Every once in a while on Facebook, I post “Current Mood” and just post a link to a YouTube video of a favorite song.
This time of year, it’s often a Christmas song.
This song from this episode of “Sesame Street” was one of my favorites growing up– I cannot tell you how many times I watched this episode when I was little.
‘Tis the season, y’all.
Side note: The Carrollton Trojans play in the state playoffs at Mercedez-Benz Stadium tonight. We’re going to win!!
Oliver is very excited because he has been invited to hang out with the broadcast kids and they are going to get a behind-the-scenes tour of GPB’s broadcast setup.
Liam is traveling with the band, and Porter is coming along as well.
I made a reflective guided journal. I set out the specific parameters in both Gemini and Google AI Studio and between the two of them, I came up with quarterly segments filled with weekly goals, and daily prompts.
I made it for myself primarily, with the goal of maybe sharing it with the wider world.
It’s going to take some time to format though; while I have the content, I have a specific way I want that content formatted and there is no easy way to handle that in a bulk way into Canva, which is what I am using for the formatting.
I am very, very, happy with the content, though. It’s something I would use, I think it will be both fun and uplifting. I’m impatient to get it done but realistically, it will likely not be done by January 1.
Time is not really relevant however; the journal is not formatted to be time-dependent.
I was inspired to make a reflective, guided journal primarily as a self-help tool for myself, to help get myself through the year in an even-keel sort of temperament while also setting new goals. Gemini helped me set out parameters that allow the journal to be helpful without dispensing psychiatric or medical advice.
I hadn’t really intended to come up with a whole product, except that I wanted something pretty for myself.
So, caroline price luxe: intentional living guided journal is on the way.
I have been on a rampage the last few months, trying to optimize our family budget as best we can.
First, it started last May, when I closed my original photography business. I sold my second Fujifilm GF50sII body, and 4 of my GF lenses when I no longer needed them for business purposes. I did purchase a Fuji X-S20 with its kit lens so that I would have a second camera, but we still cleared a significant amount with the transactions.
At the same time, I made a commitment, both internally to myself and also to my husband, to be entirely mindful of all of my spending. Historically, mindless spending when I am depressed or anxious has been a problem.
Between May and September, that was the primary focus of my energy.
In September, I decided we were done with the credit card rollercoaster. We’d previously had a personal loan that had a higher than optimal interest rate, at 11.25%, and we also had some minor credit card debt. We were offered and secured a different personal loan with a 7.99% interest rate, and rolled the minor credit card debt and the original personal loan into this 7.99% fixed personal loan.
At some point in October or November, I called and asked about better deals for our internet only at home– we don’t have a home phone or cable service, we pay for internet only. I lowered our monthly bill from $79.99 to $65 and at the same time, I also secured us a better tier of service.
Grocery-wise, we primarily shop at Aldi, Walmart, and Costco, with the bulk of our groceries coming from Costco. I have started paying attention to what is on sale weekly at Costco, and buying in bulk where it makes sense to do so. That has made a difference since I began doing this in October– last month we spent $400 less than the month prior, and we are on track to do the same thing this month as well.
Then in early November, I started wondering if we could refinance our second mortgage…..its interest rate was secured when our credit was not as good, and its interest rate was 10.36%. At the same time, we had a home improvement loan for crawlspace encapsulation that was not only a 9.99% loan, it was a 15-year loan with 13.5 years left. So I looked around, and I found us a 7.625% second mortgage to roll the original second mortgage plus the home improvement loan into, and it is a 10-year term. We will save $14,000 over the life of the loan over what we were paying on the original two loans. (Our primary mortgage rate is 2.875% and thankfully the second mortgage is very minor by comparison).
In deciding to open a new luxury photography business, I had to be extremely strategic in which expenses were non-negotiable. Ultimately, the LLC and occupational tax certificates were an “of course.” I also ensured my state sales and use tax certificate was put in place, and I re-opened a business checking account with Bluevine that has no monthly service fee at all. And finally, I secured a great deal on fairly comprehensive business insurance with Full Frame Insurance. The beautiful thing for my budget is that the photography gear I already had– and the fact that my primary Cinelux lens works on both of my existing cameras– is all I need to create beautiful luxury portraits.
And finally, in this last week, I have managed to secure loyalty discounts and upgrades of 3 of the 4 phone devices in our household such that the upgrade cost us $174.30 in taxes, but I got upgrade and trade in fees waived, new devices included with payment of the plans, and payoff on my old phone all included. And with the loyalty discount in place that I was offered, our monthly phone bill for 4 lines will go down from $238 a month to $137 a month.
So now, our highest interest rate on debt at all is 7.99% across all debt, and it truly does feel like our budget is as optimized as possible, given the circumstances we have created for ourselves.
And as I make a renewed commitment to my artistic photography, all of this budget optimization frees up considerable brain space for concentration on what I truly love: my art.
