Link Love, vol. 11
via Instagram
I wrote a full paragraph about the government shutdown for my post today, and of course, it opened back up (if only temporarily)! I’m so grateful because my partner, Korri, is a federal employee; he is an “excepted” employee that was working but not being paid. He’s worked overtime and every single holiday since Christmas Eve. We were so stressed out about paying the bills into February and March, but now he’ll likely get paid next week for all the work he’s done during the shutdown. My salary, which I am so grateful for, is less than 40% of our combined income and does not cover all of our expenses. I’ve been contacting our Senators every day since the first missed paycheck on January 11th, and I’m going to keep contacting them to ensure a shutdown doesn’t happen again. Please contact your Congresspeople and urge them to pass legislation to prevent future shutdowns! It’s super easy with Resistbot; if you’ve never used it, just text RESIST to 50409 to get started. :)
Now that the shutdown is over (and hopefully not happening again…ever), I’d really like to figure out a budget for Korri and myself. I’d love for us to set some short-term financial goals! I use the Mint app to track spending and just started setting budgets with it. I enjoyed Tieka’s post about EveryDollar (did you know she and her husband paid off their $60,000 debt in only 11 months?!) and have been considering that app, too. Do you have one you’d recommend?
On the same topic, have you heard about the website unbury.us? You can input all of your loans and your monthly payment and it will calculate the payoff date and how much interest you’ll spend depending on if you use the snowball method (lowest loan balance paid first) or avalanche method (highest interest loan paid first; this is what I’m doing now with my student loans).
I’m in the midst of a not-very-successful January Cure (read my first update and second update), so I really enjoyed reading about one woman’s experience with a professional organizer (via Good Housekeeping). I’ve seriously considered hiring one myself.
Kathy’s 2019 wardrobe resolutions look a lot like mine from 2017, and I think if I made style resolutions this year, they would look very similar! They’re all things I’m constantly thinking about (hence the “and beyond” part of my title, haha).
Did you read the recent Buzzfeed News article titled, “How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation”? (I’ll admit it: I burned out before finishing the article, haha…) I could see myself in what she wrote. I mean…I have a full-time job, and then I come home from my job and immediately work on my blog, which takes nearly as much time as a second full-time job (without the pay or the benefits). No wonder I can’t finish things like the January Cure or other seemingly small tasks…
If you haven’t already, please take 90 seconds and watch UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi’s 10.0 floor routine from two weeks ago. (Can you see why I’m a fan of collegiate gymnastics?!) She’s a former elite gymnast that lost her love for the sport—until she went to college. Bonus: 10 more can’t-miss collegiate gymnastics routines (I highly recommend seeing a meet live if you can!).
Throwback to the post about my boot collection I wrote a year ago. I’ve added some new pairs of ankle boots since then (one new pair in the photo above). Can you tell I have a bit of an addiction to them? ;)
A late winter wish list: washed black skinny jeans by Everlane (can’t decide between those, the button-fly style, or the cigarette silhouette), a cozy textured cotton sweater by Everlane (love the crimson color), a balloon-sleeve sweatshirt by Amour Vert (love this color, too), and a tie-front flannel shirt by Madewell (now an extra 40% off!).