NYSC, I just don't know how to quit you - Literally

Two years ago I signed a 2-year contract with New York Sports Club for a monthly fee of $92. With my prolonged displeasure with the gym and sneaking suspicions that working out was making me more hungry and therefore fatter, I've decided to end this unforgiving financial partnership.

Quitters be forewarned!
You need to submit in writing you intent to quit your membership a full 30 days before they will release you. I didn't even try to get out of my two year contract and am sure that they make you sign the contract so that you can't get out of it. The woman at the counter basically turned me away saying don't bother until your contract is up.

Reasons to get a membership down the road
I enjoy swimming, but never get to do it, so once I reach that short term goal, I'm going to look into joining my neighborhood YMCA, which will be slightly cheaper (this is nyc) and will have a loverly pool for me to swim in, whereas the NYSC shared one facility in times square with a hotel, not ideal swimming conditions.

Health Insurance Bonus!
I actually get $200 every 6 months if I can prove that I went to the gym 60 times in that six month period, unfortunately, I never quite got it to the 60 visit mark, there are only so many times I can stand on an elliptical machine during the month before I want to hurl or risk hip injury mounting the damn thing.

In the meantime, I plan to put my Firm workout videos to the test and slap some rubber to asphalt, running along the brooklyn skyline is much more inspiring than watching reruns of Bravo shows and Beyonce videos.

Confession of Irresponsible Spending

As I write this to you, blogosphere, I am tempted to just say that the suit I bought was within my budget, but it wasn't. And that I spent cash, not credit, buying it, but I didn't.

I pulled out that credit card as soon as jcrew.com sent me an email announcing 20% off their final sale and that the suit I had been eyeing was still available. I have about 198 left until my next paycheck, but will need some cash for the weekend and knew that my credit card was in my purse because I used it for business travel the day before.

This is why I NEED to stop carrying my credit card. But I can't cut it up.

Advice is welcome. You can't shame me more than I already am shameful.

Goals

I need some sort of incentive to stick with this, so

Short Term Goal
To reduce total debt to 12,000 by January 2007

Short Term Reward
Reinstate gym membership when I reach 10,000, hopefully by March 2007

Long Term Goal
To pay off total debt in 2 years, my 30th birthday year.

Long Term Reward
Guilt free graduate education, to be done with the debt would free up my time and energy to devote to bigger and brighter things.

September Credit Card Update $15,126

Well, I haven't done that great, but in keeping with my resolution to be honest with myself and my debt, here is a reckoning of September payments and (yikes) usage of the credit.

CC1: Was: $2604
Payment: $450
Dumb Spending: $264
New Balance: $2516

CC2: Was: $2866
New Balance: $2806

CC3: Was: $5099
New Balance: $4992

CC4: Was: $5111
New Balance: $4810

Old Grand Total: $15,680
Total Payments (minus usage): $652
Interest Payment: $146

NEW GRAND TOTAL: $15,126

If you must know what the dumb spending was, it was a totally avoidable trip to Evansville, IN for a distant friend's wedding, a friend who I was once very close with. While I'm not saying that people should skip weddings, this was one of those cases where my irish guilt got to me and thinking that it would be really important for the bride that I be there. Not that I wasn't important, but she has tons of friends and would have been completely fine with a letter and a nice $100 gift. But instead, I convinced myself that using my skymiles and paying for a cheap hotel and car was feasible. Not only that, but a trip to target, which never costs me less than $50.

Bottom line, it wasn't feasible and I didn't have the money for it. I should have checked the regrets box. Lesson learned.

Labor Day Retrospective

Labor Day Weekend

The weekend was a great low-spending weekend. Here is the tally:

Friday night dinner/dessert: $56 (totally more than I wanted to spend)
Cab Home: $6

Saturday Train ticket: $6
Saturday dinner: $9
Drinks out: $20

Sunday Breakfast:$5
Beach Pass: $5
Sunday Train ticket: Free (didn't check!)

Monday Train Ticket: $7
Monday Dinner: $20

Total Labor Day Weekend Spending: $134

I totally credit my friends who shuttled me around this weekend in absence of the boy. By piggy-backing on their low cost activities, I was able to keep my costs down and enjoy the beautiful (free!) weather at the beach!

A slow slog

It is hard to keep a good resolution going. The day to day, the subway work subway, sleep wake sleep, tv computer tv, really pulls a haze over the goals. I've been brown-bagging it. skipping nighttime activities, seeking out free ones or glasses of wine with friends. But really have to pick up that effort.