it pays to recycle...

...literally! The company that picks up our trash has always offered free weekly recycling service. Up until a month ago, we have always had the little recycling bins to use. It doesn't take long at all to fill up one of the little bins. We had two of the bins, and still they were always overflowing.

We NOW have a BIG recycling bin (on wheels!) and they come to empty it every other week.

But get this! Not only do we now have a really big bin, but we are being REWARDED for recycling! How wonderful is that? Our bin is identified and each time we recycle, we're given points for the weight of materials that is recycled. We'll then be able to redeem our points for gift cards to area stores.

I'm anxious to see how well this works. I went on line this morning to check my points. We've have our bin emptied twice now, but the website shows "No Pickups". I love the concept, but I'll have to let you know just how well it works with the points system. And I'm curious to see how many points we're rewarded each time!

discussing goals with a financial advisor

We set several financial goals for this year.

1. Top off Emergency Fund(EF) with 6 months expenses
2. Save 15% towards retirement
3. Save more for both boys college expenses

We topped off the EF in February and are currently saving 6% for retirement. We have room in the budget to increase this to 15%, but haven't yet made it "official". We have $$ in the boys college account, but currently are not adding to it on a routine basis. (i.e. only birthday checks from grandparents designated for college are going into it.)

We met with a financial advisor a couple of weeks ago and he suggested a few things.

One, decrease our EF to about 3 months and put rest of that money in our retirement account. The next suggestion was to save 16-17% of our income each month for retirement to get us to our goal of what we wish to have when we retire. So, that I was pleased with...it was just about $150 more each month that I've been wanting to do. Moving onto college savings, he ran the #s on what it will probably cost for our darlings to go to in-state public school (about $120,000 for 4-years) and what it would cost to go out-of-state public school (about $220,000 for 4-years). The suggested amount to help cover the cost of this is $500/month from now until the youngest graduates in (hopefully) May of 2024. And, with the $500/month, that will cover about 1/2 of the bill.

So - We've got some things to think about. We worked so hard to get our EF to 6 months and I'm hesitant to move the money around. BUT...my husband's job is more secure now than it was when we chose to save 6 months expenses rather than a smaller amount. Next, it's more important to both me and to my husband to have our retirement savings at a comfortable amount than it is to 100% fund our kid's college expenses. We hope and pray that we can pay the majority of it for them, but they will probably need to work and pay for a lot of it themselves.

We live rather frugally and when we do "splurge" it's usually on things that will make memories, like weekend trips and vacations...not on lots of new clothes, new cars and other "toys". We could give up a lot of things and make it easier to meet our financial goals, but I'm not sure we're ready to do that at this point. We really need to sit down and take a good hard look at it.

I'm curious about you. If you are meeting all of your financial goals, is it because you've made lots of sacrifices in order to do so? And what are day-to-day things that you sacrifice to meet your goals? Just curious...

operation jiggly bits - week 4

This past week was Spring Break and as I'd hoped we had absolutely nothing planned and were without a routine all week. We went to baseball's Opening Day on Monday, had friends over, went bowling, stayed up late, slept late and pretty much loved life during the whole week!

My OJB goal was to MAINTAIN this past week and that's what I did. Absolutely no changes! NOW....8 weeks from today we make our first of two trips to the beach for the summer. Trip #1 to the beach is adults only, and Trip #2 is us with the kids. So, I'm wanting to get to around 131 pounds by Trip #1 and to my goal weight by Trip #2 (which is 129). That means it's time to get serious.

The past 3 weeks I've implemented some wonderful habits that have been part of the OJB challenge...exercising, drinking lots of water and eating lots of fruits & veggies. Now it's time for me (and hubby too!) to take it up a notch and start working for some serious results. It's not going to be easy, but according to this website, if I keep my calories around 1200 each day (I think that equates to about 24 Weight Watcher points), and have moderate exercise each day, then I "should" meet my goals. The nice thing about this time of year, is that it's FUN to grill some chicken or fish and eat lots of fresh veggies and fruits.

My goals for this week are all the same challenges....lots of water, exercise and healthy eating. I want to cut out a lot of the crap though and eliminate a few glasses of wine that I'm drinking throughout the week. My goal this week is to end the day at 24 WW points. I'm going to allow myself to "eat" my Activity Points. If I don't see progress quickly enough, then I'll probably change my mind about that!

Here are my numbers showing Original, and...This Week:

weight: 142...142

Chest: 37.5...36.75
Waist: 31.5..31.0
@belly button: 34.5...33
hips: 39...38.75
thighs: 22.33...21.75
arms: 12 1/4...12

operation jiggly bits - week 3 check in

A VERY quick check in for my Operation Jiggly Bit check in. This is Spring Break week and we've been out of town...

First...as for my goals for last week. All were met and kept. The easiest? Meeting my exercise goals and drinking all of my water. Most challenging? Avoiding junk food and processed food! That is something that I will continue to work on and weed out of my diet!

Here are my numbers! I'll post my original along with this week's numbers.

weight: 142...142

Chest: 37.5...36.75
Waist: 31.5..31.0
@belly button: 34.5...33
hips: 39...38.75
thighs: 22.33...21.75
arms: 12 1/4...11 5/8

Last week, My 1/2 Dozen Daily posted information on finding out your frame size. I tell you what! That was an eye opener for me. I am 5'3 1/2" with a large body frame. My ideal weight is around 129 pounds. I've always "felt" like I should be low 120's for my ideal weight. In previous weight loss attempts, I get to 132 and feel GREAT, but think I need to lose 10 more pounds. That has always been when I've given up and gained all the weight back. Now I know that the weight where I feel really good (around 132#) is really close to my ideal weight!!! I've always picked a number out of hat and thought of what number I'd like to see on the scale. I've never taken into consideration that I have a large frame and that my ideal weight would be adjusted!

With this being Spring Break and us being so off-schedule, my goal for this week is MAINTENANCE! I want to drink my water every day (that's something I can easily control!), get my exercise where I can and make good food choices as much as possible!

signs of spring

We're about 14 days into Spring and finally I've been able to open some windows and turn off the heater! We still need the heat in the mornings, but it's wonderful knowing that soon we'll have the windows open 24/7 for a few months!

Here are other signs of spring in and around our home!

time to fill out the census...


daffodils blooming in our flower bed...


and my new Easter dress!

hippie day on a shoestring budget

Last week my oldest son had "hippie day" in his class because they were studying the 1960's in Social Studies. The kids could dress up in a costume if they wanted, but they didn't have to. Apparently the teacher has a great costume and she challenged the kids to beat her at Best Costume. My son was so excited about dressing up, but we didn't have ANYTHING hippie-like in the house and I wasn't too excited about spending money on a costume for him to wear once.

Thank goodness for the Internet and Google, because I came up with some great ideas!

Here's what we did.

We went to a craft store and bought a plain red t-shirt ($3) and 2 bandannas ($3). We went to the Dollar Tree and bought some pink tinted, round sunglasses ($1). Once we got home, we got busy putting it all together.

First, we tie dyed the t-shirt using 4 parts bleach to 1 part water. We twisted, knotted, and rubber banded the t-shirt and let it sit in the bleach mixture for 10 minutes. After that, we rinsed the shirt really good under water, unknotted it, and let it hang to dry. The next day I washed and dried it. The result? A two-toned red tie dyed t-shirt.

Then we made bell bottom blue jeans using one of the bandannas and an old pair of jeans. To do this I ripped the outside seam of the jeans legs from the ankle to just below the knee. I cut 2 triangles out of the bandanna fabric and sewed it into the ripped seam, making them into bell bottoms. Next I used a black marker and made 2 peace signs on the jeans.

He used the other bandanna around his head, wore the sun glasses and carried a sign (to show his protest for something). In the picture he was holding his guitar, but he didn't take it to class.

So what do you think of our groovy $7 Hippie Costume?

operation jiggly bits - week two

ughhhhh....that's really all I can say on how I feel about this week's OJB results. I felt like I had a GREAT start to Week One, but had a disastrous finish! We were without running water in the kitchen for 3 days, so washing fruits and veggies, not to mention dishes, was very inconvenient. So - I didn't make the best food choices on those 3 days. Yesterday we had the water running again, but had a friend come for an over night visit from out of state. That led to more poor choices...a huge breakfast, chips & salsa, beer, wine, steaks, potatoes, bread, chocolate...the list could go on and on! I'm hoping that today's #s are not accurate since I had so much starchy food yesterday. But...here they are along with how I did meeting my goals for the week. Now THAT I did do good. So, let's start w/the goals first since those are good results, and then my numbers next.

Goals:
1. Drink 64 oz water each day -- DONE! This was easier than I expected. I filled up a huge pitcher (64+ ounces) each morning with water and just made sure that it was empty before the end of the day.

2. Exercise - DONE! Got 4 days of high intensity workouts and 3 days where I worked my abs and did some toning exercises.

Monday - ran 2.44 miles and lifted leg weights
Tuesday - 1 hour Boot Camp class, a 15 minute Abs class, & played tennis for 2 hours
Wednesday - Played tennis for 1-2 hours (can't remember), ran 2.3 miles, lifted leg weights, & completed 50 sit ups and 20 pushups
Friday - 1 hour Zumba class, 15 minutes Abs class

3. Avoid junk food and eat clean. I would say I ate more good food than junk food this week and I did get all my fruits/veggies in for the week. The key for me is to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN and have everything I need so that it's easy to grab something healthy when I'm hungry rather than grab junk. Gotta do better in this area!!

Here's an update to numbers for Week One:
Weight: 143.6 (started at 142)

Chest: 37.25" (started 37.5")
Waist: 31.25" (started 31.5")
@tummy: 33.25" (started 34.5")
Hips: 39" (started 39")
Thighs: 22.3" (started 22.3")
Arms: 11.75" (started 12.25")

My goals are the same for Week 2:
1. High intensity workout 3-4x
2. Abs & toning exercises 3-4x
3. Drink 8 glasses of water each day
4. Eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies each day
5. Avoid junk food & processed food
6. Report back on Monday of next week with updates

Thank you Carla for all of your encouraging words for all of us who are participating in your challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing great results at the end of Week Two!

operation jiggly bits update

Today I'd planned on doing updates for both budget/cash envelopes as well as OJB, but my computer is acting up and I'm having a hard time accessing my files. Luckily...I can get on the Internet!!! So, I'll work on my Excel later today and update my budget info tomorrow (hopefully!)

Operation Jiggly Bits - I'm off to a pretty good start and can see that just by making a few changes I'm already feeling better AND I'm noticing how many times throughout the day I have a tendency to grab junk food or soft drinks. I know that it's a process and if I were to do a 100% overhaul overnight, I'd probably get burned out. So I'm make slow and gradual changes that will stick. But, the important thing is that I'm more aware of what's going into my body. I feel great when I'm eating right and exercising, I don't feel great when I'm eating junk and being lazy.

Here's the scoop:

Monday
Breakfast: Green Monster
Snack: none
Lunch: grilled chicken on a tortilla w/lettuce and a little cheese, crackers & hummus and a Diet Coke
Snack: popcorn, 2 homemade sugar cookies
Dinner: shrimp, brown rice, asparagus
Snack: small piece of chocolate, glass of wine

Exercise: Ran 2.44 miles and lifted weights (legs only)

Happy about: I had 6 servings of fruit/veggies, almost all of my water, and worked up a sweat exercising

Disappointed with: My afternoon snack of junk

Tuesday
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled egg whites, string cheese
Snack: Green monster, crackers & hummus
Lunch: whole wheat bread w/turkey, cheese, lettuce, onion - Baked Lay's
Snack: 5 stalks celery & Laughing Cow cheese
Dinner: snack stuff - cracker & hummus, Fiber 1 bar, popcorn & a glass of wine

Exercise: LOTS!! 1 hour boot camp, 15 minute of abs/core toning, 2 hours of tennis

Happy about: got 6 servings of fruits/veggies, lots of exercise and I did drink 64 oz of water

Disappointed with: snack supper - should have made a healthy meal!

So that's it for today. This morning I played team tennis (got my bootie kicked), but didn't work up a sweat. I had a hard time resisiting some of the snacks that were brought to the match, so I'm headed to the gym now to run a couple of miles to burn off some of the sugar. And a Green Moster is in my future of an afternoon snack!

budgeting for unexpected visitors

It's been a while since I've looked at our budget for the month to see how we're doing. I am diligently tracking my spending each and every day, but haven't have lacked the motivation to sit down and analyze it.

We've had a few things come up unexpectedly this month. Visitors. Out-of-state visitors. On one hand I want to do a very, very heavy sigh, but on the other hand I'm THRILLED anytime anyone wants to take the time to come see us!! But, it's done a bit of a doozy on our budget this month. After this weekend, we'll have had 3 sets of visitors come to see us in March, all giving us less than a couple of weeks notice. One set told me on a Monday that they'd be here that coming Friday for a 2-night stay. One set came for just a day visit. The next set (gave the most notice -- 2 weeks!) and will be staying 1 night. Anyway, I didn't plan in the budget for my friends and family for the month. As I'm writing this, I see how petty this all seems. After all, it's in the annual budget to have visitors, and I know come December we're not going to be broke and the kids will STILL get a great Christmas even though we had 3 sets of visitors who weren't in the budget for this month. Right? So, what's my problem? I love my friends and I love my family. I don't want them to ever not want to come.

So, I guess my frustration lies within myself. I tend to see the plan (the budget) and have a hard time deviating from it. I have a hard time seeing the big picture. Even if we were so broke we didn't have a pot to (you know what) in, I'd still be thrilled to have visitors and find something to feed them and do everything I could to make them feel welcome. Right?

So, while my numbers (for the grocery bill) are going to be out of whack for the month of March (and that's why I'm having such a hard time sitting down to look at them...they're not going to be perfect and that's a problem for me), I'm going to have a great time this month seeing friends and family that I don't get to see but once or twice a year.

I really need to lighten up and embrace my friends/family and not view their (semi-unplanned) visits as hiccup to the budget. But still, I would LOVE to have a little notice...I am, after all, a PLANNER by nature, and if I could at least know during the month prior, I could work in the budget some pretty good meals for you! :)

I'm curious how you all rework your plans for (semi) unplanned visitors?

operation jiggly bits - week one

I'm excited to be participating in My 1/2 Dozen Daily's Operation Jiggly Bits ("OJB")! This challege couldn't have come at a better time. Just last week, I mentioned starting my "Burn the Swim Skirt" diet and blog. Since I'm going to participate in OJB, I'm just going to post my progress and updates here at Steady Plodding rather than try to manage 2 at one time. (I don't have that much time to spend blogging! lol!)

So, if you're interested, click the link above and head over to Carla's blog and take a look! It'll be a six week challenge beginning today. On Monday's I'll post my measurements/weight along with my goals for the week. I'll give a brief update on what the previous week was like and if I'm satisfied with the progress that I'm making.

Remember, the point of me doing this is to (1) feel better and be healthier and (2) to lose weight. I'm not 100% comfortable posting my weight/measurements for everyone to see...BUT, none of you really know me, so there's really nothing to lose. Right? Just no judging!!!! lol! Seriously, I think by writing it all down it will help me monitor my progress and to hold myself more accountable.

Where I am TODAY...

Height: 5'3" with a medium-athletic frame (wish I was small boned and petite, but I'm not!!)
Weight: 142

Chest: 37.5"
Waist: 31.5"
@tummy: 34.5"
Hips: 39"
Thighs: 22.3"
Arms: 12.25"

And where I want to be...(I don't anticipate meeting this goal in 6 weeks, but this is my goal by 6-15-10)

Height: 5'6" (just kidding!)
Weight: 128-130

Chest: 35.75"
Waist: 28"
@tummy: 29"
Hips: 37"
Thighs: smaller and more toned
Arms: smaller and more toned

My goals for this coming week:
1. Have 2 Water-Only days...no soft drinks and no wine on these days (planning for Tuesday & Wednesday)
2. Each day drink 64 oz water, eat 5 servings of fruit/veggies, eat as clean as possible
3. Work out (high intensity) 3 times and do abs/toning exercise 3 times


So, that's it for this week's Operation Jiggly Bits goals! Stay tuned...

my first green monster

I've been a little suspicious about the Green Monsters that I see My 1/2 Dozen Daily making over at her blog, and have been on the fence in trying one. Are they really as good as she says they are?!? Well, I decided to finally bite the bullet!! I loaded up my grocery cart Saturday with fruit, 1% milk and Spinach...I already had the Flax Meal. Yesterday I saw that Saving4Later tried one for the first time too and knew that today would be the day for me to try mine!

This morning, I got all the stuff out, put it in the blender and waited. Waited. And waited. I was still a little nervous about pulling the trigger and actually blending it! I took the kids to school, came back home and decided I had to get it blended and be a "big girl" and give it a try! Well - I did it! And, an hour later, I'm still sipping on it. Not because it tastes bad and is hard to get down, but because it's really filling. And, by the way, it's GOOD!

Here's what went into my Green Monster:
2 spoonfuls of ground flax meal
2 cups of spinach
1 cup of fresh strawberries
1 banana
1 cup 1% milk
and a little ice to make it colder

Tomorrow, I'm going to try it with frozen fruit and see if there is a difference in taste between the fresh and frozen fruit. I LOVE the fact that I get 2 cups of veggies in my day without even thinking about it. I can't taste the spinach. In fact, the thing I taste the most is the banana and the texture of the flax. I would like for it to be a little colder, so tomorrow I'm going to start off with a cold glass and maybe add extra ice.

Now a question for y'all who make these with frozen fruit. Do you thaw the fruit before putting it in, or do you put the fruit still frozen directly into the blender?

chocolate pie recipe

It's been a gorgeous 2 days here and I've been outside as much as possible. I wanted to do a real quick post though. My 1/2 Dozen Daily made a request for the chocolate pie recipe that we had on Sunday for "Pi Day". Here it is!!! Enjoy!

This is the only chocolate pie I've ever made...I used this recipe since I was married in 1992 and still love it!

Chocolate Pie

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
3 cups milk
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 tablespoon butter
1 9" baked pie crust
3 tablespoons sugar

Mix sugar, flour, and cocoa thoroughly; add milk gradually until well mixed. Stir in egg yolks, reserving egg whites. Cook in heavy saucepan, stirring constantly until thickened. (You want it to get as thick as possible...like pudding). Remove from heat; add vanilla and butter. Pour into the pie crust.

Beat egg whites until stiff; add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Place meringue on pie and bake until golden brown.

food waste friday and 210 things to do...

First, Food Waste Friday!!!

In an conscious attempt to keep food waste to a minimum, I join The Frugal Girl and many other bloggers each week and participate in Food Waste Friday. I clean out my refrigerator, line up any waste on the counter, (usually) take a picture and post it on my blog. After doing this for a while, I can honestly say that I work throughout the week to eat (or feed my children) what's in the fridge so that I don't have it to post on Fridays!

This week's waste: CILANTRO.

I had hopes to freeze what was left of it today, but it has already wilted when I pulled it out this morning. But that is it! The only thing that is being thrown away!

Now for my next topic, my 210 Things to Do list.

I have several goals on my 210 Things to Do in 2010 List that are health and fitness related. I'm struggling getting motivated to accomplish these goals each week and I truly can't put it off any longer. Swimsuit season is just around the corner! lol! In an attempt to bring my health/fitness goals to a higher priority, I'll be blogging about them at Burn The Swim Skirt over the next few months.

I'll still be here blogging away about personal finance, life and such! Thanks, as always, for stopping by!