Finances On Friday!

Finances on Friday! An idea from Rebecca and her blog Renaissance!

Okay Finances, This week I am *ahem* rolling in money. It is a very happy change from how broke we were. So here is how I have saved and what I will spend. I am spending mainly to "catch up" on the things that I couldn't buy or pay during our broke time.

First! The Saving!

1. I made my husband a sandwich out of the heels instead of throwing them away. One of his co-workers noticed and said "that's messed up" and he responded "it's just bread, it doesn't bother me none..." AND that is why I love him :) 
2. Tuesday morning instead of going to Starbucks for a coffee I made my own latte...using my espresso machine to it's fullest potential! 
3. I have been bringing my lunch, rice and soup and steamed veggies!
4. I used my Kroger gas points to fill up my car.
5. I am making my husband a homemade anniversary present :) I only have 25 days...hmm
6. I am putting some serious thought into buying a bike and riding my bike 18 miles to work, now before you spit out your drink and yell "YOU'RE CRAZY!" let me explain. Driving to work in the morning takes around 40 mins driving home in the evening takes 50 mins to an hour and 10 mins. Time completely wasted just sitting in a car. It would take me around an hour and 20 mins to ride a bike to work. That is almost the same amount of time coming home! I would save in two ways:
• Save gas money
• Save on a gym membership-I was looking at one; it will be $80 to start up and $26 a month.
• I could be totally crazy but I plan to do a test run tomorrow morning :D 
• Not to mention I would get 3 hours of working out everyday. Win!

Now for the Spending/Saving....

1. Pay $50 or more towards my credit card.
2. Bump up my car note payments by $20.00
3. Put $100 into saving...I need to revive that baby, she has flat lined. 
4. A bike, to save on Gas and a Gym membership.
5. I need sitting chairs for our dining room, we have no where for guest to sit. My budget for those is $300
6. I was going to get my hair done, I was going to splurge and spend around 200 for a full treatment....HOWever I know it's a waste. So I am going to sally's on my way home to pick up my own...it will be around $10. :)

My scenic view here at my new job :) 

Happy Saving!

Thursday, the day of forgiveness...and embarrassment.

Good Morning Readers! 

I tend to get down in a ditch very easily when I feel I have done something wrong. Sometimes it is personal or at work it doesn't matter. I have to remind myself God forgives us, he knows we are not perfect but sinful creatures. I found these to help lift my spirits!

1 John  1:9 
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Isaiah 1:18 
"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sing like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Hebrews 10:17
Then he adds: "their sins and lawless acts will remember no more."

Daniel 9:9 
The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.

SO many, all excellent! 

In other news, my job is a blessing, the only complaint  down side is the drive. In the morning it is peaceful and relaxed because I am driving out of the city, however at 5 it is a mess and can take me up to 40 mins to get home.

AND THIS is so Embarrassing!

My boss came to my office to talk about pricing and asked me to show him what a tenth of a cent was and I couldn't...I sat there so red and embarrassed. He had to tell me :( after he wrote it all out for me, of course it made sense. He seemed to understand....

Day Four

Today is day four of new job. I can't help but want to jump head first into everything I do, which sometimes means MISTAKES are made! It happens. I try to be graceful about it but I don't want to look like I can't do the job. *sigh* It's OKAY....I am doing fine. :) The boss man already said I am awesome and such good help; it's funny how easy it is to ignore the good stuff when you make a mistake.

On the that note the GREAT ICE STORM yesterday, never happened. YES it was ridiculously cold and we had a little frozen rain but it wasn't that bad, as in the roads weren't frozen. NOW IT was cold... I haven't seen Frozen yet but I thought this picture was just perfect:

I really really want to watch this movie. Any one see it yet? What are your thoughts?

Okay, bare with me while I change my blog a few times. I can never seem to get the layout just the way I want it. 

In other news, Randy received his "official" job offer letter. YAY! I am very happy about the new job for him, I think I will be even more happy when he goes in for orientation. He has been trying to get a job there since June...with some false hope along the way I am still a little skeptical. I don't think I am looking forward to him being away either... :( 

I had a revaluation this morning as well. I have tried to pretend that this condo is GREAT and awesome and I love my kitchen and such but this morning it's just "not right". I think it is like 560 sp ft one bedroom place. It's newly remodeled and nice in that sense but man it is tiny and man we are close to our neighbors and man it's just too city. I can't seem to get into a "normal flow" of life since we moved here. It's odd. Maybe it's the cold weather. I think it might be all this change ALL at once. It has thrown me for a loop. 

Monday, Monday, Monday

Good Morning!

This weekend I was struck by a bug and spent the whole day Sunday resting and sleeping. While being sick made the day uncomfortable it made me realize I need to just sleep on the couch all day :) Though I am not feeling 100% today I am very firm on not calling in sick to work unless I am completely unable to walk. So I am here; and all is well. I am getting my new desk organized and brought homemade crumble banana muffins to win over my co-workers. I say it is a very successful day ;)

There is another "winter storm" alert for tomorrow which means more ice. Here is another picture of the ice we experienced last week. 

This was my windshield, It looked like a solid block of ice. 

I thought I might try to roll down my window...

A little more....

All the way down! As you can see the ice is broken on the right and top, I was punching it out and letting my defrost melt it. I didn't think the ice would have stayed by itself but it did! 

I hope it is not like this tomorrow morning... 

Finances on Friday

Here is my Finances on Friday inspired by Rebecca at Renaissance!

I know it's Saturday, however due to my first day at the new job yesterday I didn't have time for much. Finances for this week:

• I went to goodwill, instead of the mall, to pick up a cute skirt to wear to work, actually I purchased two skirts :)
• Tried to eat in as much as possible, however we have been splurging a bit due to the fact we are not completely broke.
• Making my husbands lunch everyday
• Used my shell/kroger points to get a discount with gas :)
• We had major Ice Friday Morning, I didn't have a scraper so I used a credit card...I was really tempted to go buy one but my logical mind won...HOW often does it really ice here? Not often.
• Made a cheese cake for my old job. (I was a little sad to go)

Things I know I need to work on for this up coming week: 

• Stop spending just because I can.
• Continue to make lunch, AND my my own lunch.
• I need to go though my clothes an make a big donation pile...before I buy any new clothes.
• When I get my first paycheck from the new job I need to dust the cob webs off my savings account...

Happy Weekend!!

Finances On Friday

I haven't posted in a while but Rebecca from Renaissance has inspired me!

Here is my Finances on Friday!

Mid year last year my husband and I hit some tough times, he had a part time job and I had my current job which doesn't provide much for the amount of headache it is. Some of the other tough times included my husband hitting a deer with my car, an unexpected trip to IN and having to move. God really blessed us this year. I want to shout "Finally!" however, I realize I am not deserving of it. When times were tough I turned from him, complained, cussed and over all hated life, instead of realizing this will pass and I just need to believe it will get better. In order to thank God for this blessing I will make a goal this year to share his blessing.

The blessing I am referring to is a new job, making $400 more a month. On top of my job my husband also got a new job this month in the Oil and Gas field with great pay. The gremlin on my shoulder is telling me to spend, spend spend because I have gone so long (not really that long...only a year) since I have had extra money.

SO here is what I am going to do, set some goals for 2014.

1.Pay off my credit card
2. Put at least $100 into savings each month(we are saving for a house!)
3. With our Tax return we plan to get the hubby a new car
4. Possibly trade my car in(this isn't a necessity, more of a want)
5. Help the hubby with bills.
6.Share God's Blessings!

NOW for Finances for the week:
1. I am in a crafting Games thing with a group call Amtgard, the games are similar to the hunger games and each month we must submit a themed craft using a set amount of money. This month it was $10 so I dug into my sewing box and grabbed some paper and I am now making an embroidered book cover! I will post pics when that is done.
2. Sams Club...enough said.
3.I save money by doing all my dogs grooming myself, cutting his nails, his hair.
 I don't have another one...I really need to work on saving money and thinking smart. I am awful. Like today was pay day and I bought starbucks for $7.00 when I could have just had coffee at work. :(