Musings of a Midlife Mom - trying to balance spending less while living more!

Want to review an audio book?

2012-02-14T18:46:00.000-05:00

Crystal Paine of Money Saving Mom is offering a free copy of her audio book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget if you will review it on your blog. I would LOVE to review the audio book!
You can sign up here . You have to hurry, though, this invitation ends in 24 hours!

To my special valentine....

2012-02-14T07:50:00.002-05:00

To my husband...I'm so glad I found you...

This video is blech, but it's the song that means something....;)!

Sunday Night Chit Chat...

2012-02-12T20:48:00.001-05:00

It's Sunday night...want to chit chat?

Burke Lake Park (November, 2011)

Reading?
I'm still re-reading Your Money or Your Life. The problem with reading is that I try to do it after I slip into bed at night. I read a page or two and I.am.out.

Watching?
Nothing! I'm keeping the TV turned OFF tonight. It's quiet. I like it.

Listening to?
My husband play with a mindless handheld game...well I shouldn't say mindless, but the beeping is really annoying.....

Cooking/Baking?
Tonight we had roasted chicken, mashed potatoes (guess what I won't be throwing out?), stuffing, broccoli...and of course, homemade bread!

Happy you accomplished this week?
I am very happy that ~~my husband~~ we made a decision with the job. (It really was a two person decision! :)) I also learned how to make bread and ended up baking 4white loaves, 24 cloverleaf rolls and two loaves of cinnamon/raisin bread.

Looking forward to next week?
Valentine's Day!

Thankful for today?
I'm thankful for many things today, but most importantly my family...they make me very happy....

I'm a bread makin' machine......

2012-02-12T12:26:00.002-05:00

Okay, you are laughing at me, aren't you....

Well, thanks to Carla and this post, I can bake bread!

First thing I did was dust off our bread machine . We hadn't used it in years.

Our 15 year old bread machine....

I followed Carla's recipe exactly. It really was a simple recipe and the ingredients are inexpensive! I made a couple of loaves, and then tried some cloverleaf rolls...

The first two loaves came out looking a bit funky...but tasted delicious!

The dinner rolls came out perfect! I'm told they were delicious....

The finished rolls!

I had these out on the counter and went to a doctor's appointment. When I came back, there was one left.

I started feeling more confident about my bread baking, and tried my hand at cinnamon raisin bread. Success! Soooooo delicious with a hot cup of coffee....

Same bread recipe, I just added cinnamon, sugar and raisins..

However, there is one problem that I haven't figured out yet. Carla, how do you make homemade bread last for more than one day??? It seems to disappear as soon as I bake it.....

Even so, I figure I'll be saving lots of cash by baking my own rolls and breads....

...cause I'm a bread makin machine.....

Thank you Carla!

Tag, I'm it?

2012-02-11T10:07:00.000-05:00

The lovely Carla *tagged* me the other day with this cute meme. I've just been so preoccupied, I didn't have time to post. Thankfully things have settled down and I can play along...

Here are the original rules: (As you can see I'm a rule breaker...)

#1 - Post these rules. Done!

#2 - Answer the 11 questions from the person who tagged you. See below!

#3 - Create 11 new questions for the people you tag. I'm keeping Carla's questions, they are good!

#4 - Tag 11 people and link them to your post. Anyone who wants to play can be *tagged*!

#5 - Let them know that you tagged them. You are all tagged!

Okay, on with the questions.

1. What is the bravest thing you've had to do in your life?

Ending a loveless marriage with two young daughters in tow.

2. If you had to wear one colour for the rest of your life, which would it be & why?

PURPLE! It's a fun color for any season!

3. Coffee, tea, or neither? Favourite flavour?

Coffee! Starbucks breakfast blend. Although if I'm not feeling well, there is nothing like some English Breakfast Tea....

4. Do you have any birthmarks?

Yep! But I'm not telling you where....hee hee.

5. One thing you regret (if anything) in life?

I regret not going to a four year college right out of high school. I received a two year degree and a lot of extra credits, but I've never gotten my bachelors. Sigh.

6. Do you play any instruments? If not, do you regret not learning?

I played the flute in high school. I wish I had taken the piano, but we didn't have one growing up. I think that's why I insisted on having one for my kids. My daughter is now taking lessons....

7. How many REALLY good friends do you have?

I have three locally (not counting my husband who is my BEST friend!) And, then, of course, there are all of you....

8. Have you ever "dropped out" of anything? Lessons, school, etc...

Hmmmmm, just last year I resigned from being on the band booster board...I suppose that's quitting....
I can't think of anything else at the moment...

9. Smartphone or "old school" phone?

I just got a smartphone, although it's truly wasted on me. I use it like an "old school" phone.

10. How long have you been blogging for?

I've been blogging for OVER 4 years! I believe I started in December, 2007 but I would have to go back and check for sure. Time goes by so fast!

11. Do you *LOVE* your job? I mean really love your job? Or is it "just a paycheck"?

I have to say that I really, really like my job (love is such a strong word for work!)....and even if I didn't need the money, I would still work.

Okay, that's it. Now.......
TAG -- YOU'RE IT! :)!

Friday Financials and Food Waste Friday Updates

2012-02-10T08:50:00.000-05:00

Compliments of The Frugal Girl

It's FRIDAY! Time for a food waste update....

I'm happy to report that I have no pictures to show you this week (i.e. no waste). Having said that, I'm afraid next week may be a different story. I have not *cleaned* out my fridge or pantry yet. I think I may have a bunch of potatoes growing sprouts again...sigh.

However, this food waste accountability thing is saving me a lot of money. Last Saturday when I looked in my fridge and freezer, I decided I did not want any food waste and nixed going to the grocery store. Aside from picking up some fruit, there was nothing purchased from my grocery budget. (Est. savings? $100.00!)

In the meantime, if you have any ideas for almost rotten potatoes, please let me know!

And now...on to Friday Financials....

It's been a good financial week for us. A really good week.

As you know, my husband accepted a new position with a new company. Besides a raise in pay, he will be receiving a signing bonus. This will be enough to pay off our car loan and make us DEBT FREE besides our mortgage.

We also will be receiving a lump sum amount of cash for unused vacation ( a payout of 240 hours x hourly rate). This will be put directly into our emergency savings account (Goal No. 1!), although part of it will be put aside for our get-a-way to Charleston, SC in May. (Goal No. 2!)

Other money that flowed into our bank accounts this week:

a $327.00 Visa debit card from Verizon for signing a two-year cable contract
$3,800.00 Federal tax refund
$924.00 State tax refund

Since this is a very rare occurence, I have plans for every cent. I don't want to wonder where it all went by squandering even a penny.

Today I'm feeling blessed and grateful. It's been a good week.

The Job.

2012-02-09T09:28:00.000-05:00

I love this poster. There are many phrases that resonate with me, but most especially this one. Some opportunities only come once. Seize them.

It's been an emotional three weeks. After thinking, worrying, analyzing, praying and finally some negotiating, my husband has decided to resign from a position he has had for the last 19 years from a firm that he helped build from the ground up. He will be joining a group of people he started with 19 years ago to once again start up this new firm's Washington, DC office. This will be an incredible opportunity for him. (Of course, it doesn't hurt that he will be receiving a signing bonus and a 14% increase in pay.) My husband's hesitation in this process had a lot to do with me, and how I felt about him starting up a new office again....(very long hours, weekends, travel). I've kind of grown accustomed to having him home for dinner and readily available. But we both know that this is an incredible opportunity and another one may not come along again.

So, I dedicate this post (and poster) to my wonderful husband.

Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them. So go out and start creating.

Congratulations on your new position. I'm so very proud of you. :)!

Decluttering Monday: Clearing my mind.

2012-02-06T07:00:00.003-05:00

I didn't declutter any *thing* this weekend, I decided to clear my mind instead.

It's been a crazy two weeks. Although the specific details have not been worked out, I can tell you that my husband was offered a new job. A job with more opportunities, higher pay, more responsibility. (Read: working longer hours)

The new job has different benefits.. different retirement plans, different health care options. (Read: more expensive).

Our minds have been spinning....analyzing whether he should stay or leave.. athough he may not have a choice to stay. (Read: ugly office politics)

We decided to not think about any of this over the weekend and just clear our minds............

We ordered pizza Friday night and watched a pre-recorded episode of The Mentalist. We went to the movies on Saturday afternoon and ordered Chinese food when we got home. All paid with cash, of course.. (Read: stress relief spending).

We spent Sunday night with friends eating, drinking and watching the Superbowl.

(It's a good thing I start my whole foods cooking class today...I don't think my body can take much more of the fat and calories...)

Thankfully, our minds did clear and we had a really good time.

My husband is waiting for his *official* offer. Once he gets it, he will make his decision. Either way things will be different for our family. I'm hoping that it will be for the better...

Friday Financials and Food Waste Friday

2012-02-03T07:00:00.030-05:00

Compliments of The Frugal Girl

It's Friday and time to look at the food waste for the week. I'm sorry to say there was more than I thought. Of course, some of it should have been disposed of long ago, but I didn't *see* it.

The items in the picture were all in the back of my fridge. (Note to self: clean out fridge EVERY Friday)

The yogurt was never opened, but the veggie dip and sour cream were almost empty. The dried fruit pieces from Trader Joe's weren't very good to begin with, but the package got lost in the cupboard. Not pictured: 3 bottles of wine (half full) from Christmas, a whole carton of half and half which got left on the counter (all day) during the usual morning rush to get to school and work, and some stale tortilla chips.

Estimated financial loss? $21.50 Not a good week.

Moving on....

I wish I had something exciting to share with you this week, but I must say, it's business as usual. Paychecks came in, bills went out. (yawn)

I did tally my numbers up for January and I happy to report that more money came in than went out. (By the way, that includes the trip to NYC too!)

There were a few unexpected expenses this week (all kid related) that threw my weekly budget off a bit...

weekend retreat fee for daughter at church
bowling fee for school P.E.
donations for school choir fundraisers

AND, there were a few spontaneous purchases (Sharon related) that depleted some of my cash too...

two books from Amazon ($14.00)
a cash money holder (When I get paid (twice a month), I cash my entire check. I needed a place to store the *extra* cash in the various categories as opposed to walking around with all that cash in my wallet. This was a great solution.) ($14.00)
the Savvy Cents wallet in hot pink, (Yep, I went ahead and ordered this wallet. I decided to use the coupon code to get it for $23.00.) I got it yesterday and it is so cool!! All of my cash is now organized in each of the pockets on the inside and the zipper makes it feel very secure. Very classy, too! The Savvy Cents wallet is worth.every.penny...no pun intended...hee, hee.

In case you forgot what it looks like, here it is:

By the way, I've already tried it out at Target...works beautifully....

I guess that's about it. Hopefully I'll have more to share with you next week.

How was your financial week?

Gratitude.

2012-02-02T08:07:00.001-05:00

I believe I've posted about this wonderful video before, but it is so good, it's worth another run. If you have several minutes to spare, please watch. It ~~might just~~ will change your perspective for the day and you will feel better...promise.

Enjoy your day!

Changes...and February's Mini-Goals

2012-02-01T08:43:00.000-05:00

Today the temperature will reach a high of 68 degrees and it's FEBRUARY! Such a Spring tease....since I'm sure there is snow on the horizon....

There are lots of challenges going around the blogosphere, and I would love to participate in all of them. However, there are significant changes going on in our lives (here) that cause me pause. Unfortunately, I don't have enough information yet to share with all of you, but I promise I will as soon as I know.

So I instead of *challenges* this month, I will give myself a few mini-goals....

February's Mini-Goals

Set up my blog on it's own host site and update
Read 2 books (I'm re-reading Your Money or Your Life...very inspiring!)
Exercise 45 minutes 4x a week
Continue to follow 2012 budget by using cash only and tracking every expenditure on spending diary
File taxes by February 9th
Start Whole Foods Class, cook 3 new meals a week
Save an extra $500 for trip to South Carolina
Plan and go on two date nights (I'm thinking a dinner/theatre, comedy shop and/or a movie...)
Complete (1) Random Act of Kindness...

That's enough. After all, February is only 29 days long...

What are your goals/challenges for February?

January's Mini-Goals Revisited

2012-01-31T13:00:00.001-05:00

***Today I'm being featured at Julie's blog, The Family CEO. Check it out! :)!***

It's the last day of January...time to revisit my 'mini-goals'.

January's Mini-Goals

Read two books - COMPLETE!
Complete one crossword puzzle - FAIL! I'm taking this off of my 12 in 2012. I do.not.like crosswords. They frustrate me. I'll have to think of something else to stimulate my mind...
Save an extra $500 (by participating in Carla's Spend Less Month Challenge) - Not quite, but I came pretty darn close! I saved $350.00.
Stay within my 2012 budget - YES! I'm following my spending plan by using cash and tracking every.penny...
Lose 1- 2 lbs - I really can't tell. I lost 3 lbs 5 days ago, but I found them again. Shheesh!
Exercise 5x a week - Nope, didn't happen in January. Eat 5 fruits and veggies daily - I have to say I was not diligent here either. (Hence the lack of pounds lost) Thankfully I'll be taking the Whole Foods Course next week, I'm sure I'll fulfill this requirement.
Update blog site - Pushed this to February. I didn't want to spend the $$ this month.

Hmmmmm.....I have some work to do. I'll have to think about February's Mini-Goals and get back with you.

How did you do in January??

"New", a book review.

2012-01-31T07:00:00.084-05:00

Trish from TLC Book Tours asked that I do a book review for Winifred Gallagher's new book, "New, Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change". When I read that Winifred Gallagher was a behavioral science writer, I assumed that this book would be a difficult read. I dragged my feet in starting it, but finally sat down and read it this past Saturday (the review was due today!) I was glad that my assumption was wrong. I finished it on Saturday too.

At first I was taken back with the "scientific" descriptions of our personality types, but then grew quite fond of the terms neophiliacs, neophiles and neophobes.

Our species is hardwired to notice and thrive on the new. The difference is how each of us as individuals utilize our own "neophilia".

If you are a neophiliac, you are an extreme novelty seeker. You take risks, some hazardous to your health, but some that turn out to be great.

If you are a neophobe, you handle the new with caution and/or anxiety. You most likely don't take risks. "Negative emotional responses to novelty can protect you from harm, but they can also discourage you from learning new things and pursuing potential rewards..."

If you are a neophile, you take the moderate approach...or a well-balanced approach to novelty or things that are new.

Which of these three definitions do you think you are?

I believe I fall between neophile and neophobe. I think my daughter has inherited the same neophilia. (Don't I sound smart using all of these scientific words??)

So, what does that mean?

For me, it means that I am hardwired to approach something 'new' with moderation but also hesitation (.i.e. new technology, a new recipe, etc.) I tend to operate under the notion ...."I like things the way they've always been..." (Ms. Gallagher would say my age has something to do with that...um, thanks...).

My daughter likes to feel in control all.the.time. She loves to try new things as long as she knows what the outcome will be. She has a strong need "to know, so she can understand, so she can predict, so she can do, and thus navigate through life." Uncertainty and the "unknown" cause her to lean toward the neophobe spectrum of how she approaches the 'new'. Of course, some of that could just be teenage angst...

I believe the rest of my family falls under the category of neophile...as does most of the human population (70-80%).

Ms. Gallagher points out, however, the greatest concern we have as a society is the onslaught of too much 'new' information..i.e. technological advances....our cell phones (and texts), computers (e-mails, twitter, blogs, etc.) and all the other technological information outlets. It's nearly impossible to have time to do anything else.

"Enjoying information technologies advantages means making certain compromises with the human experience..."

Yes it does. Lack of live human contact, being out in nature...(Think teenagers texting their friends sitting right next to them....)

So how can we manage all that "new" information??

As I continued reading, I smiled smugly because I already knew the answer. Something that is near and dear to my heart. Balance.

"All of us feel and function best when we achieve a balance between the need to be safe and the desire to be stimulated which produces the ideal state called "optimum arousal"."

And how can we create balance? We can Unplug.

"Gentle, effortless spells of reverie or free-form musing and daydreaming are crucial to your mind's healthy functioning and your productivity....without these rest periods, your brain can't remember and integrate your thoughts and feelings properly."

Of course there is so much more to this book, as it delves much further into the various examples of human behavior utilizing the concept of neophilia. I've only scratched the surface. What I took from it was a better understanding of my own family's individual personality traits as well as a great reason to 'unplug' from technology...at least for one day a week. For that alone, it was worth the read.

Disclosure: I received a copy of New, Understanding our Need for Novelty and Change from TLC Book Tours for this review. All opinions are my own

Decluttering Monday: The bedroom dresser.

2012-01-30T07:00:00.008-05:00

Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful - William Morris

Several months ago I cleared out my clothes closet. It's been so easy to get dressed in the morning because there is just not a lot of clothes. Thankfully there is nothing in my closet that I don't wear or believe to be beautiful.

I couldn't say the same thing for my lingerie, pajama, workout clothes and sock drawers (a.k.a. as my dresser).

I have to tell you, I really wasn't in the mood to declutter this week, but I wanted something to post today. I decided to set the timer and take no more than 45 minutes to complete it.

Here are a couple of the drawers 'before'.

This is my sock drawer. It's too deep, the socks get lost, and I can never find what I'm looking for!

These are my bottom two drawers that hold my pj's and workout clothes. I know there are items in both these drawers that I no longer wear or love....

Yikes! What a mess! But I think it's really important to take EVERYTHING out of the drawers and create a clear space. I had no idea that much could fit in those little drawers....

I always like to look at a blank canvas to see the possibilities. I've decided the top drawer will work nicely for my socks...

And I was right! They are all color coded and can't get lost in a deep drawer.

My workout clothes have been sorted and are easy to pick from. I got rid of all the shorts/leggings I no longer wore.

My donation pile...42 items gone in less than 45 minutes! It's now time to add this donation to It's Deductible. (It's important to write down all of the items you are giving away and snap a picture for tax records.)

The give-away bag is packed up and ready to go to Goodwill.

After I inputted the items into It's Deductible, I put the bag by the door for pick up. Done.

Want to know what I saved on my 2012 taxes for this donation? $27.44. That works out to $41.00 an hour. Not a bad hourly wage to clean out a couple of drawers....

Do you have anything you no longer need, use or love?

Wrapping up January and the No(Low) Spend Challenge and February's Financial Challenge

2012-01-29T07:00:00.001-05:00

I thought I would wrap up the month today and tally the final numbers for the No (Low) Spend Challenge. Even though Tuesday marks the end of January, I'm going to make today the last day of the month. Payday is tomorrow, and since February is such a short month, I thought I would add two more days to it!
(Remember, you can make up your own rules for this challenge! :)!)

My anticipated spending for today is a gasoline fill up for hubby's car and a bagel store stop for my family. I will be utilizing $40.00 of the $100 I stashed away to cover these expenses.

So, how did I do?

$1,500 did not go into emergency savings as planned. Instead, we sent $1,500 to our HSA (Health Savings Account) to finish up 2012's $3,000 deductible for medical expenses. My husband's company put in the other $1,500.00. We are now covered for medical expenses for the whole year. This is a huge relief.

I wanted to put an extra $500.00 into savings. I didn't achieve that goal either. However, being a 'glass half full girl', I'll just focus on the positives... I saved $310 EXTRA this month!!

I'll have more information to share in my Friday Financials post about January's financials, but for now I'd say this challenge was a success!

I am once again joining Carla for a February Low Spend challenge, however, February is bringing on it's own set of challenges...some of them I can share...some I can't...at least not yet!

Here are the challenges I can share...

I'll be starting my Whole Food Cooking Course on February 6th. I'm sure I will have to revamp my pantry a bit, which may initially be a little more $$$.
I'm also planning on taking my blog to a new level and purchasing my own website. (2012 Goal No. 8) I'm getting help, and that will cost a bit of $$ too. (Hopefully it will pay for itself in a couple of months...).
Valentine's Day and Date Nights. I want them. I'll have to budget them in. (Remember, balance!)

My financial goals for February are:

Save $500.00 for my anniversary trip to Charleston, SC. (2012 Goal No. 2.)
Save $3,000 in my emergency fund ($1,500 coming from tax return and to make up for January)
Put $2,500 extra into my insurance sub account ($2,300 from tax return). This account includes premiums for life insurance, car insurance, homeowner's insurance and our umbrella policy. Most of these come due by April, and I wanted to pay them in full.

If I'm able to file our tax returns in early February, I'll be able to fund two of the above savings goals. A true blessing, for sure.

Anyone else want today to be February??

Friday Financials and Friday's Food Waste Update

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's that time again! I'm so pleased to say that I do not have one thing to show you. No waste this week. No grocery shopping for the weekend either... (Last Saturday I shopped for 10 days).

My increasing awareness of trying not to waste food changed the way I did a few things this week.

I had two biscuits leftover from Monday night's dinner, as well as a bunch of oven roasted potatoes. Normally I would assume they wouldn't taste good the next day, so I would throw them out. This time, I wrapped them carefully in saran wrap, and put them into the fridge. I decided to utilize both the biscuits and leftover potatoes the next night and made breakfast for dinner. Yummy potatoes and eggs, bacon, biscuits and toast.
Because I was able to push a meal forward, we now have an *extra* meal (11 days!).
We didn't finish all of the potatoes and eggs, so I froze the rest in individual baggies. These make a quick breakfast on weekday mornings.
I had three hot dog rolls leftover from Wednesday night's dinner. I remembered to *freeze* them right away, instead of having them turn green in the bread basket.

These are simple steps which I'm sure most of you do on a regular basis. I'm ashamed to say that in the past I would have just thrown the extras out, or hold onto food in the refrigerator only to throw it out later. Having to account for food waste every Friday has definitely altered my consciousness to the way I treat the food I have. It's a good thing.

How did you do??

Now on to the finances...

As you recall, I had $500 to last me for 10 days. I slipped $100 of the $500 away for safe keeping, and decided to use only the $400.00. With 4 days left of the No(Lo) Spend Challenge, I now have $34.00 left to spend.

How did I spend the $366.00? With great ease.....

Ahem, more specifically, it went to the following...

$148.00 went to groceries. (Less $5.37 for coupon and return)
$72.00 went to gasoline (another fill up is needed this weekend)
$51.37 went for household products and 100 Forever Stamps (just in time before they went up!)
$100.00 for dinner in DC with my daughter. (We ended up having to pay for parking)

The last $34.00 needs to go into my husband's gas tank this weekend. So I guess I'll be operating on *fumes* for the next three days....

However, I do still have that $100.00......

This weekend I'll be working on a new declutter project, a reading assignment (with review next week), and of course, my brand new cross-stitch project! I guess there's no need to spend money after all.

How was your financial week?

I'm the beneficiary of a Random Act of Kindness...

2012-01-25T16:53:00.000-05:00

Today I received a cross stitch pattern in the mail from the lovely Carla! Carla had posted that she received four cross stitch patterns from Kijiji (Canadian version of Craigslist) and posted pictures of them. I admired one pattern in particular because it was of a golden retriever on a blanket. (And you know how much I love my boy!)

Me & Ben

I was all set to look for it online, when she e-mailed me to ask if I would like it. I was thrilled!

I set it all up when I got home from work today and have actually started working on it. It's been a long time since I've cross stitched and I've never done a *stamped* cross stitch before. It's a bit harder, but I'm hoping I can do it even with my bad eye sight! (Really, no one told me that you can't see close up anymore after a certain age...)

What a wonderful, thoughtful gift....Carla, thank you!! I'm very happy to be the recipient of your Random Act of Kindness for January and I will definitely pay it forward...

Have you ever been the recipient of a random act of kindness??

Is it cheap? frugal? or just smart?

2012-01-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

I shopped at BJ's on Saturday and forgot to use a $2.00 coupon. I decided to go back to BJ's and cash in the coupon for the $2.00. (BJ's is only a couple of miles away, and I had to fill up a gas tank, so it wasn't a wasted trip.)

I also bought a box of organic granola cereal at Target. Last night I poured a bowl with some fresh blueberries...I almost gagged as it was rancid (the cereal, not the blueberries...I ate those!) I didn't want to waste the money I spent on this box of cereal, nor did I want to list it this Friday in my food waste post, so I brought the box back to Target for a full refund on my way home from work.

I'm not sure I would have done either of those things if I were not using cash, and if I were not watching my food waste. BUT I added $5.37 back into my cash stash for the week.

I'd say that was cheap, frugal and smart...

What do you say?

Cash Wallet Envy.

2012-01-24T08:00:00.010-05:00

Ever since I've started using cash, I have been searching for a wallet that can easily separate my cash categories. Envelopes are cumbersome, and hard to use when shopping. On the internet the other day, I came across this wallet...the *cash envelope* wallet by Savvycents. This is exactly what I have been looking for...it would be PERFECT to separate my cash, coupons, and checkbook...all in one place. It has a beautiful look and I LOVE that it zips up for added security. (You can see more of this wallet here.)

Their colors are black, pink and red.

I love the separated pockets...

This wallet is priced at $28.00, however I found a coupon code worth $4.20, making this wallet only $23.80. Unfortunately their black wallet is out of stock, which is probably the one I would get. After visiting Savvycents' Twitter, I found out there will be new designs coming out in March. Not sure if there will be another coupon code to match though.

So, I've decided to wait. I'd like to say it is my ability to be patient that is causing me to pause before making this purchase, however we all know I don't have any. My empty wallet has more to do with this decision.

In the meantime, I'll just have to be more organized with the wallet I have.

Are you waiting to purchase something??

Decluttering Monday: The savings value of decluttering.

2012-01-23T07:00:00.007-05:00

Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful - William Morris

Last year I challenged myself to get rid of 1,000 items from my home. I almost succeeded as I was just shy of 1,000 by only 150 items.

Each time I decluttered, I usually had about 5-6 bags of giveaways to donate to various organizations. I utilized the free It's Deductible software to keep track of everything I gave away. It's Deductible works with Turbo Tax in that it automatically figures out what your items are worth, totals the donation and at the end of the year downloads all of your charitable giving amounts straight to Turbo Tax.
Last year, I was especially diligent in tracking all cash and clothing donations, with date, receipt and picture, if necessary. It paid off.

I am receiving an extra $1,800.00 back in taxes thanks to all of the donations I have made. This year I hope to match last year's donation, and actually get rid of another 1,000 items (or at least try!).

If you've never kept track of the items you've given away, including cash donations, you are letting money slip away. Try It's Deductible and see the automatic savings build up. By next January, you will be glad you did!

P.S. For detailed information on how to get started, Julie at The Family CFO outlines it all here.

Sunday Night Chit Chat....

2012-01-22T19:26:00.000-05:00

I'm joining Carla and the gang for a Sunday night chit chat....

What are you....

Reading...

Hmmmm....just blogs today. I really, really need to finish my books for this month....

Watching...

The football playoffs....waiting for The Good Wife....

Listening to...

Kid's finishing up the dishes in the kitchen....

Cooking/baking...

Switched up the menu a bit and had marinated beef cubes, rice and salad tonight after Mass. This afternoon I baked some molassas and peanut butter cookies...YUM!

Happy you accomplished this week...

A major project at work, taxes, house organization....

Looking forward to next week...

I'm looking forward to a Q U I E T week ......no spending, no going anywhere (except work) and just catching up on my reading.....

Thankful for today...

I'm thankful that we were able to see my daughter in DC and meet all of her students! We had a great time!!

Want to play along? Leave a comment and/or a link.....

Let's talk food. Menu for the next 10 days.

2012-01-22T07:00:00.022-05:00

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and ended up in four different stores. Good thing I had cash so I knew exactly what I had to left to spend. I spent just under $150.00. Whew. (Actually this is not bad, as I was able to get organic meats and produce.)

Here is my menu for the next 10 days to finish up the No(Low) Spend Challenge:

Sunday - Roasted Chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, broccoli
Monday - Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs* (this makes enough for two meals), tossed salad
Tuesday - Chicken cutlets, fried rice, veggie
Wednesday - Hot Dogs (Hebrew National all beef), baked beans, french fries, salad
Thursday - Chicken Soup with homemade rolls
Friday - Homemade cheese pizza
Saturday - Spiedies (marinated chicken cubes), rice, veggie, rolls
Sunday - Pasta*, tossed salad
Monday - Macaroni & Cheese Casserole w/veggies
Tuesday - Beef cubes, fried potatoes, salad

Breakfasts - oatmeal, eggs, waffles, scones, cereal
Lunches - sandwiches (egg salad, chicken salad, pb&j and turkey/ham), grilled cheese, organic carrots and celery, leftovers
Snacks - organic pears, apples, bananas, oranges, crackers and cheese, organic tortilla chips w/salsa, homemade cookies (molassas and peanut butter)

I should have enough for 10 days....and the good news is that I've only spent $546 for the whole month on groceries. That is $100 less than I budgeted for food. (For those of you who have been following me for a while know that this is nothing short of a miracle. :)!)

What's on your menu?

P.S. I'll be back for tonight's Sunday night chit-chat!

$500.00 for 10 days. Updated.

2012-01-21T09:17:00.001-05:00

I have $500.00 left in cash to last for the next 10 days. Sounds like a lot, right?

So far, I know it has to include:

~~10-day grocery shopping ($150.00)~~ Already spent $148.00. Needed meat--we were VERY low on food in both fridge and freezer. Hopefully this should last us more than 10 days.
2 1/2 gas tank fill-ups ($100.00)
family dinner tonight in Chinatown with my daughter (who flew in from Florida with a group of her students) ($75)
Cash for hubby (Last week I gave him $30.00, he has $30 left...hmmmmm...maybe I don't need to give him any money...)

I can't think of anything else, but I'm sure I'm missing something.

Whatever I have left is savings. I would prefer the whole $500.00 to be savings. Obviously that is impossible. So, I will try for $100.00 (added to the $250 I already put away).
Which means I have $75 for everything else or $7.50 a day.
Doesn't seem like very much now.

The No-Low Spend Challenge and Friday's Food Waste Update

2012-01-20T07:00:00.011-05:00

Inspired by Kristen's Food Waste Friday posts at The Frugal Girl and many others doing the same, each Friday I will post my own food waste for the week. To tie it in with my Friday Financials, I will also post the approximate cost in dollars that I lost because of it.

Sadly, this week's food waste included a whole bag of russet potatoes. I really did mean to use these. They actually should have been thrown out last week, but I only discovered them on Saturday when I was doing the weekly menu and pantry check.

Um, no, this is not a science experiment.

I don't have pics of the other waste, but it included two french hard rolls, and some half and half. Total food waste out-of-pocket cost? $4.00. Sigh.

How did you do?

Now on to this week's financials.

This week's numbers look pretty good, although it has become apparent that I may not be able to meet my goal of $500.00 *extra* to savings. It slipped my mind that the next choral trip payment for the kids is due January 25th. Even so, I'm still going strong on Carla's No(Low) Spend Challenge. Below are some of the highlights:

Since being aware of food waste, my food bill has gone down substantially. This week's grocery shop came to $77.00.
I used cash all week. I split my paycheck in two and I still have $80 left from this week's amount.
Was able to purchase an online workshop and not go over my budget for the week.
Dog food was purchased and gas tanks were filled. I'm hoping my fill up will last 10 days. Fingers crossed.
Went to BJ's and came out with exactly what I went in for. One package of bar soap. A miracle, really.
I've worked a couple of extra hours, so I should see extra $$$ in next week's paycheck.
Preliminary results of our 2011 taxes show us getting $5,200 back (both federal and state). I'm not really sure how that happened, aside from more charitable giving. Time to re-evaluate our withholdings.
Finally created our *sealed pot* and put over $55 worth of $5's and change that I had been collecting since December. SFT created this wonderful idea as another form of saving. If you haven't heard of the *sealed pot*, read the all about the challenge here.

Nice and big...incentive to stash a lot of cash!

Not a bad showing for *my* second week on the No(lo) spend challenge. Going forward, I will add the next week's stash of cash to what I have left over this week. Whatever I have left over from next week will go directly into savings. Here's hoping for another great week!

How did this week's challenge go for you?

2012 Goal No. 9 - Take a Vegetarian Cooking Lesson

2012-01-19T08:15:00.002-05:00

One of my 12 in 2012 goals was to learn how to cook more healthfully, utilizing more vegetarian cooking. I happened upon a very cool blog called Beauty that Moves, maintained by Heather...who just happens to be holding a whole food kitchen online workshop! Exactly what I was looking for. I stayed for what seemed like minutes but were really hours pouring through her site, taking in all of the wonderful pictures and information.

This 3-month online workshop will cover the following topics:

Whole Food Fundamentals
Pantry and Kitchen Set-up
Menu Planning and Recipe Organization
Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts and Seeds
Whole Grains and Legumes
Animal Protein: Meat and Dairy
Breakfast and the Lunch Box
Celebrating the Dinner Table
Holistic Lifestyle
Nourishing Snacks
Community, CSA, and Special Occasions
An Evolving Journey

What I like most about this workshop is that there will be:

three month immersion
twelve modules
amazing contributors
printable lessons, action steps, resources
email support as you need it
online community forum
nearly 100 recipes/food tutorials
video cooking classes, audio podcasts
self-paced
virtual classroom and forum remain open for 30 days post workshop
a down to earth approach to eating well

Sounds good, right? The price for this workshop is $125.00...not cheap but I was able to find a coupon code worth $15.00. (Hint: soulemama). So, for $110 I will fulfill my goal of learning how to cook with veggies, and the added bonus of transforming my whole way of eating which just happens to be Goal No. 5.

The class starts on February 6th and runs through the end of April. You can register here.

Anyone else interested in taking the class with me?

I wish I were brave enough.

2012-01-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

I've lived in this area for the past 23 years and I still feel as though I'm visiting. It doesn't feel like home. Yet this is where I raised my children. (Funny, none of them like it here either).

I wish I were brave enough to consider the possibility of moving.... to leave a well paying job and find a new place that beckons us to a life that is simpler, friendlier, less stressful.

I wish I had found *my home* years ago, but unfortunately my choices were limited. It was necessary to stay in this area until my older two daughters were adults. Then the recession hit, and we still couldn't leave. My husband had a good job, how could we justify a move? Perhaps if I knew where *my home* was, I would have tried harder.

Well, it appears the economy is still flat. So, here we stay....and try to make the best of it, knowing this is not our forever home.

But I want to be *home* now.

If only I were brave enough.

Are you living in a place you love?

Decluttering Monday: Paper

2012-01-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful - William Morris

It's that time again, and this week's declutter project focused on PAPER. Lots of it, actually. I guess that's what happens when you ignore it for a while . I was just throwing it into a basket so my counters looked clear...but then the basket got full and the paper spread to other parts of the room......well, you get the picture. It was time to organize the paper that had invaded my home. Oh where to start....

I decided to use the kitchen table to organize all of my papers and folders because I could spread out and organize in *piles*. The basket was filled to the brim since I had been filling it up since Christmas with mail, bills and misc. receipts, tax folders, etc.. (I also wasn't sure what else was in there, so it was time to get started!)

Mail, bills, cards, magazines, etc. collected from around the house...

A daunting task indeed, but it needed to be done.

All the paper gathered in one place...too much if you ask me!

After three long hours of sorting, purging, shredding and organizing, I'm happy to report that all papers are securely put away in their appropriate files...including the *trash* file.

All papers from 2011 have also been sorted and will be stored in our basement in a plastic container. All new 2012 folders are now in my desk drawer. AND, I'm also happy to report that my desk still looks like this:

Another successful project completed. Now if only I could catch up on my coupons....

How do you organize your papers?

Sunday Night Chit-Chat

2012-01-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

I thought I would participate in Carla's Sunday night Chit-Chat this week...

What are you…

Reading?
Well, I'm supposed to be reading The Happiness Project and a new book called New but I haven't opened a book all week-end. Got to get to it!

Watching?
Tonight I'm sitting on the couch watching a playoff football game, hoping for the Giants to win as this is my son-in-law's football team! Of course, I'll be watching The Good Wife, as I LOVE that show!

Listening to?
Nothing, but the TV.

Cooking/Baking?
Today I made a delicious pot roast with mashed potatoes...I wanted to bake something sweet, but didn't get a chance to.

Happy you accomplished this week?
I am so happy that I've stayed on budget this week AND have had very little food waste. I've been very conscious of what I throw out and what needs to be used up before it does go bad. I'm also glad I was able to clean up all the paperwork around the house....(post coming tomorrow!)

Looking forward to next week?
Seeing my daughters! One comes home from college for the weekend and the other is flying up from Florida!!

Thankful for today?
My incredible family. They inspire me and make me feel more loved that I could possibly imagine.

What are you doing tonight??

The No (Low) Spend Challenge Update, this week's numbers and Friday's Food Waste Challenge

2012-01-13T07:00:00.048-05:00

Well, it's Friday, and it's time to check in on any food waste! Thankfully I only had one food item to throw away: one small zucchini. I was able to rescue the other two zucchinis, a yellow squash and leftover pasta by making minestrone soup yesterday...but this poor guy was too far gone...

Approximate out of pocket cost for this loss? $1.25.

Which brings me to this week's money report...

It was a great money week, thanks to the No (Low) spending challenge and an increase in salary from my part time job!

Some highlights of the week

I received an 8% increase in salary this week! It was not automatic...I had to ask for it but that's a whole other post!
I started this week with $265.00 in cash, and ended with $198.00 going forward! I was very careful with my cash spending and was able to fill up my gas tank ($30), replenish food items ($30) and enjoy a night of Bunco ($6) with my friends. I still have almost $200 left!
I used up food I already had, and had very little food waste.
Used coupons and extra care bucks to purchase hair color and dishwasher tabs..total cost? $1.09
I sent $250 (from my checkbook) to my ING account for "holding" (thanks Morrison!). If I don't need it for the next two weeks, I will forward that amount to my EF, jumpstarting the savings. I'm not sure I'll make the whole $500.00, but we shall see how the spending goes in the next couple of weeks.

Going forward....

I got paid today and there was an extra $182 in my paycheck (thanks to extra hours and my increase). I will put that amount "aside" as extra and use the rest of my paycheck for my expenses for the next two weeks. The cash will cover all food expenses, gasoline for my car, personal, miscellaneous and entertainment expenses. Cash seems to be working....:)!

All in all, I would say this was a successful week!

How was your week?

Love food...hate waste...

2012-01-11T16:58:00.001-05:00

Last week I cleaned out my fridge, freezer and pantry in hopes that I could come up with meals to last me the week without going grocery shopping. What I didn't expect was all of the food waste that went along with my cleanout. It was like throwing out cold, hard cash as I emptied the cold cuts (gone bad) into the trash. I threw out molded bread, potatoes and stuffed shrimp. I threw out spaghetti sauce, ham, and vegetables. Expensive vegetables. I threw out mayonaise and canned goods. All past their expiration dates. As nice as the cabinets, pantry, fridge and freezer looked at the end of my purge, I literally felt sick about all of the food waste.

No more.

As it turns out, thanks to the No (low) spend challenge, this week I did not do a full grocery shop. Instead, I only picked up necessities such as milk, bread and eggs. I cooked dinners utilizing what was already in my freezer and froze the leftovers.Not only did I want to save money, but I was determined not to waste food. The result? More money in my wallet!
!
To keep me accountable going forward, I've decided to link up with Kristen @ The Frugal Girl on her weekly Food Waste Friday posts . I'll be adding up food waste savings/losses to the Friday Financials as well. (This should prove very interesting!)

Anyone else losing money because of food waste?

P.S. I found this little tidbit in AllYou magazine:

Did you know? On average, Americans throw out 25% of the food they bring home, worth an astonishing $2,200 per year.

Wow. That's a lot of green!

The No (Low) Spend 3-week Challenge (for me)

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

I'm about 8 days late for the No (Low) spend challenge sponsored by the lovely Carla. You can find her rules here, but she did say everyone should make up their own rules specific to their particular circumstances. I had planned a trip to NYC with my daughters (not quite a 'low' spend event), so I decided to participate a week late.

My one and only goal for this challenge is to put $500.00 extra into my savings account. We have set up an online account to automatically send $1,500 a month to our EF savings, but this is above and beyond that amount.

I was fortunate enough to stay within my $200.00 spending money budget to NYC (yeah me!), so I have about $265.00 to spend this week. I'm going to challenge myself to put aside $100.00 of that amount and live on $165.00. This will include groceries, household, personal and misc. spending. I have $600 sitting in the checking account, but thanks to Morrison's advice, I'm sending $500 of that to my ING account so that I will be unable to touch it (at least easily). If, at the end of the month, I don't need to transfer it back to my checking account (which is my goal), I will consider this challenge a HUGE success!

I will have a few challenges this week.

I have a *date night* planned with my husband on Saturday. (We have gift certificates to several restaurants and about $25.00 left on a Visa gift card, so I think I can manage a NO Spend date night. I would like to come up with something fun and different though...any suggestions?? )
I have very little food left for the week.
Gas tank will need to be filled.
Dog food is getting low.
My hair is dreadfully gray. (I do have a coupon for my miracle box of color...)
a doctor's appointment (under our new HSA account...high deductible plan...yikes!)

I guess all I can do is:

What I'll be doing instead of spending:

working
volunteering
reading
exercising
laundry
de-cluttering

to name just a few...

A lot of my fellow bloggers have been participating since Day 1 and are doing extremely well! What wonderful inspiration to keep me going...

I'll be posting a new de-clutter project next Monday, and a financial update on Friday. Many of you requested that I keep doing my Friday Financials, and I've decided to continue since it kept me in line, and I ~~want~~ need that accountability.

Here's to a great No (Low) Spend week!!

A little bit of NYC

2012-01-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday morning and we are back from our adventure to NYC. What a whirlwind trip this was!

We took the 8:20 a.m. train from Union Station, Washington, DC to Penn Station, NYC, which of course meant getting up at 5:00 a.m. It was not difficult for me, but we are talking about a 16 year old teenager and a very tired graduate student...

I was up in time to eat breakfast, but my chick-a-dees were not. Thankfully we got to the train station about 45 minutes early, so they were able to grab a quick bite to eat!

We were able to find three seats together on the train too!

We arrived at Penn Station right on time (about 11:45 a.m.). As soon as we got outside, the energy from NYC was palpable..we were so excited to start our day! We walked the 10 blocks to Times Square where the theatre was. There were also plenty of shops, street vendors, and lots and lots of people (mostly tourists, I imagine). We ended up staying in the general vicinity and browsed in various shops including The Hershey Store (YUM!) and The Disney Store. We also tried our hand at haggling with the street vendors for T-shirts and Broadway pictures (with frames). Because this was a day trip and we were seeing a Broadway Show, we weren't able to visit all the cool sights of New York (i.e. The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, etc.)...I guess that's for another time!

The weather was a balmy 50 degrees, which probably accounted for the huge crowds of people. The sights and smells of Times Square were overwhelming at times, but we were game for the whole experience!

After we shopped a bit, and had some street vendor food (i.e. hotdogs, pretzels, and Italian sausage), we headed for our 2:00 p.m. matinee.

(This was right after the show. See, I was there too!)

The show was simply AMAZING! I was a bit skeptical about seeing The Lion King (being that it was based off of a Disney movie ) but I was not disappointed. It was indeed one of the best Broadway shows I've ever seen!

After the show, we came out to see all the bright lights in Times Square! It was magnificent!

Okay, so I was a bit obsessed with the chocolate store...

After trying unsuccessfully to find a place to eat (there were 30-40 minute waits), we walked the 10 blocks back to the train station to catch a bite at one of their kiosks. (I was paranoid about missing our train if we were at a restaurant 10 blocks away!) At around 7:45 p.m. we boarded our train back to D.C. We.were.exhausted.

My husband picked us up at the train station at 11:30 p.m. and I was in bed, lights out by 12:30 a.m.

It was a good day.

Impatience = financial blunders

2012-01-06T08:24:00.001-05:00

Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success. - Brian Adams

Patience is one of those virtures that I struggle with on a daily basis. Just ask my husband... I believe I would be so much better off financially if I mastered just this one virtue.

I was doing so well this week. Spending completely under control. Until I got impatient. Impatience always leads to financial mistakes for me.

Yesterday I was working with TurboTax and trying to download the *free* state that came with the Deluxe version. I was anxious to see how much I would be getting back from state as the federal amount was already at $4000.00 (oh happy day!) When it wouldn't download properly, I called the helpdesk at Intuit. I ended up talking with a lovely, elderly woman who, unfortunately, knew nothing about downloads. I had to repeat myself about 10 times before she understood the problem. (And even then I'm not sure she did.) After about 30 minutes, I said I would try to figure it out on my own (which really meant I would call back another time to get another representative who may know what they are doing). The woman did mention that I may have a faulty disk, or that the security on my computer was blocking the download.

Perhaps my stand alone computer was not working properly? I sat there for a couple of minutes, still very anxious to find out what the State return would show. My impatience grew stronger until I decided to purchase another copy of Turbotax ($59.95..$10 more than what I paid at BJ's) and download it on my new laptop. It was hard for me to pay again for this program, but I wanted the state information...NOW. As I was downloading the new Turbotax, Norton Securities popped up on the screen to say my computer protection has expired. Ugh. My husband was suppose to do this days ago. Because I was downloading Turbotax and I needed the security, I quickly accepted the new subscription ($49.99). Okay, so now my impatience has already cost me $110.00. I quickly dismissed that sick feeling in my gut, and concentrated on how happy I would be when I looked at my state return. (We've always gotten money back from state).

As I inputted all the information, I happily started to download the state. It didn't download. In fact, it was doing the same thing my other computer was doing. This has to be a mistake...so I got back on the phone with Intuit, with a new rep, only to find out that the Virginia State return is not ready yet. BLAH!!!!!

To make matters worse...my husband was going to install Norton that evening and had a coupon code to download the security system on three computers for $40.00. Good grief.

I'm sure I'll eventually find out what I'll be getting back from State, but unfortunately it will be $110 less than what I could have had to spend.

Sigh.

Have you ever made bad financial decisions because you were impatient?

A Spend Less Month Challenge

2012-01-04T19:05:00.000-05:00

If you are not already aware, Carla is holding a No (Low) Spend Month challenge this month. January is a great month to get back on track financially, especially if you spent more than you would have liked in December. (That would be me....) The challenge is open to everyone, and it is up to each individual to make up their own rules for the challenge. Love that part...

Since making NYC plans, however, I decided that I would not participate until January 8th. However, I wanted to be extra cautious with my spending this week, in hopes to save up some spending money for New York....and it's working... I did a small grocery shop, and have spent very little all week.

My goal for this challenge is to be able to put an extra $500 into savings to replenish what I took out in December for my floors. (Ah, I just LOVE my familyroom!)

Anyhoo, once I get back from my trip, I will post my rules for the remainder of the month's No (Low) spend challenge.

Also, Carla is holding a bit of an extra challenge for all you procrastinators out there....

… get that little “something” you’ve been meaning to do forever & a day, finally DONE! I’ll offer up a pretty little “mug rug” (glorified coaster really… It holds a snack & mug!)

So go on over to Carla's and enter to win!

I actually got two things done today...a dreaded phone call I needed to make at work and a pot of bean soup that I've been meaning to make for a while....

What are you procrastinating on?

January's Mini-Goals

2012-01-02T17:35:00.000-05:00

Laura from Move to Portugal has inspired me to think about setting monthly "mini-goals"...This will be a great way for me to stay on track with my Twelve in 2012 goals.

I've come up with a few for January...

Read two books
Complete one crossword puzzle
Save an extra $500 (by participating in Carla's Spend Less Month Challenge)
Stay within my 2012 budget
Lose 1- 2 lbs
Exercise 5x a week
Eat 5 fruits and veggies daily
Update blog site

I will be able to check this list each day to keep me on task. Hopefully I will be able to put a *success* mark next to each of these on the 31st. Thanks Laura!

How do you stay on task with your goals?

2012 goals already in full swing....

2011-12-31T15:19:00.002-05:00

Goal No. 11 Take daughters to NY to see a Broadway Show.
I didn't even wait for the ball to drop before I decided to get going on my 2012 goals! I changed my goal a bit to include an extra daughter in the mix for the NY trip. We will be celebrating a college graduation and *sweet 16*, respectively. This was suppose to occur in May, but since my *sweet 16* daughter's birthday is next week, and my *college grad* daughter is home, I thought I would start the year off right by crossing off one of my goals!

Since we won't be having a big party for my daughter's birthday, this really won't cost a whole lot more. We have purchased the tickets to see The Lion King, made Amtrak reservations, and are all set to leave bright and early on Saturday, January 7th. My daughters are looking forward to eating street vendor fare, and strolling the streets of NY. I'm looking forward to spending time with both of them.

I'm supposed to be participating in the Spend Less Month Challenge with Carla, but have decided that I will start a week late...(hey, we can make up our own rules, right??) This really will be a challenge because there won't be any money left to spend......

C'est la vie.

I want to wish all of you a very happy, healthy, prosperous New Year...please stay safe tonight...

See you all next year!

Things you don't say to your wife.

2011-12-30T08:27:00.002-05:00

I had a wonderful Christmas vacation, but it wasn't always *rosey*. For some reason, I ended up fighting with my husband more than I would have liked. As most arguments go, some of it was his fault, some of it was mine. He said some things in jest that I didn't find amusing,and was surprised when I *overreacted* and stopped talking to him. (This was COMPLETELY out of character for my dear husband, by the way!) I won't get into what was said, it's not important. What is important is that we *made up* :)!, and things are good.

I'm sending this video to ALL the husbands out there(including my own...love you honey) so that they may avoid any *misunderstandings* with their beautiful wives in the future. Enjoy!

A bloggy secret santa thank you.

2011-12-29T12:42:00.001-05:00

It was December 23rd, and I was thinking about my bloggy secret santa...was I going to be forgotten? Just as those thoughts crossed my mind, the doorbell rang. U.P.S. had delivered a small brown package....for me! It had come from clear across the United States to reach me.

It was from the lovely Megg, who blogs at The Life of a Not so Desperate Housewife. I couldn't wait to open the package. I tore open the box. Everything was individually wrapped, and I was thrilled with its' contents! What a wonderful surprise!!!

First, there was a lovely pair of snowman earrings. Oh.my.gosh. The pictures just do not do them justice! Megg has her own Etsy shop where she makes her own gorgeous jewelry. (I may need to order a couple more pair of snowmen as my daughters were drooling over them. If you are interested, her etsy shop can be found here.)

I also received a beautiful, stylish journal. I love this style, as it closes with a magnet!

The lined pages are made of heavy stock paper...perfect for using markers!

That would certainly have been plenty, but I also received a very fragrant candle! Piney, Christmasy scent from Bath and Body Works. Just perfect!

Like the black and white theme?

Thank you Megg! I LOVED everything!!

And a big shout out to Serendipity who organized the Bloggy Secret Santa event! I'm already looking forward to next year!

My Action Plan for Twelve in 2012

2011-12-28T08:00:00.080-05:00

"The tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach." --Benjamin Mays

It's great to have goals, but if you don't have an action plan on how you will achieve them, they will be nothing more than mere words. In order to make my Twelve in 2012 goals be more than words, I've devised an action plan, along with a timeline to help me be successful.

Twelve in 2012 Action Plan

1. Save $20,000 in my e-fund.

• Set up automatic savings plan of $1,500 a month.

• Add in all tax refunds (Approx. $2,000..hopefully!)

• Timeline: December, 2012

2. Plan and take a week-end get-a-way to Charleston, South Carolina with hubby.

• Save $1,000 for trip (Work 2 extra hours a week for 20 weeks)

• Use Entertainment book for hotel discounts, drive instead of fly.

• Timeline: May, 2012.

3. Lose 12 pounds in 2012.

• Track food intake daily using Weight Watchers point system.

• Avoid soda and “diet” foods. Eat only whole foods.

• Wear a pedometer to track movement during the day, and add as needed to reach 10,000 steps.

• Timeline: December, 2012

4. Exercise 40 minutes 5x a week.

• Buy a new pair of sneakers and workout clothes

• Lay out clothes the night before so I can exercise first thing in the a.m.

• Exercise 30 min. in a.m. and 10 minutes after dinner.

• Try out a new yoga and/or zumba class once a week to stay motivated.

• Timeline: Ongoing

5. Eat 5 fruits/veggies every day.

• Learn how to cook fresh veggies as main dishes. (see goal no. 9)

• Plan meals to include two sides of veggies

• Make fruit smoothies 3x a week for breakfast.

• Timeline: Ongoing

6. Read 24 books.

• Pick two books each month. (January’s pics: The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin, and New, Understanding our need for novelty and change, by Winifred Gallagher.

• Post a review of each book on this blog to keep me accountable.

• Timeline: Complete two books each month.

7. Finish 12 crossword puzzles.

• Buy a crossword puzzle book.

• Spend 20 minutes each day working on it.

• Utilize a dictionary/online resource for help so as not to get discouraged. (Crosswords are hard!)

• Timeline: Complete one puzzle each month.

8. Earn $5,000 in extra income.

• Set up blog for income ability. (It will be very selective)

• Search Craigslist for extra bookkeeping opportunities

• Work extra hours

• Lower a fixed expense in my budget – i.e. insurance premiums

• Timeline: $2000 (March) $700 (May), $1,000 more (June) $1,300 more (December, 2012)

9. Take a vegetarian cooking lesson.

• Search online for classes in area

• Check out various restaurants that may offer cooking classes

• Check out videos and books from the library on vegetarian cooking

• Ask blogging friends for insight and/or help

• Timeline: January, 2012

10. Visit family in Florida, New York and Pennsylvania.

• Plan trips to visit relatives during school breaks

• Timeline: FL (March) PA (July) NY (August)

11. Take daughter to NY to see a Broadway Show.

• Save $700 for trip (see goal #8)

• Plan day trip on train to/from NY

• Get discount tickets to a show via online

• Research inexpensive dining options

• Timeline: May, 2012

12. Stick to my 2012 Budget.

• Put all expenses on spending diary.

• Set up all accounts to automatically get funded; i.e. insurance premiums, car and home maintenance, etc.

• Use Cash.

Timeline: Monthly

Do you have an action plan for your goals?

Twelve in 2012

2011-12-26T18:18:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! This year's celebration was one of the nicest we've ever had. ....a quiet, simple Christmas...

with family...

My daughter came up from Florida for Christmas!

dear friends and great food!

Super Colossal Shrimp stuffed with scallops! YUM!

I'll have to remember what I did differently this year to make it so enjoyable...:)!

Now it's time to focus on the upcoming New Year with a few goals...12 to be exact.

The lovely Niki started a cool trend with 12 goals in 2012. I liked it so much that I thought I would join in. Here are my goals for the coming New Year:

12 Goals for 2012

1. Save $20,000 in my e-fund

2. Plan and take a week-end get-a-way to Charleston, South Carolina with hubby

3. Lose 12 pounds in 2012

4. Exercise 40 minutes 5x a week

5. Eat 5 fruits/veggies every day

6. Read 24 books (2 a month)

7. Finish 12 crossword puzzles (1 a month)

8. Earn $5000 in extra income

9. Take a vegetarian cooking lesson

10. Visit family in Florida, New York & Pennsylvania

11. Take daughter to NY to see a Broadway show

12. Stick to my 2012 budget

I have quite a few personal goals (the eating better and keeping my brain active with books and crosswords), some lofty financial goals ($20,000 efund, strict 2012 budget) and some much needed family related travel goals --New York (my parents), Pennsylvania (in-laws) and Florida (daughter and son-in-law). All of the goals are pretty specific, and now I'll have to come up with an action plan for each one to make them happen.

Have you thought about your 2012 goals?

It's about that time...

2011-12-21T15:32:00.000-05:00

to take a break....but just a short break so that I may fully enjoy all of the festivities of Christmas week.

For all those who celebrate, may you have a very blessed holiday!

See you all soon!!

My son's Big Fat Greek Project...

2011-12-19T12:55:00.000-05:00

Do you remember my son's project where I was requesting cookie recipes? It was for World History, and he was supposed to do something he's never done before for 10 hours. We had originally thought that he could bake cookies, lots of cookies for the 10 hours, however, his teacher had a different idea. Not only would he have to bake, he would have to plan an entire meal, cook it, serve it, then clean up. (What is not to like about this school project?) The kicker, however, was everything had to relate to Ancient Greece. He came up with a menu of Boiled Shrimp, potatoes, greek salad and Kourabiethies (a greek butter cookie).

He made this dinner for us a couple of weekends ago, and it was delicious! He'll be making his presentation this week.

I'm happy and proud to share the process and results of my son's project with all of you!

Video credit: One very talented daughter with a cool IPAD. :)!

Balance. That's what this blog is all about.

2011-12-18T14:04:00.000-05:00

Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance. ~Epicurus

Yesterday, I woke up to some comments about my spending for that week that were somewhat judgmental and ill advised. I'm far from perfect, and there is always room to learn and improve. BUT, after reflecting on it, I came to the realization that perhaps I've given the wrong impression about our finances and that their "concern" made more sense, although unnecessary.

Let me shed some light as to where we stand financially:

We have a substantial amount in retirement savings. We contribute monthly, but only up to the match. We are conservative investors, and while most people lost at least 50% in their retirement accounts during this recession, we lost about 15% (which has slowly returned). Although we don't achieve the BIG gains, we don't lose our shirts either.
We have a nice tidy sum in our ROTH 401K which we could "tap" without penalty if we needed money.
My husband's employer puts 8 1/2% of his income into his retirement account.
We have investments. We have two 529 accounts for our daughter and son.
We have life insurance on both my husband and myself. We have long term and short term disability replacing approximately 60% of our current income.
We "own" at least 60% of our home and have 13 1/2 years left on our mortgage. If we needed to sell, our house is in excellent condition (thanks to all of the spending this past year) and we could sell within a month. We get requests from realtors at least once a month telling us that someone would like to purchase our home. Two homes in our neighborhood sold in less than two weeks this past month.
We have a family safety net. My parents have two homes (paid in full), should we ever become "destitute". However, if we needed to sell our home, we could walk away with enough to buy a smaller home outright, and have enough to live on for several years.
We have no credit card debt.
We have a small car loan which is due to be paid off this year. If we needed to sell it quickly, we would walk away with $10,000.00. (based on the blue book value)
My older two daughters are educated and employable. In fact, my married daughter has a great job, works hard and is very good with her $$$. My second daughter will be finishing up her Masters in education with very little student loan debt. She will be up for "early hire" and will probably be gainfully employed by May when she graduates. My other kids are in high school, have good grades and have interests that will make them employable too.
My husband is YOUNGER than me, and has a stable job. He's in great health, and is not afraid to work hard. If he ever lost his job, I have no doubt that he would do whatever it took to make ends meet. I could get some side gigs in bookkeeping if I needed to.
We sponsor two children from Mexico, and give to St. Jude's Research Hospital monthly.
Over the last couple of years, we paid for two college educations and made substantial contributions to my daughter's wedding without going into debt.
We have a strong faith in a higher being. It helps us get through the low times.

What we don't have and what I write about all.the.time.

an 8-mos CASH e-fund.

I struggle with putting all extra cash into our efund account just to get there sooner. I ~~want~~ need BALANCE. It's very important to me to get this part right. It's not all about saving, although I finally have a plan this year for my e-fund. It's about living and giving too.

It all comes back to balance....save a little, spend a little, give a little.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

2011-12-17T20:01:00.000-05:00

It was a busy three days...but I am DECORATED! (and, with 7 days to spare....)

It started here....

Ugly carpet!

Much better!

Now to add furniture and a bit of Christmas decor....

This made it all worthwhile....

Remember when I was sitting in the livingroom looking at this mess?

Well, the view is MUCH better now!

Bring on Christmas!

No more Friday Financials....

2011-12-17T07:27:00.002-05:00

Although I try to maintain complete honesty and integrity on this blog, some of the comments I received on my last post were less than kind and I chose not to publish them.

So, I've decided not to share my finances online anymore.

It's time for me to refocus what I want this blog to be anyway.

Thanks for your patience.

Shiny Objects, a book review.

2011-12-15T08:17:00.000-05:00

I was contacted a short while ago by TLC Book Tours to review the new book "Shiny Objects, Why We spend money we don't have in search of Happiness We Can't Buy", by Dr. James A. Roberts. I loved the title and was excited to read it. Since creating my "credo" of spending less and living more, I thought this book would surely justify my belief that balancing my life with spending less on things, shiny things, and finding joy in the simple pleasures of the everyday would surely be the path to happiness.

I was not disappointed in that regard. This book provided the history and facts that validated my reasoning that by focusing less on stuff, and more on living, I should be happier. And I am.

Although I'm an avid reader of personal finance books, this one was a difficult read. Not because it wasn't interesting, mind you, but because there were a lot of statistics and facts...on.every.page. I felt like I had to take notes.

One of the chapters in this book that I found fascinating was related to the use of credit cards vs. cash. In Chapter 6, A Cashless Society, Mr. Roberts confirms what I already figured out. We will spend more when we use credit cards. There were numerous facts and figures to validate this claim, although I experienced this myself and wrote about it here. In one of the studies that Mr. Robert's cites, when McDonald's started taking credit cards, customers were spending on average $3.00 more than if they used cash. (um....been there, done that..) You will spend less with cash because it's more painful to do so.

Because each chapter was laden with facts, research and surveys, it wasn't until Chapter 13, 25 Tweaks to Financial Tranquility, that I was able to put my pencil down and just read. This chapter promises to give you 25 techniques you can use to "tweak your environment to help curb your materialist longings". I was quite excited about this chapter until I read the suggestions.. i.e., cut up cc's, use cash, do it yourself, build a budget, pay as you go, use the envelope system, etc. There wasn't anything new that I haven't already done or read about.

All in all, I believe the basic premise of this book was already covered in both Joe Dominguez's book, Your Money or Your Life and Affluenza, by John DeGraaf. Money and things (extrinsic values) won't make you happy. Intrinsic values such as self-esteem, relationships, and experiences will.

I whole-heartedly agree.

Disclosure: I received a copy of Shiny Objects from TLS Book Tours for this review. All opinions are my own.

It's getting a little better....

2011-12-14T08:25:00.000-05:00

The smell is dissipating a bit, and we are nearing the finish line to this project. Whew.

When we started, my family room floor looked like this:

Now it looks like this:

Gorgeous!

BUT....

my house still looks like this:

They are putting one last coat of polyurethane on the floor and installing the shoe molding. We will be able to put everything back together on Friday....and then we can finally decorate for Christmas.

Right now our house looks like The Krank's house in Christmas with the Kranks. (In case you are not familiar with this movie, it would be the house in the middle...)

We'll be a little busy this weekend catching up....

What in the world was I thinking.

2011-12-12T18:02:00.001-05:00

My house is upside down....there is dust everywhere... just big messes in almost every room.

I must have been out of my mind to do this now.

I absolutely hate clutter...and this is my view from the only couch that you can sit on in the house:

Nice, right?

This is my livingroom...stuffed with furniture from the familyroom.

I have been home all day listening to banging and sanding...my head is pounding and as I look around at this mess, I'm thinking...there are only 12 days left before Christmas and not one Christmas decoration is out! AARRGGHH!!!!

My kids have retreated to their bedrooms, and I sit by myself in the livingroom waiting for another worker to come back with the correct stain for the floor. I will send hubby and the kids out to dinner, and I will stay here with Ben to wait for them to finish for the day. I will do that because, believe it or not, this was my idea.

Really, what was I thinking?????

De-Cluttering Monday...The Laundry Room...Finally.

2011-12-12T07:20:00.000-05:00

This past week I decided to finally tackle the laundry room. This room is located off the kitchen and has a door leading out to the garage. Not only is it our laundry room, but it is our pantry as well. This room is a catch all, and I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember the last time I de-cluttered.

The Laundry Room "Before"

I love having cabinets in this room, but as you can see below, you can cram a lot of junk in them. The first set of cabinets housed our batteries, candles, flashlights and lightbulbs. Too bad we could never find anything.

First Cabinet "Before"

After I took everything out, I organized the tape, candles, batteries, etc. It's amazing what a bit of organization can do!

First Cabinet "After"

The second cabinet was a hodgepodge of paper products and medicines. I didn't realize I had foil wrap or snack bags...I had them on the list to buy....

Second Cabinet "Before"

I decided to make this cabinet just paper products. I can check it easily if I run out.

2nd Cabinet "After"

The middle cabinet was filled to the brim with cleaning supplies. I pulled them all out and decided which ones to keep and which ones to discard. I consolidated a bunch of the same ones and was able to organize the cabinet so that I could easily find what I needed.

Middle Cabinet "After"

In the end, I filled 5 hefty bags of trash and 1 hefty bag of "give-a-ways". (I'm sorry landfill..I'll be more careful next time!) Here are the results:

The Laundry Room "After"

This is what I'm dealing with now:

My once neat and clutter free diningroom....

This is the stuff that was in my familyroom that I had to remove to get ready for the hardwoods. I would LOVE to get rid of ALL of it, but I'll settle with getting rid of a box or two. Next Monday I should be able to show you our familyroom makeover! I'm.so.excited.

Anyone else de-cluttering in the midst of this holiday season?

Friday Financials - It's a biggie....

2011-12-09T09:19:00.002-05:00

Each Friday I will post my financial progress -- what I did RIGHT, what I did WRONG and where I stand with my money.

I had a dream this week that I decided to throw my savings plan out the window and hire someone to install hardwood floors in our familyroom. Wait. It wasn't a dream. I really did hire someone to install hardwoods in our familyroom, and they start on Monday!
Can you guess how my weekly report is going to go?

The Good

I will be getting a Christmas bonus from work! Not huge, but significant enough to make a difference!
There's also a good chance I will be getting a raise this year. Keeping my fingers crossed!
I went 10 days without filling up my gas tank!
My parents sent us Christmas cash early.
I did not have to go grocery shopping since my last shop.
Had a wonderful dinner out with a friend I hadn't seen in awhile. Paid in cash. :)!
We opened our emergency savings account with Ally Bank and set up a savings plan.
I'm finally getting rid of the carpet I despised in the one room that we are always in. Hopefully this will bring much better karma into the room. AND I'm paying cash. No debt.

The Bad

Spent said bonus and Christmas cash on the downpayment for the hardwood floors.
After the hardwoods go in, I will need to purchase an area rug for the room.
My hairdresser's prices went up in price by 20%. I probably need to find a new place, as it cost me $145.00 for a cut/color (not including tip). Ugh.

The Ugly

Spent ALL of December's savings on the hardwood floors.
Emergency fund rests at $1,000.00 which is woefully low for us.
A 9X12 area rug will cost us a little over $600.00.

It probably wasn't the wisest decision to change out the flooring in our familyroom right smack in the middle of the holiday season (decorating will be delayed...) and financially I'm sure I would have been DENIED by Suze Orman if I asked her if I could afford it. However, I've wanted this done for a long, long time. We spend most of our time in this room. The rug was worn and ugly. It made the whole room look and feel ugly. My resolve to fix it won over my resolve to save money. How beautiful the room will now look for Christmas! I guess that's where balance comes in, right?

There's always January for savings.....(Carla, I'm joining you on your No-Spend Challenge!)

How was your week?

Skipping Christmas. Or so it appears.

2011-12-06T18:49:00.003-05:00

Photo Credit: My daughter Cassandra

It's December 6th, and I do not have one decoration up for the holidays. My front door remains bare as does the rest of my house. It doesn't look like Christmas and with the temps lingering around 58 degrees, it doesn't feel like Christmas either.

I wonder if my neighbors think we are skipping Christmas this year just like Luther and Nora Krank in John Grisham's novel?

So, I thought I would create a little bit of Christmas cheer with materials I had around the house. I found this idea on Melissa's blog, The Inspired Room. Simple, easy and beautiful! For now, it's just what I needed to make me feel like Christmas is on it's way.

We are planning on putting up decorations this weekend, and are considering purchasing an artificial tree instead of a real one. I LOVE the smell of a real tree, but hate the mess. How can I still get the "smell" of Christmas without all the needles? Fresh garland. Yes. I'll wrap some around the jars and it will make a beautiful display, as well as a fragrant one!

How early do you decorate for Christmas?

De-Cluttering Monday...It's back.

2011-12-05T16:11:00.003-05:00

I'm happy to report I actually de-cluttered something this week...my study. After about three hours of sorting through papers, I was able to throw out one large hefty kitchen size bag of paper crap. It feels good.

This was no easy task, as there was mail and papers all over the house...a few on the kitchen counter, the family room coffee table, the diningroom table...

So, I took a large basket and walked around the house picking up all of the paper. Then I headed to the study where the desk was filled with paper too. Ugh. I went ahead and cleared the desk and threw it in the basket too.

Once the desk was cleared, I dusted. I LOVE the smell of pledge....

Then I proceeded to sort and discard (my favorite part...) After a couple of hours, and a lunch break, my desk is cleared and clean. I don't have a before picture, but I have an after.

One perfectly cleaned off desk.

(Insert happy sigh here.)
Now, I'm off to tackle that laundry room....

Christmas Fast - Updates

2011-12-04T21:15:00.000-05:00

Need I say more? Let's just say I was not prepared for 3 out of 5 of us being sick this weekend--one recovering from wisdom teeth removal, one with an ear infection and one with a stomach virus. Yuck. With numerous trips to the store for gatorade, cough drops, ice cream, pudding, jello...well, you get the drift, I haven't been do much fasting...

After thinking about it for about five minutes..I've decided to stop all challenges for December (I need my sanity). There's just too much going on. So instead of stressing about not spending, I'll reserve my energy for more important pursuits...like getting my family healthy and enjoying the holiday season....

To be continued in January.....

Walmart. Are the sales worth the price?

2011-12-03T07:49:00.000-05:00

The Frugal Dad posted this infographic on Walmart. I found the information to be astounding. Although I do shop there on occasion, I may have to rethink that. Some of the facts left me cold...i.e. employee salaries, lack of generosity, etc. I'm not so sure any company should be that big. What do you think??

Source: http://frugaldad.com

Friday Financials...In the middle of a Fiscal Fast...

2011-12-02T11:55:00.000-05:00

Each Friday I will post my financial progress -- what I did RIGHT, what I did WRONG and where I stand with my money...

This past week went really, really fast. Now I'm smack in the middle of a little fiscal fast to jumpstart my savings and giving for this month. Reviewing the past week, there really wasn't much to report...but I'll try anyway!

The Good:

Grocery shopped for just the essentials.
Made a menu for the next two weeks.
Started a fiscal fast...and saved about $20.00 of non-essential spending yesterday!

The Bad:

Spent $210 on my "essentials" shop. What??? Not really sure what happened there, except that I needed some pricey items. BUT if this lasts for two weeks, it won't be bad!
Went through a lot of gasoline...made too many trips to the stores, or kids' events. (OR, there is something wrong with my car, and I need to get it checked....which could turn UGLY)

The Ugly:

Am down to $1600 in savings. Need.to.replenish.soon.

That's it. I looked through my spending diary and there really wasn't anything significant. I have $350.00 left to spend for two weeks, and if I stick to my fiscal fast, it'll be more than enough for one.

How are you doing with your spending??

Christmas Fiscal Fast - Day One.

2011-12-02T07:26:00.000-05:00

Day 1

I always have the urge to spend money on the first day of my fiscal fast. I always want to pick something up, or stop for a bagel, or I suddenly remember that there are clothes at the dry cleaners that need picked up. Yesterday morning was no different. In one day, I had the urge for a McDonald's McMuffin with egg, a Chipotle burrito, and take out pizza. Instead, I made oatmeal, made a pb&j for lunch and made homemade pizza for dinner. Whew. Crisis averted. ('m not even going to discuss why it was all food related...another subject for another post)

Unfortunately, I forgot to "top off" my gas tank, and I'm at 3/4 of a tank. I'm not sure I'll make it until the end of the 7 days without getting gas, but I'm going to try.

I do find it interesting that I only think about spending money when I can't. I haven't had a craving for junk food in a while, why yesterday?

Anyway,

Day 1 $0.00

Onward to the next 6 days...

The Christmas Fiscal Fast

2011-12-01T08:00:00.002-05:00

Why in the world would I want to sneak in a fiscal fast in the midst of the most expensive holiday season of the year? To replenish my savings account and be able to give. Remember when I took cash out of my savings to pay for Christmas shopping early? Now I want to put some of it back.

I'm calling this my Christmas fiscal fast. For the next 7 days I will spend nothing, nada, zip. My goal? To save as much cash as I can to replenish my savings accouint and to have some cash to give. All money that I save will go directly to my savings account and Operation Give Back. My hope is to save $500.00 and give $500.00 throughout the entire month of December.

I will follow Jeff's rules, except for medical appointments or medical emergencies. (I already know I'll be spending $400 on my daughter's oral surgery on the 2nd.) I will top off both cars with gas as we need our vehicles to get back and forth to work.

I will document the savings on a daily basis. As you know this is the season to spend, spend, spend. I'll let you know what I've been doing instead of spending.

Anyone finished with their Christmas shopping is welcome to join in. I wouldn't think of asking anyone who still has holiday shopping to complete, unless you want to take a spending break.

So here I go. December 1st through December 7th. No Spending. Period.

Wish me luck!

Operation Give Back

2011-11-30T08:06:00.001-05:00

The Happy Homeowner is starting a challenge in December called Operation Give Back (OGB). For 31 days, she will be posting about how she is giving back and hopes to have posts filled with stories of "inspiration, smiles, and good vibes." I will make sure I visit every day!

She also is inviting all of us to join in. I'm in.

My family has been very blessed. It's time to pay it forward. Since I am done with all of the Christmas shopping, I'll have the time and energy to do so. Although I will not be posting about it every day, I will be listing my OGB successes in a sidebar.

Care to join in?

Menu Monday....topping off the pantry.

2011-11-28T08:00:00.007-05:00

Menu Monday

It's that time again (already?) This week starts the food budget for the new month. I have a self imposed challenge coming up on December 1st, so I want to make sure I have a simple menu that includes food I already have and will last for two weeks. I will be purchasing a few items before the 1st, but I'll just be topping off the pantry, not doing a main grocery shop. Here is my menu for the next two weeks. The menu in red is for the following week.

Sunday - Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad/Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad

Monday - Catalina chicken, noodles, veggies/Hotdogs, baked beans, corn

Tuesday - Breakfast for dinner - pancakes, bacon, eggs/Egg drop soup, rolls

Wednesday - Pork Chops, apple sauce, egg noodles/Tacos, rice

Thursday - Mac/Cheese, Salad/Rigatoni, Meatballs

Friday - Homemade soup (probably chicken)/Pizza

Saturday - Spiedies, fried rice, veggie/Steak, potatoes, salad

Here's hoping to stay well below my $666 food budget this month!

What's for dinner at your house?

Christmas lights have begun...

2011-11-27T09:58:00.000-05:00

The season has officially begun. When I was walking Ben on Friday night, several of the houses in our neighborhood were already decorated. It seemed odd to me, as I had just finished my Thanksgiving leftovers. We've decided to decorate mid-December. Because of the exorbitant electric bills that we had been getting in January, we've toned down the amount of lighting we use on our outside display and have started later. Every little bit helps.

Speaking of electricity, I wonder how much this house uses?

We have a house in our neighborhood that does something similar. It's absolutely beautiful! My inner child secretly wishes we could do something like this......

Do you decorate the outside of your house for the holidays??

And the winner is......

2011-11-27T07:55:00.000-05:00

Martha in Georgia!

Congratulations!!! Please forward me your address so that I can mail your gift card right away!

Thanks to all those who participated in this challenge/give-a-way. My son and I have quite a few recipes to choose from! I'll post pics from time to time as we make the cookies.

Black Friday Highlights

2011-11-26T08:00:00.009-05:00

Friday morning we decided to hike the lake trail at a local park. The trail is 4.75 miles long and once you start, well, there's no turning back. :)! The leaves were all gone, so we were able to see the lake through most of the trail.

I think Ben enjoyed it the most! After the hike we enjoyed bagels at our favorite bagel shop, and went home to relax. No need to worry about dinner, it was already made! Hot turkey and stuffing sandwiches, with a side of mashed potatoes! YUM!

Last on the agenda for the day was a family movie night....Christmas with the Kranks! Well, most of us watched it, some got bored...but this one was a good one for me!

What did you do on Black Friday?

Friday Financials....Finally getting it right.

2011-11-25T08:21:00.001-05:00

Each Friday I will post my financial progress -- what I did RIGHT, what I did WRONG and where I stand with my money...

It's been three years since we've been consumer credit card debt free. Three years. AND, I'm here to say that we have less than $5,000 in our emergency savings account to show for it. Sigh.

We should have been able to save MUCH more than that in three years, right? I reflected long and hard this past week about why we have so little. I came up with the following ~~excuses~~ reasons:

Vacations. We've taken three vacations each costing a little over $4,000.
College Tuition. We've paid for two college tuitions in the last 7 years.
Home Maintenance and Replacements: Heating and Air Conditioning Unit; new kitchen appliances ; New kitchen counters, Hot water heater; New back door , New carpeting in basement, Painting outside and inside of house, stain deck, and so many other little and not so little things...
MIL's furnace
Two cars
My daughter's wedding....need I say more?

I quickly added up what we've spent on those things and the figure blew me away. For the last three years, we've spent nearly $125,000. Granted, some of the things listed were needs and college tuition was a big chunk of it...but $125,000??? Holy moly.

This week we did something we should have done three years ago. My husband and I set up a separate account at Ally Bank and will be funding it directly from my husband's paycheck. It will never reach our checking account. In essence, we will be paying ourselves FIRST. I realize this is not a new concept, but I had never taken the steps to make it happen. We've always sent money to our ING savings account, but there were always things that "came up". Having a new account at a different online savings bank will help us distinguish which savings should not be touched, and which one can be used for home maintenance, etc. When I made my 2012 budget I had both savings categories in mind. Setting up this extra account will help me stay on track. If I don't see it, I won't spend it. With a bit of diligence and hard work, we will have our 8-mos emergency account completely funded in about two years (hopefully sooner!) And that's a good thing.

Do you have an 8-mos emergency account? If so, how did you make it happen??

Gratitude Cues. Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T08:38:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving! A day to give thanks, a day of gratitude. I have so much to be grateful for as this year winds down. All too often I don't take the time to really think about all of my blessings. I know it would make me feel better if I did. This year it took a medical scare to awaken my inner thankfulness. I hope it sticks. Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, shares her view on finding gratitude cues in every day life.

On this Thanksgiving Day, I hope you have much to be thankful for too.

Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

Don't forget to send in those cookie recipes! The give-a-way ends on November 26th!

Buy Nothing Day, an alternative to Black Friday.

2011-11-22T08:00:00.005-05:00

Many of you will be going out to shop the sales on Black Friday. I know some of you make this an annual tradition. (Did I hear that some stores are actually opened on Thanksgiving Day? Is nothing sacred?)

I'm personally not a fan of shopping to begin with, and the thought of standing in line outside a store for hours to save a couple of dollars on an item that will probably be forgotten by February doesn't excite me. (My dread for this kind of shopping was further re-enforced when that poor Walmart employee was trampled (and later died) by a mob rushing into the store on Black Friday).

Several years ago I decided to follow the idea of not buying anything on Black Friday. This concept was introduced by Adbusters over 20 years ago and dubbed as "Buy Nothing Day". I suppose it's a lot easier for me this year because I'm done with all of my Christmas shopping, but even if I was not done, I still would not participate in the buying frenzy. Of course those of you who enjoy it, by all means, participate!

However, if you haven't made up your mind yet, I've come up with a few suggestions that you might want to try instead.

5 things to do on Black Friday

Sleep in! How often do you get a chance to do that? It's a four day weekend for most of us, take advantage of getting some extra rest.
Make a triple decker hot turkey sandwich. Three slices of bread, turkey, stuffing, and hot gravy poured over the top...YUM! Beats anything you could find at the mall!
Play board games with the family. We always enjoy doing this, and what a great opportunity to finally have the time to play monopoly??
Go for a hike, or walk, or jog! (You can get rid of all those extra calories you ate the day before!) The weather is usually beautiful (slightly cool, but not too cold). The leaves (around here) are still brilliant. Take a camera and shoot some of the last of the fall foliage.
Watch movies! Pop some popcorn, turn down the lights and watch some Christmas flicks. Our family favorite? Christmas Vacation!
Fill out 100 things you are grateful for. This may take some time, but it is almost guaranteed to make you feel better.

At the end of the day you will be relaxed and refreshed...and ready to face the hustle and bustle of the holiday season ahead.

And, if you are having a hard time passing up those door buster sales, remember there is always Cyber Monday. (There's also less of a chance of being run over by a stampede of shoppers!)

What will you be doing?

De-clutter Monday turns into Menu Monday.

2011-11-21T08:01:00.000-05:00

I haven't been able to maintain my de-clutter Monday challenge recently as I have been occupied with other things. I will attempt to devote December to finishing up the de-cluttering and get in all of those tax deductions before the end of the year.

Until then, I thought I would join others in Menu Plan Monday for the rest of November.

I've switched my menu planning to one week at a time, and buy only what is needed for the week. (Thanks for the tip, Morrison!) It's been noticeably less expensive this way. However, this week was a bit more pricey than usual because I'm hosting Thanksgiving. I bought an organic Turkey at Trader Joes, I'm hoping it's delicious!

Menu for the Week

Sunday - Roasted chicken and potatoes

Monday - Grilled Steak and Potatoes

Tuesday- Chicken Cutlet and Rice

Wednesday- Pasta

Thursday - Thanksgiving! Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, jello, green beans and pie, lots of pie.

Friday - Leftovers (probably hot turkey sandwiches)

Saturday - Grilled meat (not sure what yet), rice, veggie

Since switching to a one week shop, I have been averaging about $150.00 a week for food. This is good news, as I have only budgeted $650.00 a month for 2012. I have noticed that my cupboards aren't as full as when I would "stock" up, but there is also less waste.

How do you budget for food? One week at a time? Every two weeks? Once a month?

Calling all cookie recipes and a give-a-way!!

2011-11-20T09:44:00.009-05:00

My favorite cookie!

My son has a new project in his World History class. He has to do a "humanism" project which requires him to do something he's never done before for 10 hours.

He's decided to bake cookies. Lots of cookies. He's a big sugar and chocolate lover, so I'm sure he'll enjoy this project. What makes this so great is the timing. His project is due December 21st. How awesome will it be to have my son bake all of my Christmas cookies?? A win-win situation for sure!

He's also chosen me as his mentor. And what does a good mentor do?

ASK FOR HELP! :)!

Do you have an easy cookie recipe? One that is pretty fail proof? If so, please do share. We are hoping to bake 10 different cookies that we will be able to freeze.

AND, to make this worth your while, I am offering a give-a-way....one $25.00 Bed, Bath & Beyond Gift Card! For every recipe you post, I will put in one entry form.

So, dig into your cookie recipes and send me your easiest, no fail cookies. We will need all of the recipes in by November 26th!

Thank you in advance for all of your help!!!

P.S. Since his "humanism" project is centered around Ancient Greece, any recipes that are Greek related count as two entries! :)!

Friday Financials...Christmas Shopping is Complete!!

2011-11-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

Each Friday I will post my financial progress -- what I did RIGHT, what I did WRONG and where I stand with my money...

As you know this week has been quite the roller coaster of emotions for me. My stress level is now coming back down and I'm almost feeling normal.

Financially, it was a spendy type week, but only because I finished my Christmas shopping!!!!! And actually, with all the coupons and cash back dollars I had, I spent about 50% less than I normally would have. Yesterday my husband and I left the house around 7:00 a.m. and got back around 11:30 a.m. completely done with the shopping. I spent the rest of the afternoon wrapping. Whew! I am done and it's a week before Thanksgiving! That turkey is going to taste so much better now..

Okay on with the financials...

The Good

Came in under on my Christmas budget thanks to some creativity and sales. I would be more specific but my kids read this blog and I can't divulge Santa's secrets!
This is the first time I spent less than $1,500 out of pocket for Christmas in more than 15 years. Yeah me.
Spent just under $100 on the weekly grocery shop and had the dinners planned a head of time. (Note: I almost ordered out on two different nights, but looked at the menu and easily put dinner together...WIN/WIN there!)
brought my breakfast and lunch to work every day...did not stop ONCE for fast food anything! (Well, except when my daughter had her tests on Wednesday...she wanted a Big Mac ....)

The Bad

Didn't make my goal of a $500.00 Christmas. BUT, I used over $800 worth of store credits, swagbucks, and cash back bonuses.
Had to fight with medical insurance to pay for tests, procedures. One medical bill was going to be sent to collections, until (at the last minute) our insurance company decided to pay it. Sheesh.
My husband had to call Verizon to get a correction on the new bill they sent us. (Remember last week's savings?)

The Ugly

My daughter needs her wisdom teeth out sooner rather than later. Her appointment is in two weeks and we are responsible for 20% of the cost -- $414.00. Ouch.

Not too bad this week. My next goal will be to stay out of stores for the next five weeks!

How was your week?

The power of prayer and an early Christmas present!

2011-11-16T17:32:00.001-05:00

All tests were NORMAL. Thank you for all of your support and prayers!! It carried me through today, and the end result was the best Christmas present a Mom could get!

Now all we have to do is work on that thyroid medication....

You are all the best!!

When it hurts to be Mom.

2011-11-15T17:24:00.001-05:00

I have been blessed with a wonderful husband and four mostly healthy kids. Over the past year our family has been experiencing some health issues. You know what I've been going through, but two of my daughters have had a lot going on too -- ranging from snapping scapula syndrome and Bursitus to Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Over the past several months, my daughter (who was diagnosed with Hashimoto's) has been going through some other health problems as well. She has had pains in her stomach and has lost over 20 pounds since August. She's been poked and prodded, and has already had blood work, ultra sounds, chest x-rays, an endoscopy and a few other tests. Tomorrow, however, she will undergo more serious tests...tests that look for serious problems. It has been four months since this all started. Four months too long.

It's been so hard to watch her feel so bad. I would give anything to be the one going through this. Not her. Not any of my kids.

Sometimes it just hurts to be Mom.

So, if you would, say a prayer for my daughter. Pray that the tests come out normal. And, pray for me too... that I may be able to handle whatever tomorrow brings.

A Christmas Update.

2011-11-12T21:00:00.001-05:00

Christmas, 2011

After figuring out what I had to spend, I wrote out a list...who to buy for, what they wanted and the approximate price. My new challenge? I want to be completely done with Christmas shopping and wrapping by November 23rd. The day before Thanksgiving. How awesome would that be? Last year at this time I took a very different view. I wanted to enjoy all things November. BUT, Rachel at the Small Notebook inspired me to just get it done. And guess what? Over the past week, I have completed nearly 75% of my gift buying. Hubby is taking a day off this coming week and we are finishing up. Thanksgiving will taste so much better knowing that I don't have to go on a shopping frenzy afterward.

Since I didn't have all the cash upfront to complete the shopping, I decided to use some of our savings to pay for Christmas. I will send all that money back to savings in December when we get paid.

What a wonderful feeling it will be knowing that the gifts are purchased (and completely paid for), wrapped and ready to go long before December 25th. I know a lot of you do this already. I'm usually second guessing all of my purchases and continuing to purchase and wrap presents the week of December 20th. Not this year. When I wrap them, they will be done.

Will you be finished early? Or will you be joining the millions of people going out on Black Friday?

I think I'll pass on the latter.

Friday Financials...6,091 reasons to celebrate!

2011-11-11T08:53:00.002-05:00

Each Friday I will post my financial progress -- what I did RIGHT, what I did WRONG and where I stand with my money...

Wow, I can't believe a week has gone by so quickly. Time to reflect on the state of my finances.

The Good

Didn't spend one penny "out of pocket" for groceries. I used my giftcard that I won PLUS I still have over $100.00 to use.
Hubby saved us $96.00/year on our cable plan and scored a $300 gift card!
Sold $1,260 worth of poinsettas for my kids' choir trip which netted us $595.00 towards their Spring trip!
We will be going with the HSA plan at my husband's office for our health insurance. This will save us $5,000.00 over the HMO plan
I was able to find extra $$$ to pay for Christmas -- as long as Murphy doesn't show up for the holidays.

That is $6,091 worth of extra money we didn't have last week. I'd say it was a good week!

The Bad

We had to sign up for a two year contract for the cable savings. Not horrible, but if we needed to cancel it would cost us over $200.00 to do so.
My husband was very generous for my birthday...had to rearrange some cash to pay for it all. (Actually, I was very pleased with everything, so it really shouldn't be under "bad"...just that we have a bit less cash to send to savings!)

The Ugly

I'm happy to report that there is nothing to report under this category. :)!

How was your "financial" week?

It's time to get serious

2011-11-10T12:26:00.001-05:00

about Christmas. Everyone seems to be mentioning it, preparing for it, budgeting for it. I have a list with a few ideas.

Not too long ago, I challenged myself to make this a $500.00 holiday. If you missed it, you can read all about it here. However, as December 25th gets closer, I'm afraid my goals will not quite be met. It's time to get serious about how much I want to spend, and where I'm going to find the money to do so.

This year the presents for my immediate family will fall under these categories:

Something they want
Something they need
Something to wear
Something to read
Something from Santa

Obviously the trick will be to stay within a set amount of $$. "Santa" gifts become a tad more expensive as the kids get older. Since I have two teenagers and three adult children to buy for this year, it could bust a budget fast. Thankfully, I have some cash back bonus cash from both AMEX Blue and Chase. I also have Amazon.com swagbuck credits.

So, where do I start. Unfortunately, I did not put $$ away for Christmas this year (I definitely budgeted it for next year!) so I will need to find the cash from the next three paychecks. The dilemma? How much is enough, too much or too little?? I guess it will be dictated by how much I can pull from each paycheck.

Time to do some budgeting through the end of the year.

Have you figured out your Christmas budget yet?

A new look...for now.

2011-11-07T20:33:00.000-05:00

Well, what do you think? I think I spent way too much time playing with my new blog look, but I like the serene blueness of it. :)!. Thank you Lisa for pointing me in the right direction and introducing me to Picnik..it was fun to experiment with headers. If you are interested in learning how to do a header, you can find helpful instructions here.

Time got away from me this week and I did not get a chance to de-clutter anything. However, Grace is doing enough for both of us.

Thanks again for all of your birthday wishes. I think I am now all partied out.

Must be the age.

Thank you.

2011-11-06T07:18:00.001-05:00

Thank you all for your wonderful birthday wishes! When I woke up in the morning to already find your comments, it warmed my heart. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I had a wonderful day. My husband and kids made it extra special with wonderful gifts, lunch out, a manicure and pedicure, drinks with just my husband and a surprise party with my closest friends.

It was a day filled with family, friends, great food and cake. Lots.of.cake.

I have a bit of a sugar hangover this morning...but also memories of a wonderful birthday!

Thanks to all of you who added to my special day! You.are.the.best. :)!

Turning 50!

2011-11-05T07:00:00.024-04:00

Today is my

Birthday! I'm in good company --Meg Ryan, Michael J. Fox and Mr. Ed all turned 50 this year too! :)! What? Who is Mr. Ed? I am getting old. Sigh.

Celebrating early...and Friday's Financials

2011-11-04T07:00:00.006-04:00

Cheesecake w/raspberry sauce and a chocolate "Happy Birthday"!

My girlfriend took me out to dinner last night for an early birthday celebration. I hadn't seen her in a couple of months and it was so nice to catch up.

Dinner was wonderful...chicken with mushrooms and capellini pasta..dessert was even better!

The sweater was a gift from my wonderful sister that I had received in the mail yesterday! Thanks Cathy!!

My real birthday is tomorrow, but I've decided to dub the whole month of November as my "birthday month". ;)!

Now on to Friday Financials. It's been a good week.

THE GOOD - It's all about the food...

I made a menu, made a list and stuck to a food budget....no small feat!
On Wednesday, I WON a $365 giftcard to Giant Food Markets from a contest I entered several weeks ago. It was a "second chance" give-a-way and I had forgotten all about it. The food budget is looking so much better for November!
I actually followed the menu.
We still have food in the house.

THE BAD

Had to pay twice for my son's haircut. I took him to Hair Cuttery and they butchered his hair. (You get what you pay for). I decided to take him to a more upscale salon to fix it. Total amount: $58.00. Ouch. But he looks so much better!

THE UGLY

Nothing ugly this week! Whew.

I hope to start Christmas shopping soon, so I'm sure I'll have more to say next week on my weekly financial report.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a very funny video my daughter showed me last night.

Moral of the story: Never take candy from a child...:)!

Changes.

2011-11-03T09:41:00.003-04:00

Turning 50 (in just two days) is making me C.R.A.Z.Y. I'm second guessing everything. I don't want the next 10 years to go by as fast as the last 10 years, so I'm anxious to make changes.

Please bear with me as I try to change my blog design. I'm bored with this one, and I'm trying to come up with something that best fits where I am today. (Not quite sure where that is either.)

Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow with my Friday financials, and perhaps a new look!

UPDATE: Blech! I give up...Anyone know a good blog designer??

How did I come up with a budget for 2012?

2011-11-01T16:54:00.000-04:00

Denise asked me how I came up with my 2012 budget. I will be happy to oblige, my dear. Let's just start with the fact that it was not easy. Many calculations and many drafts later, however, I was able to come up with a plan.

These were the steps I took:

First I needed to figure out how much money we were going to bring in for the year. Because I wasn't sure what my husband's checks were going to look like because of social security kicking back in to 6.2% and our healthcare insurance increasing, I used paycheckcity to figure it out. I guessed on my part-time salary, figuring in a lower amount than usual just to be on the safe side.
Once I knew what our income was going to be, I immediately subtracted my savings goal for 2012 from the total. Total income - savings = Fixed + Variable expenses.
Then I created categories for our expenses. FIXED and VARIABLE. (See chart---everything in blue is a fixed expense).
I then subtracted all the fixed expenses from the after savings income. Total income - savings - fixed expenses = variable expenses. The money I had to work with was shrinking very fast. (This is where using a pencil and eraser came in very handy.) I had an idea of what we usually spend in each category because I had tracked expenses on spending diary this past year but I had a lot less to work with. My 2012 budget will be tough. I'm hoping I will be able to subsidize with extra income from my part-time job. Fingers crossed that I'm not setting myself up for failure.
What is painfully missing from my budget is vacation and home furnishings. (i.e. new couch, etc.) BUT, I did not include a yearly bonus or tax refunds in my income. If we should receive either or both, then I will fund these two accounts. For right now, our savings goal takes precedence.

Below is a 2012 budget chart I created for our family. I've left off the numbers to protect our privacy, but you get the idea. (The categories in red reflect cash spending.)

Total Income - Savings - Fixed Expenses - Variable Expenses = 0.

2012 Budget

Spending Categories	2012 Budget Net Income: $	Monthly Budget ($____________)	Bi-Monthly Amount ($__________)
Ben (Vet, food, toys, medicine)
Car Loan
Car Maintenance
Cell Phone
Charitable Contributions
Christmas
Cleaning
Clothing-Adult
Clothing-Kids
Eating Out
Education
Entertainment
Gasoline
Gifts
Groceries
Home Furnishings	-0-**
Home Owner’s Association
Home Repair/Maintenance
Household
Insurance (Car, Life, Home)
Kid’s Activities
Mortgage
Out-of-pocket Medical
Personal Care
Taxes – Car
Taxes – Home
Telephone/Cable/Internet
Utilities (Electric, Gas, Water)
Vacation	-0-**
TOTAL
**Possible Extra Income:	Tax Refund Bonus

I'm sure there will be more changes, but for now this will give me an idea of how much I can spend in each category.

Hope this helps Denise! :)!

De-Clutter Monday - Slacking.

2011-10-31T03:22:00.014-04:00

DE-CLUTTER MONDAY

Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful - William Morris

BEFORE: Laundry Room

This week's project was supposed to be my laundry room. It is a small room off of our kitchen that also leads out to our garage. It gets cluttered. The cabinets ~~hide~~ store a lot of junk. It's a bigger project that I wanted to tackle this week. Since we use it all the time, I would really like to de-clutter this room. Hopefully, I can work on it this week, one cabinet at a time.

After cleaning out my closet last week, I have had no problems getting dressed in the morning. I've saved time. There is not one item in the closet that I will not or cannot wear. That feels good.

I have come to the realization that I really don't need a lot of clothes to look nice. A few good quality pieces can be enough. However, I didn't completely believe this until I came across this post by The Minimalist Mom. Amazing. Now all I'll have to do is add a few pieces to my own wardrobe (i.e. jacket, and a dress) and I'll be all set. :)!

Can you make a lot of different outfits out of a few individual pieces in your closet??

Have a wonderful Halloween!