Goals for the week

Goals for week of Sun Nov 14- Sat Nov 20

Personal Goals
Run 3 miles
Read  48 days to the work you love for one hour
Read bible each day


Household Goals
Make dinner three nights atleast
Clean kitchen, living room, house on Tuesday.
Stay caught up on laundry all week
Pay the rest of the bills on Tuesday


Business Goals
Continue to work on talk about pray about answers to getting my daycare up and running with anyone and everyone. ( Sometimes I just feel like reaching out to those people who know how to do something you want to do is the best way to find out information no matter how scary it seems sometimes.)

Proverbs 23: 12

Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.

Progress

  Feeling a little better today made small progress on my immediate goal list for the week. With work tomorrow I am hoping my week does not get derailed, but in all honesty it is my choice to make it work or to let it fail.
It is sometimes hard to admit how easily I can let things slide by. Procrastination has been my friend for so long that I did not realize how detrimental it has become.


 For tomorrow dinner is ready to be put in the oven even though I wont be home until around 10 pm. Plan is to be awake by 9 am at the latest in the morning which should give me time to work on things I need to do before work. 

Progress

  Feeling a little better today made small progress on my immediate goal list for the week. With work tomorrow I am hoping my week does not get derailed, but in all honesty it is my choice to make it work or to let it fail.
It is sometimes hard to admit how easily I can let things slide by. Procrastination has been my friend for so long that I did not realize how detrimental it has become.


 For tomorrow dinner is ready to be put in the oven even though I wont be home until around 10 pm. Plan is to be awake by 9 am at the latest in the morning which should give me time to work on things I need to do before work. 

Goals for the week

     4 days left this week and I need to start getting some organization immediately. So I am making a goal list with some short and probably easily achievable goals. I have been way off course lately and I need some wins this week so my goal list might seem very limited and attainable but for me and my insane new schedule they will feel like a milestone if I complete all of them lol.

Personal goals
Run 2 miles
Read 48 days to the work you love for atleast 30 min.
Read bible each day (next four days)


Household goals
Make dinner three nights
Pay bills on Wed.  
Clean kitchen on Wed.
Stay caught up on laundry


Business goals
Figure out real steps I am going to take with opening my Daycare. Start a plan.

Yum. Banana bread

I almost had to throw out some bananas because they were getting very very ripe and we don't like to eat them at that point because they are way too mushy. Then I thought I would try my hand at banana bread since it is fairly easy to throw together and I had most of the ingredients on hand. I just had to pick up some flower and sugar. Which were already on my list anyway.


 I chose this recipe because I didn't have baking powder and I had sour cream and thought it sounded like a tasty combination. The bread is really good I made one large loaf and its more crusty like an actual bread than like a super, sticky, moist banana bread but its still really good. Especially for a breakfast bread.

The pictures are of about half of the loaf.  It was quite a large loaf of bread for only three bananas.

The day we will never forget

 Sunday May, 22 2011.  This day is the day the EF-5 tornado touched down in our hometown, Joplin, MO. Its one of those days that I can equate to 9/11 in the sense that we will remember many details of that day and where we were when tragedy struck.


This Sunday I was supposed to be heading to my cousins graduation. I would have been coming home about the time it hit in Joplin. Thank God I did not end up going. We also visited the Wal- Mart and a few other stores that day that now no longer exist. It is truly surreal. Like a nightmare that you still don't believe no matter how many times you see it.


We have driven by the damage over and over and over and every time its exhausting.  So many people without a home, a car, or a single belonging. The tornado was a few blocks from our home two different times and managed to completely miss us. We were immensely blessed this day. I am realizing as each day goes on how blessed we truly are right now.


The outpouring of help has been amazing so many volunteers and communities ready and willing to help at any second.

God made us capable of craving so that we’d have an unquenchable desire for more of Him, and Him alone. Nothing changes until we make the choice to redirect our misguided cravings to the only One capable of satisfying them. 
-Lysa TerKeurst Craving God-


Zondervan (2010). Craving God: A 21-Day Devotional Challenge (Kindle Locations 87-89). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 

Free Ebook

   




So I heard about the free Ebook Craving God for today, and I really wanted to check it out. I don't have a kindle but I was able to go to Amazon to get the kindle for PC app.  It is really awesome it downloaded super quick so I can now start reading it anytime on  my computer. Very cool way to get free books even without a kindle. Plus its perfect timing this book is a great great inspiration for me right now as I am just restarting my diet. 

Freebies!! YAY!

  I got some freebies in the mail today with some PG coupons. I have not signed up for too many things so this is one of the few freebies I have received so far. It is a good feeling to open your mailbox and see the surprise waiting for you! 

Success

God is doing some great work in me these last few weeks. A week ago the week started out dim and seemed to get worse but I kept the faith and got over myself and it has been a blessing. Hope everyone had a wonderful easter with their families.
 We sold a washing machine this week and also a computer which enabled us to upgrade to a laptop. I am super excited about it. Its going to make things much easier for us than our old desktop. So happy we were able to sell some things quickly. I found some great coupons on Retailmenot/ for our new Dell laptop that I was able to combine for a sweet $450 dollar discount!! Very exciting!
  Praying that the new job I applied for comes through and I can get out of this one asap.
Happy Monday everyone
xoxo

A lesson in patience.

 

So this week has been, sort of a mess lol. Working late nights this week. So is Jay and our dryer decided to break. Luckily we were able to get a new one. We have stuff we are trying to sell but it has been hard to get rid of stuff this week. We are selling stuff because, well we don't need it anymore and we would rather put the money  into savings. We are however starting our Debt snowball!!! So that is super exciting. Baby step 2 commence!  All in all it feels like it should definitely be Friday already but it isn't lol.

  God is good and this week I feel I have really had a lesson in patience from him. I saw how impatient I can be when things don't go as I had planned but I am realizing this week that his plan is always better and always right. He shows me everytime that if I just relax and trust him and gain a little patience I will see what he is doing. This was a tough one for me this week but one I so desperately needed!

"Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake. " ~ Victor Hugo

 

School Lunches

   I may not be the most qualified to have opinions on this subject since I currently do not have children. However I do remember what it was like to be in school and to eat school lunches. Today as I was browsing the  internet I came across an article at The Chicago Tribune about a school in Chicago banning kids from bringing their lunch from home.  


 Principal Elsa Carmona said her intention is to protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.  "Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school," Carmona said. "It's about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke. 


    This comment I found to be slightly odd.  Especially the implication that a student would bring  a soda from home but at school they will be drinking milk. I never brought soda from home when I took my lunch to school. I also know a lot of parents and read a lot of mothers blogs who also would not be packing soda or other unhealthy foods in their kids lunches.  Also I feel that just because the milk is at the school for lunch doesn't mean the kids are drinking it. 


     Another part of the article lists the price for lunches if  the child does not qualify for reduced or free lunches and it was a little over $2.00 a lunch. I feel like that is a little unfair because there are also a lot of parents I know who can send their kids to school with a lunch valued below $2.00 a meal. Why pay more for the same quality of food I could send from home? I am not against some regulations on what children can bring to school but at some point I still feel like it is  a parents choice to send their child to school with a lunch you know they will eat and that you made for them.  If you want to pay the school for your kids food that should also be your choice. 

“Believe passionately in what you do, and never knowingly compromise your standards and values. Act like a true professional, aiming for true excellence, and the money will follow.”


Source
- David Maister (1947- ), business management consultant. The Advice Business: Essential Tools and Models for Management Consulting, Chapter 23. (via geosak)

How we saved money this week.

  As part of our new plan to really save money and move our financial future forward this year we have been looking at different things in our lives that we can cut back on or cut out to save us money. One of the obvious is our grocery bill. Which I am currently in the process of tackling still. Its kind of a monster lol. Since its just the two of us for now. We dont have any kids yet. Its a great time for us to learn to be more responsible with money. However, because we only have the two of us it was also very easy to learn how to spend more than we needed to. We have always eaten out whenever we want and done other things with our free time that we probably would not have done if we had kids.

  So while still in the process of cutting back on what we spend on household items and groceries we looked into other things in our life we could save on. We were both playing an online game for our sort of "hobby" we did it just in our free time on weekends and stuff like that. But it was costing us $30 dollars a month to play and we were paying more for our higher internet speed because it was an online game.

   This week we cancelled the game subscription so that is an automatic thirty dollars back in our pocket we also switched away from cable internet to another provider which slashed our bill by $20 a month. We then traded in about $100 worth of games and movies and bought a Ps3. Some people probably think that was a waste of money but for us it wasn't its what we do in our down time when we want to. We dont pay for cable TV so this is a one time fee for us to buy the console and we only buy used games and then we trade in when we want a different one. For us it was worth spending the money once versus the $50 a month we were spending on something that we weren't really even using anymore.

 We could even pick up netflix streaming for $8 every month and still come out ahead of where we were. With no concern of late fees or anything like that. I am so excited about this decision, ready to be rid of some excess spending and ready to start tackling more things :))

Psalm 6:6

  I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears.

Refocused and staying.

  I am realizing today and this week how very hard it can be for people to stay dedicated to things. My fiance (Jay) and I were so ready to get on track with saving money and we still are but we let ourselves get too comfortable sometimes.
       
     Life gets busy and we find excuses to break our pact about not eating out. So we eat out and then the next night the pact has already been broken so what does it matter at that point? Well it does matter because even if life gets in the way one night and you spend money you weren't going to spend or you eat something that isn't on your diet or fall into any old habit that you are trying to break it doesn't mean that you have ruined it for the whole month. Slipping up one day on a monthly/weekly plan does not excuse you making the same mistake tomorrow or the next day. I realized how I am so guilty of doing this. 

   Last week I didnt do any of the stuff I should have. I did not blog. I did not do any extra money saving or earning that I had planned. I didn't pick up any extra hours at my job. So this week I am starting over I almost let myself out of it this week too but I am not going to. Its not only  my fiances responsibilty to work extra hours. If I want to secure our future then I need to take an active role in doing so.

Frugality Is Free: The Gift Card Giveaway Linky at Frugality Is Free *NEW Giveaway Linky Up

Frugality Is Free: The Gift Card Giveaway Linky at Frugality Is Free *NEW Giveaway Linky Up

If you are interested in spreading the word about your gift card giveaway or just want to take part. Frugality is Free just started this and it is very awesome. Check it.

Soap Box moment.

"They might be too afraid of debt.

The authors' research suggests that GenY is so frugal that they might take their fear of debt too far, and avoid even good investments such as college, home purchases, and small business start-up costs. "Many young people, especially those from lesser means, see the price tag [of college tuition] and think, 'Oh my god, I can't possibly take that on.' They could be shortchanging themselves,' says Ray, since college is an investment that pays off." 

Article link

  I stumbled upon this article the other day, and today was thinking of it again. The whole article frustrates me. It talks about Generation Y's spending habits and how they are afraid of debt, because of the economy they are becoming adults in. I agree that a lot of this generation is going to be deeply scarred by the economic situation we are in. I do not agree however that they are too frugal. Seriously.  I think its a blessing that this economy is waking up a generation of people who hopefully will not all be consumed by the debt monstrosity that was before them. Everywhere you go credit is still being thrown into our faces. It is amazing to hear people saying no. Think of where we might be today if we had said no a long time ago.  Maybe businesses will suffer slightly because they will no longer be making loads of money off the interest they charge their customers. But maybe families will be more stable because they instead are keeping their own money and saving it or investing it in their future rather than throwing it away to a company who will not be there when/if the economy falls again. I think being too frugal is an invalid phrase. If you are taking care of your bills and your household and you are not in a ton of debt then you are not being too frugal, you are just not repeating the mistakes that put us in this mess in the first place. So I say Gen Y continue on this path and I hope it leads too much more personal success and happiness.  

Easy meatloaf recipe.

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
3/4 cup bread crumbs(or oatmeal)
(dash or two) Worchestire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 cup milk


Topping
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbsp mustard ( i added an extra 1 tbsp roughly of mustard to mine)
2 tbsp brown sugar
Dash worchestire sauce (optional)
1 tsp honey (optional)


Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Saute onion in butter until soft. Mix beef, egg, bread crumbs, milk, sauce, salt & pepper. Place in greased 5x9 or other small loaf pan. Mix topping ingredients and pour on top of meatloaf. Bake approx. 1 hour at 350. 


    This recipe turned out really yummy. The best thing about it is you can do whatever you want with it and it still tastes good. Sometimes I don't have honey so I don't bother putting it in. Or I use it and not brown sugar. Adding another 1/2 lb of meat sometimes makes the texture a little nicer depending on the amount of bread crumbs you use. If you prefer it rather meaty you can add more beef or just cut down on the bread crumbs. At our house I tend to divide our meat into 1lb servings so when I thaw them out its just easier for me to only make it with 1lb at a time. You can pretty much throw anything in this and it will turn out just fine. Also the prep time for this is seriously 10-15 min max. It is super fast. At our house this usually give us plenty of left overs for the next night. 

   I have been looking for more stuff to make at home and this was an excellent find I found a recipe and then made it the way I wanted to lol. I tend to do that. I don't enjoy following recipes perfectly. Where is the fun in that? Always happy for new suggestions so drop by with any ideas.
 xoxo

INFO OVERLOAD

  Today I have signed up for Swagbucks and Mypoints. Hopefully I can earn some points for things like gift cards. I love gift cards because not only do they make great gifts (especially if you get them at a discounted rate) but you can also use them on your own purchases. Giftcardgranny is another website that you can purchase gift cards for a cheaper rate. Sometimes the deals are great sometimes they aren't.

     After going through some of the blogs I have been reading, I feel a little overwhelmed. But I am trying to remember that the main thing is I get the info and get started I don't have to be an expert at this immediately. It is just hard when you see so many ideas and you want to know how to do all of them and be successful. Patience is not an easy thing to come by at times. My eyes are officially tired from reading today lol.

  Sending prayers and thoughts to Japan today. Very sad.

Today.

   So today, off the topic of saving money a little. Today was a trying day at my job. We hired someone new and I work with a really small group of people.Which can make it hard to find a great balance between everyone, and if the balance isn't there it is easy to notice. This person and I probably won't be best friends by any stretch of the term. I can deal with new  people it doesn't really bother me. In my last job I worked with people coming and going on a much larger scale. I just am realizing that this job is not where my heart is.
     
     Right now I am working in a bank which is a blessing because I wanted out of my last job really bad. In my last job I was so done with it. I had worked for the same company for five years and all forward progress in my career had come to a halt. Partly because of how the company had shifted. More so because of how our particular store was being ran and also because I had grown so tired of doing a job that I was not being compensated fairly for.  So I prayed for a new job and I sought a new job and I was blessed with one. I am incredibly thankful for that, but I know in my heart that I want to work with kids. I want to do a complete career shift which is going to be hard. Most of my training is in business not in children lol. I do however have some experience dealing with children. I have worked with them in the recent past and when I was younger. I don't want to be a teacher but I would love to work in or own a daycare. Or something along those lines. 
       


    I want a total change all at the same time we are embarking on this new financial journey. This could be the best or worst timing I guess. I am willing to stick out my job for as long as I need to it was put into my life when I desperately needed it so I am not going to just throw it away. I am dedicated to using it for the purpose it was given to me for. I am just not sure I know what that is yet. Whew ok I think I am done with my whine fest for the day. 

Cool way to entertain on a budget

     So today I found some information about hosting free house parties. You basically sign up for them and if you get picked you get sent the house party kit and you can entertain for free using the stuff they send you. There are quite a few different ones. I think its a pretty cool idea if you like to have people over for good food and you want to stay on budget. I signed up for a couple today so we will see if I get picked. I signed up for this one today sounds like a good time. 

“The art is not in making money, but in keeping it”

http://clangnuts.blogspot.com/2009/03/saving-money.html

Our Journey to saving

    So I have decided to start a blog, to help keep track of our savings journey. My fiance, Jason, and I have decided to embark on a new path this year. We want to save money and we want to see where it takes us. Its an exciting thing to dedicate ourselves to. It is also a scary commitment for us. 
    
    We are not married and we Don't have kids. We are a young couple starting out without much debt. We really want to see if we can truly change our family tree by going on this path that neither of our families really have done up until now. Last year my dad introduced me to Dave Ramsey. He gave me his book and I put off reading it because at the time we were really struggling. We both  had jobs that didn't pay very well and it was a tough time. We had dealt with Jason being out of work for a bit. We had no savings and we were just hoping to make it at the end of each week. Being in our early twenties it was pretty scary We knew things would be hard but had no idea it would be like that. We thought we were just going to be barely making it forever. 
     
      This year God has truly blessed us with better jobs and a chance to start taking responsibility with our money. So that is what we are going to do. We have not only read "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey but we also saw him live in Kansas City, MO this last weekend and it was truly inspiring. 

      This month we are starting our $1000 step one. So by the beginning of April that is our goal. We are about halfway there. We are also not eating out this month at all. I am striving to cut our grocery budget because it is one of our larger expenses. I have found some great tips from other blogs. Hopefully this week I can share some of them. This Blog linked below is one of the best around that I have found so far. She has so many wonderful ideas and amazing tips.  http://moneysavingmom.com/