I Love Talking Finances

I think this is the first time in our marriage that Will and I have slept apart for more than one night while in the same house. Every now and then it's happened for one reason or another, but the last couple of nights he chose to sleep in the guest bedroom to keep Charlie and I safe from his cold. This is crazy to me because we've never let illness keep us apart or even stop us from kissing, and yet it's different now...As with everything else in our life, it's all about her and being healthy for her. I did try to take care of him when he would let me, and I even made Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch {homemade broth and all} to boost both of our immune systems. All I know is I'm going to snuggle him so hard tonight! 

Ooooh yeah, I'm two for two on the Choose Your Own Adventure Link Up! I guess it helps that I HAVE to be goal oriented during the biggest transition in our lives, so whatever works. Let's see how we did on April's Financial Goals, shall we...

Create a Baby Fund. CHECK. I haven't technically transferred the money into the Baby Fund, but the account has been set up and the money has been put away. Close enough.

Build a House Emergency Fund on top of our regular savings. Sort of CHECK. Again, the account has been setup, but I want to pay our savings back for some of the costs we incurred on top of Closing Costs. After a few months, we will be square and then the fund will begin. Until then, we have our regular savings and an extra mutual fund that's our 'emergency- emergency' fund worst case scenario.

Track every penny spent on CQB, and try to stick to the plan of buying the majority of the things we need after the second shower. CHECK. I could put sorta for this one too, because this next baby shower is more of a celebration for myself and another spouse {I'm stoked for a dual shower}, but will not be the type of shindig that warrants me worrying about buying stuff off the registry. However, I have been scoring when it comes to the Fort Rucker Classifieds sites, so we have gotten $100's and $100's of dollars worth of stuff for chump change. We even got a BOB stroller for $150. Whoop whoop!

Sell everything that's not nailed down in this house. CHECK. This has been going really well. My goal was to sell up to the amount that I thought we'd make at a garage sale and call it quits, but it's been so lucrative that I've kept going. I have been donating in the process, but I've pretty much offset all my baby spending with this income. The best part is that we haven't even gotten to the garage yet. Cha-ching.

May's Goal: READ I particularly like this one because I need to finish reading all the baby books I've started, make it through the stack of parenting magazines piled up, and catch up on blog reading. I should add go to the library as a goal, though. I have two pre-tty overdue books that need to be rechecked out asap. I wish our library charged us late fees because then I have a reason to be on time.
How about you? Working on any goals these days?

Military 'Entitlement'

Yay! I found something non-baby related that inspired me! I started this blog to remind myself that 'Perception Is Everything' no matter what we go through during our military life, and this is the perfect example of just how important that is. This post may be geared towards the military, but I think you may find that it can translate based on the entitled society that seems to be taking over these days. Unfortunately, entitlement is a problem much larger than this particular article, but that's a topic for a different day.

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Someone posted this article on Facebook knowing that it would incite a wildfire among military families, but it did the opposite for me and I think I'm the only one that agrees with it. As the title states, I do think that {some} military families need to reevaluate their sense of entitlement, and this Carl fella made some good points. As I discuss these points, remember that none of you lovely bloggers fall into the entitled category. You are all the most amazing military spouses that I have come across, and I think you can agree that there is a difference between appreciating community support and demanding it.

Point #1: Civilians don't 'owe' service members anything. Sure, a 'Thank you for your service' goes a long way with the soldiers, but Will would never even expect that and half the time we forget to ask for the discounts available to us. He receives a paycheck and some pretty okay benefits, and that covers what we are 'owed' by this country. On top of that, I don't know many jobs that foot the bill for things like career training and flight school. The flight school alone would cost us beaucoup bucks out of our own pockets if he trained in the civilian world, and he's also had countless other training and schools in the last five years. That adds up to a lot of extra compensation the way I see it, and for that we are thankful.

Point # 2: 'Toughest job in the Army/Navy/Air Force/Marine' stickers aren't cool. I would NEVER think that my military...er...situation is harder than Will deploying, training, or going through flight school, so the thought of displaying one of those stickers makes me cringe. Plus, as Carl stated: Are there sacrifices involved in a military lifestyle? "Yes. But especially when that military family chooses to re-up for another tour, they are like the hunter going after the bear the second time. They have voluntarily chosen that life with full knowledge of what they are getting into and decided that the pros outweigh the cons." I hadn't ever thought of it that way, but it's funny how many families you see that have re-enlisted, and yet still have the same complaints. The only reason I can think that people would do that is if they are the type to complain about any situation they are in.

Point #3: Military families complaining about not making ends meet are causing their own financial hardship. It's public knowledge that the soldiers receive a decent wage when you include BAH, BAS, Benefits, etc., and that wage even goes up during deployments. You can't put a price on being separated and the soldiers being in harm's way, but the military isn't the only career field that has a dangerous environment. Barring that, if a family, any family, can't live off one salary then I suggest the spouse goes and gets a job. I managed to find jobs each time we moved, worked until we could save up enough money to have a decent savings and investment money, and we also learned to live within our means. WE control our financial situation instead of complaining about what the military pays or demanding support from others. "The hard, unpleasant truth is that many of the problems some military families have are at least somewhat self-induced- by having kids too young."

I think the main point that is lost in the article while he brings up such hot button issues, is that we shouldn't be looking to civilians or communities for our 'entitlements'. The government signs up soldiers at such a young age that they need to be mentoring and preparing these soldiers for the deployments and hardships to come. Getting married and starting a family right before you deploy is romantic in the movies, but in real life love {and/or lust} is not enough to carry a family through without proper strategy.

I'm a firm believer that it's not what you say, but how you say it. Should this Carl character have had a better, more compassionate approach to this topic? Of course. But he wanted a reaction and he got it. With my opinions, I hope to show that if you want more, go out and get it. If you don't have enough 'support', go out and find it. There are jobs out there, and there is more support within the military community than any other community I've ever seen. Be grateful for what you have, and if it's not enough...what are you going to do about it?

The Dog Isn't A Big Talker, But He Can Hold A Paintbrush

Just kidding, I wish I had a video of Weiser painting, but other than stealing a paintbrush off the table, I don't believe he's the next blind-painting dog. However, he is a great listener. I talk to him every time Will is gone, he just doesn't usually talk back. Usually. That's what's good about blogging, even though I'm technically talking to myself, you all leave sweet little comments and inspiration to keep me sane. In case I don't say it enough...thanks for that, and thanks to Shanna for allowing me to be random on Wednesdays.

+ We still haven't fully unpacked {go figure}, and I keep taking on new tasks before finishing others. I assured Will that I would have the house together before he graduates since all the family will be in town, but I'm going to have to buckle down and quit taking on new projects before I finish the last. I did finish the following, though. I decided I hated having these gorgeous photos of our loved ones stuck randomly all over the fridge, so I painted some frames, added magnets, and voila...

I already had the paint, so I just bought some cheap frames from Big Lots and Goodwill, and now I have a lovely de-cluttered fridge. Just call me Miss Crafty.

+ I've been writing A LOT. I joined a 30 Day Writing Challenge, and it's been quite inspirational. I've been a writer all my life, including having a poem published when I was twelve, and now I actually have time to do it. So far it's mostly been a journal {because I have no one to talk to}, but it's been sprinkled with some pretty deep stuff. I actually chose to do the challenge, because I wanted to create a habit of writing every day. Obviously, I'm creating content for the blog everyday, but I want to make sure I write for myself too. I think it's very important we remember to write for US.

+I mowed with a gas mower all by myself! Do you know how hard it is to hold the handle down and toggle the gas by the engine when you have short arms? Let me tell you, someone should have recorded me using cement blocks and practically pulling my arm out of socket. For a mere $45 smackers, I could have avoided this situation, but we all know I will take that $45 to my grave. HashtagI'mcheap. We actually entertained the idea of paying someone to do pest control, lawn care, yadda yadda, but I just can't bring myself to do it. We are young, able-bodied, and not lazy, so I think we should keep doing these things ourselves. Plus, I'd much rather have all that mon-ay chilling in the bank than in someone else's pocket. In two years, we will have saved ourselves about $2,000 on top of all the other stuff we do. Cha-ching. We've gotten our savings to where I want it to be, and I'll be damned to take money out for superfluous things.

I really need to write up a post about how we've been saving money, and how I've been making extra money. I'm feeling pretty good about how we've started out this adventure of me not 'working'. The World is my oyster, and I want to share my pearls.
Would you like some of my pearls?

Somebody Is Trying To Steal Our Money!

I say "somebody" because it happens to be a department of the government, and I don't need them flagging me for airing their dirty laundry. Let's refer to them as the "Check Eaters". You know, the ones that take most of your pay before you even see your check?

Source: Uploaded by user via Janna on Pinterest

Now I accept the fact that they eat our checks. We elected all the fools that put us in this economic spot, so there is no way around it at this juncture. What I can't accept, is when the Check Eaters try to steal from soldiers and their families. Allow me to explain...

When a soldier deploys, the money that they make during their deployment is tax free as a little perk for putting their lives on the line. Fair enough? So we did our taxes this year, got a little money back and were happy as a lark. Then all of a sudden, the Check Eaters in Virginia (our home of residence) decided that we should be taxed on a portion of the money Will made while he was deployed. Now I could see this as a mistake if they tried to tax him on all of the income, but how does a trained Check Eater look at a soldiers W-2, see income that is non-taxable, and decide that he should pay taxes on a portion of that. He's all like, "For shits and giggles, let's see if these suckers will pay this."

Um...no.

So what did we do? We called and explained ourselves to Check Eaters that acted like they had never come across a situation like this. They had no clue that we shouldn't be taxed or so they said, made us send them his W-2 again, and said they would review it. Cue to a few weeks later and we got ANOTHER letter saying that we owed the money PLUS penalties.

Um...what?

We called AGAIN. This time, they searched their office for his W-2, and found that it had not been "reviewed" yet. So let's get this straight...

1) They don't know how to do their jobs.

2) They just tell people they owe random amounts of money.

3) They assess penalties when they are the ones that are too busy to review W-2's.

We are pretty sure that they are going to review it and we will be off the hook, but think about how many times the Check Eaters tell people they owe money after they have already filed, and how many people just pay it because they assume that a Government Agency would not try to screw you.

Moral of the story:
ALWAYS second guess it when someone tells you that you owe money after the fact. Especially when that someone is a "Check Eater". It could save you hundreds of dollars. You're welcome.

So...We May Be Making Moves Soon.

How is it almost July?

I have been trying to enjoy every post-deployment moment, but time really does fly when you are having fun! To be honest, we are going crazy these days with the training, the month long school that Will is going to soon, my new training schedule, and now...there is a big chance that we will be moving. It may be as soon as October, or it could be the beginning of next year. Either way, I haven't been able to wrap my head around it yet. It was inevitable that we would move, but now that we are in talks to move so soon, it's intense!

via

I don't think we will move until next year, but we kind of have to plan for the worst just in case. We have acquired SO much stuff here, so there will be a big downsize, we will be selling vehicles {we have five at the moment}, and now we have to move Weiser too. I have never had to move a pet...Any tips I should know about?

Other than that, it is just time to really buckle down when it comes to purging and not acquiring more things. We have a monthly allowance to buy whatever we want, but I have decided to go on a spending freeze. I've done many budget/shopping challenges, so it's not hard for me one bit. As a matter of fact, I find that I have more time on my hands and can focus more if I'm not thinking "I wonder if anything good is on sale", "Where should I hit up in between errands", "I know I don't really need this, but I might in the future", etc.

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We could all use a reminder to slow down on our societies materialistic tendencies. I don't know how non-military families keep their junk down, but I know I am thankful that we have to purge every time we move. It has definitely taught me the value of "things" or the lack thereof. Now I think to myself, "Would I want to move this the next time we move?" This is even going to start applying to food. We have a FULL pantry, so Operation Eat The Pantry is totally kicking off. We always move SO much food, which is silly, so now I'm hoping we can clean it out before hand. Otherwise, it's all getting donated. I foresee lot's of donations in our near future, and I'm totally okay with it.

Hopefully I can take all of this in stride, and we will be across the country in no time. I'm ready for the next adventure! Bring. It.

PS. It's probably going to be somewhere back East. Sorry to my West Coasters, Texans, and other loves. You know I would give an arm and a leg to know that I could move near all of you at some point. There's always the next move!

For The Smile Of Eli

As I sit here eating my late night snack of Vanilla Cupcake Goldfish and pretzels, I am so very thankful.
I am thankful that we live in a world were we can rally prayers, find support in strangers, and raise money for hope. Social media can be shallow, negative, or counterproductive, but only if we allow it. Instead, lets focus on being positive, bettering ourselves, and improving the lives of others.

Like little Eli...

Source: gofundme.com via Janna on Pinterest

He is the son of a friend of a friend, and he has leukemia.
He was just diagnosed in April, and his parents want to get him home to California where he has a support system. Little man is only $700 from his goal, so visit here to donate. Let's make sure this sweet babe gets home where he ought to be!

Prayers are also acceptable currency ;)

I am turning comments off for this post, so go forth and be merry.
I think we all need to enjoy this weekend.
{{HUGS}}

Final Check In & MDH Hair Tutorial!!

Oh boy, what a week this has been...Definitely not how I pictured it.

An emotional roller coaster at best, but we are making it.

So you all know about the The Messy Challenge, right?

In case you don't, it is a challenge to "embrace the mess", and embrace life's imperfections, while ridding yourself of insecurities.  I highly advocate this, because we all think we have to be perfect all the time, and what we don't realize- is that we are already perfect by just being ourselves.

In fact, watch this video to understand more.

I happen to have been participating in this before Kelly made it "cool"{thank goodness she has},

but I did it because I have REALLY long hair, that is a pain in the @ss to wash.

Luckily, quite a few years ago, someone suggested the use of baby powder to me, and I ran with it.

I have talked about it on the blog and have gotten many questions, so as prompted by Alana, I created a Baby Powder Tutorial!

And yes...those would be the mirror decals that I put up for my love for Valentine's Day.
They remind me of him, so I haven't had the heart to take them down.

Think about how much you will save on your water bill by cutting your shower time in half, using less shampoo/conditioner, and not buying dry shampoo!
Speaking of saving...How'd we do this week?

As most of you know, I was cooped up all week, so I didn't have ANY spending issues.
In fact, the only money I spent was getting gas on the way to drop off donations to the evacuees, and veggies at the Farmer's Market.

Gas: $42
Farmer's Market: $8
Residual: $100
Virtual Piggy Bank: $369

That means that in one month, I saved almost $400 ABOVE what I usually save!
I understand that not everyone can or will have these results, but I want you to see that it is possible. I don't live frugally out of necessity. I do it for comfort and security.
I don't know about you, but I find money stress to be the worst, so why go through that?

A short recap of my Budget Plan:

Source: perceptioniseverything.blogspot.com via Janna on Pinterest

Subtract bills and expenditures from monthly income, subtract savings goal from that, and the remainder can be "fun" money! Do you know what "fun" money means? It means you don't have to feel guilty! I wish I could explain it so that you would jump right in, but you won't ever understand how great it feels until you are able to truly embrace your frugal side.
Have power over your money, don't let it have power over you.

I have to say, even though there weren't a lot of link ups, I was quite impressed with all of the people that participated! It was awesome to know that we were inspiring bloggers that we didn't even know. For future reference, I am always happy to help with budgeting, so if anyone has any more questions or needs motivation, feel free to ask. I want you to all feel the freedom that I do.
{end cheesy rant}

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, but take some time to think of the soldiers, and send positive thoughts our way.  It's going to be mid-July before they have full fire containment, so let's just hope that we maintain zero casualties.
*Update...one soul lost in the Waldo Canyon Fire.*

*Update #2...I'm beginning to realize that a lot of people don't know about the soldiers and shooting in  Fort Bragg. You can read that unfortunate story here, and my thoughts and prayers go out to their families, and the Fort Bragg community.*

I'm a Gambler...

Guess what happened yesterday?

A customer of mine donated $100 towards Care Packages!

I can't believe that three months after I first solicited help, I am still getting new bloggers involved {Kelly and her mom just signed up}, new family and friends, AND customer donors.

It inspired me to create this little design, which I am going to turn into a button, and anyone who has sent a care package, letter or supported a soldier should totally rock it on their blog!

Hopefully, I can get it done soon, but I have to work the next couple of days.

No matter what, I'm excited!

Well, about that AND the fact that I won two bets last night on the Heat game, which brings this seasons total to FOUR bets won. Apparently, I need to start gambling.

I didn't gamble for money, which I totally would have added to my "sanity fund", but instead I just added up my savings for the week! I bought lunch the two days I was in the motorcycle class and got some necessities from Costco (dog food, coffee and take'n bake stuffed bell peppers. Yum), but still came out on top for the week!

Costco: $56

Lunch: $12

Residual: $82

Virtual Piggy Bank: $269

Heck yeah! We still have one week left, and I have already saved enough to have our lawn mowed through summer, and deal with any other odd jobs that come up!

How did y'all do this week? Did you splurge or did you save?

Don't feel bad either way, and feel free to link up any time between now and Sunday.

Plus there's always next week for the last link up...just a suggestion ;)

One more PSA for the day...Has anyone noticed this on my sidebar:

I made this little badge in the HOPES that bloggers would notice it and realize that word verification/captchas are NO BUENO. There have been many posts, tweets, and references in general dedicated to this topic and ridding the world of these evil things, but somehow...many of you still have them. A few bloggers have stopped commenting on blogs that have these, and I think I'm getting to that point.  I CANNOT read them and it is so frustrating. This is my announcement that  this is your last chance before we hunt you down and hide the body to fix your blogs. Even if you think you don't have them- check. Otherwise, if I stop commenting...you'll know why. I say this all out of love.

Tough love, that is ;)

Also, Jenn's on vacation {lucky bish} and I am Guest Posting!

Go humor me.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

Budget Check In & Operation Bushy Eyebrows

Hello Friday that is really my Wednesday. Bleh.

It's not phasing me, though!

I can't be sad after all the love from yesterday.

Apparently, we all found that link up super fun and met some great new bloggers.

Yay for new friends and welcome!

For those of you that are new around here, Zara and I are hosting a 30 Day Budget Challenge Link Up to share just how easy it is to save and/or budget. We will be linking up for the next two Fridays, so feel free to check it out and join in! Who doesn't want to find new ways to pay for their next vacation without feeling guilty about it?
Also, I would like to point out that I'm not saying you should make yourself unhappy by giving things up. We are simply trying to show you how to prioritize.  That's why you can give up one thing or everything, and either way- it's totally up to you ;)

Week # 2 was successful again! 

Although, I must admit I'm cheating.  I live frugally all the time, but now the extra money I save is going in to my "Sanity Fund". This actually made the hubby very happy, because he is always telling me to spend some money on myself. It's not that we don't have the money; It's that I REALLY like seeing our savings add up and my VACATION fund growing!  

Unfortunately, after I had the WORST time mowing our yard, I decided that it was more worth it for me pay someone to do it (along with any other odd job that comes up).

So what did I end up with after Baltimore?

First, I spent very little in Baltimore (sweet!), second, what I did spend came out of the vacation fund, so it doesn't even count, and third, groceries were the only other expenditure!

That means no Starbucks, manicures, shopping sprees or even gas.

Groceries: $63

Budget for the week: $150

Residual: $87

Virtual Piggy Bank Total: $187

That's SEVEN lawn mows!

WooHoo!

Now LINK UP!
Whether you did good or bad, you can still participate. Hold yo'self accountable. Haha.

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Now I'm sure you are wondering what "Operation Bushy Eyebrows" is.

Teehee.

It is EXACTLY what it says, which means I am trying to bush up my brows.

This is happening for two reasons:

#1 Colorado's climate has made mine stop growing, and begin to thin in fact.

#2 I find eyebrows to be very accentuating features, and full eyebrows really turn me on.

PS. Not to be confused with unibrows or mangled bushes.

PPS. "Bush" is such a fun word.

Out of desperation, I began googling my issue, and found this site and this site that seem to have reasonable options for home treatment. That means I am now {lightly} massaging Coconut oil, and alternately Aloe, into my eyebrows day and night. It says it will take 5-8 weeks to see results, so let's just hope the results will be positive instead of negative.

No eyebrows? EEK.

Have any of you had brow issues?

Have you tried anything to help successfully? 

Some of you might think I'm crazy, but if this works...it will be GENIUS.

And I did research these remedies before I started this regimine. FYI.

In 5-8 weeks, let's hope I look like this:

Source: google.com via Janna on Pinterest

Not this:

Source: google.com via Janna on Pinterest

Or this:

Source: google.com via Janna on Pinterest

Wish me luck?

Happy Friday loves! Have a fantabulous weekend.

Our First Piggy Bank Check IN!!

Heeeellooooo Friday!

How has everyone's week been so far?

A week of savings I hope...

If you don't know about the Challenge, head here first.

I am happy to report that other than sending out my Father's day gifts and a care package to the 

hubs, I spent a whopping $0! Yes, that's right folks.

I didn't even have to go grocery shopping, and since I budget for the presents and care packages, I essentially spent nada. That means that I get to put $100 in my virtual piggy bank!

I have decided that my piggy bank savings will be going into my "Sanity Fund".

What is my "Sanity Fund"?

Well, it happens to be a fund that I created on Tuesday after trying to mow the lawn.

As most of you know, I am flying solo while my husband is deployed, which includes taking care of our entire house and all of its responsibilities.  I have been doing pretty good keeping up with it, so I decided that paying someone to mow would be silly, as I AM capable and independent.

That is until I destroyed my shoes, got blisters in awkward places 

AND ended up with tree sap in my hair. FAIL.

Hence, I decided that the money I save this month will go towards paying someone else to take care of the things that cause me too-much-grief-to-be-worth-my-time. I am thinking that this is going to be a key factor of getting me through this deployment, and makes me a very happy girl.

So what did you decide to save for and how much did you accomplish this week?

Even if you haven't started, you can still link up and tell us what you would like to accomplish.  It is a 30 Day Challenge so you can honestly start it when you like! We just want you all to stay involved to learn from others, pick up a few new tips, and/or teach us a few of your tricks!

I know some of you say that you already have some sick saving/budgeting skills, so don't be greedy! 

Link up and SHARE the wealth!

Here are a few links to help you continue saving:

Home Smarts: Top 50 Money Saving Tips
MoneySavingTips.org
10 Retarded Money Saving Tips

Ok, ok the last one is a joke BUT I have slept in an airport (a few short hours), I have seen people make cool crafts out of lint, I have Colombian friends that go back for doctor and dentist visits, and I know a few hippies Green people that buy reusable feminine products.
To each his or her own :)

Piggy Bank Budget Challenge

So the REVEAL is here!

I must say that this plan was hatched back in the beginning of May, but I only took Zara as half serious when she mentioned a 30 Day Challenge of Budgeting.  

Everyone has lofty ideas for budgeting, but then most people don't want to follow through.

She is the reason that I posted about budgeting, and perhaps that planted a seed, because yesterday it was decided that we would officially begin the challenge!

We thought about waiting to build up some anticipation, but decided to seize the moment and kick it off. I'm not expecting everyone to come running, but I want those of you who need or want to learn about prioritizing to feel free to join in, or at least learn from the experience of others.

So what is this Challenge?

For thirty days, you will give up a vice (or vices), and add up how much you save, to be applied to something you have wanted to save for. 

For example:

 Give up Starbucks for 30 days=  Approx $120 (That's two new pairs of shoes!)

Give up mani/pedis= $200 (That's a plane ticket to NYC or Vegas!)

Give up shopping splurges= At least $4-500 (That's a credit card balance!)

I, myself, really learned how to prioritize from The Great American Apparel Diet.

For six months, I refrained from buying ANY clothes. GASP. I know.

Guess what? 

It didn't kill me, and I still feel like I have too many clothes.

I know you think that's not possible, but I assure you- I have more clothes than any one person
needs. Regardless, do you know what it taught me? 

That the money I wasn't spending added up REALLY quickly.

Seeing that $$ made it totally worth it, and even after the challenge, I have continued to cut back, shop for sales, and not get caught up in vices.

See where we are going with this?

We want you to see just how easy it is to prioritize and save for bills, savings, or even a vacation.
That's the good news- it's COMPLETELY up to you, as to what you save for.
This is not to make you feel cut off, it is to teach you to have power over your money, instead of your money having power over you!


So are you up for it????
If so, we’ll be linking up weekly. Get a list of the things you wanted to buy and what they cost together. Every Friday we’ll link up and see how much is in our virtual piggy banks and where we are on meeting our goals.
Ready?! Set! GOO!!!!!

Baller On A Budget: Janna's Budget Breakdown!

In appreciation for helping me reach our first goal on our Facebook Page, I am now going to teach you how to be a baller on a budget! Don't ask me how I learned this, because other than the desire to be financially stable- I had no direction.  As a matter of fact, before I met my husband, I was livin' the high life.  I had very minimal bills in college, so most of the money I made went to fun in the sun and traveling wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Yes, I was one of "those people" that had college paid for, but I also worked hard to get scholarships, had sometimes up to three jobs, and NEVER asked my family for money. It wasn't that I couldn't ask them or that I needed to work three jobs; It was that I had an innate drive to work hard and play harder.  I feel very blessed to have that drive.

Fast forward to the end of college and the beginning of our relationship, and life started getting put in perspective.  At this point, I had NO DEBT. I had credit cards, but they were paid off regularly, and obviously no student loans.  Will, on the the other hand, was a totally different story.  He had the student loans, other loans, credit card debt, AND was helping to support his roommate that got laid off. I'm not gonna lie- that all scared the bejeesus out of me, and made me want to run.

To be honest, he was probably better off than most guys our age, but to someone who had no debt- It was quite off-putting. So guess what? We started cutting back.
GASP. We sacrificed? Yes. Because that's how you fix it.
It's not like we didn't have any fun, we just found cheaper ways to have it.  I remember a lot of Publix picnics, and you know what? I will forever hold those memories fondly in my heart. At this point we didn't know anything about budgeting, but we knew that we had to cut back.  It doesn't take a genius to realize that if you are spending more than you make, you are going to add to the debt, and in order to lessen the debt, you need to spend under your means. Unless your game plan is to win the lottery. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that ain't going to happen.

So let's fast forward a bit. Within a year, we had ALREADY paid off all the credit cards and had a good hold on the loans. Gosh darn did that feel good. Then we realized that the older we get, the higher the bills were going to be. Not to mention- there was going to need to be a ring purchased in the near future and a wedding.  This is when we really buckled down.

At the time we were both making cash, so each week we would divide our money into two envelopes holding our savings and bills.  We had set amounts for each item of our budget (based on goals we set for ourselves), and then what we made ABOVE all of those goals was our "fun money". Let me tell you, that fun money feels like you won the lottery.  You don't have to feel guilty about it, since you are reaching your budgeting goals, and that is the best feeling in the world.

As time went on we became more and more streamlined, but our budget also began to fluctuate and change.  When Will enlisted, we had to become more structured based on a set pay and a real paycheck.  This means that the envelopes wouldn't work anymore.

So what did I do? I figured out how to adapt it to our new situation.

I took this:

And made one big list:
*This is not our exact list, but a generalized guide for everyone*


Necessities:
Rent/Mortgage $1,000
Electricity/Water $150
Gas bill $50
Groceries $300
Gas $400
Car Insurance $200
Life Insurance $30
Trash $15

Savings & Loan:
Student Loan $100
Investments $400
Savings $300
Vacation Fund $150

Extra Expenses:
Cable/Internet $105
Cell Phone $100
Misc.$50
-----------------------------
Total: $3,350

Now some of you may not invest or deposit into savings every month, which would subtract about $1,500, but then you might have other expenditures like car payments, daycare, tuition, home owner taxes, etc. Point is- you create your budget based on EXACTLY what you spend. In order to have a fully functioning budget it needs to be very specific.  You also need to know your BOTTOM LINE, which is how much income your household is bringing in each month. If that number is smaller than the amount you are spending each month, then you are in BIG TROUBLE.
You will have to cutback, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You basically need to subtract your necessities from your monthly income, and prioritize from there. I personally find savings and loans to be equally as important, so they were also initially figured in.

Let's say your bottom line line is $45,000 based on the Median Household Income:
$45,000/12 mo.= $3,750
If you apply that to the budget breakdown, that leaves you $400 in Fun Money. Woohoo!

Now what really happens when we apply this?
Well for us- this number wouldn't work for us.  We invest 20% of our income, and put another 20% of our income into savings, so THEN we subtract our necessities, and what is left is applied to our extra expenses.  We have a decent dual income, and I REFUSE to be the type of people that spend more the more we make.  As our income has grown, so has our savings and investments.

40%+45%= 15% leftover for Fun $
15% of $45,000 = $6,750...Sounds like a good time to me!

For you we will do it like a Choose Your Own Adventure:
Option A
If your  Monthly Bills & Savings are under your budget- AWESOME.
But then decide what you would need to do to invest and/or put more money in savings.
+You need to have, at the very least, a three month padding in your Savings
(which would = approx. $10,000)
+You need to figure out how much per month needs to be invested for your future retirement.
(A typical IRA maxes out at $5,000/year- $416/mo.)
Apply these new numbers to your budget and adjust accordingly.

Would you rather drink your Starbucks and get your nails done or have Savings and a Retirement?
Priorities people.

Option B
If your Monthly Bills & Savings are over your budget- CRAP.
Where are we going wrong?
Brand new cars, overpaying in rent, expensive hair styles, vacations that aren't budgeted...
You can get sucked into all of these things EASILY.
What you have to decide is do you like falling farther into debt in the hopes that you will eventually catch up, or would you rather lower your blood pressure by re-prioritizing.
I know that when we moved to Colorado- all of our savings went out the window and we hadn't begun investing yet, so I was a basket case. I knew that in order to de-stress and happy again, we HAD to prioritize. Now it has only been a year, and we are EXACTLY where I want to be.
Don't you wish that you could say that?

If you are nodding your head yes, then here are some ideas:
+Begin pricing things like Insurance, trash, cell phone providers, and cable.
We have cut $3,000/year by switching all of our providers or consolidating.
(That's more than half of your IRA!)
+Cut some coupons!
HELLO! It's FREE $ people!
I don't even clip a lot. I just go through and clip the ones I know we need and I save at least $5 per grocery store visit. $10 if you count buying what's on the store sale ads.
$10 x Your Grocery trips for the year= At least $240.
+Don't buy the newest car, upgrade to the newest iPhone every time they come out, or get pedi/mani's every two weeks. I'm sure some of you think I am crazy, but I think you are the crazy ones for allowing your life to be controlled by material things.
One time, I was chatting with my dad, and I added up what I watched my friends spend on Vices: Alcohol, cigarettes, mani/pedi's, fancy hairstylists/colorists, new technology, new cars, etc., and at MINIMUM I spend over $10,000 a year less.
Not to mention, I am not consumed by all of these "things".
It's freeing people...Try it sometime.
Once you have conquered your expenditures (I KNOW that you can do it), you can
 refer to Option A. That's your goal, my dears. Change your life.
______________________________________________________________________

Do you all think I'm crazy by now? If you even made it to this point....
I'm ok if you think I'm crazy, because I am happier and more at peace than I have ever been. I never thought that you could be truly "Financially Stable" without a six figure income, but I am happy to be proof that you can. Now I have to go plan for my next vacay in two weeks, which has already been budgeted for! That makes for a REAL stress free vacation.

Groupon Deal for the Holidays!

I was just about to stop procrastinating and order our Christmas cards and luckily, I checked my email to find the MOST perfect Groupon! 

Basically, I just got 40 AMAZING cards and envelopes for less than $30!!!  I probably should have got the next Groupon up and then I wouldn't have gone over, but I still came out on top and got the most perfect cards!

 Click HERE to find the BEST deal on Christmas Cards!  What's even better-  They are offering FREE SHIPPING if you use the code: SHIP20 before November 7th.  

(And no, I'm not getting anything from them- I just want to share the love!)

P.s. My puppy is under the weather, so keep him in your thoughts :(  I'll fill you in soon, and hopefully will have good news on his condition.

Target's Got Some Sales Goin' On!

You know that symbol...We ALL know that symbol.  I'm also sure that we all have a love/hate relationship with it as well.  Honestly, I think that is really one of those hypnotizing symbols... 

Just like this one:

Because I always feel a force pullin' me towards that store, even if I don't need a dang thing!

Case in point:  We had a perfectly good XBOX 360 and although we had been toying around with the idea of selling it to upgrade to the Kinect, we had NOT committed to the idea.  That is until I took a peek in the Target Ads and found the Kinect Bundle for only $399.99 PLUS a $50 Target GIFT CARD!

Yep...I'm a sucker.

But I'm not gonna lie, I got to pick up some CUTE stuff with my gift card ;)

Which were all on clearance, BY THE WAY.

(Even the bath mat and ironing board I got we're on sale.  Didn't think you needed a pick of those.)

Wanna know what's even better?  Will put the old console on CraigsList before we left the house, and by the time we got home he'd sold it for $100 BUCKS.  That means we really got it for $250!  Hopefully, I sound like less of a sucker now...

Yes?

Planning Our First Vacation as a Married Couple!

Yep, tomorrow we leave for FLORIDA and I JUST finished planning the trip this afternoon...procrastinate much?  Alas, if I had not waited to finalize the trip I would not have found that a dear friend of mine is going to be in Destin at the same time that we will be around, and thus we have now added a night/day in Destin to hang with Shanna and her fiance'! 

Another reason it took so long is that I didn't use a travel agent this time, thinking that this trip would be super easy to plan, since Florida is my hood home.  Apparently, I thought WRONG, but only have myself to blame, as I was the one I kept adding stops onto our itinerary.  At least I can say that it's going to be an action packed trip and probably at least a lil' bit epic ;)

Itinerary for La Tour de Florida:

7.4- O-Town!

7.5- Island Of Adventures

(Specifically the Harry Potter Park!)

7.6- Oakhill to see my Momma-In-Law

7.7- Saint Augustine- My most-favoritist (just made that into a new word) place!

7.8- Destin and Shanna's Birthday!

7.9- P'Town all the way!!

Home Sweet Home:

The remainder of the trip will be in my lovely home town and will be full of good food, good fun, beach time, tubing, friends and family!  Needless to say I am excited!

Obviously, this isn't the cheapest vacation ever, but I managed to cut a lot of corners and beat the system!  Yet ANOTHER reason that the trip took a while to plan, is that I shopped for low prices and discounts.  I didn't just settle for anything and kept digging till I found what I deemed the best deals.  Yes, it was a lot of stress- some might have thrown in the towel and said the stress wasn't worth the savings, but I think I saved us over $1,000, so I'm pretty sure that it was worth it to me. 

Wanna know how to save on vacations?  Firstly, book all that you can ahead of time to lock in good prices.  Some sites allow you to book and not pay right away, so then you can even hold out for a better deal.  Make sure you search all the travel sites (Cheaptickets.com, Cheapoair.com, Travelocity.com, etc.) to see who has the best deals, lowest insurance prices and best promotional discounts.  You can even go to sites such as retailmenot.com to search for promo codes, and if you are booking multiple tickets- book them seperately so that you can use the coupon code each time vs. only one time.  Lump in your hotel and your rental car if you can to get the best package savings and nowadays you can even add all your activities in as well!  I booked my rental car seperate, since I didn't book it till today (whoops!), but I used my AAA hookup perks to book it at a great rate. 

That brings us to the trip itself- this is where you want to set a budget for yourself, so that you don't get spend happy and remember things like parking fees, food, beverages, shopping, miscellaneous expenditures, etc.  My two BEST ways to save on all this:

Invest in one of these and you'll save up to $50, by not buying tons of water and beverages, plus it's way more convenient and GREEN!

And # 2 -bring snacks!! 

I made up trail mix, brought fruit snacks, cereal and healthy-ish candy.  Everytime you would have reached for some greasy chips in the check out line, you can thank me for bringing better options and saving you $$ at the same time!

I will miss y'all while I'm gone and can't wait to catch up when I get back! For now I'm off to have some FUN in the SUN!

Your Fave Store May Be Express, But Mine is COSTCO!

Reasons Why I Love Costco:

~Numero Uno~

It's exclusive.  hehe I know it's not really, but that's their gimmick.  You feel like you're part of the "club", and I'm ok with that.  Especially since we got the EXTRA-special-cool-people membership, that cost us $50, but get's us 2% cash back each year! Don't get too excited, because we only spend maybe $100/month, which will get us back a measly $24, but guess what? As a Gold member, they guarantee that if your reward does not add up to at least $50 (cost of the membership), they will round it up to $50, which essentially made the membership FREE! I like free ;)

 

Our badge of Entry COOL-NESS:

~Numero Dos~

 $Savings$-  When we adopted Weiser, we found that as a Weimaraner mix, he has to eat grain-free food, which as you can imagine is expensive.  They suggested the Kirkland brand dog food at Costco, so we decided to check it out.  Not only did they have a great selection of dog food, but the bags were HUGE and MUCH cheaper.  That right there sold us on the membership.  If nothing else the membership would have paid for itself just with that one item.  Since then, we have discovered products that benefit us in bulk, which has only added to our savings.  That was kind of tricky, since there are only 2.5 of us, but I mostly buy nonperishable things, or things that we can utilize quickly. 

Our staples include:

TP, cleaning products, laundry products, coffee, fruit snacks (hubby's fave), trail mix ingredients (I make my own trail mix), vitamins and toiletries. 

Other items that are in high demand in our household: 

Seasonings-I can't even tell you how much cheaper it is to buy the seasonings you use a lot of here!

*side note-don't buy them in bulk if your aren't going to use them very quickly because they loose their oomph and what's the fun in that?*

Feta and Sliced Almonds-for my Strawberry (Daiquiri) Spinach Salad Since I really do eat it every day now,  I decided that I'm comfortable buying these in bulk.  I probably saved a good $30 by doing this-SWEET!

And then, if we are entertaining at the house, we can get double the food for our lovely guests at up to half the price...I'm pretty sure it saved us $100 or so for our last BBQ.

On top of the normal savings, they also send you COUPONS!

via

~Numero Tres~

The entertainment factor. We could literally spend hours exploring that store.  That's why we hit the groceries last, so the food doesn't go bad while we are on our Costco adventure lol.  Between electronics, books, household gadgets and even clothes, the fun is endless.  PS-I used to think they had crappy clothes, but I saw they had very popular brands now-a-days, including Lucky!  Too bad I can't buy clothes for a year because of The Great American Apparel Diet that I joined. (I'm still going stong with that, in case you were wondering)  Once we finally make it back to the food, they begin handing us FREE SAMPLES!  -I'm.Such.A.Sucker.For.Them.-  I have actually had to start counting that as my afternoon snack, since they end up offering us SO much.  Tis sad, but true lol.

No one could avoid being sucked in by this sweet old lady...Such a ploy:

via

Mr. B's favorite part of Costco:

(Although, I can't make fun, because I go for the free samples.) 

In case I haven't made it clear to you- I <3HEART<3 COSTCO.

(And no, they did not pay me for this post {directly}...just inspired me in savings and fun :)