Financial bucket list!

Do you want to win $500? Um, yes please!
Krystal at Give Me Back my Five Bucks is giving away $500 thanks to Life Insurance Finder. One of the entries involves blogging about your financial bucket list, which I found an interesting topic, so here goes!

My financial bucket list:
1. Pay off all debt, credit card, student loan, etc.
2. Make at least 1 additional mortgage payment a year
3. Build up our emergency fund to at least $10,000
4. Save 20% for a new (to us!) car
5. Save 20%  for our next house
6. Go to Europe for at least 2 weeks, paying cash for everything (plane tickets too!)
7. Cloth diaper our (future) kids (should this be on the list? I'm not sure, but it's a frugal goal at least!)
8. Reduce unnecessary spending
9. Buy new furniture
10. Enroll in the GET program when we have kids, to help save for college

What's on your financial bucket list?

I'm happy...is that so difficult to accept?

I started a new job just before Thanksgiving. It is a completely different schedule from the office job, I'm on my feet all day, it's part time and a split shift. I love it.
For the first time in a year, I can tell people that I have a masters. I hated hiding that fact, and it feels so freeing to be able to say it out loud.

The only problem with my new position? It's not in a library. It is, however, working with kids. More specifically, it's a before and after school "school-aged" (meaning, K-5th) child care program. I love it. For the first time in a year I can actually say that I love my job.

So why do people ask me how long I'm going to work there? Why do they keep offering suggestions as to how I can get a library position? Why do they assume I'll leave as soon as the library job pool unfreezes?
Why is it so difficult for someone to understand that just because I'm not in a library, I can still love my job?

My focus when I was in school was on children's and young adult librarianship. I'd love to work with teens, but I would also love to work with kids. I have always enjoyed working with kids. If my options are working in a library or working with kids, then I want to work with kids. If I can't have both, I'd rather have the kids.

The age group I'm working with is kindergarten and first grade. Oh how I love this age! They are wild and rowdy, and just downright adorable! They are always learning, and it's so fun to see their minds at work as we do crafts, or even just play. The other day I read one of my favorite books, Make Way for Ducklings to them.

Do I need a Masters in Library and Information Science to work there? No...but it helped me get the job. The truth is, I love my job, and I'm tired of everyone trying to give me options to get into a library. I'd take my part-time, downright exhausting, wonderful job over any other job that isn't working with kids, but is in a library. I'm not a medical librarian. I'm not a technical librarian, or a law librarian, or a college librarian. I'm a children's librarian who wants nothing more than to work with kids, and who has finally found that job. After 2 years of waiting, I'm finally working with the population I love.

Why can't people just accept that?

Mint

No, I'm not talking about the wonderful herb that drives my cats nuts and tastes great in chocolate. I'm talking about Mint.com. When I guest posted recently, talking about our frugal habits, I mentioned Mint.com, and was surprised to see a couple of people who were interested in Mint.com but hadn't heard of it, so I thought I'd talk about how much I love Mint.

I can't remember who turned me onto it, but I think it was another blogger. Who knows. Anyway, when we first got married we tried to budget on our own, and it did not work out. At all. We were looking for a house, so we were getting home late and eating out a lot, and generally it just wasn't great money-spending. Then we started paying our mortgage and got serious about money.

Mint is made by the same people who do Quicken (I'm pretty sure) and it's one of those certified safe sites, which is great, because you give it ALL you bank information. I know, sounds crazy, right? Well I can assure you in the almost a year that we've been using it we haven't had a problem. My favorite part of Mint? It's free! I also like that both Geoff and I can log in online, and there's also an iPhone app (with password protection!) so I can always check out our budgets and accounts.

Anyway, onto how Mint works! I'd have screen caps for you, but I don't think you need to see all our financial information. So you put in your monthly income information, and all your bank and credit card information. (Yes, seriously. It's safe, I promise!) As you spend money in your budgets, there are little bars that go from green, to yellow, to red. It tells you how much money you have left in your budget too, which helps me visualize how we're doing.
The budgets help you see where your money is going, and it also helps to keep you in the green every month. For example, if we stuck with all our budgets, we would have about $80 left over in our monthly budget.

Another thing I like about Mint is the goals feature. We have goals set up for furniture, our Hawaii trip and emergency savings. I love this because it's so fun to see our goals rise. I also like that you can tell Mint where you are going on vacation, and it will actually set your budget for you (this is how we did Hawaii).

Overall, Mint has been a wonderful addition in our life, because we are both able to keep up with how we are doing with our budgets. Since Mint logs into your bank accounts, there's no way we can conveniently "forget" that we went to Starbucks more often than we should have one month. Lately, we've been loading Starbucks cards with our coffee budget which helps, because when that card is empty then that's it! {Sorry, this is a digression}.

Have you tried Mint? I highly recommend it. If you use it, what do you think about it?

A Southern Thanksgiving

My friend Elizabeth, from Life, Love, Librarianship kindly agreed to guest post for me! Enjoy her rendition of Thanksgiving in her family...in Alabama!




Funnily enough, my Thanksgiving memories and favorite Thanksgiving moments actually have very little to do with Thanksgiving.  Sure we do the big meal and watch the kids attempt a back yard football game, but Thanksgiving is really just a stepping stone.  Just another (albeit food-laden) day to complete before we get to the big show: Christmas. 

Part of the reason Thanksgiving feeling like a tacked-on holiday is because my mom doesn't host Thanksgiving at her house.  My parents and I go to my mother's sister's and we celebrate with her husband, their three kids, spouses, and grandchildren, and my grandparents.  Sometimes there are other random family members or close family friends, but mostly it is our fairly small family.  It actually used to be pretty quiet before everyone started having babies and now there are 6 kids, ages 18 months to 10 years (4 of those kids are boys) so it's certainly not quiet anymore.  But the kids do make it way more fun.  

My aunt makes the turkey and the dressing (this is the South - none of that stuffing business at our table) and few side dishes and then everyone brings a dish.  I bring the rolls (my rolls are the best.  you should try them.) and a dessert for the grownups and one for the kids.  My mom brings her famous sweet potato casserole and the most requested dish, macaroni and cheese.  We eat the cranberry sauce from the can and yellow gravy (basically cream of chicken soup, giblets, and hard boiled eggs - it's delicious, I swear) that only my grandmother can make correctly.  We all eat until we are sick, watch the kiddos run around a bit, and then that's that.  Thanksgiving's over.  Time to get ready for the big show.

My mom and I officially kick off Christmas on Thanksgiving night by watching White Christmas, our favorite Christmas movie.  We'll watch it 5 or 6 times during the Christmas season and even though we know all the lines, it never gets old.  The next day, while the rest of America is waiting in endless lines, we break out the decorations.  

My mom is VERY into Christmas and her house is decorated from top to bottom with two trees, wreaths on every door and front-facing window, her collection of Santas displayed on the mantle, and the focal point - her Christmas village.  It takes all day to get the house fully decorated and while it's exhausting, it's one of my favorite things to do.  We put on our favorite Christmas albums (Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Josh Groban, and Barbara Mandrell just to name a few) and reminisce about each decoration as we lovingly pull it from the box.  We eat Thanksgiving leftovers and sit around as a family, soaking up the joy of the Christmas season.  It's quiet and simple, which is exactly what my family is all about.  

For my small family, Thanksgiving really isn't about the food or the shopping or even getting ready for Christmas.  It's about spending time together, making memories, and enjoying the thrill of the holiday season in our own way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Right now you are probably sitting down to your Thanksgiving meals, and I will be driving! Yes, we're eating Thanksgiving on Friday because we're traveling and I'm working too late on Wednesday. Whatever you're doing (and I do apologize to my non-American readers!) I hope you are having a wonderful time!


So, in the vein of last year's Thanksgiving post, I am going to list the things I am grateful for this year!


1. My job. Last year I was thankful that I was employed, today I am thankful that I am employed doing a job that I love!

2. My family. Both extended and immediate. They are all wonderful and I'm so lucky to have them.

3. Our health. Currently everyone in our family is healthy. I'm not talking colds, I'm talking big things like cancer. We are all healthy and happy and I'm incredibly thankful for that.

4. My kitties. They seriously make me laugh every day with their antics! And I love when they cuddle up and sleep with us!

5. Our house. We are lucky not only to have a roof over our heads, but to own that roof as well. 

6. My husband. As we approach our two year anniversary I'm so thankful that we met each other and got married!

7. My marriage. We've had our ups and downs this year, but we're plugging along and still going strong! Love that man.

8. Snow! Yes, even snow because it is so beautiful!

9. A garage, where my car is parked safe and sound and free of snow and ice!


10. My husband's job, which is paying for him to go back to school and get his masters.


11. The fact that, even though I can't go home for Christmas, a little bit of home will be coming to me, in the form of my sister!


12. Our upcoming trip to Hawaii, which will be fully funded as of December!


What are you thankful for this year?
Stay tuned for another guest post tomorrow!

Thanksgiving and Africa

My friend Bethany, who does not have a blog to link to, agreed to guest post for me about her Thanksgiving growing up in Africa and how grateful her experiences have made her. She was also kind enough to include pictures!

A few weeks ago, Megg asked me if I would be willing to guest post during Thanksgiving, and I said, “Sure!” but since I’ve never been asked to guest post, this may not sound very guest posterly to you. If that is the case, please heed this caveat and leave the pitchforks and torches at home. Asante sana.

“What is that foreign language?” you probably just wondered it. Heck, you might even be googling it right now, in which case, I’ll wait for you to come back so I can just tell you.

…

“Asante sana” means “thank you very much” in Swahili. Now, let me be honest, I do not speak Swahili or any other African languages. However, I did spend my childhood and adolescence in Africa, so I know bits and pieces of several languages spoken in Africa, and—what’s that? Oh, you want to hear more about growing up in Africa? Funny you should ask…Megg thought that would be fun for me to me to talk about how I grew up and how we celebrated Thanksgiving in Africa—since this is a Thanksgiving-ish post and all—so hey, let’s talk about that. (Btw, we usually had chicken instead of turkey.)

To begin with, my parents are missionaries, which is why, at the age of one and a half, I was whisked halfway around the world and raised as a minority of sorts. A lot of Americans ask me what it was like growing up in Africa, but I usually end up asking them, “What was it like growing up in the US?” because I don’t really know how to describe my childhood. Growing up in Africa was just growing up for me.

Now, before we continue, let me clarify a few misconceptions people may have. First of all, we did not live in round mud huts. We did not ride elephants to school. (We were homeschooled!) I never met Tarzan. I don’t speak “African” because that is a language that does not exist. I did not live in a state in the country of Africa. Africa is a continent, and we lived in the countries of Ghana and Chad. (We went to boarding school in Kenya.) We didn’t own pet monkeys. Also, saying “chai tea” is redundant as chai means tea. And why the heck do you people put spices in chai? Bleck.

So far, this post probably sounds like a rant, but I needed to say all of that to lay the groundwork for what I’m going to say next. See, I didn’t have some of the exotic experiences listed above, but I did grow up overseas and have traveled extensively. For that, I am grateful.

I am thankful that not only did I have the opportunity to swim with dolphins off the coast of Zanzibar, but that I also had the opportunity to share life stories with a Buddhist monk in Thailand. I am thankful that I was able to visit the Vatican in Rome, but I am more thankful that I got to play tag with Gypsy children in Romania. I am thankful that I was able to climb to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, but I am also more than blessed to have prayed alongside my Indian brothers and sisters in the Mumbai ghettos.

I am thankful for a broad worldview. I am thankful for an incredibly supportive family that made home exist no matter where we lived, even if we were living out of suitcases for half a year. I am thankful for a roof over my head, a job that pays the bills, and a loving husband who is as big of a geek as I am. I am thankful for friends like Megg who can make me laugh and can share even the little things like a trip to Target or a love of sushi. I am thankful for the hellspawn that we also refer to as “cats” because occasionally their furry cuddles make up for the insanity they otherwise cause.

Most importantly, I am thankful for a relationship with a Savior who has been with me through all of the ups and downs in life, who is constant when I am wandering far, and who has carried me through some very dark times and brought about the blessings for which I am currently grateful.

Get to know me: Day 20

This month, in great detail.


Oh, this month. I'm just going to stick with November, because the end of October really wasn't all that exciting (if I did the last month, from today).
So, November has been relatively exciting. On November 4th I was offered a job working with kids in an after school program! I was thrilled, and accepted, of course. It isn't in a library, but it's a lot closer than I was before. Even though it's part time, I am happy to be working there because I know I will be (and already am!) happier than I was in the office. I'm really lucky that Geoff's job is good enough that we can afford that I work part time.


Anyway, the next day I gave my notice at my job, saying that I'd be resigning in a week (the new job wanted me to start as soon as possible). I spent that week telling my favorite drivers that I was leaving, which was bittersweet.


I started my new job this week, on Nov. 14. Considering it's now Friday, I can say that the first week, though overwhelming, went well.


The rest of the month includes Thanksgiving, of course, and then it's time for Christmas! I'm hoping the rest of the month goes smoothly, as I settle into my new job.
So, that's my month! More interesting than usual, I'll have you know.




Day 01 - Introduce yourself, in great detail
Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

The one when I use some strong words

If you're not a fan of strong words, please skip this post. I don't usually like to say things like this on my blog, but in this instance I'm feeling particularly sad and upset, and I have a few things I want to say publicly about it. So bear with me. I'll give you a chance to leave.

You might want to check this out, instead.

Good to go? Alright!

On Monday my best friend in the world, who I've known since 2nd grade lost her dad to a (brave) battle of ALS (also known as Lou Gehrigs's disease).
For those of you who don't know, ALS fucking sucks. It eats away at your muscles until you have nothing left, and need help with everything. ALS is kind, though. It leaves your brain, so you know exactly what's going on, and yet can't do anything about it. Eventually it moves to your lungs, and you can't breath, and then, finally, it takes your life. It can be fast or long and drawn out. My friend had 3 1/2 years with her dad. In my opinion, it's one of the worst diseases you can get. (I realize those of you with experience with a variety of other diseases will disagree, but this is my blog and I can say what I want. Plus, I've had way too much experience with this disease to have any sort of pity for it)

Source

The other day I learned that a blogger I follow on twitter found out that her father-in-law has pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer also fucking sucks. It's what took Steve Jobs' life, and, horrible as it was, I was happy to educate one more person on this horrible form of cancer. Unfortunately, the reason I know about it is personal experience. This blogger was given 1-2 years. My father-in-law had it as well. We had 3 months.
Pancreatic cancer is difficult to diagnose until it's too late, because there are no nerves in the pancreas. There are no symptoms until it's almost too late. Some are luckier than others. A co-worker's husband discovered it when he couldn't eat; he was already full. The cancer had spread to his stomach and had it's horrible grip around it.

So what's the point of this post, except to bitch about two diseases I'd never wish on my worst enemy? It's to tell you how fragile life is. We don't like to think about our deaths, or the deaths of loved ones. I'm not telling you to dwell on them, but I am telling you to love on your loved ones. Love them with everything you have, every day, whether they're across the country or down the street, because one day your world may be shaken by a fucking word like cancer. Or ALS. Or tumor. Anything. Life can change in an instant. Never forget that.

Get to know me: Day 19

Something you regret, in great detail


I regret not saving money when I first graduated from college.
It was 2005. I was living at home, paying rent when I felt like it ($50 a week!), not paying for food, water, heat, cable or internet. For the first year I was working at Dunkin Donuts, so I wasn't getting rich, but I definitely would have had the money to save, were I so inclined.
Unfortunately, I wasn't. Of course there weren't any of the financial blogs I read now, but that's no excuse. Granted, had I saved then most of it would be gone by now because I moved across the country, and pretty much used all the savings I had.
I regret it, but I've come to learn that there really isn't anything I can do about it anymore. Those days are gone, and we're saving like mad men these days. I can't go back, and it's something I've had to come to terms with, recently.


What do you regret?




Day 01 - Introduce yourself, in great detail
Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

Get to know me: Day 18

Your favorite birthday, in great detail.


I love my birthday. I don't know why, but every year I anticipate my birthday and talk about it for at least a month beforehand. So it's hard to decide on a favorite birthday, but my 21st birthday was definitely one to remember.


When I was turning 21, I told my mom that I wanted to go out with my best friend and my 3 aunts (and my mom too, of course!) My mom is the oldest of 4 girls, and my sister and I were constantly spoiled, being the only girl cousins. I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather spend my birthday with than them.
I was taken completely by surprise when a limo arrived to pick us up at my house and take us into Boston! 
We went bar hopping, and my aunts taught me the rules of drinking. I learned to have a glass of water in between every drink. I learned which martinis were the best, and which beers to order. I tried hard alcohol and many, many mixed drinks and had the time of my life. Unfortunately for Kristin, she couldn't drink, being 2 months younger than me (don't worry, we had our own fun on her birthday!)
At every stop I was given a balloon (there were 4 total, one for each sister) and I made a wish and let go. Each wish was supposed to be from my aunts.


I am not sure I realized it at the time, but I'm lucky to have such wonderful family.




Day 01 - Introduce yourself, in great detail
Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

7 Layer Bars!

Source: Allrecipes.com

I'm linking up with Elizabeth, at Life, Love Librarianship to share delicious Thanksgiving recipes! You should definitely go check out some of the recipes linked up! This is a repost from last Thanksgiving!


Every year for Thanksgiving (or really any family get-together where my family was the one to bring the dessert) my mom would make 7 Layer Bars. We never called them Magic Bars, but I guess that's what they really are, since there isn't exactly 7 layers in ours.
Anyway, the recipe comes from the back of a can of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk. I love this recipe not only because it's delicious, but because you can bake it ahead of time and freeze them! It's perfect holiday baking and this year for Thanksgiving I made this recipe on Sunday, when I had time. I will freeze the bars before they all get eaten and we will have them alongside pie for dessert on Thursday!

The ingredients are simple and cheap for this recipe (another reason I love it!)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (It doesn't have to be Eagle Brand, but that is the one I typically use, mostly because the recipe is on the back!)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
OR 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees for glass dish). Coat 13x9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.
Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with a fork.
Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store covered at room temperature.

Easy! This recipe takes no time at all, but even when you don't have any time, you can cook it ahead and freeze it! What's not to love?
I didn't take a picture of my bars because a. I'm a little lazy and b. I wanted to get them into the freezer as soon as possible before they got eaten!

Guest post!

I'm guest posting over at Luckiest in Love today while Laura is on vacation!

Laura requested that I talk about the ways I'm living frugally. Though I am far, far from an expert, I was thrilled to write about a subject that I'm passionate about! So go check it out!

source

Get to know me: Day 17

Your favorite memory, in great detail.


I had a hard time deciding on this memory. I have so many wonderful memories! Finally I chose to write about our engagement.
Geoff was in Alabama, visiting. It was June 2009 and I was planning on graduating at the end of the year. It had been 4 and a half years, so we knew we were going to be getting married. I may or may not have already even picked the day. Needless to say, I knew it was coming during this visit.


We spent a wonderful week together. Geoff had to work virtually a few days, and I was still working at Walmart at the time, but we had a wonderful week together. To be honest, I remember very little of the week, maybe because it was overshadowed by the proposal.


Geoff was leaving early on Sunday, and by Friday night I was starting to think he might propose on Saturday some time, since it was our last day together. Though we had already seen 2 movies in the theater that visit, we decided to go out on Friday night. We absolutely love going to the movies, and typically went at least twice a visit.


Anyway, we went to see Up on Friday night, which was excellent. I cried during the beginning of the movie, and once things started getting going, Geoff leaned over an slipped the ring on my finger.
I stared at it, and I stared at Geoff, and I don't even know what I said, or what my face looked like, but I know I didn't say anything because Geoff finally had to ask, "well??" to which, of course, I replied yes!


I didn't pay much attention to the rest of the movie, but I know I didn't stop grinning from ear to ear. I think it was the best movie I've ever seen in the theater.


Day 01 - Introduce yourself, in great detail
Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

I'm frugal, but I'm not dead!

Geoff has this saying whenever he comments on a pretty girl, (usually an actress): "I'm married, but I'm not dead!" It just cracks me up!

I never professed to be a frugalista, or someone you should learn from at all. I simply want to share my feelings on money, my ups and downs, and the small ways I'm learning to save. It's not much, but I like getting ideas from other bloggers and if I can help at all, I would like to, but I'm no expert.

So, that disclaimer out of the way, I'm frugal, but I'm not dead! Try as I might, there are aspects of my life that are not very frugal.

I go to Starbucks. At least once a week, sometimes more. At Weight Watchers they always tell you to have that piece of cake. You know why? Because if you avoid the cake you want you will end up eating everything around it in an effort to avoid the cake. You will eat way more rather than just having that slice of cake that you really want.
If we didn't have a coffee budget, I can assure you that we would spending way more money on coffee than we do right now. It is a luxury we built into our budget. We each load a Starbucks card with half our monthly budget, and when the card is empty, we're done. It's our own envelope system.

We eat out, we go to the movies, we have coffee. Once a week Geoff has breakfast at Denny's with his men's group. We're frugal, but we're not dead.


It's all in the control and seeing the big picture. You can watch me go to Starbucks twice a week and judge, but unless you know the big picture, you won't understand that that's ok. I can have my slice of cake because, like Weight Watchers, I have the "points" for it. I just can't go crazy.

Get to know me: Day 16

{Guys. I'm skipping the one on what I wore. Mostly because I'm too lazy to take pictures and a what I wore post just isn't that interesting without pictures}


Your first kiss, in great detail.


My first kiss was terrible. Don't tell my husband, because it was with him!
We started dating in April 2006 and didn't meet until June of that year. (Yeah, yeah, I know, crazy, creepy, etc...hey, it worked out!) We met at the airport along with our mutual wonderful friend Kim, and held hands immediately. We didn't kiss until it was time to say goodbye (he lived 2 hours away from Kim, and I was staying with her).


We walked out, and started to say goodbye. The kiss, of course, was mutual, but neither of us were experienced in kissing yet. It was wet, sloppy and awkward. I loved him, but I was terrified that this meant we didn't have chemistry.


Thankfully, we met up again and went to a drive-in movie, where we kissed again, and it was much more enjoyable.


Day 01 - Introduce yourself, in great detail
Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

Latest Goodwill Find

I grew this pumpkin. What, what?

I absolutely love my living room. It's the perfect stuffy living room that no one ever uses (which isn't entirely true, but that was the look I was going for. It's exactly what I wanted, and I love that it looks so put together and neat most of the time.

I've been dying to get a couple frames up on the wall for a while, with wedding pictures of Geoff and I. I originally wanted one large frame with two smaller (8x10) frames along side it, but decided against it for several reasons. One of the biggest reasons why I didn't get anything up until now, however, is that 8x10 frames are expensive! The cheapest, and not very nice looking I could find were $15-$20, and I wasn't about to spend $40+ on a couple frames. Until I saw these bad boys at my thrift store.

Saying our vows

Love this one of the wedding party!

As an aside, do you know how difficult it is to take a picture of a picture?

Anyway, when I saw these frames for $4.99 each, I knew I'd regret it if I didn't get them. Normally I like my frames to be around the .99 cent mark, but considering these were a. in near perfect condition b. the 8x10 size I wanted and c. matching, I knew they were coming home with me.

Perfect.

I'd also like to point out that the majority of this room is furnished from Craigslist or Freecycle. The chaire are from Freecycle, the coffee table is from Craigslist, and the end table was also a Craigslist find. The pictures hanging on the frame in the left hand side was a project inspired by a Freecycle frame. Oh, and the awesome orange phone in the first picture? That was inherited from Geoff's grandmother. He was thrilled when I brought it home. Obviously.

I think it's a room The Non Consumer Advocate would be proud of, and I definitely am!

Funny how things work out....

My 1 year anniversary at my job is today. This past Saturday, I gave my notice. I start a new job in a week.

The work environment at my current job is less than ideal. Aside from the fact that I don't want to be an office assistant or dispatcher for the rest of my life, the manager at the company is difficult to work with, to say the least. I won't get into it here, but suffice it to say, I'm happy to be moving on.

I was never thrilled with the job from the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I was more than grateful to have a job. It came at a time when we really needed a second income. We had just bought a house, and though we knew we could make the payments and pay the rest of the bills on one income, we were grateful for a second income. I thank God every day that I have a job, even if I don't enjoy it, because there are so many out there who don't have anything.

That said, I don't enjoy my job. I'm miserable and it's affecting me and wearing on me. After thanking God for my job, I continually questioned him about why I was still here. Why he was keeping me in a place that clearly was no good for me. I knew He had a plan, I just wanted it to come sooner than He planned.

It's funny how things work out, though. We are traveling for Thanksgiving, but that is easily canceled if I happen to have to work that week. I was devastated when we realize that, financially, we couldn't go home for Christmas. Had we done that, we'd possibly had non-refundable plane tickets that cost an arm and a leg and the possibility that I wouldn't have been able to get time off at my new job.
We are saving $500 a month for our Hawaii trip in February. We reach our goal as of January 1, December being the last payment into savings. Had I gotten this job 6 months ago, it would have been difficult for us to save such large payments because this job is part time.

So, starting next Monday I will be working at a YMCA, in a before and after school childcare program. Considering I want to work with children and/or young adults, this is the best I can hope for, now. I'm excited, and happy, and thrilled to be loving my job. I will always keep my ear to the ground for library positions, but the Y is a great organization to work for, and they promote from within, so I don't know where this will lead.

One thing I do know? God is in charge. He's proven that to me time and again, and this recent change no exception.

Nail polish swap!

While I don't use nail polish a lot, I do love a good swap, and the occasional painted toes! Fabulous but Evil is doing a nail polish swap that I signed up for, and I can't wait to go shopping for my partner!

So what are you waiting for? Go check it out!!

Get to know me: day 13

This week, in great detail.


OK, I know I said I was going to wait until Monday to write this up, but I got bored and had nothing else planned, so we're doing this week, Friday to Friday.


Friday Oct. 28: I went to work, at usual. I had a "working interview" after work, and then rushed home and we had friends over for pizza!


Saturday Oct. 29: Work, again. Then I babysat until 1:30 am!


Sunday Oct. 30: Since I babysat so late, I skipped church. Bad, bad! I was wide awake at 8 am though, because it had been more than 24 hours since I last took my allergy medicine and I couldn't breath {my allergies now give me some form of asthma. It's terribly annoying}. Since I skipped church and felt guilty, I got up, made coffee, folded laundry and changed the sheets. All the while watching Buffy.
When Geoff got home I helped put away the Costco groceries then we got Chipotle. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out and watching Medium and cross stitching. Later Geoff mowed the lawn and I helped take the last of the plants from the garden. We also took down the clothesline. Sad day.


Monday Oct. 31: Day off! I had therapy, got lunch, did a little grocery shopping and watched In Plain Sight. I did no housework because I'm terrible! Then I went to my bible study.


Tuesday Nov. 1: Work again, ran some errands (I am thinking maybe I did the grocery shopping on Tuesday not Monday but I don't remember!) and did yoga! Then I made meatloaf for dinner and watched In Plain Sight until Geoff got home from class.


Wednesday Nov. 2: More work, gym and youth group.


Thursday Nov. 3: Work, then I got dinner and hung out until it was time to volunteer with the kitties. Then I cleaned and played. No adoptions.


Friday Nov. 4: So far, work! We have to go grocery shopping again, then I think tonight is going to be another quiet night. Pizza for dinner!


Yikes, my life really isn't that exciting.


Day 01 - Introduce yourself, in great detail
Day 02 – Your first love, in great detail
Day 03 – Your parents, in great detail
Day 04 – What you ate today, in great detail
Day 05 – Your definition of love, in great detail
Day 06 – Your day, in great detail
Day 07 – Your best friend, in great detail
Day 08 – A moment, in great detail
Day 09 – Your beliefs, in great detail
Day 10 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 11 – Your siblings, in great detail
Day 12 – What’s in your bag, in great detail
Day 13 – This week, in great detail
Day 14 – What you wore today, in great detail
Day 15 – Your dreams, in great detail
Day 16 – Your first kiss, in great detail
Day 17 – Your favorite memory, in great detail
Day 18 – Your favorite birthday, in great detail
Day 19 – Something you regret, in great detail
Day 20 – This month, in great detail
Day 21 – Another moment, in great detail
Day 22 – Something that upsets you, in great detail
Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better, in great detail
Day 24 – Something that makes you cry, in great detail
Day 25 – A first, in great detail
Day 26 – Your fears, in great detail
Day 27 – Your favorite place, in great detail
Day 28 – Something that you miss, in great detail
Day 29 – Your aspirations, in great detail
Day 30 – One last moment, in great detail

November goals

I had a hard time coming up with goals this month and I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm overwhelmed that it's November. Maybe looming Thanksgiving has me thrown off. I'm not sure, but for whatever reason I just couldn't get my act together. So, here's what we get for this month:

1. Go to yoga every week.

2. Lose 4 pounds {this is a pound a week, hopefully I can do that, even with Thanksgiving!}

3. Finish Christmas shopping {yes, I'm serious}

4. Get all the Christmas decorations up {starting after Thanksgiving, of course}

5. Plan the garden for next summer and prepare the ground {tear up grass, etc.}

I wasn't thrilled with last month's goals, so I'm hoping to do better this month. What do you think?


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Erin Condren love

The other day this awesome One King's Lane deal came up. It was $25 for $50 worth of stuff from Erin Condren. At first I wasn't so sure, because even though that's a great deal, I didn't know if it was something I needed. I am trying to save money, after all. However, I was told that if you sign up under someone else {you're welcome, Fabulous but Evil!} you get a $15 credit, which turned that $25 into $10 for a $50 credit. {By the way, that is a referral link, but you too can get a $15 credit to use whenever you want which is excellent, in my opinion.}
In an effort to be sure that I wanted to get this deal, even if it wasn't much money, I decided that I should look at see if there was even anything I wanted there. I was originally sucked into the idea of the stationary, because I do love me some personalized stationary. Seeing that I could definitely do some damage with that, I decided to take the $10 leap.

Shortly after I received the credit, I came across a promo code that took $25 off your order which meant I basically had $75 to spend that only cost me $10. Score!
Once I got there I decided that I wasn't thrilled with any of the stationary, so I turned my eyes toward the much coveted, much loved in the bloggy world, Life Planner. I debated for all of 30 minutes before decided I needed it.

I couldn't be more happy. I've already put events, birthdays and vacations into it through April.

It comes with labeled and blank stickers and I chose the gold/baby poop color (I'm not sure why) for Geoff. Recently we had a mini fight about his schedule. He happened to be out of the house 4 out of the 5 days of the week, and I was out the days he was home. I wasn't thrilled because I didn't see this coming; I didn't remember that he'd told me this a couple weeks before. Furthermore, I had made plans for dinner with friends on the Friday that he was out. This way I can now look at the whole week and know when he's going to be out, which weeks he'll be gone 4 out of 5 days (counting class twice a week) and hopefully avoid future fights.

It also came with these stickers, which I love!

After that, I still had $25 left to spend. I knew that I'd have to pay for shipping, so I looked for something that was exactly $25. I found these:

Excellent. I can't wait for Christmas to use them!

I'd highly recommend signing up for One King's Lane because aside from having great deals (this one will probably even come around again!) you get a $15 credit just for signing up! It's an excellent deal if I do say so myself.

Oh, and the total of all my purchases? $18.23. That's $10 for the certificate, and another $8.23 for the shipping. Considering that's $75 worth of goodies, I think I did pretty well!
What do you think?