favorite christmas gifts

It's very rare that I post twice in a single day but I really wanted to share with you two of my absolute favorite Christmas gifts that I received this year!!   I'm still giddy about them and can't stop telling friends about them!

The first one was from Mr. Steady and I hinted big time to him that I would like it.  Meaning:  I printed out the information and where he could order it and wrote, "I'll be sooooooooo happy if this is the only thing I get for Christmas!".  So, it was pretty much the only thing I got for Christmas from him and the boys and I WAS soooooo excited! 

What Mr. Steady gave me is this Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM lens.  I've been taking pictures of everything the last few days trying to get used to it and learn more about how to work my camera on Manual versus the Green/Auto option!  I think it would be fun to do a 365 blog like The Frugal Girl's but am afraid it's too much of a commitment.   Maybe that can be a goal for the future?

My other favorite gift is equally special but actually much more thoughtful and it is very unique!  My sister gave me these 3 Letterpress state prints from 1Canoe2.  One day (soon I hope!) they will hang on my dining room wall and I will share a wonderful post about my horrible wall that has turned into something spectacular!  Each of the prints she gave me are states where my husband and I have lived...Texas (birth-2008), Virginia (1995-1996) and now Georgia (2008-present)!

I  received many wonderful gifts!  Lots of gifts that were wants and surprises and a few things that I needed but didn't want to spend money to buy for myself.  But if I had to choose 2, then these are my favorites!   

What about you?  
What are some of the favorite things you received for Christmas?

books read in 2011

I LOVE to read.  I wish that I was a faster reader because even though I'm CONSTANTLY reading, I read only an average of one book every 2-3 weeks.  My goal for 2012 is to read 20 books.  I read 18 this year, so that will challenge me to read a bit faster in the new year.  Here are the books that I remember reading this year!  Some I loved and would enjoy reading again, while a couple on the list I gritted my teeth and finished simply because I kept thinking, "it'll surely get better...."  No such luck on a couple of them.  Anyway...here's what I remember!

Jane Eyre
Still Alice
The Happiness Project
The Hunger Games
The Art of Racing in the Rain
The Kitchen House
Little Bee
Sarah's Key
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
AWOL on the Appalachian Trail
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Freedom
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
I'll Walk Alone
Big Girl
Sing You Home
A Paris Wife
The Glass Castle

My absolute favorites on the list?
Jane Eyre, Still Alice, AWOL on the Appalachian, A Paris Wife, The Glass Castle.

Least favorites?
The Happiness Project, Big Girl, Freedom, I'll Walk Alone

What about you?  
What have been your favorite books and/or least favorite books that you read in 2011?

sealed pot challenge

If you are a reader of Saving For Travel then you have probably heard about her Sealed Pot Challenge!  I joined the challenge a couple of weeks ago, but didn't take the time to make my "pot" until yesterday!  So now I'm all ready to start filling it up with extra coins and cash that come my way!

If you're unfamiliar with the Sealed Pot Challenge, here is what it is in SFT's words:

"All you need is a pot (I'm recycling my tatty margarine tub from last year, but may embellish it-the one in the photo is from Google images), make a hole for cash (if not supplied), seal it up (to avoid raids) and fill it with left over coins until 3rd December 2012. Then we all open them together.

What you do with the proceeds is up to you! This year I'm putting them towards Cornwall, others are buying Christmas presents, some give to charity.

It's not a competition..I think it's fair to say we were all blown away with how much we'd saved this year...we just blog about it from time to time to support each other."

I haven't yet decided what to do with the money that I save in this challenge.  I'll probably wait until we get closer to summer or fall to decide!  Maybe I'll use it for a much wanted Girls Weekend with my best friend or sister?  Maybe a family weekend in the mountains?  Maybe for an overnight date in Atlanta with Mr. Steady? Or maybe there will something that I'll have my eye on by the summer or fall.  Who knows!   From time to time, I'll let you know how I'm doing with "socking" away money into the pot!

I have to confess...my "pot" was super hard to make.  (insert "eye-roll") I took an empty cracker box and some of my favorite paper that I bought in Italy 10 years ago but never use because I've been saving it for something special...but since I'm going back in April I can get more! :)  And then...I wrapped the box and made a hole in it!  I'm worried that the hole is too big and that I might be tempted to turn it upside down and get quarters out. But, I'll just have to use some self control if tempted.  So...that's my Sealed Pot!  I'm transferring some change into it that had been in an "open pot" and expect that to be about a $3 deposit to get my challenge started!

january no spend challenge

I'm joining Carla at My Half Dozen Daily for a January No-Spend Challenge.  Want to join me?  You can challenge yourself to a week, two weeks, or the entire month.  It's up to you!  And it's up to you to set your own "rules".   Since everyone's goals will be different, everyone's challenges will be different.    My goal will be to spend 10% less in January 2012 than we did in January 2011.  My goal is for our total expenses (fixed and variable) is $6688.

My rules are pretty much the same as Carla's:

1.  Track every purchase.

2.  Continue with the Sealed Pot Challenge.  Any loose change at the end of the day goes into the pot.

3.  Plan menus based on what we have on hand.  Shop from a list and shop with a plan.

4.  Find some free entertainment!  Enjoy all of our Christmas goodies.  Go for a hike on nice days.  Enjoy the fire pit on cold ones!  Go to the library.  Study my Italian lessons!

5.  Clean and purge.  Spend time going through the house and eliminating clutter and things we no longer want or need.  Donate instead of spend!  It's a free activity and it will feel good to get it done!

6.  Exceptions:  If something of necessity comes up (medical, Rx, car problems, etc.), I will address it in January versus waiting until February!  Charitable giving continues as well.

7.  No stocking up!  Stocking up the pantry on New Year's Eve is a no/no.  The goal is to spend less...not to spend it all in December and/or February!

I'm really looking forward to starting the year off this way!  The end of each year is always an expenditure whirlwind!  Between the boys Birthdays (Oct/Nov) and Christmas, our 3rd quarter is always spend, spend, spend!!!  And why you may ask am I participating in this challenge when a budget is in place already?  Because I've learned that even though we have a budget, something always comes up.  Either someone gets sick, or the house floods, or a car breaks down.  By coming in under budget on some months, this helps with our "cushion".  That way when something "comes up" we have extra money and hopefully won't have to take it out of savings.

it's the first day of winter...

...and we have our air conditioning turned on!  Can you believe it?!?  On the bright side, it's cloudy and overcast outside so even though it's hot and we need the A/C, from the inside looking out, it looks like it should be cold!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!  I'm going "unplugged" until after Christmas.  Hope you all have a great holiday!!   See you next week!

Love,
sp

to coupon, or not to coupon...

...that is the question.   I have not used coupons in several months.  Probably since May.  I didn't take the time to do cut coupons and plan my grocery trips around what was on sale in the summer.  Then in September we found out my youngest was allergic to most anything that comes in a package, so that eliminated a lot of what I bought with coupons.  I had decided that it wasn't worth the time to clip the coupons and watch the sales for our household items.  But now I'm second guessing myself.  I went back and read a few of my posts on how much money I was saving with coupons and saw that a lot of what I was buying was household stuff and not all packaged food. 


what is the grocery game?
grocery game update
a more productive day
february recap

How many of you use coupons simply for soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc.?  Do you find that the time spent planning with the coupons and sales is worth the savings on your household items?

weekly money check-up

1.  The most I spent this last week was $328 on a new microwave oven.  More details about this in a future post!  :)

2.  Today I am thankful that my back is getting back to normal.  Back pain is never fun...you don't realize how much you use your back in the course of a day until you're unable to move it!

3.  Money can't buy happiness.  One free thing I did last week that made me happy was to work in my yard.  I would trade inside chores for outside chores any day of the week!  I worked a bit on removing vines from our willow tree, refilled bird feeders, sprayed for weeds and planted 100 daffodil bulbs. 

4.  I will consider this week a success if I complete some Rosetta Stone lessons.  I'm not sure why I'm procrastinating so much in doing this!

5.  One of my holiday traditions is opening one gift on Christmas Eve!  It's always new PJ's to wear Christmas morning!

Want to join the Weekly Money Check-Up?  Go to My Pretty Pennies and check it out!

only 6 more days!!!

Yippee!  My boys have a countdown on my iPhone that reminds us to the second how long until Christmas!  I am super excited for this week to be here!  We have pretty much all of our shopping done.  I left a little room in the budget so that I can go shop for a couple of things when my Mother-in-Law arrives Thursday.  There are just a couple of things left on the boy's Wish Lists that I'd like to pick up.

I was able to get some of my things finished on yesterday's to-do list.  But after planting 100 daffodil bulbs my back started hurting again so I didn't make it to the sewing room to hem my jeans.  I'll do that today!  But I was able to sit and make out our menu for the rest of the year!!

Tonight:  Chicken and Pasta with pesto and tomatoes
Tuesday:  Tacos, Chips, Beans, Rice
Wednesday:  Mr. Steady and I have a party to go to.  Kids will have leftover tacos and fruit.
Thursday:  Lasagna (Want to make ahead on Wednesday)
Friday: Mr. Steady and I have a party to go to, so we'll send the boys out to eat w/their grandma
Saturday:  Soup and snack stuff (cheese, crackers, dips, etc.)
Sunday:  Turkey and all the extras for Lunch and then leftovers for dinner
Monday: Venison Stew
Tuesday: Either steaks or hamburgers
Wednesday:  "Brunner" (breakfast for dinner)
Thursday: Something easy and allergy-free - soup or peanut butter roll ups
Friday: Something easy and allergy-free - soup or peanut butter roll ups
Saturday:  Osso Buco
Sunday: Chili


Then things to do this week:

Grocery Store
I'd like to stock up and have everything on hand for the remainder of the year.

Christmas Traditions:
We still need to go see Christmas lights, make gingerbread houses and cookies for Santa!

Shopping:
Just a couple of last minute things to buy! 

Dining Room Wall:
Continue working on the collage for my dining room wall.  I got a couple of things finished for it yesterday, but would love to have it completed, or at least my final plan made, by the end of the year!

Rosetta Stone:
I have 10 lessons to complete in order to reach my December goal.  I'd like to complete 6 this week.

Yard Work:
If my back is up to it, I'd like to work in the yard.  It's supposed to be a great week to be outside.  Want to:  Work on removing vines from the willow tree, blow leaves off yard, lay pine straw, have my son and/or Mr. Steady mow the yard, refill bird feeders, spray for weeds, and fertilize azaleas.

I also would like to work on finalizing our 2012 budget and goals.  And seeing where we stand with our goals for 2011! 

Have a Happy Monday!

sunday catch-up

I've been lying low (literally!) since Tuesday.  I hurt my back exercising on Tuesday morning and have not been able to stand up straight until today!  Lucky for me, I was able to catch up on my Bible Study and even read ahead a bit!  (I'm such an overachiever...ha, ha!!)  And with some help from my children in hauling the clothes to/from the washer I was also able to stay caught up on laundry!

Since I'm feeling MUCH better, I wanted to see what I have left on my weekly to-do list and get it knocked out.  So for today, I'd like to accomplish this:


Hem Pants
I have 2 pair of jeans that need to be hemmed.  I'm wearing one of them to a party Friday night, so this has to get done this week.  Note...I obviously didn't wear the pants to Friday night's party.  Since I was unable to sew with my back, I wore something else.

Work in the Yard
I have bulbs that I need to plant this week.  I also want to fertilize my azaleas and trim some bushes.  I'm still tackling my woods and want to continue working on cleaning up the vines all over my Willow tree.  I need Mr. Steady to mow and then we need to order/lay pine straw in the flower beds.  

Work on Dining Room Wall
I have a fairly blank wall in my dining room that I haven't liked since we moved in 3 years ago.  I've been collecting stuff to hang and would like to work on this project some this week.

I would also like to think about the week ahead and get my to-do list for this coming week made today so that I'll be able to hit the ground running tomorrow.  Figuratively speaking.  I'm not trusting my back just yet for another run!  :)

What are you doing on this Sunday afternoon?

mid-month check in

It's "officially" the middle of the month and I want to take a look at my December goals and see how I'm doing.  The boys get out of school today for the Christmas Break and won't return to school until January 3rd...soooooo today I would like to get as many of my To-Do's checked off as possible!



FINANCES

Track spending.
Tracking is up to date I'm happy to say!!

Christmas Gifts.
Don't go over my budgeted amount.  We budgeted a significant amount of $ towards Christmas and there is no reason for us to go over.  To do so would be over indulging.   I'm still within my Christmas budget, but it's always at this time of the Season that I tend to blow it.  All of the gifts are bought and I start thinking of fun little "tuck ins" that the boys would enjoy.  All of those little things add up and usually send me over my limit.  But I planned ahead this year and left some wiggle room for this.  So, even with my extras that I will buy over the next week I'll still be under budget.  (Assuming Mr. Steady didn't go overboard with what he's getting for me!)

PERSONAL

Be mindful of Food, Drink and Exercise.
I think I'm doing well with this.  Since my youngest has his allergies we don't keep too many sweets in the house.  I've been meeting my friends to workout in the mornings (about 3x week) and am happy with my choices.

My Blog.
My blogging has been a bit sporadic and I'd like to challenge myself to blog 4 days a week.  So far, so good!

Vacations.
Make lodging reservations for Italy.  Done! Can't wait!

Complete at least 10 lessons of Rosetta Stone. - haven't done any yet!

Make reservations for one-on-one trip Washington D.C. - still need to do this!  While Mr. Steady and my youngest are skiing, my oldest and I will be taking our 1-on-1 trip to Washington D.C.  Just need to find a reasonably priced hotel near a Metro Station.

Make reservations for one-on-one trip ski trip.  Done!  We've got this entire trip planned minus the rental car.  My husband and youngest son will go to Colorado and ski for their 1-on-1 trip in February.  Flight, lodging, lift tickets and equipment rentals have all been reserved!

Come up with 3 vacation ideas for Mr. Steady's company's 2012 Award Trip- Still need to do this.

FAMILY

Christmas Guests.
My mother-in-law is coming to spend 5 or 6 days with us and I'd like to have our meals planned and prepped as much before she arrives.  Started thinking about meals and have some ideas...just need to finalize and shop/prep as much as I can before she arrives!

Christmas Traditions:
Make cookies for Santa before 7pm on Christmas Eve! - not yet

Make Gingerbread houses with the kids! - not yet

Drive around and see Christmas lights! - not yet

Finish my Advent Stockings (5 days late...I know!)  I finally finished this on December 8th!  I normally hang little stockings up the banister of our stairs, but the ribbon was worn out and I couldn't come up with any creative ideas.  So, I used what I had and hung them all on a little tree down in our basement.  I'm hoping to come up with a different idea for next year.  Maybe I'll remember and work on it in the summer?!?

So how are you all doing with your December goals?  Can you believe it's already the 15th!?!

learning to sew

I learned how to sew because I wanted to save money.  About 15 years ago, my husband and I had moved into a new house and I wanted new curtains REALLY bad.  But...we couldn't afford them.  So, what did I do?  Instead of putting something I couldn't afford on a credit card, I learned how to sew and make my own.  My mom gave me one of her old sewing machines and I signed up for a class for $20 (1997 pricing...) which met once a week for about 8 weeks.  My first class project was to make a dress.  Mom helped me with this and it turned out okay.  Okay enough for me to wear it once or twice, realize it looked like a beginner made it and then it was donated to someone who probably repurposed it for the fabric.  After the dress, I tried making a skirt for myself which turned out better than the dress.  And then I tried to make a pair of overalls for my nephew which turned out really bad.

Anyway - after making the clothes, I realized that for what I was spending in fabric and time I could just purchase the item off the rack for less money.   And honestly, I really didn't like making clothes.  But I did like making stuff for the house!  I made curtains, pillows, duvet covers, etc.  I really enjoyed it!  These days, I don't make a lot of stuff for the house...mainly because I'm indecisive about what I want, but I DO do a lot of hemming and mending and by doing it myself, that has saved me a ton of money.   I use my machine mainly to hem khaki pants, blue jeans, and sew badges/patches onto Scout shirts.  I have easily saved more than $200 this year by doing this myself.  And that's $200 that I can put towards something more important to me and my family...like vacations!

So if you find you're spending a lot of money having someone help you with your projects (insert whatever project it might be...), I encourage you to learn how to do it yourself!  I took my class through the city's recreation department and it was very inexpensive.  My machine is more than 30 years old and works just fine for what I do with it.  

What types of projects do you do yourself in order to save money?

this week!

I'm expecting this to be a fantastic week!  The kids only have school for 4 days and then they'll be out of school until January 3rd.  It should be a fun week for them too, as they may have a couple of quizzes, but it's mainly a Review Week in their classes!

Here's what I'd like to accomplish both today and for the week:

TODAY:
Plan meals for the week
Hubby is out of town for 4 days this week, so it'll be easy stuff all week

Grocery Shop
It shouldn't be too big of a trip.  Mainly we need food for lunch and breakfast.

Laundry
As much as I can manage before 4:00 or so!  I'm tackling it in my kitchen today instead of on top of my bed.  It's getting folded on my kitchen table and will be ready for the boys to put away as soon as they walk in from school.

Book Club
Yea!  One of my favorite days of the month.  Today we'll have lunch and discuss The Kitchen House.

Bible Study
I'm behind on my homework and need to read 3 days of assignments.

THIS WEEK:

Work Out
I met my friends for a 3 mile run this morning and want to meet them at least 2 more days this week.  I have a feeling I'll lack the motivation to get out of bed and meet for our morning runs while the boys are home for Christmas Break.

Budgets
I finished our November numbers and just need to get them into the computer.  And also finalize the Decmeber budget (I know...I know...it's mid-December and I still haven't done this)

Hem Pants
I have 2 pair of jeans that need to be hemmed.  I'm wearing one of them to a party Friday night, so this has to get done this week.

Christmas Gifts
Everything has been bought and wrapped.  I need to put bows on a couple of gifts and I need to mail 2 or 3 packages still.

Work in the Yard
I have bulbs that I need to plant this week.  I also want to fertilize my azaleas and trim some bushes.  I'm still tackling my woods and want to continue working on cleaning up the vines all over my Willow tree.  I need Mr. Steady to mow and then we need to order/lay pine straw in the flower beds.

Christmas Cards
Finish up and mail.

Work on Dining Room Wall
I have a fairly blank wall in my dining room that I haven't liked since we moved in 3 years ago.  I've been collecting stuff to hang and would like to work on this project some this week.

So that's it.  Not too much going on, luckily!  It should be a fun week to tackle these pending projects!

How does your week look?    A busy week or a relaxing one?

my bloggy secret santa

  

What an awesome surprise I received in the mail this week!  Last month I posted about participating in  Serendipity's Bloggy Secret Santa.  It is a fun way to "meet" fellow bloggers and spread some Christmas cheer!  I received a very fun package from my wonderful Secret Santa.   I had mentioned in a post some of the things I like and she put a great deal of thought into it!  She knows I like love chocolate, so she sent a yummy chocolate bar!  She also knows that I love to read and by reading my blog she found out that I am traveling next year....so she chose for me Erma Bombeck's book When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home.  I LOVE Erma Bombeck -- she's a hoot!  And since she knows I like surprises and (I found out from her blog...) she enjoys crafts, she made for me some very cool coasters! 

 It was such an awesome surprise and she really put a lot of thought into it!  It's perfect!  So, who was my wonderful Secret Santa?  She is LBC Teacher at Homeowner by 30!   Check out her blog -- I think you'll love it!

So, how about all of you other bloggers who have Secret Santas?!?  Have you received any goodies yet?  Have you mailed yours?  I have mine still to mail...it's on my to-do list for this week.    I am sad to say though that the person given to me "to gift" isn't blogging so I haven't really gotten "to know" her.   Her last post was over a month ago.  Hopefully, when she receives her gift from me she'll have a little nudge to start back!

liebster award

This week I was given a Liebster Blog Award by Saving for Travel.  I couldn't believe it!  Her blog is a wonderful source of inspiration and motivation...please visit it if you haven't already!    By reading everyone's Frugal Living blogs I'm inspired and encouraged to live within and below our means so that our family will have money available to spend on things that truly matter to us.  (see my side bar...)

"Liebster" is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. What a gift to be awarded with such kindness!   As for the details...The Liebster is a way to show a little Blog Love to bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers.

The rules:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have fun!

Now for my five picks, in random order, along with a peak into their profiles...

No More Spending
Welcome to No More Spending; how we manage our budget as we attempt to pay off our mortgage early, move abroad and reach Financial Freedom by 2020.

The Quest to be Financially Abundant
I am not a personal finance expert. I'm merely a 30-something woman looking to gain control over her finances and live life abundantly. This is my quest to Financial Abundance.

The Hawaii Plan
I'm a 35 year old, living in Seattle with my husband and two lovely kids. I'm super motivated by reading all of your personal finance adventures, so I'd like to track my own progress.

As you can guess from my blog title, our long-term retirement plan is to move to Hawaii. Hawaii (and retirement!) is expensive, so we have a long way to go on our journey to making that dream a reality. I'd like to use this blog as a place to track our finances, retirement savings, regular spending, share our savings tips, & learn from all of you.

Saving for Later

I'm in my 30s, single and obviously Canadian! I love to read, cook and spend time working on my finances. I just traded in my car for a newer model, so the race is on to pay that debt off ASAP.

TeachHer Finance

I'm a 26-year-old high school teacher working to get my financial house in order and enjoy life...on a notoriously small teacher's salary. I don't make a big income and probably never will, but I believe that living a life of purpose - and fun! - has nothing to do with income.


So these are my 5 picks.  I hope you'll check them out and see why I enjoy them so much!  And THANK YOU again to Saving for Travel for passing the award along to me!

my favorite things

I read a guest post about a Favorite Things Party over at The Nester and thought it sounded like so much fun that I decided to join in.  So what is a Favorite Things Party you might ask?  I guess you could say it's similar to a Cookie Exchange, but instead of showing up with a dozen or so cookies and swapping them, you show up with a few of your favorite things and swap THAT!   Let's say there are 5 friends at the party -- you would bring 4x your favorite thing (because you wouldn't need to give yourself a gift) and then everyone would go home with a fun surprise!

I think this would be a great thing to do with a small group of friends, OR if you share Christmas with a large family, it would be fun for all the females in the family to do.   You know what?  It would be fun to do even if you weren't celebrating with a large family. 

If you are  hosting your own Favorite Things party, I would limit it to just a few best buddies (maybe 5 or less...) and be sure to put a limit on the price you want to spend.  One blogger limited her party to a $5 favorite item and it was neat to see how creative the gift givers were (think favorite brownie mix, candles, etc...).  So Haley (guest post) over at The Nester suggested that we think of our favorite things with a $30 limit and share them on our own blogs.

It's not in the cards this year to have/host a Favorite Things Party, but I'll definitely entertain this idea for next year.  And if I have one, one of these items might be what I showed up with to exchange!

Wally Bees Wildflower Honey is a staple in my pantry.  It's a raw, local honey and I have a tablespoon of it everyday.  I swear it helps me with my allergies!  You can get 1 pound for $8.00

Another thing I love are these Kuhn Rikon Paring Knives my mother in law gave me for Christmas last year.  It's the perfect size and a good all around paring knife.  And the colors are fun too!  You can get a set of 3 for $29.85 for you can buy them individually for around $10 each.  I have even spotted them at Ross for about $7!  I have one and would love to have more!

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I can't remember if it was my husband or sister who turned me on to these Experia Socks.  In my mind they are perfect and in a perfect world, I would throw out all of my non-Experia socks and fill up my sock drawer with these!  But...it is an imperfect world, and they're a bit pricey, which makes them a perfect thing to ask for at Christmas.  The reason I like them?  They offer great support, but aren't too thick.  And they are breathable.  And the fact that they have a little strip of black around the ankle makes me feel very hip and cool when I'm wearing them.  I think I run faster when I wear them and I definitely burn more calories!  They are $13.99. 

Another favorite?  The Nike Dri-Fit Cotton T-shirt!  This is something that I do buy for myself and will take it out of my clothes budget.  They come in all colors of the rainbow!  I think I have 5 of these -- 2 shades of blue, pink, grey and white.  And I wear them every time I work out.  I like them because they have a t-shirt feel, are breathable and are long.  When you're bending over to stretch or something, the shirt still stays below the waistband of your shorts.  Oh, and the shirts are about $20.

And last but not least, another gift I received last year, love and would consider a Favorite Thing is my Wooloot Watch.  It tells time, plain and simple.  It doesn't have any bells or whistles - it. just. tells. time.  The reason I like it?  It's nice and light, it tells times, and it's water resistant.  I wear it all the time to workout and all the time I forget that I'm wearing it.  I have it in black, but it comes in tons of cute colors. 

So, these are my 5 favorite things all under $30.   It would be tough to decide which one to take to a Favorite Things Exchange Party - it would depend on the final price limit.    So, what are some of your favorite things?  Feel free to share in the comments section!

december goals

What a busy time of year!  My goals for the month are going to be simple.  Especially since I'm still tackling my November to-do's!  Mainly the $$.  I hope to finish up our November expenses today and will see how we did.  I know we had an awfully spendy month -- some budgeted and some not.  I'm hoping that once I see it all on paper it won't be as bad as I think it is.

Anyway -- for DECEMBER goals!

FINANCES

Track spending.
After the month of December I will have tracked our expenses for a solid 12 months!  I'm so excited about this y'all!   In the past several years, I'm always gung-ho in January and will track expenses until March/April.  It happens that way every year!  So, this will be the first time ever that we know exactly where our money went for an entire year.  So, until the end of December, I won't finalize our 2012 budget.  I really want to be realistic about what we can do and what we will allow ourselves to do.  Through tracking I'm learning so many things...like $600/month for groceries and household items isn't enough.  For our family it needs to be somewhere around $1000/month.  Also, we don't need $100/month budgeted for Entertainment.  We normally don't spend that much.

Christmas Gifts.
Don't go over my budgeted amount.  We budgeted a significant amount of $ towards Christmas and there is no reason for us to go over.  To do so would be over indulging. 

PERSONAL

Be mindful of Food, Drink and Exercise.
I started to write down very specific goals for this, but it's December and I'm being honest with myself.  I'm not where I'd hoped to be with weight loss and this isn't the time of year for me to have a specific goal.  With the busyness and temptations that come along with Christmas, it's unrealistic of me to think I'll start losing weight this month.  So, my goal is to make good choices and continue meeting my friends to exercise in the mornings as much as possible.  I will make week-to-week goals for this, but my main goal is to not gain weight.  I think I'm at 143# now and I'd like to end the year at the same # or lower.

My Blog.
My blogging has been a bit sporadic and I'd like to challenge myself to blog 4 days a week.

Vacations.
Make lodging reservations for Italy.
Complete at least 10 lessons of Rosetta Stone.
Make reservations for one-on-one trip Washington D.C.
Make reservations for one-on-one trip ski trip.
Come up with 3 vacation ideas for Mr. Steady's companies Award Trip

FAMILY

Christmas Guests.
My mother-in-law is coming to spend 5 or 6 days with us and I'd like to have our meals planned and prepped as much before she arrives.   I'm hoping my sister and nephew come too and I'd like to do the same!   

Christmas Traditions:
Make cookies for Santa before 7pm on Christmas Eve!
Make Gingerbread houses with the kids!
Drive around and see Christmas lights!
Finish my Advent Stockings (5 days late...I know!)


So - that's it in a nutshell.  I've have more things to add on my weekly to-do list, but this is really what I WANT, WANT, WANT to accomplish for the month.  Especially the travel stuff!

Have your goals for the month?  Did you scale back a bit on yours, realizing it's a busy month?

food waste friday - about 50 cents wasted

Today I'm participating in The Frugal Girl's Food Waste Friday.  Since our grocery bill has been crazy expensive the last couple of months, I'm working to eat what we have and to serve leftovers for lunch and the occasional dinner!

We didn't do too bad this week!  Much to my children's chagrin we ate a lot of leftovers and food that we already had on hand.  This week I'm throwing out half an orange.  I honestly don't know if it's bad or not...it doesn't look so great.  But, I am not sure when I cut into it and how long it's been in the refrigerator.  So...a half an orange goes into the trash and I would guesstimate it's value at 50cents.

Now on with my day!  Today my goal is to wrap up what I started this week.

1.  Finish laundry
2.  Sweep
3.  Hem a pair of pants for my son
4.  Finish up November expenses
5.  Plan December budget
6.  Begin putting bows on wrapped gifts


I have service technicians coming to my house today to:

1.  Reroute my dryer vent
2.  See why my microwave isn't working
3.  See why my heater isn't working
4.  See why my A/C isn't blowing cold air

On top of this, our golf cart is also not working properly and my son's phone was run over by a car this week (don't ask....).  It seems like everything is falling apart and I'm thankful that Mr. Steady is employed and that we have $ in savings to pay for any repairs.  But, it sure is painful to see our savings going backwards instead of forwards.  I'm not sure if we'll make our year end target, but we'll see.  Maybe we'll be close!

So, my friends.  How what does your Friday look like?  Did you have any food wastes this week?

already the end of the month?

Hi everyone!  What a whirlwind of a week it's been.  First of all, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving last week.  My boys were out of school for the entire week and we had a great time!  They had friends over to play and spend the night, they were able to go see friends, and we had some great quality time.  My youngest son asked for tickets to a Falcons game for Christmas...it was really the only thing he wanted!  So, we gave him an early gift and all went to the game on Sunday.  It was a great day -- our boys first NFL game to go to -- and was a treat for all of us!

Our XBox 360 power cord was messed up and didn't arrive until Friday afternoon so it was a great few days without video games.   We had lots of family time and played football in the front yard (kids beat the parents!) and worked puzzles.

All in all, it was a perfect week. 

It's already Wednesday and already the last day of the month!  Yikes!

Here are my goals for the rest of the month!

Vacuum the house
It hasn't been vacuumed in a week and the carpets are a mess!

Call about the heater

We woke up this morning to the house being 58* when the heater was set for 68*.  I need someone to come look at it!

Call about the A/C
Last week when we had muggy temps in the upper 70s we turned on the A/C but no cold air was blowing, so I'll have them check on this when they come check on the heater!

Go to Bible Study
Yea!  We had some conflicts with a neighbor last week that are still lingering.  I'm looking forward to a 3-hour Bible Study to help get some peace with the situation at hand.

Wrap 3 Christmas gifts
I order almost all of my gifts on-line and have been trying to get them wrapped as soon as they are delivered.  My kids are smart enough to look at the return labels and see where the packages are coming from and figure out what they're getting.  So, I need to wrap up what go delivered yesterday!

Return cologne and water bottle
I ordered some cologne for Mr. Steady and received the wrong order.  So I need to return it.  Also, I ordered a water bottle for my son and it has a hole in it, so that needs to get returned too.   Thankfully, both companies were very responsive and easy to work with on getting everything returned and exchanged!

November Budget
If there is time, I need to wrap up our finances for November and plan the December budget.


So - that's my day.  Wednesdays are busy days.  Bible Study is from 9-12 so I'm only left with a couple of hours before the boys get home from school.  Then basketball practices tonight from 7:15-9:30!

How does your day look?

thanksgiving eve...

Things to do today!!!!

Make chocolate pie
Set table
Sweep & Mop
Vacuum
Take son to try out guitars
Get craft supplies for fun T-weekend projects
Get new power cord for XBox 360 -- oh, the horror if it weren't working all this weekend!
Make sure I have all ingredients I need for tomorrow!

What does your day look like today?  Any stress going on?  I hope not!

food waste friday - about $3 wasted

It's been a looooooooong time since I've participated in The Frugal Girl's Food Waste Friday.  But since our grocery bill has been crazy expensive the last couple of months, I'm working to eat what we have and to serve leftovers for lunch and the occasional dinner!  We didn't do too bad this week!  A half loaf of bread went stale before we finished it and I'd marinated a tomato that we never ate.  And now it looks gross, doesn't it?  Anyway - here is our waste for the week!

How are you doing with your food wastes?   Are you throwing too much in the trash each week?  If you are, I encourage you to take note of it for a few weeks and you'll be surprised at what a difference it makes when you're more aware of what you're throwing away!

getting ready for christmas cards

Today's the day!!!

Haircuts?  Check.
Clean outfits picked out?  Check.
Location picked?  Check.
Bribes ready?  Check. check.

Guess what we're doing this afternoon?!?  Taking pictures for our Christmas cards.  Each year we take pictures of the boys at a mill in our town that we use for Christmas cards.  And today's the day to get that done!

I use Shutterfly for an awful lot of photography projects and I'll be using them to make our Christmas cards this year.  Each year they come out with so many new designs that aren't too expensive, and they're always having a sale which makes the cards even more affordable.

Mr. Steady is out of town this week so before he left, we took a look at cards we liked.  Here are 3 of our favorites that I'm deciding between!

I wonder if the parents of these kids had to bribe them also?!?  All I know is that the promise of a Peppermint Milkshake from Chick-Fil-A works wonders for my boys when posing for me!

Besides the cards, I'll also be using Shutterfly to make calendars for the grandparents.  My Father-in-Law absolutely loves this gift and tells me every year that it is really the only thing he wants.  In fact, before I knew how much he loved his calendar one year I didn't make him one.  He let me know how sad he was that he didn't get it, so I made him one very quickly and got it to him before January! 

I'm also thinking about making a photo book for my Mother-in-Law.  She went to Disney World with us this summer and while I e-mailed pictures to her, it's not really the same as having them in your hands to look at.  So if I have time, I'd love to make a photo book for her with the pictures from our vacation.

And then the one other gift I'd like to have made is something for my parents.  My sister and nephew were here last month and I have a great picture of my boys and nephew at Stone Mountain.   I think I'll either have some sort of gift made or have an enlargement made of the picture and just put it in a frame.  There are some pretty cute ideas on the Shutterfly website.

So - these are a few things on my to-do list for the week and once complete I'll be able to mark them off my Christmas To-Do list as well!  

the week ahead

Last week was an extremely productive week for me and I'm so glad that I made the decision to take the week "off".   Having that extra hour of sleep last week, gave me that little ump needed to tackle some projects that I'd started but not yet finished.  So....I took the week off from blogging, meeting my friends to exercise (although I did exercise on my own), and I took the week off from my Bible Study group.  The only organized thing that I allowed myself to do last week was attend an informational meeting about a Master Gardener group that I want to be a part of.     I found out that you can't just join, but have to apply and be interviewed.  There are 10 spots available with about 40 people wanting to be a part of it.  They even asked for 3 references!   So...today I'm turning my application in to the Extension Office and will wait to be interviewed.  They hope to let the applicants know by mid-December who gets in.   Anyway - if accepted, I'll share more details with you then!

So...what did I get done last week?

I had a ton of stuff that needed to get returned to different stores.
I bought and mailed my mom's birthday gift.
Returned library books.
Finished taking out the summer clothes from everyone's closets and drawers.
Packed up clothes that the boys have outgrown.
General cleaning of the house.
Made birthday cakes and prepped for my oldest son's birthday gathering.
Cooked dinner every night -- except the night of my son's birthday.
 -- Had I been blogging, I would've shared a picture of him on his day!
And several other things that needed to get done around the house.

OH!  One huge project that I worked on was clearing the dead tree limbs and vines that border our woods.  It's a project that is going to take me probably 100 hours, but I spent 8 hours on it and it's already looking much, much better.  And part of that project was clearing out the litter and the toys that my neighbors continue to throw into our woods.  I've let the Mom know that they throw their toys in there but she never does anything about it to make them stop or make them clean it up.  So -- I cleaned up beer cans, coke cans, water bottles, a bike helmet, 4 bats, 2 basketballs, a pair of in-line skates, a football helmet, many many baseballs/golf balls/tennis balls.  It was a wheelbarrow full of stuff.  The stuff that was ruined I threw away and boxed up the rest and took it over to their house....where it still sits in their driveway.  Hopefully it doesn't end back up in our woods, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.   Sorry to vent!!!

So this week I'm hoping to be as productive as I was this week.  Here's what I want to accomplish:

List on e-bay some clothes that the boys no longer can wear but are still in great shape.
Thrououghly clean the bathrooms.
Mend a football jersey.
Hem a pair of sweat pants.
Mend a zipper on a golf bag.
Put away my sewing machine!!!!
Finish a collage I've been working on of recipes/pictures of Mr. Steady's great-grandmother.
Take and order Christmas card pictures.
Exercise 3-4 days.
Work on one particular tree in our woods by removing the vines growing on it.
Turn in Master Gardener application.
Return some clothes that I bought for the boys that don't fit.
Buy a birthday gift.
Edit/email youth Super Bowl pictures for son's team.

If I get nothing else done on the list except the sewing (which I don't enjoy so much...) and the Christmas cards (in order to take advantage of a sale...), then I'll be thrilled!

Hope you all had a great weekend and are looking forward to a productive week also!

financial priorities - part 2

Monday I talked about a book by Kathy Peel where she challenges you to determine your financial priorities.  While I was able to answer some of her questions quickly, others took a little more thought on my part.  Below are 7 of 11 questions taken from Peel's book The Family Manager Takes Charge...along with my answers.
Action Steps to Determine Financial Priorities

1.  List five things that you value most about your life today.
Living where I do... My boys can play outside without me worrying.  They can walk 4+ miles (round trip) to the "corner store" and be perfectly safe.  And our public school doesn't know that there is a "separation between church and state". 
My family.
Being healthy.
The fact that my husband is employed.
Having good friends and family who I can count on.

2.  List five things you want that money can buy.
Pot rack for my kitchen - $200
Screen door for my pantry - $250ish
Canon EF 100-400mm zoom lens - $1600
Rosetta Stone Italian - $179
Netbook computer - $500?

3.  List five things you want that money can't buy.
For my children to outlive me.
To be a good wife, mom, sister, friend, and daughter.
To slow down every now and then and just sit...or walk.  To be outside and enjoy nature.
To be healthy when I'm "old" and be able to be active with my grandchildren.
For my husband and I to enjoy our Golden Years together.

4.  How much is enough?  I feel okay about money when we have 3-6 months living expenses in the bank.  I'll be content when we have 15% of our gross income going towards retirement.

5.  Where would you like to be financially in 12 months?  In 5 years?  In 20 years?
12 months - I'd like to be saving 15% towards retirement.
5 years - To have saved at least 1 year college tuition for our boys.
20 years - I plan to have my boys through college (paid for in cash), to have our house paid off, have our retirement account funded, and to be deciding where in Italy we want to live 3-6 months out of the year once we retire (if we haven't retired already).

6.  Complete this sentence:  If I had more money, I would spend it on making & preserving memories.  Sometimes looking at what we want to spend money on and where we actually spend money can help us do some shifting without increasing the amount of money we spend.

7.  Fill in the blank:  If we suddenly found ourselves in a financial crisis, I could do without eating out and DirecTV.

So what now?  I plan on printing this out for myself and posting it in a couple of places around the house.  When I am struggling with a financial decision, I can look at my list of priorities and see if what I want to do is in line with what is important to me.  Also, for some of these things that I want & can buy, maybe - just maybe - I can find ways to save some of my "blow money" to put towards items on my Wish List.  

Feel free to link up, copy the questions and answer them on your own blog.  

letters from the president

For my Grandmother's 92nd birthday I requested and received a Happy Birthday note from President Obama.  I didn't know that you could request a congratulatory note from the President for special occasions until 2001 when I was pregnant with my youngest son.  I requested a note after his birth and received one from President and Mrs. Bush.  My second request for a special note was this spring when I requested the letter above for my grandmother.  I sent my request in February for her April 12th birthday.  The note didn't arrive on time, BUT it did arrive during her birthday month.  I was very excited!!!  Two requests...two notes!  Not a bad record.

So, how do you get a VIP note for special occasions?

Here's the info...

The White House will send greetings to U.S. citizens only for special occasions, as outlined below.

• Advance notice required.  Your request must be received four weeks in advance of the event date.  Every effort is made to honor every request, but there is no guarantee of a greeting if this guideline is not met.  (Greetings generally are not send after the event date, except for wedding congratulations and newborn acknowledgments.)
• Anniversary greetings are extended only to those couples who are celebrating their 50th (and subsequent) wedding anniversary.
• Birthday greeting cards will be sent only to individuals 80 years of age or older.  A special card is sent for those who reach 100 years of age.
• Other greetings: A limited number of special occasions other than birthdays and anniversaries exist for which the Greetings Office will send appropriate recognition to U.S. citizens.  These include:

1. Wedding (send your request after the event; include couple's married names)
2. Baby's birth.  Send request only after baby's birth, include baby's date of birth, and full names and address of baby and parents
3. Eagle Scout Award
4. Girl Scout Gold Award
5. Bar/Bat Mitzvah or equivalent occasion

The following information much be included in your request:

1. Name and home address of honoree(s)
2. Form of address (Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr., etc.)
3. Exact date of occasion (month/day/year)
4. Age (birthdays) or number of years of marriage
5. Your (requestor's) name and daytime phone number
6. Any specific mailing instructions if other than to honoree's address

Send your request to:

The White House Greetings Office

Room 39, Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Washington, DC 20502

When should you expect your greeting?  "In most cases, greetings will be mailed from the White House approximately 10 days prior to the event.  If you have made a special delivery request, every effort is made to honor that request."  (Note...It took 4 1/2 months to receive my note after my son was born, and then I received my grandmother's note the month of her birthday)

So - next time you need to send a unique gift to someone consider requesting a letter from the President.  I think it makes a great memento (regardless of your political affiliations)!  The notes are free and if you wanted, you could frame for the honoree to hang on his/her wall! 

financial priorities - part 1

Hello my friends!  I am taking a much needed break this week from blogging and other organized activities in order to wrap up several pending projects.  So, this week I'll be repeating some of my favorite posts.  Enjoy and I'll be back next week!


Financial Priorities - Part 1 of 2

Last week I went to the library and checked out The Family Manager Takes Charge by Kathy Peel.   I've read Kathy Peel books before and enjoy what she writes.  One section of the chapter titled "You're the Accountant" really stuck out to me.  Mainly because I feel like the " head accountant" in our family!  My husband and I work together on making and reaching our goals, but managing the day-to-day budget is in my hands.

Peel basically says that we need to determine our financial priorities.   "Unless we've made some decisions about our priorities, it's easy to lose perspective about what's really important to us and end up making impulsive decisions."  In this chapter, she lists Eleven Action Steps.  Some are questions that I've considered and answered before, and others are things that I haven't spent as much time thinking about.  Here are some of Peel's questions. 

Action Steps to Determine Financial Priorities

1.  List five things that you value most about your life today.

2.  List five things you want that money can buy.

3.  List five things you want that money can't buy.

4.  How much is enough?  I feel okay about money when we have______________ amount in the bank.  I'll be content when we have ___________________.

5.  Where would you like to be financially in 12 months?  In 5 years?  In 20 years?

6.  Complete this sentence:  If I had more money, I would spend it on ______________.  Sometimes looking at what we want to spend money on and where we actually spend money can help us do some shifting without increasing the amount of money we spend.

7.  Fill in the blank:  If we suddenly found ourselves in a financial crisis, I could do without ______________.

Feel free to link up, copy the questions and answer them on your own blog.   I'm going to put some more thought into my answers and will make a "part 2" post in a few days.