Mackenzie Carose

Simplify: My Word For 2019

By Mackenzie 7 Comments

If you have been a reader of my blog for a while, you know I am not a New Year’s Resolution kind of girl. I am more of a “word” or “phrase” kind of person.

That being said, my word for 2019 is SIMPLIFY.

Here’s the thing: 2018 kind of sucked. I was supposed to Let It Go, and I did no such thing. Between bringing home my second baby, to my post-partum depression, to other life and world events, it was not my strongest year. I didn’t let anything go except possibly dirty diapers.

There’s no use in crying over spilled milk though. Last year is in the rear view and it is time to press forward.

On to 2019!

When trying to figure out what I wanted for the next 365 days, the overwhelming need in my soul, was to simplify. This pertains to many different aspects of my life, which I think is important for my overall well-being.

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MY HEALTH

Food: less processed food. More water. More whole foods. Simple meals. More veggies.

Physical: more movement, more walking. Incorporate meditation back into my life.

MY  HOME

Get rid of all the things! Seriously, my apartment has looked like a tornado has hit it for the past couple of months and I am going to run screaming out the front door one of these days if it is not rectified.

Also, we plan on upgrading to a larger apartment sometime this year and there is NO WAY we are dragging all this crap into a new dwelling.

SAYING NO TO DOING ALL THE THINGS

No more running a million errands. No more driving here, there and everywhere. Try to have more things delivered if need be, to free up time to spend together as a family. No more going places we don’t want to go and seeing people we don’t want to see.

Freeing up this need to get “all the things done”. More white space. More time at the beach just watching the waves hit the sand. More walks. More time.

ANYTHING THAT CAN BE AUTOMATED

Still working on this one, but I am determined.

Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

Who’s with me? 🙂

What is your word for 2019? Let me know in the comments!

If It Makes You Unhappy…Unfollow

By Mackenzie 6 Comments

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Many of us are looking forward to the end of 2018, which will forever be branded under the word “tumultuous”. I am one of those people.

But before this year of truly trying our patience ends, maybe think about also saying good-bye to what doesn’t fill you up, and I am specifically speaking to our tenuous hold concerning social media.

I know this is not a light bulb moment but you actually get to choose the accounts and people you follow on social media. Yes, I am stating the obvious, but just because someone “follows you” doesn’t mean you have to follow back.

Mind-blowing, I know.

Here’s the thing: social media can be a good thing in the right doses. But when you follow accounts and/or people who bring you down or don’t make you feel good about you, it is time to clean house with these accounts.

For example, I know that no matter what part of the world we are living in, there seems to be some upheaval. Do you really need to follow several media news outlets on Twitter? Do you need to constantly see what so-and-so is tweeting about in regards to said issue? Do you find after checking your Twitter feed and seeing that the same crap is happening, it is just a different day, feeling low?

Unfollow.

This doesn’t mean sticking one’s head in the sand and pretending that everything is fine, but you don’t need to follow EVERYBODY. The world will keep spinning without you needing to know what is going on every single minute. Your well-being will thank you. And if unfollowing all the news people, news outlets and people advocating for change is way too difficult, that is fine. Start with unfollowing one or two people/news outlets once a week and see how you are getting your information. See how it is making you feel.

Then keep pressing forward the next week with that unfollow button.

Say it is people on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook who are constantly talking about how much money they earn and you are over here wondering if you should turn on the heat or throw on another sweater and tough it out. You look at their fabulous lives and wonder why yours isn’t fabulous and then the cycle of feeling crappy rears its ugly head again.

Unfollow.

Seriously.

If these accounts are making you feel bad about yourself, feel good about yourself and unfollow.

If there are people whose blogs you used to follow but don’t anymore, but are still following them on social media, maybe that is another avenue to explore in regards to unfollowing. Maybe you used to be a mom blogger and now you are a personal finance blogger but you still follow all these mom bloggers/blogs from your past life, consider clicking that unfollow button.

Because here is the thing: social media, in theory, is supposed to make us happy. It is a medium for us to communicate with others and be happy about it.

If social media and the accounts you are following are bumming you out, take a good hard look at what and who you follow and what you are occupying your time with.

Really look at all of your social media accounts and think about 2019: do you really want to start the new year following people and/or businesses that you are truly not getting any value out of?

Less is more. Always.

No Spend September

By Mackenzie 5 Comments

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September means back to school and a renewal for many to turn the page. With that in mind, I thought September would be a good month for finances to be re-worked so to speak.

Quick Backstory: Because of the kind of health insurance we have, it didn’t cover all of my needs as well as the baby’s when I was pregnant. In addition, there were extra tests I needed during my pregnancy and more doctor’s appointments than usual and so we are still paying on medical bills from last year. Add to that, my husband had an emergency room visit during that time last year due to an allergic reaction he developed from taking a doctor-prescribed medication. ER visits are a cost onto themselves.

Suffice to say, we have all these 2017 medical bills that we are still paying for and we would like to make more headway with these. So a few weeks ago, I brought up the idea of a “No Spend September” to my husband and he was on board!

Basically, we are only spending money on “needs”, not “wants”.

We are spending money on:

  • Rent
  • Utilities
  • Insurance (car, health, etc…)
  • Phone
  • Internet
  • Groceries
  • Other bills not listed above

We are not spending money on:

  • Eating out
  • Random purchases
  • Anything else that is not a need

Any money saved this month, will be directed towards these medical bills.

Anybody else doing a “No-Spend September”?  🙂