Waiting

"She had forgotten that summer would come again, that the green would spread over the frozen fields, that the earth would be turned up to the sun and the seed sown, and that the meadows would renew themselves. Was this what strengthened these New Englanders to endure the winter, the knowledge that summer's return would be all the richer for the waiting?"


The Witch of Blackbird Pond

I chose this quote for this post for a couple reasons. One, I absolutely love it. Two, I'm from New England, and I just love the meaning behind the quote. Three, it sort of goes with what I'm going to talk about.
Hey, it's a good quote!

Anyway, as you're reading this, we're on our way to Hawaii!!

We're going to be seeing beautiful beaches like this, and even spending a night in a honeymoon suite on the volcano!

We've been waiting (and saving) for this trip since last March. That's a long time to wait on a big trip, but I'm proud of how much we were able to save, even with my small monetary contribution to our household. We've been saving, and waiting, and eagerly anticipating a trip that will be both relaxing and fun.
What we will not be doing is putting every last purchase (including the rental car and tickets which were bought in January) on a credit card. Nope. If we don't have the cash, we won't do it. Since we're staying in a time share, we will have a small kitchen, so I'm planning on eating "in" for breakfast and lunch, and out for dinner. Though we will probably pay for some excursions, we will also be doing a lot of frugal or free activities.
We will not be stressing about how much money we're spending, or how we're going to pay those credit cards off when we come back. Nope.

Our last vacation together was just over 2 years ago...our honeymoon. And while we could have gone on vacation after our first anniversary, it would have been a financial burdon. Rather than stress about paying off credit cards for a year, I prefer to save, and enjoy my vacation.

And now it's here, and our vacation will be "all the richer for the waiting".

Stay tuned for a few more posts from the Harry Potter challenge, and guest posts over the next week!

My frugal ways

Chicken broth made from a rotisserie chicken we had recently. This is what was leftover after the 5 cups I needed for soup!

While I'm no Non-Consumer Advocate or Frugal Girl, I like to think that I'm still pretty thrifty. Lately I've been doing some things I never thought I'd do.
Like make my own laundry detergent.

This is my laundry detergent, in the Mason jar. I love those things. Next to it is vinegar that I use as a fabric softener and a tablespoon from the thrift store for the detergent (I didn't want to use my own). My laundry items are sitting on a freecycle laundry "table" between my craigslist washer and dryer. I love this picture!

I won't bother giving you the detergent recipe, because you can find it just about anywhere online. All it takes is Borax, Laundry Soda and a bar of soap (I used Fels Naptha, which is why it's yellow-y).

Lest he feel left out, my husband has also been embracing the thriftiness. I gave him an old fashioned shaving kit for Christmas and he's in LOVE.

He has found an online community and is obsessed with his new "hobby". While this alone doesn't exactly save us a lot of money (shaving cream is pretty cheap, and the soap he bought was about $6 on Etsy) the safety razor he's using definitely does!

This Gillette Milford safety razor belonged to my great grandfather, and my dad, who wasn't using it, sent it to Geoff upon learning of his newfound hobby. Though there's a bit of a learning curve, Geoff has enjoyed using it and I've enjoyed not spending money on new razor cartridges! The safety razors use razor blades (obviously!) which are significantly cheaper.

These small changes add up, and it really is fun to try to see where you can cut costs so you have money to do other fun things. Like go to Hawaii.

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?

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?

Money and our love/hate relationship

The other day my mom commented on the fact that I talk about money a lot. I don't particularly like this trait about me, but I guess right now it's just a fact of life. See, when I graduated from my undergrad, I moved in with my parents and, lets face it, I had it good. I didn't pay rent, cable, internet or for food, most of the time. I had a full time, not so well paying job, and though I had my phone, car payment and car insurance, that was about all I had. How I wish I had saved back then!! But the past is past, and there isn't any changing those decisions.

I did move out in 2008, and started working and paying all my own bills, but rent was pretty cheap, and though I don't think I could have saved, I was able to pay most of my bills. I did rack up a little credit card debt that I'm still paying off, but aside from that, I was living fairly decently.

When I started school later in 2008, I had a scholarship and a stipend from being a graduate assistant. This stipend paid my rent and car payment, and all other bills were paid with the 2 part time jobs I had. I did take out more student loans than I needed, and this helped supplement as well.

When I got married, things got serious. I started following money-saving a frugal focused blogs, and between the 2 of us (OK mostly Geoff) I was finally making enough money to make regular payments into our savings accounts. This is when I became obsessed with money. Not so much in a bad way...more in a, "I need to save money" way. I started looking for ways to be frugal, making sure we didn't succumb to laziness and eating out (this has only worked recently!) and focusing on our financial goals.

Do I talk too much about money? Perhaps. I look at it as being focused on saving, keeping us out of debt and working towards paying off what debt we do have. Hopefully, over the course of our marriage, it will all pay off eventually. One can only hope.

Fall line-up

Everyone's posting about the fall TV lineup. Everyone except me. Why? Because we canceled our cable earlier this summer.

Do I regret this decision? No way. That's $50 more into our pockets that we were throwing into commercials and shows that, honestly, I'm not really all that excited about. However...I do find myself missing it this summer as I see my fellow bloggers gearing up for the excitement that fall brings.

For me, the cable just wasn't that important. Despite the fact that Netflix raised their prices, we stayed with them, keeping the plan we had, at $5 more a month. That's $45 less than keeping cable, which I think is a good deal. So, instead of getting excited about the fall line-up, we're choosing to get excited about the shows available on Netflix.
We recently finished watching every single season of Lost. We're working our way through Supernatural, but had to stop because we ran out of seasons we owned (we'll go back to it...eventually). We watched Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly. (Why, yes, we are fans of Joss Whedon! How did you know?) We've just started Medium. And you know what the best part of all is? We don't have to wait 2 or 3 weeks between episodes and there are no commercials.

The benefits, for us, outweigh the bad things, and I absolutely love our lack of cable.
I just need to remember that the next time I read yet another fall line-up post.

Free music!

Who doesn't love something free? We've been trying to cut down on our spending, so I buy a lot less frivolous things than I have in the past (although I've been recently contemplating a pedicure...) so when this popped up I thought it was pretty great and wanted to share! (FYI this isn't an affiliate link, I get nothing for it, but I thought it worth sharing)

Anyway, it's a free $2 MP3 credit from Amazon.com! I used it to buy Rolling in the Deep by Adele (my new favorite song) which was $1.29. I wanted to get a second song but the cheapest they have is .99 cents so I decided on just the one song.

There you go; you can thank me later. :)

Goodbye cable!

This past weekend brought a big change to our little family. Yes, it's true, we got rid of our cable.
When I was living in Alabama I was a. poor and b. busy, so I didn't have either cable nor internet. The lack of internet was a pain, but since I was spending so much of my time in the library, I used their internet. I also mooched off friends and visited places like Starbucks and Panera a lot, where they offer free internet. However, now that we can afford the internet, I don't want to get rid of it. In addition to that, Geoff does need it if he is working from home for some reason, so the internet is here to stay.

Cable, however, has never been necessary to me. While I enjoy having it, I'm finding myself not using it more and more. We started watching sitcoms at night, but they weren't anything riveting, and after a while we'd seen most of the episodes. The two shows we watch regularly (Glee and House) are offered on Hulu, so we can access them without cable. The one thing that was holding me back was On Demand. I do enjoy catching up on shows that we don't watch during the week for some reason or another.

However, I also found myself increasingly satisfied watching shows on Netflix, and I realized that I could live without cable. The more I watch TV on DVD, the more I realize that I don't have the patience for commercials. When we're paying nearly $100 a month for cable (and internet), why is the majority of the 30 or 60 minutes of show we're watching filled with commercials?
Geoff took some convincing, but finally, financially, he hit the wall so last Saturday (after the Glee and House season finale) we canceled the cable. We are planning on setting up an antenna on the roof where, supposedly, some people can get as many as 40 channels. Me? I'm happy with my Netflix. And now we have an extra $40 in our pocket every month that can go towards debt and other bills. And that makes me very happy.

Have you thought about or canceled cable? What are your thought on it? Please share in the comments below!

Hanging it all out

This summer I'm hanging it all out to dry.

My wonderful, amazing husband set up this laundry line for me. I'm thrilled. It is a pulley system, and it's removable for when we have people over, or in the winter.
And yes, the grass really is that green. Geoff's been working hard on making it look good, and I can't say the rain has hurt it much!

Anyway, back to my laundry. Ever since The Non-Consumer Advocate posted about her clothesline, I started wanting one myself! This isn't an new desire, but the excitement of having a yard and a place to hang a line made me want it even more!
I was happy to see that it is going to be sunny for four whole days this week so I've been getting up early and hanging my wash. I've never been so excited to do laundry.

Frugal mish-mash

The other day I bought this shredder off Craigslist. It was $15.
Now I know what you're thinking. Seriously, Megg, you only saved $10! That's hardly worth talking (or blogging) about! Well, perhaps, but the truth is, I've actually been wanting to get a paper shredder for a while now! Partially for all the personal information that we get in the mail (but don't need to keep) and also because of our compost, which we are working on putting together for this summer.
I'm ashamed to admit that I also wanted it because The Frugal Girl talked about her shredder recently and I wanted one too. Also, I enjoy shredding. (Please tell me I'm not the only one!)

My friend Elizabeth wrote a really good post about Ash Wednesday this week. While I didn't grow up "practicing" Lent by giving things up, it is something I've developed and taken part in over the years since I've become an adult. Elizabeth has decided to give up meat, which is an excellent thing to do for both your body and your wallet. Though I don't think I can give meat up completely (I don't like beans enough!) I think I will actively give up meat on Fridays. Once a week is an easy way to start, and buying meat is, for obvious reasons, not something that is always budget friendly.

Seriously, I love being frugal. It doesn't hurt me, it doesn't (usually) put me out, and it leaves me with the freedom to choose to go away for a few days with my best friend, when she comes to visit next month. Honestly, I'm not sure why I waited so long to be frugal!

Small changes, big savings

We're all about saving money these days, right? I mean, who isn't? Between the recession and the fact that Geoff and I are newly married, we are saving wherever we can. A few things we do are small, but add up to larger savings in the long run. And, best of all, I don't feel like I'm cutting anything out, or being put out while I'm saving. Here are a few things we are doing to save money.

Carpooling to work.
Geoff and I are incredibly lucky that we are on the same schedule, work in the same city and my work is on the way to his! This has saved us so much in gas money. I feel like I rarely drive my car anymore because we also carpool to church, even if we have to go early because Geoff runs the video projector. Thanks to small things like this, I didn't panic when I saw gas prices on the wrong side of $3.50 a gallon, creeping towards $4. Sure it's not pleasant, but I also haven't gotten gas for myself in almost a month and I am just now close to needing to fill up. That is a savings of about $40 a week to week and a half for us!

Packing our own lunches.
Geoff and I are back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon, so we've been actively trying to eat better. This means packing our own lunches so we know exactly what we are getting for lunch. It also means that we aren't spending money to go out...as often. We do splurge occasionally, and I eat out every Saturday that I work. For me, however, it's once a week that I buy my lunch. This goes along with the carpooling. Before my schedule changed, when I had a car at the office, I was too tempted to go out for lunch. Now I can't because I have no ride! So I eat in, and save a lot more. I heard on the radio that if you pack your lunch just 2 days a week you can save $700 a year! I'm happy to say that since I take my lunch 4 times a week I'm sure I'm saving much more.

Swagbucks, Groupon and Living Social.
I love these sites! I used to shy away from them because a lot of times the deals were not something I'd typically use. But by checking them out regularly I've been able to make use of some deals. Recently I bought a $20 gift card to Emerald City Smoothie, a place Geoff and I enjoy. It was only $10 and when I went to activate it, they gave me a free smoothie! I've also bought Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com gift cards for half their value and recently I got 2 movie tickets for $9! The latter was especially profitable because when I bought it through Swagbucks I got 315 swagbucks...almost enough for a $5 Amazon.com card! These sites have saved me money on things I'd already be buying, as long as I avoid the things I really don't need, like spas and expensive restaurants.
(By the way, those are referral links, so if you don't want to be referred to me, just search Swagbucks)

So how are YOU saving money these days?

Oh the things at Goodwill!

It should be no secret to you that I love all things free and cheap. Preferably free. However, for all my love of the cheap, I have typically steered clear of goodwill stores because, lets face it, they aren't really very attractive. Every other goodwill I have been in has been...dirty, and it is just not some place I would like to spend my time...until I discovered my favorite thrift store* ever!

*Side note: I think the key difference is thrift vs. goodwill. For some reason thrift stores are just a little cleaner, a little nicer, and a lot less crowded than the goodwills I have been in. This could be only my experience, of course, so don't take my word for it!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you a few of the things I have found at my local thrift store!

The first was an idea from my friend (who knows nothing about me) The Non-Consumer Advocate. Katy said that she had bought a set of cheap flatware at goodwill to send with her kid's lunches. This prevents waste, but also saves her good flatware from being accidentally tossed. I thought this was an excellent idea, especially since I have been packing my lunch religiously (being in a carpooling situation where I don't have the car helps that a lot!) and have been going through plastic forks and spoons (snagged from restaurants like Quiznos) like they're going out of style. So, I took a leaf out of Katy's book and snagged a set of flatware when I saw it at Goodwill!

As an aside, do you know how difficult it is to take pictures of shiny silverware? Especially for a photographer amateur! Anyway, I think the set of silverware was $5 and the bucket they are in was from the dollar section at Target!

I have a bad habit of putting things where they don't belong when there is an empty surface. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has this problem! Anyway, we have a 3-drawer surface that holds our to-go containers very nicely, but tends to collect things that have homes elsewhere! At the same time we have a small pantry/closet that I am having trouble keeping clean and organized. One of the issues in that pantry/closet was our boxes of tea. So, I decided to poke through the numerous baskets at my thrift store and found one I thought would hold our tea perfectly!

The best part about this basket is it looks nice, so I can get away with keeping it outside of the pantry/closet, a bonus I didn't anticipate!

Since I tend to have issues with empty surfaces, I also decided that there was one surface in our den that needed help. It is a hope chest that we inherited from Geoff's grandmother, and it's right next to the door heading out to the garage, or into the house from the garage, depending on the time of day. Needless to say, it collects a lot of stuff.

Ah, yes. This is much better. Now I have baskets that are not only taking up space so I don't put other things on it, but it also has baskets that I can put stuff in! Keeps things neat and organized and I'm honestly relieved.
Sadly, I couldn't find such wonderful (matching) baskets at my thrift store, so these came from Michael's. They were 50% off, however, so I got both for $17!

Last, but not least, are my favorite recent thrift store find:

My red shoes! Impractical? Perhaps. Fun and exciting? Definitely! Cheap? Oh yes, these were only $3! I've worn them at least half a dozen times, and I'm pretty sure they've paid for themselves already.

Do you thrift? What have you found lately?

Misc.

Every good blog needs a miscellany post, right? (Humor me even if it doesn't!)

Today was a good day. I was able to dispatch at work with little help, and I was even left alone for a couple hours! This doesn't seem like much, but it was definitely an exciting moment in my new job. Unfortunately, I accidentally made one of our drivers work much longer than he needed to...and even though he was cheerful about it, I felt very bad. I am hoping future work days go better and that I am allowed to dispatch again.
When I got out of work, however, I realized just how tired I was! I fed the kitties, fed myself, put on my pjs, wrapped up in a blanket (we're cheap so we keep the house freezing pleasantly cool, even in the winter) and settled down on the couch to watch bad tv and relax. Geoff is out for the night, so I'm alone...and I actually don't mind it. After talking to drivers all day I was ready for some quiet and zoning-out.
I think I might be getting tired of Facebook games. When I was home all day I enjoyed them, but since I've started working and actually have a life...well, it doesn't seem like they are worth my time anymore. I'm glad that I am moving on. Even if it is to Plants vs. Zombies, a game my sister got me hooked on recently.
I've been toying with the idea of taking The Compact, but I find myself also worrying about what I do want to buy new. Most specifically, a worm bin, which I'm not sure I can buy used. This would be very green, because it helps with composting, and I most definitely wouldn't put it in my kitchen like this picture did, but the fact remains, I may not be ready to take The Compact just yet. I may try it for a month though, to see how I like it and go from there.

Speaking of The Compact and non-consumerism, I have been feeling very overwhelmed with consumerism lately. I attribute most of it (well OK, all of it...) to the fact that Christmas is right around the corner and everyone is promoting something. It still bothers me, and I feel very aware of it this year. Not that this is a bad thing, but it is uncomfortable. And I can't wait for Christmas to be over so the commercials will stop! Though there will always be commercials promoting things I don't need.

And with that...I have to say thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!