The nice weather has returned and with it, my desire for a Vespa.  Let me rationalize. I live 2.1 miles from work off of a gorgeous parkway with a speed limit of 25 mph.  Secondly, gas prices are certainly not dropping and they will no doubt continue to go up during the summer months. Enter the challenge: finding the $1500 to $3200+ to purchase one.  I’m still working on that one.

I may or may not have been missed, but my blogging has consisted of Wordless Wednesday photos the last several weeks.  Previous to that I wrote about being stuck and of being my own worst enemy in the hopes of working through both issues. I’m not quite there yet, but I am trying to move forward and focus on the positive. I greatly appreciate the support I’ve received from the PF community.

Last Tuesday night I ended up in the ER for most of the night after suffering a severe allergic reaction complete with anaphylactic shock. IVs of steroids, Benadryl and Zantac and an Epi Pen were administered and the diagnosis was that I am allergic to my high blood pressure medication.  That has since been changed to another by my regular doctor.  I never expected how drastic of a change it would make and in so short a time.  I feel human for the first time in a long while.  I actually want to take action to be healthier all around.  I hope it continues!

I am re-commiting to the Yakezie Challenge and posting at least three times a week.  I am also going to dedicate time to finding new PF Bloggers to learn from and connect with.  I hope to meet many of you at Fincon as well. Keep me honest folks!

There, I said it. I’m my own worst enemy. I’ve let the loss of my definition of the “American dream” poison me until I’ve become so full of bitterness that I’ve been unable to let go. I’ve allowed my chronic illnesses to become my identity and excuse not to do things that take a little work, like exercise regularly  and eat healthy.

I also have not been putting in the time and effort on the things that matter to me most, my relationships and learning new things and striving to continually improve myself.  I’ve pretty much lost my motivation all around. Unfortunately, the only person that can turn this around is me. Encouragement and support from my family and friends is great and definitely appreciated, but in the end it comes down to me.

I need a plan of action and I need to start small so that I don’t get overwhelmed and give up. All I can think of is Baby Steps from the movie What About Bob?

• Every day think of at least one thing that I am grateful for.
• Read for at least 15 minutes every day.
• Move for 10 minutes every day doing something I enjoy and keep adding minutes every few days or so.
• Find pleasure in experiences, not things.
• Knit or make jewelry at least one hour a week
• Live in the moment!

What do you do when you realize your actions or inaction are not productive or maybe even damaging?

I have been missing in action, still struggling with being stuck and my medical issues. Every day lately has been a battle. I need to seek answers in this part of my life the way I have with my finances.

In brighter news, I bought our airfare to FinCon12. Still need to buy my husband’s conference ticket and save for hotel and spending.

Here are some of the blog posts I liked this past week or so.

I really like the idea of breaking goals down into more manageable chunks like J. Money over at Budgets Are Sexy.

My husband and I don’t have kids and Kristina over at Dinks Finance reminded me of some of the benefits.

I can relate to what The Debt Princess is going through. I am still struggling with what I want to be when I grow up.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that was stunned to hear that Facebook paid $1 billion for Instagram. Carrie over at Careful Cents shares what we can all learn from the sale.

Blonde on a Budget has been my role model in the past weeks. She is nearly out of debt and has embraced a fitness routine with the same enthusiasm as she has in eliminating her debt.

Suzanne posted on Enemy of Debt how small changes in our spending can allow us to pay off debt faster with those found dollars.

I am guilty of putting a vacation on credit card, but Andrea of So Over Debt hasn’t and there are a whole list of other money mistakes she hasn’t made.

This weekend my husband and I kept our spending relatively in check.  I finally got around to going through magazines and cleaning out my clothing closets (details & photos in an upcoming post). I also can not stand how quickly this little house gets cluttered, so I am sorting through paperwork and finding homes for things or tossing or donating them. I’m sure this will be an ongoing effort. As of writing this post, our broken dishwasher is sitting on our patio. How ghetto is that?!

I could really relate to portions of Brad’s Not-So-Pretty of Paying Off His Debt.  Of course, I am not debt free. Yet.

Dinks Finance asks if You Could Survive Another Recession. My husband and I have made a lot of life changes in the last year and I’d like to think we’d be better prepared for a recession.

Carrie over at Careful Cents shows us how to Spring Clean Our Finances. I’ve been working on getting paperwork under control so far.

Andrea Tamed the iWant where I failed. As of last weekend, I own an iPad 2.

David shows us 10 Places You Can Save Money Now Without Making Big Sacrifices.

Credit: http://sadlersbbqsales.com/investment-tips-roth-ira/

I’ve made plenty of money related mistakes in my life, but my biggest one is not investing in Roth IRAs every year. Or, at all. Don’t make the same mistake!!

In the majority of my jobs since college, I have made the point to invest enough in the company’s 401k to get the maximum matching contribution and have stayed long enough to become fully vested.  After two layoffs, I rolled over my 401k and pension into Traditional IRAs. However, I am guilty of cashing out two 401ks that didn’t have much in them. I regret not investing those funds into Roth IRAs.

My even greater regret is that my husband and I have not even attempted to invest in Roth IRAs annually, let alone make it a priority to deposit the maximum allowed each year. We are now in our early 40s and will be spending the remainder of our working years scrambling to make up for poor planning in our 20s and 30s.  I worry that our working years will stretch well into our 60s or longer.

My advice is that you start investing in Roth IRAs as early as possible, even if you can’t max them out each year. As your income grows, automatically put it towards them until you reach the maximum allowed each year. For rules, income limits, differences between Traditional and Roth IRAs and more, please refer to http://www.rothira.com/.

My husband and I are still paying off debt, but this year we will still each open an Roth IRA even if it’s only with $500 each.

This is a  serious case of do as I say, not as I do!