My Ideal Life. Starting Today.

by HijabMan :: posted 1 November 07

“HijabMan, You look old and tired. Too old for your age. You need to get some zest back into your face.”

My father just chided me on the phone, and told me I need more rest [and zest?]. He’s right. I took on too much a few weeks ago, and, praise be to God, I realized that before the stress ate me alive. I’ve recovered from the big ball of tension I was just a few weeks ago with a heavy dose of questioning myself about what I really want in life.

A couple of days ago I walked out of my apartment, and realized I had left my dirty laundry in a fairly large mound on the floor. And, honestly, a couple pieces were still on the bathroom floor.

I know.

Many of us [men] just can’t seem to pick up our dirty clothes from the bathroom floor.

I stopped dead in my tracks, and paused, wrestling with myself. I knew in my head that it would just take 5 minutes to throw all of my laundry in a bag, but I also felt like it was a mountain— I mean, I had walked out of my house! Did I really expect myself to walk back in?

I did it. I won the battle with my self. I walked straight back into my apartment, picked up all of the laundry, and took it to my parent’s house (where I was headed to anyway). And it saved me the headache of doing it at a laundromat or worse, just leaving it in a big pile.

Unlearning your messy/obnoxious habits can be quite challenging, as I’m learning these days. I’ve been on a see-saw ride as of late. Some weeks I’m good, some weeks I’m bad, but I’m gradually getting better. I’m determined to get better.

I have this ideal life plan. Within that plan, there are a few categories such as, health & fitness, a financial plan, and maintaining a clean and organized home. Basically, what I want is a balanced life. A balanced life where everything is maintained. What would be even better? If it maintained itself.

Like I said in an early blog post, I would let things pile up, bills, laundry, a messy house, and other tedious tasks. On one hand, that huge pile of crap that I was avoiding was making me insane. On the other hand, it was a huge pile of crap that I didn’t want to go near.

Over the last few weeks I’ve chipped away at it, and I’ve realized two things, while ridiculously obvious, are so simple that you may miss them! 1. It may look huge, you may think it will take hours, but really, its a few minutes and you are done. 2. Once you set up a system, all you need to maintain it is a few minutes a day. For instance, doing the dishes daily. Or when it comes to health? A thirty minute workout.

Today, I’m starting the money piece of it. Here are the steps I’m taking:

1. I’ve worked out a rough budget. Though to be honest, I’m still ‘unsure’ about it. I’ve never worked with a budget before. So I printed out a sample budgeting sheet and tweaked it for my use. For the next few months I’ll fine tune it with ‘proposed’ and ‘actual’ amounts spent.
2. Once the budget is more or less in place. All/Most transactions will be automated.
3. I have just started an emergency fund in the form of an on-line savings account. Eventually it will hold enough money to last me 6 months, if for whatever reason there is no money coming in. It also comes with a debit card, a nice little perk.
3. I’m taking advantage of my company’s matching program for a 401k-type deal. They will automatically deduct a certain amount from my paycheck.
4. I’ve started an IRA, and will contribute to it regularly, by way of an automatic deduction from my paycheck. The goal is to max out my IRA contribution, so I can have a pleasant retirement!

Financial Zen here I come!

See The Cost Of Waiting A Year over @ GetRichSlowly. That was the article that really pushed me towards this.

Habit: The Household Wonder

Leena at 1 November 07 :: #

“I’m determined to get better.” That’s half the battle won. :-)

You can do it.
yaser at 1 November 07 :: #

the microsoft website has a very nifty excel template for budgets. it has automatically updating fields and all that. check it out.
HijabMan at 1 November 07 :: #

Leena: Breadsticks. yum.

Yaser. Eww Microsoft :-P sticks nose up in the air
yaser at 1 November 07 :: #

oh right, i forgot you were a machead =P
dina at 3 November 07 :: #

i love this. i’ve been kinda on this same path, too…especially right after ramadan. all of a sudden, i felt like i was struggling with EVERything, and life is not supposed to be that difficult. i realized it was all in how i looked at it…so just like you, i would tell myself “5 minutes, that’s all it’ll take to save yourself a mountain of trouble later.”

keep me updated with your progress :)
MR at 7 November 07 :: #

You need a wife akhi!
hahaha
HijabMan at 7 November 07 :: #

MR: I’m working on it :-P
azmaaish at 9 November 07 :: #

Ugh, I am trying to do this too. And believe you me I am not getting ANYWHERE.
Adeeba at 10 November 07 :: #

love you, yaar. i’ve tried getting organized at various points in my life and have failed each time. but i think you’re the type of person who can actually go through with this. good luck:)

and also, we should talk soon— and by soon, i mean next weekend.
Aaisha Shaikh at 11 November 07 :: #

Fantabulous! Love it! Haha, you are such a source of inspiration mashaAllah. So I read this post over and over because I have been trying to get my life and myself ‘organized’ and healthy. So cool to see others doing their version of the same thing :) Yesterday I had the choice to sit around and watch TV all day, ORRRR get my patoot up and clean up the apt / work on the photo project. Guess which I chose? The latter baby! Wahoooo!

I’m excited. I just woke up to a clean apt whose floors were swept and a sink that was not full of dirty dishes. Yeayy :)
ayooshi at 11 November 07 :: #

Haven’t been on your blog for a very long time..

all i have to say is…dude shut up. who u tryna kid? you know you’re not gonna succeed any of that…

(BWAHAHAHA, just some constructive advice. have a good day)
Resourceress at 13 November 07 :: #

Best wishes on your efforts to improve your life and finances. I’m a fan of Get Rich Slowly as well, and was glad to see links to that site here. I found your blog through the interview with Hanne Blank, and have stayed around to enjoy the view.
SoonToBe1LJD at 21 November 07 :: #

i would like to mention www.mint.com. It keeps track of your credit cards/bank account balances and gives you a good reporting tool that takes little time

Welcome! This site serves two main purposes: to entertain and educate the Believing and curious community, and to generate a bit of cash—God willing. But there’s a lot more about HijabMan.

My Ideal Life. Starting Today.

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