Inblognito: Blogging Undercover

Now this should be interesting… I’ve had a glass of wine and there is a certain phrase I’m going to try and avoid because I’m getting a ton of spam comments already without inviting it. Are you all with me on the title? If not… then lets just say I’m looking for a little help on one particular aspect of my life. Via teh interwebs. A cure for the lonely if you will. Now get your mind out of the gutter and I think we’ll all be clear, more or less -I am inviting long term prospects, the longest term if I could have exactly what I want.

So I wrote a few words about myself (with a little help from my work buddy actually, who harassed me for months to do this) and put them out there. There has been a ton of crap in response. More crap than said spam here in fact. But there have been a few nice ones too. There are now two who are particularly nice. We’ve got a little connection thing going on, a bit of email back and forth. But now I’m stuck. What next? One in particular, who I’ve emailed nearly every day, just keeps emailing… and emailing… and emailing. But what next? And who suggests what? I’m freaked out at the thought of meeting someone, especially when they don’t know what I look like. I don’t have a photo there, although it would probably weed out a lot of that crap before it gets to my inbox. But there’s also a good chance it will create a drought. Let’s talk about these two separately, that might be easier.

Number 1 is the one I’ve been emailing for weeks now. I know what he looks like (not bad!) and he may know what I look like (I put another ‘thing’ up elsewhere as an experiment – nowhere near as good response rate, but it is a lesser known place. I have also seen him there). I think we’re both in the same position, shy, not so hot on the social skills thing when placed in an awkward, first meeting situation. Hopefully better once we get to know people.

So, the question is, what do I do? Do I send him my picture and say ‘oh, by the way, this is who you’ve been chatting to all this time?’ What if that scares him off?! Or worse, what if he wants to meet? I’d like to lose a thousand more pounds first. Well, maybe 20 (7.5 down since the New Year!). But that could be a few months away yet… I think I need the other person to initiate anything in this area. But if he is the same as me, is he waiting for me to go first? I just don’t know!

Number 2 is very very young. Ok, maybe only 3 years younger than me, but remember the lawyer? 11 years older, so it would be the complete opposite in maturity years (though really, how mature was the lawyer?!). So, he’s young… just started studying part time, which I’m not so keen on signing up for. Been there, done that myself for the past 10 years.  But he is nice.

Nice looking? I don’t know. Neither of us has seen pictures yet. But I do have a cell number, which I haven’t used because I hate text messaging and also because what if it leads to a request to meet?! He is a tad more forward at least. I guess I don’t want to take anything too much further without seeing a face. Just as I might scare him off, he may scare me off! Which I mean in the nicest possible way of course. It’s not about looks, but I’m fairly intuitive and will be able to tell both if I am attracted to him and if he is the type to be attracted to me.

I’m thinking the best option (of all the bad options) may be to quietly upload a photo and just see if they notice. And see if the emails die off or if we carry on and get through that hurdle. What do you think?

Having seen this in a few places, most recently on Shai’s and Kari’s websites, I decided to give it a go. I knew it would be a challenge, because although I like the colour red (it looks particularly good on me too), I’m usually drawn to other colours first, particularly when decorating my home. I tend to choose natural, darker or softer shades. Just as well it wasn’t 8 red things, or I may have had to give up! But I did find 7, so here they are:

From L-R, top-bottom I have:

1. A personalised wine glass from a friends wedding.

2. My red pot plant with lavender in it. I’m really not sure how to care for lavender, and it seems to be on verge of failing all the time. May have had something to do with the fact it took more than 6 months to find a pots in the first place! Mean time, my lavender was stuck in a tiny plastic container, oops.

3. Lucas Papaw Ointment – I would not be without this, it is a miracle treatment for lips!! And anything that itches or burns really, but it makes an especially good lip balm.

4. A selection of books from my shelf.

5. My beloved matryoshka dolls that I picked up in Melbourne.

6. A top I bought for a cousin’s wedding. I don’t like the feel of the singlet so tight against my skin, even though I know the over top is loose fitting, so I haven’t worn it a lot since and then forgot about it. Now I’ve dug it out again I might try wearing it to work, will go great with my grey pants.

7. My fruit bowl, stone fruit is in season and the first of the apples are just coming through too, I will easily get through all this in a week!

Feel free to join in and find your own seven red things.

Sooo…. I got together a little band, and we put together an album. Here it is:

Image by Metro Centric. Edited through FotoFlexer.

Ok, no, not really.

But it was a fun little project, poached from Nenette. Here’s what you do:

1: Go to the “Random Article” link on Wikipedia. Write down the title of the article. This is the name of your band.
2: Go to “Random Quotations” and the last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3: Go to Flickr and click on “Explore the Last Seven Days”. The third picture will be your album cover. (For this step, you can do what Nenette and I did and use the Creative Commons link instead.)

Fun! I love my band name, Grammatical Revolution. Incidentally it was actually the album name of another band. Also, turns out Charles F. Kettering was wrong, you can stumble on something sitting down!

Feel free to rinse and repeat on your blog

Treat Friday’s are working way better than expected and it’s only been two weeks!

Last week I bought a new CD (Foo Fighters best of), some yummy chocolates (and didn’t even get the urge to buy 10 for $10 instead of the 3 for $5.50 I ended up with) and a coffee. All good.

This week, I have spent extra money already renting Bones (I’m way behind the times, yes), so I decided to forgo a treat and use the earmarked money to top up my phone (an extremely sensible move that will take pressure of next week’s budget). Today at lunchtime I went to the library and checked out 5 books at a cost of $0, 3 of which are about money and finances. And I lugged them up the hill on my walk home.

But I had decided on a cupcake for my sweet treat. There is a place in town that sells them, they are very expensive, but I decided this week I would have one. So I went up to the window and checked them out. And nothing. No feelings of lust, no feelings of ‘omg there are too many to choose from I want at least 3!’. NONE of them appealed. So the range wasn’t that fantastic anyway, and I could have upgraded to the premium ones, they had flavours I like (used to like?). But I just didn’t want one! So I ended up with a smaller and cheaper 35gm of 70% Lindt instead.

Finally, my coffee? I didn’t want that either! I’m still a bit tired and have trouble getting up in the morning, because I’m not sleeping well. But I’m not stuck in a haze of sugar all day. I didn’t need or want the extra hit.

It’s all very very disconcerting, but also good signs of change in the way I think about food and financial health. So overall, go me!

Next week I will certainly be buying a proper treat again, but am already planning to forgo the sweet portion of treat day. I have a bunch of friends coming over on Saturday for dinner, and there will be plenty of snacks, wine and desserts to be had, so will wait till then. And be sure to force the leftovers on my friends to take home too, I don’t want anything left behind because it will just go in the bin.

The first task for 2010 is here! (And may have been here for quite some time, just as well blogging more often wasn’t my new year challenge .)

I love the way Shai calls these ‘New Year Special Goals’, because I am not a resolution person (although post-christmas does always seem the time to start exercising more, eating less etc.). I also kinda covered off my hopes and dreams (aka goals) for 2010 in the previous task. So what I’m going to do for this task is talk about how I’m going to achieve some of my goals.

I think I’ve figured out a way of curbing the chocolate cravings, treating myself with a splurge each week and celebrating each week with a little treat at the end. I’m calling it ‘Treat Friday’s’. The rules:

• No chocolate till Friday, then I can have a small, preferably dark chocolate treat. Maybe on the odd occasion a larger portion of my favourite trade aid chocolate, or a couple of very special chocolates from a gourmet place. But it’s small, it’s once a week, and I’m going to make the most of it and savour this small treat, instead of eating however much I want, whenever I want. Eventually the goal is to become sugar free, but this, I hope, will keep me sane in the interim.
• One new CD each Friday. I really want to get to know more new bands, and listen to more albums instead of random pop hits, and with all my walking (an hour a day) I have plenty of time to listen. This is also designed to help me with my financial goals. The premise is the same as above though, no spending all week and I can have one CD at the end of the week. I’ve also factored in coffee into my budget and will withdraw my coffee money each pay day and keep it in my desk at work. Otherwise I spend all my money and put coffee on my credit card till pay day, which is not on!! And yes… I can’t give up my daily soy lattes. I love them too much. Plus I have a little coffee thing going on with a friend at work, so I don’t wanna break up the party.
• Because my CD ventures will take me down town, I’m also going to treat myself to a second Friday coffee at my new favourite cafe. This is unnecessary indulgence, but if a $4 coffee is as bad as it gets? Then I’m doing pretty darn well! It will also go very nicely with my chocolate, unless I’m saving the chocolate to take home for the weekend.

So, we’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks. I really hope it helps. Even buying CDs, chocolate and coffee every single Friday will cut down my unnecessary spending by so much, if that’s all I buy. (Barring real emergencies, such as urgent medication, and the odd very  special dinner out with friends.)

As an aside, the chocolate thing totally seems to be working already,  because while I was writing this I had some cookies in the oven. I love baking and I love sneaking cookie dough and chocolate chips and licking the beaters. Tonight? Haven’t touched the chocolate and didn’t sneak any dough, I did lick one teaspoon after I’d finished putting loading cookies onto the tray, but haven’t touched the bowl. Yet. It is sitting on the bench still, but I distracted myself with this blog post, without even realising I did it. Huge progress in my world, even if you don’t fully understand! I also made a half size mixture. The cookies are for a friend, but rather than give them some and end up with half a batch to eat, I just didn’t make the second half. Finally, I bundled up the leftover chocolate chips (which would normally be finished tonight) and hid them at the back of the freezer. Hopefully they will be forgotten until the next batch of friend cookies!

Inspired by the weather and the fitness resolutions of the new year, I set out on a walk last weekend. Where I live there are an amazing number of walks, short and long, basically everyone has a track nearby their house, no matter where you are in the city. The problem? I don’t take enough advantage of this. I left my house and within 5 minutes was on a track and stayed on one for 2 hours 45 minutes before hitting houses again. It was amazing, just magnificent. I love that I can walk for half an hour and see the Harbour, the Strait, my homeland, a windfarm, some traditional farmland, and I can still see the city as well.

This is about 20 minutes in I think, looking back towards my house, which is on the other side of the hill from the two power pylons in roughly the centre of the photo.

See that  little tip of an antenna in the middle? That’s where I was heading. (Next time I will take my camera instead of using silly phone!)

I saw some wildlife…

… and some signs of civilisation. Unfortunately (sort of) the hills are draped with these little necessities.  I do love this pic though.

You can just see my homeland in the distance, I was born and raised across the water, it always gives me a thrill to get to the top of the hill and see it. You can also sorta see the wind turbines (MUST take camera next time!)

Getting closer to the goal…

… and even closer still, that last bit of track was a killer. And this (hot!) guy came running up behind me as I got nearer to the top, then looped around the lookout at the top and immediately started running back from where he came from. Made me feel woefully inadequate in my efforts.

Made it! A well earned rest and snack was well in order. I was on about 1 hour 30 minutes by then.

Then I figured it would be fun to just keep on walking, so I went down the other side of the hill and kept walking north. By the way, it’s also extremely windy up on the ridges, it was a stunning day, but the wind kept the heat from getting to unbearable. It also got a bit tiresome at the end.

I was feeling a little lost by this stage, I’d passed a couple of exits I was pretty sure I didn’t want to take. I kept going though (I also might have fallen on my ass somewhere on that track) and eventually made it back into civilisation and caught the train home.

It was just amazing and I must remember to go more often, it’s all right there for the taking, and there’s a ton of different loops I can take. Next time I think I’ll head south once I hit the view at the top and loop back home a different way. I also discovered my phone takes crap pictures in the distance. Close up is good, scenery not so much.

I absolutely adore Christmas, and cannot understand how some people cannot get at least the teensiest bit excited at that time of year. However, me and New Year’s? A whole other story. I’m the grinch who wishes all the new year’s hype could just go away. How messy you can make your New Year’s Eve should not be the benchmark for the year ahead. Sure, if something’s happening I’ll join in, but I don’t go looking for the best night of my life each and every year.

However, I have been doing a little reflecting today, as this new year’s is slightly more momentous than most, being the end of a decade and the start of a new one. Just as I was driving to the store a little thought popped into my head. It was triggered by hearing Please Bleed (Ben Harper) on the radio, and it was this: “Ten years ago I had just been cheated on by my boyfriend”. That’s all I’m going to say about that (it really was inconsequential anyway) , but it did start me thinking, what have I done in the past 10 years? What about the next ten?

Ten years ago I began the first decade of my adulthood. I was 17, had left school, was living away from home, had said boyfriend and was embarking on what was, for the earlier part of the decade, a path of rebellion, addiction and depression.  Today I’m so straight-laced that I get twitchy if someone disobeys the merest of “please do/do not…” signs. How did I get where I am today? This story could have had a very different ending, and those who knew me in those first few years of freedom would not recognise me now. But I always knew I would return to school, gain a career, get married, buy a house, have children and live happily ever after. So far I’m only part the way there, but it’s a work in progress. So here are some of the “highlights” of the past decade:

2000: I had just left school and embarked on what should have been a two year diploma. Really, this was just a bridge to the inevitable. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn’t want to be at school and a community college type course was the way to get me out. My boyfriend introduced to me a wonderful ’substance’ that would get me through the next few years. By the end of the year I was addicted, dropping out of school (again) and generally being a brat.

2001: I got kicked out of home, was working at a grocery store initially, then went to work in what was, at the time, highly paid work as a factory hand. The year was a bit of a blur really. I was heavily depressed and permanently self-medicated. I can’t tell you much more than that because I do not know. I do however remember the morning we woke up to 911. I listened to my walkman 40 hours a week at work, and at first I didn’t believe the usually jovial morning show presenter’s message, but it soon became clear it was no joke, and when I got home from work I watched on the tv as that scene of smoke from one tower and the second plane crashing was repeated over and over.

2002:  Addiction was still my best friend, it staved off the depression, but deep down I also knew I wanted to learn. I re-enrolled part time in my diploma (while continuing my full time job) and slowly worked my way over the next 4 years to finishing. I was back with the cheating boyfriend, it was a totally different relationship this time, however I was now supporting two addictions. He thought it was going to last forever. Needless to say, I knew it was not going to last very long at all.

2003: This would be the year I ditched the boyfriend and the addiction. Either early this year, or maybe it was the end of the previous one, I moved back home. It was the one place I could go where my boyfriend, who was not supposed to be living with me, could not follow me (he had followed me through 3 previous moves). After I ditched the boyfriend I met someone else, who was in no way serious, but opened up a new group of friends to me. I moved in with some of them and got on with life post-boyfriend. It was hugely liberating, though my other ‘friend’ was still following me around. One day at work I decided I’d had enough of that awful place. I handed in my notice and left a week later. I had no idea what I wanted to do the day I quit, but this turned out to be a huge turning point in my life. By the time my week’s notice was up I had a plan. I enrolled for the next semester full time to fast track my diploma and made plans to enrol in a full degree course at university. Later in the year I met someone who would be the catalyst for finally ditching the addiction and moving on with my life. The depression, thankfully, did not return. Despite the toll addiction had on me, I still truly believe it was immensely helpful in getting me through an incredibly tough patch of mental instability, particularly in 2002. However, it probably didn’t need to go on as long as it did.

2004:  I had an amazing first year at university. My parents, who thought me being at university was a big joke (despite this being the ‘master plan’ when I was still at school), were shocked when I turned out 4 A’s in my first semester. However, it was a tumultuous and lonely year relationship-wise. Tumultuous between me and my boyfriend, who simultaneously thought we were going to be forever, but was shit-scared I was going to dump him. I warned him that if that was what he believed, then that would be the likely outcome. He didn’t listen, I moved out, we broke up (in that order). Loneliness came as I moved on from the friends who were better suited to my previous ‘lifestyle’. Being straight made them seem a whole lot less fun. University was hard in that respect too,  I wasn’t in the fresh out of school, 18 year old group, but I wasn’t quite ready to join the over-40’s ‘mature student’ group either.

2005: I lived and worked on campus, which definitely had it’s up and downs. I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do, I changed my major every semester and was catching up on life so fast that I outgrew that university before the end of my course. I was running out of challenges and I could see third year was not going to be the right mix of papers for me. Once again, in the space of a week I had decided to not only move universities, but cities as well. I was in luck and just made it in time to apply for some more halls of residence work and secured a job for 2006 the following week.

2006: Was somewhat of a repeat from 2004. I didn’t really leave many good friends behind anyway, but once again I was in the situation of not quite fitting in. All the other students in my majors new each other from the previous two years, and so I was the odd one out again.  Moving cities was more emotional than I had anticipated, so there were plenty of ups and downs. In the first semester I was plagued with insomnia and stress. In the second semester I suffered chronic fatigue and had no idea why. That was the start of a 2 year battle with fatigue, and with doctors. I skipped all my afternoon classes so I could nap and still slept a solid 8-10 hours at night. I managed to fumble my way through the last semester of undergrad through good luck and the natural ability to write a great essay overnight.

2007: I was out in the wide world at last, embarking on my career and finally earning a good salary. I remember feeling disappointed that I’d ‘wasted’ so much of my life getting to this point, but in reality I couldn’t have got there without taking the path I took. I have also caught up so fast that in the long run I’m not going to be any worse off career-wise. I struggled with fatigue so much though. My afternoon’s often consisted of staring at the computer screen, occasionally opening a new file or something, while I concentrated for the entire time on simply trying to keep my two eyes open. We actually had a sick room at work, but because I couldn’t think straight, or think at all, it didn’t occur to me till much later that I should have given in to the fatigue and had a short nap when it got too much. I saw many many doctors who all said the same things: you’re overweight and/or iron-deficient. I knew, just knew, there was something physically wrong, there was a proper explanation for it. But I had no other symptoms, so I couldn’t point to anything else myself. Occasionally a doctor would get very interested and order a ton of bloods. But when they came back normal, the doctor would just give up. I had another boyfriend somewhere in 2007, that didn’t last long between him being lazy and unambitious and me being so affected by my mystery fatigue. Work was getting very hard by the end of the year and 2008 didn’t start off very well either.

2008: I would finally get a solution to my fatigue problem. However, it should not have taken so long. In the mean time I was getting so frustrated I was losing the plot at work, taking out my frustrations on any little thing that was mildly annoying and just blowing up. I felt like I was going crazy, but I also knew I wasn’t crazy, something was wrong. I finally paid a lot of money to see a doctor in town who referred me to a surgeon. She also put me on medication, something I did not want to do, but I was left with little choice by this stage. The first surgeon was a complete cow, so I went and found a really lovely male surgeon who was amazing. I had surgery and found I had endometriosis, which was removed then and there. The difference was amazing. By the end of the year I was kicking ass at work and even found a new job in an area I was much more interested in. I was incredibly lucky to have had an amazing manager who was incredibly supportive throughout those awful 18 months. It could have been an even rockier time if I did not have that.

2009: The final year in a decade full of ups and downs was relatively straightforward. My new job quickly turned into another new job as we faced a restructure, but at least I still had a job and I am really enjoying the new team I work in. I also moved into a place by myself, which made for a truly, and much needed, blissful year at home. I still have some things to address in the early part of this new decade, but I’m so glad to have my career well underway and to have such a great environment outside of work. I also hope that this decade (and preferably sooner rather than later) will bring the marriage, house and babies part of the journey, so that the next few decades after that can bring me happily ever after (more or less!).

After being super excited way back in October about Christmas, the feeling has kind of fizzled out before the most important month for Christmas cheer and excitement. I think it’s a combination of a crappy November at work, which is making time go super slow. I also forgot to start counting back the weeks, so I’m still stuck in the first week or two of November in my head. Finally, the weather here has been absolute crap. We should be staring wistfully out the window, wishing we could be out enjoying the sun, sand and generally great weather. However, it may as well be the depths of winter for all the sun and high temperatures we’ve seen. Nonetheless, I got my tree out, and have a few new decorations this year too:

And a night shot:

Hopefully this will help improve my mood and get me excited again over the coming weeks.

PS if you click on the photos it will take you through to Flickr, where I’ve uploaded a few photos of my newest decorations.

It’s been so long since I blogged on any sort of regular basis that I’m at somewhat of a loss as to what to write about. In theory I have more time, but without stress and pressure, there doesn’t seem to be many talking points in my life. Not to mention time still seems to fly by.

Anyway, where is all this newfound time coming from? I have (finally) finished my Honours degree!! Three long years of part time study (while working full time) and I’m done. At last. I’m a bit of a study junkie, having spent most of the last 10 years enrolled in at least one paper at a tertiary institution. The last six and a half have been spent pursuing first my undergrad (full time) then my Honours degree. (I got a couple of diplomas before that.)

Those three long years of working and studying have been horrendous at times, working 40 hours is tiring enough, finding the time and energy to do what should have been up to 30 hours of study a week was nothing short of impossible. I didn’t get the greatest marks because I didn’t put in as much time as I would have liked to the research, readings and assessments. But the main thing is I have completed a qualification, and so have the option of never studying again. It’s a very exciting prospect, though at the same time I already have the next career, and qualification, in mind.

I have a list of craft projects a mile long that I’d like to do, but without study, procrastination is no longer a necessary element of life. Suddenly nothing seems as appealing as it once was… I think I just need to get stuck in, same with an essay or assignment really. Just getting stuck in and going for it really helps sometimes.

The other surprising thing, and I’m not sure if this is related, is the sudden sense of loneliness. Being single and only having a few close friends has never really bothered me all that much. But right now I’m really feeling like I could use someone a bit more special in my life. Maybe it’s something to do with the weather, which has been utter crap here. It’s summer and I’m still wearing winter pj’s, going to bed with hot water bottles and have the heaters on. Yet I still need some extra warmth, especially at night when I’m trying to sleep! I had a strange dream the other night, and for some reason my old philosophy lecturer popped up in it. And ever since I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. It’s very odd. And disconcerting.  It’s not like he’s even that amazing or special. Not to mention, he could even be gay (or married) for all I know. I’ve also been considering the whole internet dating thing again, but I just don’t have it in me to deal with that. The only reason I’m thinking about that is because one of my colleagues asks me at least twice a week if I’ll sign up. (He thinks it’s a good idea.) But I’m not going to find someone for the sake of finding someone, no matter who it is. I think I’ll wait till this feeling just goes away on its own.

When I was little, I had a Christmas wish list a mile long, and would usually get a few things on it from Santa. Even then I was quite practical. I never asked for the impossible, such as ponies or other pets. However, as I got older I got even more astute and narrowed the list down to ensure I got everything on it. That way my most favoured items were clear to ‘Santa’. (BTW I got a stocking from Santa till I was oh… 23? 24?). When times were tougher as a young adult, birthdays and Christmas were a time to stock up on essentials: mostly clothes I needed (literally needed, not just the latest item I wanted). I also got my 2 new CDs a year that way, one for each occasion from my brother. My mum still expects a list each year (makes things easy for her and we get what we want), however it’s harder and harder to put the list together. Now that I’ve finished my degree and have a good job and no real financial responsibilities, if I need or want something I just go to the store and get it. I usually request a couple of books that have recently come out (I’m not big on purchasing books for myself, as I figure why spend $20-30 when I can go to the library?) and my annual Pooh calendar for the following year. Sometimes I put in requests for CDs and DVDs from my brother (who,  by the way, still owes me a stove top coffee pot from my birthday! Hoping to collect that this weekend when I go home). Last year I focused on some kitchen items I wanted, and even after getting those (which was all I really wanted and expected), mum (and dad, though he’s involved in the payment side of things more than the gift selection!)  surprised me with a voucher for more homeware, as well as a few other little gifts. So far this year I have no idea what I’ll request, but I will have to start thinking on that soon.

For this task however, I’m going to focus on three wishes that I hope will come true for me next year. The catch? I am the only one who can grant myself these wishes (if only it were much easier!). Nonetheless, here they are:

• With all my studies out of the way now, I’m looking forward to having more time to focus on me, my weight and health primarily. I have found a fantastic resource in the book Potatoes not Prozac and have started another blog to track progress (I will reveal the URL soon). With a few family health issues and scares in the past few months, it’s a wake up call for me too, as these things may also be in store for me one day, especially if I continue to live the way I do, carrying all the extra weight and being addicted to sugar.
• After a year of playing financial catch up, and another 18 months or more pretending I have unlimited resources, next year is the year to reign in my spending and up my savings. My goal is for an overseas trip around September/October 2011. I would also like to plan better for the little expenses in between, like all the domestic travelling I do. I book flights on my Visa all the time for various things, without thinking about how and when I’m actually going to pay for them, so I’ve started a little holiday fund to cover those trips  as well. It means I can pay for the flights as soon as they’re booked, leaving my Visa dent free.
• I would like to be free of my major debt, my loan from studying. That is not something that can be achieved in 2010 alone, but I want to start working toward paying it off sooner, by paying more than the minimum repayments. I’ve already started by increasing my payments a little each pay day, and would like to increase it a little more every so often. There is now a bonus scheme for added incentive too, where every $100 extra I pay off, it will be matched by another $10 reduction in the total loan balance.