! I started to meditate around 4 months ago to help me focus more and sleep better. I use the app headspace and I highly recommend it! I now meditate daily in the mornings and it helps me tremendously when it comes to easing my mind at night before going to bed. I think that with so much noise going on in this world and in our daily lives, it’s important to find ways to find our little zen. Social media can also be super toxic and a time killer, so meditation truly helps with that too. It took me a little while to make this a habit but it’s now a new healthy habit that I plan to keep growing. I might also start journaling soon 😉
There you have it! These are my new healthy habit goals. I’ll keep you posted on how I do with them at the end of the year! What are some of your new goals? Comment below and don’t forget to follow my adventures on the gram! I’m also now on Tik Tok @spicycandydc (the hype is real!) lol
