Taking care of a few 101's

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my 101 in 1001 list, so naturally I'm going into review mode: what have I done, what haven't I done, what do I think I might not get done?  More on all of that tomorrow.

But for today I'm updating a few items that are complete, for all intents and purposes:

3. Take a multivitamin, iron, and calcium daily.
I rock at taking vitamins now - and not just because I'm pregnant, although that helps.  It takes something a few months to become habit and this one is solidly entrenched.  I was pretty good with it before I started the list (and super good at it a few years ago, back when I was in better shape) but I wanted to commit myself to this practice whole-heartedly . . . and I have.  Check this one off as done.  (I'll revisit this one next year to make sure I'm still taking them.)

24. Make timely student loan payments.
Since I'm back in school, my student loans are now in deferment.  While they were active, all payments were made on time.  Done!  (For now . . . after I finish my degree they'll come knocking, eep.)

29. Develop a bill paying strategy with my husband.
I was very, very used to just paying all of my bills on my own.  I had my own process for it - so having bills that 1) weren't entirely mine and 2) had to be paid with money other than my own was a big life change for me.  I was so used to "my money = pays my bills."  But when you're married, sometimes it doesn't always work that way.  My whole paycheck would go into the rent and so the hubby's money would have to pay one of my student loans.  That took me months to get used to and not feel uncomfortable about.

Aside from that, we had to figure out who was paying what and when otherwise bills ended up either unpaid or paid twice.  So the hubby set up a shared spreadsheet on Google docs with all of our monthly bills.  As we pay them, whoever pays them, we check them off.  This is working out perfectly for us.  We both check in with the spreadsheet regularly and no bills have been missed or overpaid. When an unexpected expense comes up (errant student loan deduction or car repairs, for example), we can look at the bank accounts and the spreadsheet and see what we can do. 

That was the other big part of this - setting up our joint checking account.  It was a big step, and one it took me a while to want to do and then get used to but it's been one of the best things we did.  We both have our personal accounts, too.  All in all, I love how we're doing with all of this so far.  Now if we could just get going on a savings account, I'd feel even better yet.

42. Develop picture organization (digital storage).
On my computer at home, I have photo folders organized by year and then by month and/or subject.  I.e. a folder might be called "December 2009" or "dogs".  This is then backed up on my USB drive.  This has worked wonderfully.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's 101 in 1001 review.  How's your 101 in 1001 list going?

Comments

[Stacey]

Nice job! You're really moving a long on your list!

[Rebecca]

I know what you mean about having to work out bill-paying once married - it's tough but having a system helps things A LOT! For us, the biggest challenge has been how to divide up the mortgage repayments plus the regular bills - hubby works full time and I part time, so what's the fairest percentage, etc.

P.S. - Our photo organisional systems sound pretty similar. :)