Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Out of the Country.....But now I'm back
I've been a bit of a slacker this week with the blog. The good news is that I am back in the saddle and ready to go! I got a ton of new ideas for the blog while I was gone. Holy Moly!! I almost don't know where to start.
For now, I am on the monthly Blog Hop with Bloggy Moms! Come and check it out!!!! Keep your eyes open for new posts. There will be a lot to see this week!!!!
Have a great day!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
H54Friday
What a great week! I have been in Canada all week on business. I feel so grateful that God has blessed me with an education that I can use to feed, clothe and make my family feel secure. Canada is a beautiful country. Thank you for this opportunity, Lord. Feeling Blessed. :)
1. Who knew two little chocolates could make a person feel so warm and fuzzy.
2. Keurig??? I think I will......
3. This little guy is going to become a part of the Smith family sometime soon. I can not tell you how easy it made posting on the blog and other places. EVERYONE should get one. Now to find out where.....
4. The beautiful view that God created, from my hotel room window. Breathtaking.
5. The sweet man that looked like Santa in the airport on the way to Ottawa. It makes me want to be a kid again and believe in the pure, little things.......
Happy Friday everyone!
Friday, May 31, 2013
Just say NO to giving out your email address
When trying to save money, I have found that getting the emails from Tiffany's and Coach, do not help my desire to shop. Let's be real: I am a shopper. I love shopping. It could be anywhere; Target, the mall, the outlets, online..... ANYWHERE. I do find though, that getting the emails telling me what sales are happening and promising free this or that with so and so purchase, make my task of lessening our debt more difficult.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind getting the emails and will probably sign up for them again when we are closer to our goal. But right now, they make me sad. They make me want to buy things. Yes I am grown up enough to say no, but it's like that friend that drags you down every time you see her. You may leave that person questioning yourself or feeling inadequate in some way or feeling that your significant other is inadequate in some way....She/He is BAD NEWS. Walk away. Walk away quickly.
That's how I feel about the "Retail Email". Walk away. Walk away quickly. Now, I do know that sometimes there are really good coupons or other deals that come via "Retail Email". But right now, I have to take the lesser of two evils. Plus, there are a ton of other places that provide coupons now a days. I still can't get all of them to quit coming to my mailbox.
So next time someone asks you for your email address, think twice. Are you in a position to look at them objectively, or is it going to be counterproductive with where you are in your financial journey. For me, I think I will pass........For now. :)
Week 4 Updates................
Two steps forward.......Four steps back.
This has been a rough week. We have had do postpone paying some of our bills due to an issue that came up. It is so frustrating. I start work this week, so as of June 7th, we will be bringing in some more money.
Next week, I will be out of town on business, but it is one of those, reimbursement situations. I pay for the hotel, food and plane ticket up front and get reimbursed. The ONLY reason we decided to do this at this time, is because I will make $1,000 for 4 days worth of work. After babysitting clears, I will still have a chunk to put towards our debt.
We also had to buy more than our normal amount of groceries this week. We were out of every meat possible. Meat is really expensive. I mean seriously people----EXPENSIVE! We were in the habit of buying a half a cow and a full hog when we lived in Iowa, which saved us a TON, but we haven't found anyone here yet that sells live stock for butcher. We also TRY to have one day per week where we do not eat meat, {difficult to do with my Iowa born and bred husband} and one day is left overs.
But the good news is that the week finished strong! We got an extra little bit of money--going towards debt--and the opportunity to make an extra $1,000 between the two of us on another job that came up. It's going to require traveling a bit, but that can be exciting---aaaannnndddd, it isn't on our dime. Yay!!! I also had a good show with my direct sales business this week. It won't be a ton of money, but definitely worth the effort. It worked out to be around $42 per hour. Not bad, people. Not bad at all.
We have been so blessed this week. Even though it originally started out rough, God AGAIN has provided for us.
In the last 4 weeks that leaves us with a total of: $316,849.62 This is $1,400.00 less than we started with a month ago! Baby Steps. Have a great day!
But the good news is that the week finished strong! We got an extra little bit of money--going towards debt--and the opportunity to make an extra $1,000 between the two of us on another job that came up. It's going to require traveling a bit, but that can be exciting---aaaannnndddd, it isn't on our dime. Yay!!! I also had a good show with my direct sales business this week. It won't be a ton of money, but definitely worth the effort. It worked out to be around $42 per hour. Not bad, people. Not bad at all.
We have been so blessed this week. Even though it originally started out rough, God AGAIN has provided for us.
In the last 4 weeks that leaves us with a total of: $316,849.62 This is $1,400.00 less than we started with a month ago! Baby Steps. Have a great day!
Not Working.........Yet
So one of the tasks that I have been trying to check off of my list is getting a job. We have been in Colorado now for 6 months and no luck yet. Until recently. Don't get me wrong, working in the home is just as rewarding emotionally, if not more so, but this Momma needs to bring in some money to put towards our debt.
With our budget, if I could clear $1,000 per month, we would be golden. I can do that in various ways and have been getting creative in doing so. Let's be honest "bringing in" $1,000 per month, can mean many different things. For example, I have started clipping coupons religiously. {See my coupon clipping video from 5/5/13} and we plan trips to the "city" so that we are running errands in all one trip to save on gas. My just now 5 year old and I rarely drive anywhere during the week except to pick up the girls from school {they are too far to walk home and their school does not offer a bus}. We save a ton on gas by planning our trips accordingly and not spending time in stores window shopping. {Can you say IMPULSE BUYING!} So we pack a picnic and walk to the park instead. Just as fun, so much cheaper and gets some pent up energy out of the little guy. I calculate that this saves us at least $100 per month in gas alone.
$900 to go..........
I started an at home business via a direct sales company in February. This has helped some as well. I can work around my husband's work schedule doing home parties and don't have to pay for child care. When I do have to pay for child care, it is minimal. I am making about $30 per month right now. Not a ton, but at this point it is 3/4 tank of gas. Something is better nothing, right? Plus, as I go, I book more shows and the money will follow.
Back to the coupon clipping......... I didn't address how much this saves us per month but talked about it above. Honestly, it varies each month. And it's not just about clipping the coupons. I also have to plan out meals and plan our shopping trips more carefully. Not that I didn't do this when I was working, we owed less and were making more, but I was a bit more lax with the "rules". When I stayed home before, I would shop once every two weeks. I planned out meals and still used my crockpot as much as I could. But.....if my husband was craving steak one morning, I would accomodate this craving. Immediately. Now I am not trying to be dramatic. And I don't mean to say that my husband would say "jump" and I would say "how high?", but I was much more accomodating to his or my, for that matter, last minute grocery requests. Now, we do without until the next shopping trip. For example, if we run out of milk for cereal in the mornings before I go shopping on Friday, then we run out. It is not the end of the world. I no longer panic. It just is. So then we eat something else. Our cupboards are NEVER bare. In fact I often have a small stash of regular staples. But we are NOT good about running to the store and buying the one thing that we need. So now, we put it on the list and wait. We are fine. We are not starving. We do not eat black and white boxes of macaroni and cheese for weeks on end. And we are fine. But this planning and coupon clipping saves us easily, $200 per month. Again, some months are better than others. Some months, I cave. But mostly, this helps considerably.
$670 to go..........
Alright, now I am getting to the nitty gritty. We keep our house at 68 degrees in the winter and well over 75 degrees in the summer {no air conditioning}, so I don't feel as though we are wasting a bunch of money on utilities. Keep in mind, we do have my husband's grandmother living with us and she keeps her apartment in the basement at 75 year round. This does cause a rise in our utility bills, but it is what it is. She is 94 and has skin as thin as tissue paper. We have also gone around the house and changed out all of our lightbulbs to more efficient lightbulbs. We turn lights off when we leave the rooms {most of the time, we have three kids still at home} and don't leave things running that are not necessary. I don't feel as though we are wasteful, but always try to be as efficient as possible with our utilities.
Still $670 to go.......
Ok....Now for the wasteful utilities. We have decided that cable is in our budget to stay. We are a t.v. and movie watching family. While my husband and I disagree on whether or not cable is necessary, it is in our household expenses. This could save us some money. Around $100 per month, in fact. I am still working on that. For now, it stays. We also have a subscription to Netflix. Honestly, they should make us pay more. We use the heck out of Netflix. $7.99 per month stays too. The other thing we have is the internet. Since my husband has a second job teaching online, this to is a necessary wasteful expense. I always try to get the best deals with these types of things. For example, if I see that a particular company is offering new customers a certain deal, then I call and ask for a better deal too. This works more often than not. I may not get the deal that new customers will get, but often they will offer me $20-$50 off per month. This takes effort and you have to be on top of it, but it never hurts to ask. I do try to avoid resigning a contract to get the deal. I think this is just a money trap and if we ever have to move, or do finally agree that cable is not a "necessity", then I do not want to have to pay a huge fee to get out of it.
Still $670 to go..........
I have been able to get a part time gig teaching, which I enjoy. This isn't consistent however. It depends on enrollment of students and what is currently going on with college funding and the government. Which is a hot mess right now.........But I do get to teach some and I try to teach when my husband can be home so that I do not have to pay for child care. I am teaching a ways from home right now and so I am having to pay out for child care this coming term. I do make sure that I teach more than one class to make it financially feasible for our family. This brings in around $500 per month, but only when I am teaching.
Still $670 to go.........
I NEED TO START WORKING PEOPLE!!!! It will come. In God's timing.
Next time, I will post more about how I am working to bring in money by decreasing our outgoing debt each month. Thank you for reading!
Subscribe to my blog and YouTube channel!
Blog: www.reddersideofpink.blogspot.com
Instagram: Reddersideofpink
YouTube: Kari Ann Smith
Facebook: Redder Side Of Pink
Twitter: @Rsideofpink
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
High 5 For Friday
High 5 For Friday!!
This week I have a theme; Family. I have been reminded more than once this week that this is what is most important in life. More important than money, bills, what people think, ANYTHING else. My family doesn't always get along and can be stubborn when it comes to forgiving one another. But deep down we love each other. We would walk across hot coals for each other.....As long as it doesn't ruin our pedicure, of course. :) Happy Friday!
1. Our youngest Elliot. Always ready for the camera with a smile. Gives the best kisses. And is always willing to watch a good movie, in his pajamas, eating popcorn. I love you sweet boy.
2. The oldest of the Littles. Sweet Emma is our emotional one. She feels more deeply than all of our other children. She is very funny and super smart. I love you and am so proud of you my lovely daughter.
3. This week our 3rd grandbaby was born. Welcome to the world Saphira! I can't wait to get to know you.
4. Oh Addy Kathryn......This lovely, has the challenge of being just like her momma. Spunky, funny, caring and LOUD!! Please, dear child, become an attorney or hostage negotiator. I wouldn't want one of your biggest talents to go to waste! I love you.
5. The handsome guy in the glasses is my baby brother Kit. He is my hero. He is also the most selfless person I know. We are so blessed to have him. I love you Kitter Bug.
I linked up with Lauren Elizabeth for High 5 for Friday! {My computer and I are still in couples counseling} http://www.thelaurenelizabeth.com/
Friday, May 24, 2013
H54F
This is my first High 5 For Friday post! I am really excited about it.
1. I had forgotten how much we love air popped pop corn. I mean LOVE it! So thankful for my air popper this week. Popcorn and a good movie makes for some awesome bonding time with family.
2. I got a nice surprise this week when my 5 year old "made" my bed. So sweet. It melts my heart that my sweet boy has such a kind heart and knack for housework.
3. We have rediscovered an area in our living room to build a tent. Can I just say that tents in the living room ROCK.
4. Love my Colorado Family. I am one blessed girl.
5. My 7 year old baby is now in the 3rd grade. This makes me happy beyond belief. She had a bit of a rough year with our move and some bullies at school. Look how beautiful she is. I love you Emma.
Happy Friday everyone! And Thank you to our Troops. We owe you our continued freedom.
Since my computer and I are in "couples counseling", I will just say that I am Linking Up with Lauren Elizabeth with High Five For Friday! When we work through our issues, I will add the button. Happy Friday!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)