tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77989997229510098372024-03-13T06:34:17.595-04:00The Debt Elimination ExperimentGetting out of debt, one step at a time.Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-34868051034806116282015-06-13T22:49:00.001-04:002015-06-13T22:49:49.924-04:00The Start of a Frugal-ish Project It's been a really long time since I've been on here. I guess we've just been kind of doing the same stuff and it seemed boring to just keep reiterating my grocery list week after week. Even though it did keep me accountable to not going super over budget.<br />
<br />
Well we have a new project...s/he is due in early December. After a few hormone induced meltdowns of "We're renting, we can't paint the nursery!" and "This won't look like my Pinterest page!" I finally calmed down and realized...baby won't care. So I'm just accepting the wall color for what it is and going with light furniture to brighten it up.<br />
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I have been staying away from most "what you need for baby" websites and articles because I know that I won't really <u style="font-weight: bold;">need</u> most of that stuff, but I can be easily persuaded into thinking I need things.<br />
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After looking at some different ideas for changing tables we decided to go with a chest of drawers with a changing pad on top instead of buying a designated changing table that would be useless after awhile.<br />
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Starting with Craigslist I realized that these little dressers can be kind of pricey. It's also difficult to find them kind of unfinished/shabby. Most of what I found on CL had been painted with Chalk Paint so that's why they were so expensive.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.craigslist.org/00r0r_bMB4sfKQ4jF_600x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://images.craigslist.org/00r0r_bMB4sfKQ4jF_600x450.jpg" height="282" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">$225</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://images.craigslist.org/00c0c_aTSBDOYkRUi_600x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://images.craigslist.org/00c0c_aTSBDOYkRUi_600x450.jpg" height="320" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> $185<br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.craigslist.org/00Y0Y_iF2h4m2NVb7_600x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://images.craigslist.org/00Y0Y_iF2h4m2NVb7_600x450.jpg" height="320" style="cursor: move;" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> $100</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The painted dressers look nice but we wanted a white one so we would be paying that, stripping the paint, and redoing it. No thanks. I saw on Facebook that someone was having a yardsale nearby on Friday morning and had a dresser listed. We went at 8:00am hoping it was what we were looking for. It was EXACTLY what I wanted. The couple we purchased it from also used it for a changing table also.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4m2UyNT1yFoNtfe6xCIlJapwuQQfuHncf7DvOGiAxvcEXzlWDHIpyD_3yWVMj2vHx0SMo9NR4jSYDXW2kO2hZ7wSt6GDHg3U9X1FeTNrxLEYvfNV7mhLqduxfDBcFzWMguBHUZeJrws8/s1600/IMG_3145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4m2UyNT1yFoNtfe6xCIlJapwuQQfuHncf7DvOGiAxvcEXzlWDHIpyD_3yWVMj2vHx0SMo9NR4jSYDXW2kO2hZ7wSt6GDHg3U9X1FeTNrxLEYvfNV7mhLqduxfDBcFzWMguBHUZeJrws8/s320/IMG_3145.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackpot! $40</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then we realized we didn't have a sander. Off to Lowe's we went. Picked up a sander and some sandpaper, total: $70.<br />
<br />
Got the sander home, realized we needed sandpaper with holes in it, went back to Lowe's.<br />
<br />
Returned home to start sanding. Realized the sander wasn't working so great. Back to Lowe's to get a courser grit of sandpaper.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggh7PTqwUgAuEFU3c63UhzhZJjDG8uJwSwF5bs339vOnUoIXyIImus_cj-F7549WinjmR-W1d2mOI6t1CpFM9hBQzt56OPfmAbT5dOslvtb6XLNyff97aQ9KDNMtJgfM0DzUqKOnXqidLM/s1600/IMG_3148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggh7PTqwUgAuEFU3c63UhzhZJjDG8uJwSwF5bs339vOnUoIXyIImus_cj-F7549WinjmR-W1d2mOI6t1CpFM9hBQzt56OPfmAbT5dOslvtb6XLNyff97aQ9KDNMtJgfM0DzUqKOnXqidLM/s320/IMG_3148.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Still didn't really help. Maybe we just really suck at sanding? I don't know. I checked out some reviews on Amazon and found that this worked great for some people and others had the same issues we had. Overheating, not a lot of power, and the dust collecting bag has a habit of just kind of...falling off.<br />
<br />
Looks like we're going BACK to Lowe's tomorrow to return this darn thing.<br />
<br />
After all of this frustration I realized that I can take the piece to work and sand it there for just the cost of more sandpaper. I just wish I realized this earlier before all of this hassle!<br />
<br />
<br />
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Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-34283216276444653722014-08-18T21:16:00.003-04:002014-08-18T21:16:34.206-04:00Grocery Shopping 8/17/14In order to keep my grocery budget in check I'm going to start posting them here again. Boring for you to read? Yes. Maybe keep me accountable? Yes.<br />
<br />
The local food pantry was hosting a food drive outside Walmart when I went. I always buy some canned food items to donate when they are hosting these. I'm going to bold the donated items so I can keep track. Kroger had chicken on sale for $1.99/lb. I bought 4 packages and split them up to freeze when I got home.<br />
<br />
Walmart<br />
Great Value egg noodles - $1.50<br />
Sub Sandwich Rolls - $2.74<br />
Tomato Sauce/No Salt $0.88 X 2<br />
Cream of Mushroom $1.00<br />
Ranch Dressing $3.92<br />
Red Grapes $1.94<br />
Bananas $1.50<br />
<b> Great Value oatmeal $1.62</b><br />
<b> Chicken Ravioli $0.98 x 2</b><br />
<b> Spaghettios $0.54 x 4</b><br />
<u>________________________________</u><br />
Total = $21.72<br />
<br />
Kroger<br />
Kale $0.99<br />
Baby Spinach $2.49<br />
Carrots $0.89<br />
Toffee Ice Cream $1.67<br />
Boars Head Provolone $3.25<br />
Boars Head Honey Ham $7.99<br />
Feminine Products $1.89<br />
Granny Smith Apples $4.00<br />
Hot Sauce $1.19<br />
Mushrooms $0.89<br />
2 bell peppers $1.78<br />
Watermelon $3.49<br />
Perdue Chicken $8.94<br />
_____________________________<br />
Total=$42.79<br />
<br />
Aldi<br />
Flour Tortillas $1.19<br />
Cantaloupe $0.99<br />
Onions $1.89<br />
Gold Potatoes $2.99<br />
Mozzarella $1.99 x 2<br />
Skim Milk $2.89<br />
Wheat Bread $1.29<br />
Butter $2.99<br />
Celery $1.29<br />
Sour Cream $1.29<br />
Bacon $3.99<br />
________________________________<br />
Total= $26.70<br />
<br />
Grand total (with donated items)=$91.21<br />
Grand Total (without donated items) = $85.47<br />
<br />
Budgeted amounts was $80.00 but I stocked up on chicken. Not terribly shabby! <br />
<br />
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<u><br /></u>
<br />Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-50567162528696758072014-08-17T19:22:00.001-04:002014-08-17T19:22:06.482-04:00Money Making Apps I've read about a lot of different apps and websites that can be used to earn points toward gift cards for different retailers. I'm going to discuss a couple of them today. Some I have used and some I haven't but I encourage you to give them a shot!<br />
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I've used swagbucks for several years. You complete surveys and watch videos to earn points. Once you have earned a certain number of points you can cash it in for a gift card. You can get a $5 amazon card for 450 points. There are tons of websites online to optimize your time spent on swagbucks.<br />
<br />
Today I downloaded the Perk TV app on my tablet. There are quite a few ladies on the forums I frequent who use this app. It runs ads and trailers on your device and gives you points while it's working. I've heard it works the best when you aren't planning to use your device and you can just let it run. I plan to try that for awhile at night to see how well it works.<br />
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Walmart recently introduced the new Savings Catcher app. Today after going grocery shopping I decided to download it on my tablet. There are other apps out there to help you save money while grocery shopping but most require a smart phone. This one does not. All you have to do is create an account and type in the TC# from your receipt. If a lower price is found you'll receive the difference on a Walmart eGift Card. I'm not sure how well this will actually work for us because I rarely buy name brand items. Here is a <a href="https://savingscatcher.walmart.com/faq" target="_blank">list of FAQ's</a> about the program.<br />
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There is another app that I want to put on Phillip's phone. The <a href="https://ibotta.com/how" target="_blank">ibotta</a> app gives you points toward gift cards for completing different tasks. I've heard good reviews but haven't tried it yet.<br />
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Do you have any favorite apps or websites you use to earn gift cards or points? If you're interested in trying either the Perk TV or SwagBucks programs please use my referral codes listed below. We'll both get points!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/SunnyBunny1986" target="_blank">Swagbucks Referral</a><br />
<a href="http://perk.fm/4g439" target="_blank">Perk Referral</a>Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-21678831581688858902014-08-17T17:49:00.002-04:002014-08-17T17:49:34.700-04:00Emotions and Getting Off TrackRecently I haven't been paying too much attention to our spending. We have been mostly adhering to our budget but not really strictly following it. I think it's mostly because I feel like we're never going to make any progress so why bother. I'm just tired of it, I want our student loans to just be gone.<br />
<br />
I know the real reason I'm feeling like this is because I'm still pretty depressed from the loss of our baby. I don't feel like I'm going to be able to really start healing until the due date passes. We were also hoping to be pregnant again by the time our due date gets here but as of now that hasn't happened yet.<br />
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So because I'm feeling depressed if I feel like something will make me feel better then I will go ahead and buy it. New foundation? Maybe that will make me feel better. No? What about these jeans? Still not working? Maybe if I do this I'll feel better.<br />
<br />
So far the only thing that has really reduced my stress and made me feel actually happy was going on vacation. We spent most of our days snorkeling and it was so relaxing. Too bad I can't do that every day!<br />
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We've still been making more than our minimum payments on our loans but we definitely aren't putting as much toward them as we could be.<br />
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I feel like if our debt free date was closer I would have more motivation. I'm just tired of not getting anywhere. I'm angry that without student loans we would be able to save about $20,000/year. It's just all very frustrating.<br />
<br />
We threw an $1,100 snowball at SallieMae today. That felt nice.<br />
<br />
Off to write a happier post. I'm really not as miserable as this is making me sound, I'm just really frustrated right now.<br />
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<br />Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-84066925061567150772014-06-27T11:18:00.003-04:002014-06-27T11:18:36.312-04:00Guest Post: Ashley from The Nerdy Blogger<br />
<i>Today I'm posting my very first guest post! I asked my friend Ashley from The Nerdy Blogger to share her story about reaching debt freedom and financial peace. To learn more about Ashley you can go to her blog <a href="http://nerdyblogging.wordpress.com/tag/ashley-thomas/" target="_blank">The Nerdy Blogger.</a> You can also check her out on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheNerdyBlogger" target="_blank">Facebook. </a></i><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheNerdyBlogger" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<i>Here we go!</i><br />
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m an odd duck. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I always have been, but one of the things that makes me a
particularly odd duck is invisible on the outside. My husband, Ryan, and I are
debt free. No, we’re not billionaires. No, we aren’t trust fund babies with
cash coming out our ears. We’re a young married couple in our late twenties.
I’m a self-employed writer, a part-time graduate student, and I have 2 side
jobs. Ryan works as a pizza delivery driver and is a part-time student as well.
How did we get there? Well, it’s an interesting and convoluted story. We aren’t
debt free because we’re crazy brilliant and have always made the best
decisions. We are debt free because we have chosen to maintain that lifestyle
from the beginning.</div>
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<br /></div>
<h1>
Beginnings</h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our journey to being debt-free began when I started driving
in high school. I had inherited my mom’s ’95 Camry, that had a non-functional
tape deck, no CD player, and this was before the advent of the mp3 player, but
it did have a radio. I tuned in to my local Christian station, which played
Dave Ramsey Money Minutes about the time I’d drive to class in the morning. I
began learning about how to be organized with money. I quickly became convinced
that debt was not something I wanted to have in my life. I started college
shortly after that. My mom worked at the college I attended, largely so I could
attend college debt free. My mom’s tuition benefits didn’t cover my textbooks,
but I got a scholarship and I worked two part-time jobs to help cover that
expense. I met my husband later in college. His school was funded by
scholarships and generous family members. We both left that school debt free. A
few years after graduation, we got married, and moved to Charlotte to start our
lives together.</div>
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<br /></div>
<h1>
Marriage and Money</h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the best ways to start your marriage is with some
solid premarital counseling. We chose to take Financial Peace University (FPU).
Ryan and I both had a fair handle on money. We never spent money we didn’t
have. We tried not to buy things beyond what we really needed with the
exception of the occasional splurge. However, even with this great start to our
marriage, FPU really helped put hands and feet on our good habits to really rev
up our savings and helped us to be mindful of our spending. Having this good
foundation has made all the difference. We seldom argue about money and when we
do, we play fair. </div>
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<br /></div>
<h1>
Rough Spots in the Road</h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A little over a year into our marriage, I found myself in
dire need of a job change. I was making more money than I’d ever had in my life
and I was completely miserable. My degree was in English, not retail
management, which is where I found myself. I was running 3 bookstores, had no
time for family or relaxation, and was plagued with constant anxiety. The job
was attacking my mental, spiritual, and especially my physical health. After
much prayer, counsel, and reading some great books on career (Quitter by
Jon Acuff and 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller), Ryan and I
decided the best thing I could do was quit. However, this decision was not made
lightly. Here are the main reasons we decided that we could do this.</div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">We
have no kids.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">We
have no debt.</li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">We had
a fully funded emergency fund of 6 months’ worth of expenses.</li>
</ol>
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Had any of these 3 factors been different, I would have
toughed it out while finding something of comparable income. But because we had
those 3 factors in place, I was able to quit and do something a little more
daring, something I’d desired to do for a long time—I became a writer. I
started writing freelance and gradually began to build up a steady writing
business. Being debt free allows you options. I am so grateful that we
had these options.</div>
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<br /></div>
<h1>
Stupid Tax and Potholes</h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While building my writing business, as with any new
business, I was underemployed. We also had done some miscalculation on Ryan’s
anticipated income, so our budget was incorrect. This meant we had to dip into
our emergency fund to cover expenses. I also made the mistake of keeping my
regular health insurance through COBRA after quitting my job. We only asked
around at one place to comparison shop—mistake number one. We were told that we
had the best deal available—mistake number two. This, my friends, is called
stupid tax. I had COBRA from October 2012 through June 2013, a mistake that
probably cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $2700 of our emergency
savings. We finally woke up in June and realized how unsustainable this was and
visited a Dave Ramsey Endorsed Local Provider for health insurance. Our broker
helped us choose the best plan for me, saving us around $300 a month! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once we could finally breathe on that front, we realized
that if I couldn’t find more writing work soon, I would have to pick up a
part-time job outside of my writing. I was living in a little bit of a fantasy
world, and just knew that I would never have to do that, despite the dwindling
numbers in our emergency fund staring me in the face. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was wrong.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Murphy knocked on our door in September—pothole number one.
As I mentioned before, we don’t have any children, but we do have two cats.
Luna and Oliver, while furry, are like children to us. Oliver, our baby boy,
got really sick about 10:30pm on a Saturday night in late September 2013. With
our regular vet closed, I had to take him to the Emergency Animal Hospital. If
he had gotten sick on a weekday, it probably would have been half the cost.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it happened. In fact, if I had waited until first
thing Monday morning to take Oliver to the vet, he very likely could have died.
Oliver had a blocked bladder, something that can be fatal if left untreated for
more than 24-48 hours. The procedure saved our baby boy, but came very close to
emptying our emergency fund. The total came up to around $850. We got Oliver
home on Monday morning and noticed after a few hours that he just didn’t seem
right. We took the precaution of calling our regular vet and they said to bring
him by so he could be observed for the day. We did and later that day, they
recommended that they keep him overnight. Long story short, Oliver ended up
spending the rest of week in the vet’s office because his bladder became
blocked again—pothole number two. The projected amount for his stay and
treatment was greater than the remaining amount in our emergency fund. I knew
my parents had an account set up for me back home that they had continued to
put money into, though I had long left the nest. I had to do a pride-shattering
thing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I called my dad. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My parents graciously wired the money to my bank account.
Thankfully, the actual cost of Oliver’s stay at the vet was much less than they
originally projected because he recovered so quickly. The total was around
$650. However, even with the lower amount due, I knew we had to quickly get our
emergency fund back in place because now I realized we were not immune to
emergencies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even through rough times, God’s hand has never ceased to
provide, though it’s not always in a way that I would imagine or prefer. The
day we took Oliver back to our regular vet, Ryan’s best friend Zak called me
and asked if I needed a part-time job. Zak had no idea that Oliver, his fur
nephew, had even been sick. I was able to start the job the next week. The best
part was that I was making more money an hour at this job than I did as a
manager. The Lord will provide.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Despite getting the great new job, we knew we had to go a
step further to help fix our emergency fund. The job would only help to solve
our income problem. Earlier in 2013, we had purchased tickets to attend a
conference that had changed our lives over the past two years—Hutchmoot. Total
cost on tickets for the both of us was around $579. We ended up selling those
tickets in order to give our emergency savings a boost. This was a wise
decision. About a week after that, we got another visit from Murphy—pothole
number three. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I stated previously, Ryan works as a pizza delivery
driver. Thanks to the help of a car savvy friend, we realized that Ryan was in
desperate need of 2 more tires for his car. We were able to replace those, but
it ended up costing us around $350. Thankfully, we had the money in savings to
cover it, but still, a smaller number in the emergency fund is a scary thing.
We worked hard and kept putting money back in savings, regardless of how small.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
About 2 weeks after that in late October, I was getting back
in my car after a trip to the grocery store and realized to my horror that the
steel was starting to show through on one of my tires. I went to the shop and
learned that I had to get 3 tires. This trip to the tire shop cost nearly $400
and emptied out the rest of our emergency savings—pothole number four. Remember
what I said about God providing? A friend in the bookstore business called me
and asked if I could use a part-time job. Ryan and I had been praying for more
work for me—didn’t God know that I meant writing work? However, when God
provides, it is not always what we might imagine. I took the job and it proved
to be a blessing. I hustled and worked my way through November, bringing in
more money to help boost up our savings again and completely solved our income
deficit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then in December, we got hit with potholes five and six.
Ryan’s car had previously been in his mother’s name. We had done the paperwork
to have the car transferred to his name, but didn’t realize it would cost us
nearly $250 to title it in our county. No problem, we had the cash to do it.
Then 2 days after that, Ryan’s car started making a horrendous noise. We took
it to our mechanic and discovered he needed new front brakes
immediately—pothole number five. We sold a few things to get the cash to pay
for his brake job. I found out that I needed rear brakes shortly after
that—pothole six. No big deal, right? I was about to be paid from one of my
part-time jobs. I had my check set up on direct deposit so it would be right in
my bank account. I go the next day to look at my account. It’s not there. I
emailed my employer and she didn’t know anything about it either. Later that
day a company wide e-mail was sent out, explaining that there was a delay with
direct deposits and I would be paid on the 12<sup>th</sup> of the month, rather
than the 10<sup>th</sup>, as usual. Because of the delay, I ended up having to
take time off from work to get my brakes done, rather than have them done on my
day off, so I had to absorb some opportunity cost. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Despite all these potholes, we were able to persevere. Even
when we had to empty out our emergency fund, we never borrowed money. We were
able to work out our problems by selling things, working extra, and waiting.
Could the expense be put off, even for just one more day? If the answer was
yes, it got delayed. Sometimes this meant we stretched things out a little
longer than we should have. We got creative with dinner and made unusual dishes
with what we had on hand. (If I had my own restaurant, it would be called the
Second Chance Buffet. Or maybe a cooking show called Luxury Leftovers).
We sold things on eBay, traded them in at our local used book/movie/music shop,
and bought nothing extra. We gathered up every bit of spare change we found in
the couch and dropped it off at the coin counter at our bank. It did get a
little scary at times, but we held on to God and to each other. He got us
through each time and it built up our relationship, knowing we can weather the
storms of life together. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are still working to recover our fully funded emergency
fund, but we know that we will meet our goals through hard work and discipline.
You can do it, too. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">How do you get past unexpected problems with your
money? Share your story of how you got through the tough times.</span> <br /><br />
<br />
<br /> Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-43243604192503279912014-05-09T19:32:00.001-04:002014-05-09T19:32:14.838-04:00Reducto SallieMae! (Alternate Title: How Nerds Pay Off Debt)<br />
What, you don't try to blow up your student loans using spells from Harry Potter? Oh...I guess perhaps that isn't normal. We'll just pretend that didn't happen. On the other hand, normal is boring. Weird is awesome!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/rMweXVWB918?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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I had an idea for a themed debt thermometer a few months ago and finally decided to put it into action. These pictures are pretty awful but you'll get the idea.</div>
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First, take all of your debts and put them in order from largest to smallest. We used an excel spreadsheet for this. After you run out of names of Death Eaters you just head over to Google and find some more. This has been edited since the screenshot was taken. I somehow forgot Voldemort and after a bit of reading realized Ludo Bagman wasn't a Death Eater, he was just a jerk. Now Voldemort is our top loan and Fenrir Greyback has been moved to Bagmans place. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicF_ML6eC-AJ179C5VGwvBMWlsLKe6VBQFhGB6tFZHusIWJ32L26MiR4mcEd2-a_ssSdoszIKeHmbngjACeQsyxFX93Wd9BY1ftXYcJ5gUQcZQsI-hTwF219TtNi6eTLxlDPpNEir7CFn/s1600/Deatheatersblog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicF_ML6eC-AJ179C5VGwvBMWlsLKe6VBQFhGB6tFZHusIWJ32L26MiR4mcEd2-a_ssSdoszIKeHmbngjACeQsyxFX93Wd9BY1ftXYcJ5gUQcZQsI-hTwF219TtNi6eTLxlDPpNEir7CFn/s1600/Deatheatersblog.png" height="320" width="296" /></a></div>
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Then you find your scrapbooking supplies and realize you're running low on paper. Your only options are green or purple. Green is a color for Slytherin so that will have to suffice. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmdCaC_9Wh3ZKtvo4WQG8v7Gsfpd5-Cl4qQbnN-cx29LJhmSNdiSPS44PkLmu_4zaBVX58HadLNeAoeZ1ITz3hAddzTjbA4CRb3cNgXG2fg7XOxzOV0OZSKeTkOJ0vosPrzFs_fsLyRCc/s1600/IMG_2932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmdCaC_9Wh3ZKtvo4WQG8v7Gsfpd5-Cl4qQbnN-cx29LJhmSNdiSPS44PkLmu_4zaBVX58HadLNeAoeZ1ITz3hAddzTjbA4CRb3cNgXG2fg7XOxzOV0OZSKeTkOJ0vosPrzFs_fsLyRCc/s1600/IMG_2932.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Choose your symbols. I decided that the Dark Mark will be used to measure how much we owe. Each Dark Mark is equal to 99 galleons, 5 sickles, and 5.5 knuts. After we submit a payment of that amount the Dark Mark is covered by the Deathly Hallows. As you can see we're currently working on Lucius Malfoy, he has a 9% interest rate. The rest have between a 3%-6% interest rate. </div>
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When you're debt is paid just go all Avada Kadavra and finish them off. This part is pretty satisfying, I'm not going to lie about that.</div>
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So there ya go. It's now hanging on our fridge and will hopefully give us some motivation! </div>
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Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-4938872371336242962014-04-28T21:52:00.001-04:002014-04-28T21:52:51.896-04:00Overcoming Obstacles Today I finally threw a big snowball. It's been awhile since we've done that. This morning as I was about to hit the 'confirm payment' button I thought back to why it's been so long.<br />
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Here's a list of things we've encountered in the past 6-8 months that have slowed our pace dramatically.<br />
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<li>Between gas and car rental it costs us around $350 for us to make a trip back to Missouri. We went back for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. </li>
<li>We ended up needing a new to us car due to extensive rust, we saved up $3,000 for that. </li>
<li>Phillip broke a tooth and it was about $400 for a crown and fillings.</li>
<li>My wisdom teeth were impacted and needed to be surgically removed - $800. This probably could have waited but it was causing a bit of pain so we thought it was best to go ahead and do it rather than waiting for them to get infected. </li>
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Those are just some of the smaller things. In February we had a little bit stashed in our savings account from saving for a car. We knew were hoping to start a family soon and wanted to get started on saving a little bit each month. We found out in early March that I was expecting. We started making more transfers to savings. Our goal was to have 4 months of income saved up by November to pay for medical bills and cover maternity leave.<br />
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On March 31st my Dr. couldn't find a heartbeat. I had 2 options, have a D&C or take some medication. We chose the D&C, I got the bill on Monday for $500. We also did some emotional spending after we found out. After being home from work for a few days we got a little stir crazy so we got a hotel and went to Gatlinburg for a night. We also decided to travel home for Easter to see our families. We hadn't seen them since we lost our baby and sometimes you just need your mom no matter how old you are.<br />
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This morning hitting send on that big payment was kind of a realization that life goes on, no matter what obstacles we face. We were saving that money for a crib, cute onesies, and lots of children's books. Instead it went to SallieMae and we are $4,000 closer to debt freedom.<br />
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I didn't mean to turn this into a sap-fest but I guess I'm just feeling introspective tonight. My next post won't be nearly so sappy. I'm hoping to complete our new Harry Potter themed debt thermometer to post soon. I have a digital spreadsheet made, now I just have to do the crafty part.<br />
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Good night for now!Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-21521591483314600642014-02-23T21:55:00.002-05:002014-02-23T21:55:24.573-05:00Deactivating Facebook and Decluttering My Brain Yesterday, during a PMS induced frustration, I decided to deactivate my Facebook. So if you're reading this and didn't find it via a link on my page, then that's awesome! I'm going to try it for 30 days, after some Google searches I have discovered that this is apparently a very hipster thing to do.<br />
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As someone who lives 600 miles from their family I can attest that Facebook is a good way to keep in touch. It's also a huge time-suck and zaps my productivity. I found myself going on to check my notifications and then falling down the proverbial rabbit hole.<br />
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I found myself playing the comparison game. I've spent most of my life playing that game. You know the one. When you're young it's "she's so much prettier than me and that sucks." As an adult this becomes "They're more successful than us because they just bought a new car" or "Wow, their house is so beautiful. I wish we weren't renting." and my favorite: "I'm not a respectable adult yet because I don't have children." Ouch, that one stings.<br />
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On the flip side it can lead to a sick sense of satisfaction "How many times has she been married? We're not even 30 yet."<br />
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Those other people are probably putting up facades anyway. We want to appear perfect to outsiders but on the inside we are anything but. The couple with the new house might be struggling to pay their mortgage and having the fights that money struggles can bring. The couple with the new baby could be making one last effort to make their marriage work. <br />
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We're all broken. I know I don't share the negative aspects of myself online either but I do share them with the people who matter. If you know me pretty well you might know how much I struggle with anxiety. You may even be one of the lucky (and ever so patient) few who have talked me through a panic attack in the middle of the night. <br />
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I'm done playing the game. I want to read more, learn more, and become healthier both mentally and physically. I don't want to spend my time comparing myself to other people. I want to focus on how I can be a better person and make a positive impact on others.Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-51171681570047115002014-02-01T15:31:00.000-05:002014-02-01T15:31:13.781-05:00Craigslist Shopping for Cars Wow, I've not updated in awhile. I have no excuse other than hibernating and being lazy. We started looking for a car around November and finally found on in January.<br />
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I think the best decision we made in 2013 was moving closer to my work. There were a few cold mornings this winter that my Nissan decided it didn't want to start anymore. I was able to walk to work easily. It's also nice to get full nights of sleep without dancing elephants on the second floor.<br />
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I was hesitant about buying on Craigslist at first, because dealers are supposed to be reputable. I learned through this experience that dealers are also pushy, smarmy, and really don't care to help you if you're not financing a fancy schmancy car.<br />
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After looking online and visiting a couple of larger dealerships we quickly realized that wasn't the route for us. We changed our focus to looking at smaller "I have 20 cars in my backyard" places. It was there that I fell in love with an adorable lime green bug that was definitely in our price range. We took it to our mechanic to have it checked out and they said the transmission was about to go out. Please note that this is after the guy said "Oh yeah, that car runs great! No problems there!"<br />
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This is when I got fed up and started obsessively stalking Craigslist for new listings every few hours. I e-mailed, sent texts, and hardly received any responses. Most things in our budget needed a lot of work or were gas guzzlers. With much patience and persistence I finally got what I wanted.</div>
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It isn't pretty, new, or shiny, but it has been well maintained. The lady bought it new in 1999 for $19,000 and did regular maintenance on it. It's a Mazda with 114k miles, I have a huge stack of receipts for oil changes, labor, and the original bill of sale. We paid $3,000 for it and the only thing that we need to have done is to replace the right CV joint. </div>
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Because we had a plan in place we didn't make an impulse decision to go into debt for something new and shiny. We were able to save up pretty quickly and buy something outright. I think being on the Dave Ramsey plan has made us make more mature decisions with our money, if we didn't have that plan in place we might have made a decision based on emotions instead of making a well planned decision.</div>
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My tips on buying a car are pretty basic but might be helpful, I'm not sure. Here they are anyway:</div>
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1) Either be very specific or very open-minded. </div>
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It's easier to either have something very specific in mind or just go on value alone. There are about 20 new cars posted every 15 minutes on the Knoxville Craigslist site. This will help you weed out options you're not interested in and save time.</div>
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2) Find a good deal? Now go to Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds.com.</div>
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It's easy to find out the value of the car you want to purchase. You can input the individual properties of the vehicle or type in the VIN number.</div>
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3) If you're buying from a dealer ask for a CarFax report. </div>
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This will show you any maintenance associated with the vehicle, it also shows any accidents or damage the vehicle may have incurred. </div>
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4) Feel free to haggle, but be reasonable about it.</div>
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Haggling is just a part of buying on Craigslist, or even at a dealer. Only haggle after you've seen the car. We have the Nissan posted right now and people are making really low offers via text message. I've been just deleting those messages. Sorry, I'm not going to sell a running car for $200.00. Also if you are really interested in making the purchase take the cash with you. It shows the seller you're interested, good deals sell really fast on Craigslist. </div>
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5) Have it checked out</div>
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It only costs $20 at our mechanic to have a car checked out for major issues. That's nothing when you're looking at making a big purchase. I would rather spend $20 and find out a car needs tons of work and not buy the car rather than buy it and then realize I need to spend lots of money to fix it. </div>
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Those are my non professional tips on purchasing a car, it was an exhausting process. I'm not going to lie, I did break down and cry a time or two because it's just so much EASIER to finance a new car than find a good deal. I can say that I'm really glad we don't have a car payment though! </div>
<br />Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-29059253920950169812013-11-23T11:38:00.000-05:002013-11-23T11:38:02.108-05:00Fish Fingers and Custard I've embraced being a nerd from a very young age. Really before I even knew what it meant. We recently discovered the vlogbrothers on Youtube, and I think John Green made a spot on assessment of what it means to be a nerd. They're pretty awesome, you should go check them out.<br />
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I tried to hide it in high school because the things I like aren't necessarily "cool". I was enthusiastic about musicals, theatre, David Bowie, science, Tim Curry, and Harry Potter. After awhile I met other people who liked the same stuff I liked and weren't embarrassed by it at all. It helped me come out of my shell and realize I can be pretty excited about stuff and not really care what other people thing. That is pretty awesome. </div>
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Today is the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, something I'm relatively new to nerding about (thank you to Saskia and Becca for making me watch it!). I'm pretty excited about today, I love theme parties and I love costumes. Also I love baking fun things. </div>
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Like these T.A.R.D.I.S. blue cupcakes with bow ties:</div>
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The Fish Fingers and Custard are pretty fun too:</div>
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Do you have any fun plans for today?</div>
Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-91339421057801558692013-11-21T09:22:00.002-05:002013-11-21T09:22:52.738-05:00 Cars go 'Vroom'. Unless they're mine... My car goes "squeak, squeak, knock, knock, knock." I'm no mechanic but I'm pretty sure that's not how they're supposed to sound.<br />
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Phillip didn't think so either. Last week my Nissan took a trip to the mechanic, we were thinking "we know it needs new struts, that's probably all it is."<br />
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Turns out if you have a car in Michigan and don't wash the salt solution off of it, the bottom has a tendency to just kind of rust out. Yes, my car needs new struts but he mentioned something about just 2 metal bars holding the engine up and having to go to an auto body shop and pay $3,000 to fix it.<br />
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I only paid $1,300 for this car to begin with. I'm not going to pay $3,000 to fix it. </div>
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We spent the weekend going to various car dealerships and were sneered at from pretty much everyone. Why? Because we would tell them the budget we're working with. Apparently if you're not financing a newer car or buying something really expensive they really don't care to help you. Instead they like to say "Well, you're not going to find anything for that price, but come look at this car that's only $3,000 more than you want to spend. You can get really low payments." What? Are you even listening?</div>
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So now I think we're going the private seller route, I'm scouring Craigslist, Carsoup, and Autotrader in hopes of finding something that will last us a few years until our student loans are paid off. </div>
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Being an adult is not all it's cracked up to be. </div>
Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-30436991733946412022013-11-12T09:28:00.001-05:002013-11-12T09:28:15.071-05:00Our New Abode This is my 100th post! That's pretty snazzy.<br />
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My parents and aunt came down to visit us last week and they finally got to see our new apartment. We moved in toward the end of September but finally finished decorating last week. The garage is still messy but I'm working on a sign that says "Creative Clutter > Idle Neatness." That should excuse the mess well enough for us.<br />
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Now, on with the pictures!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y474/sunnybunny86/IMG_2795_zps2f156919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y474/sunnybunny86/IMG_2795_zps2f156919.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the living room (obviously) in our old apartment.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Apartment! After a year and a half I finally managed to print some wedding pictures.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old bedroom<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y474/sunnybunny86/IMG_2824_zpse223c96f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y474/sunnybunny86/IMG_2824_zpse223c96f.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Bedroom</td></tr>
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The only decor we bought for the living room are the picture frames and prints. The rest is stuff we already had, just arranged differently or in a different room. </div>
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Most of you who read this know Phillip, but if you don't he's about 6'3 and loves sleeping in a cocoon of 7-8 pillows. We have been talking about getting a king size bed for about 6 months because I always felt like I was falling off the edge and my back was starting to hurt. So we went ahead and bought a bigger bed and bedding for it. Now we have a proper guest bedroom for friends and family. No more air mattresses! </div>
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I bought the bedding from overstock.com, if you've never shopped there you should check it out. They have lots of great stuff at really good prices. </div>
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I really think the biggest difference is that the walls are painted with a better quality paint and have a nicer color to them than the cheap white paint the apartment complex used. We couldn't even clean the walls because the paint would come off onto your sponge. </div>
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This post is mostly for my mom, she didn't see the complete finished product while she was here.</div>
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What's your favorite decorating tip?</div>
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Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-22571074349470572972013-10-25T19:24:00.000-04:002013-10-25T19:24:53.450-04:00Crockpot Failure The weather has finally chilled here in East Tennessee, and I have a confession. Cold weather makes me want to just snuggle up on the couch, eat mountains of potatoes while drinking vats of hot cocoa. Today seemed to be the perfect day for potato soup. I knew I probably wouldn't feel like cooking after work today so I found <a href="http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/2362/Loaded-Baked-Potato-Soup124884.shtml" target="_blank">this</a> potato soup recipe.<br />
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I only have a small crock pot so I ended up cutting the recipe in half. It looked promising, I chopped my onions, garlic, and potatoes and dumped them in the pot. Added the broth and butter and gave it a stir. Setting it on low for 8 hours as directed. Around 2:00pm Phillip came home and sent me a text "wow, that soup smells awesome!"<br />
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I had high hopes, I really did. As soon as I walked in the door at 6:00 I smelled nothing but onions. I used my handy immersion blender and topped it with some bacon and cheese. Lifted the spoon and...gross. It smelled awful. I made Phillip taste it first. He can usually eat anything but actually spat this out. Now I have some potatoes roasting in the oven.<br />
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Bleck. I will now depend on Phillip to make me some tasty potato soup, his is about 100 times better.Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-55351942155636361132013-10-25T19:09:00.000-04:002013-10-25T19:09:27.051-04:00Forming New Habits I'm back! We moved over a month ago and finally Charter has connected the internet at our new place. They hired a contractor to come out and put in a cable line but it kept slipping through the cracks. Their communication is terrible.<br />
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This week I have started focusing on my habits around the house. When I was growing up our house was always clean and tidy (well except for the basement, but don't tell mom I told you that). I'm struggling to get into the habit of tidying up my house daily so that I don't have such a mountain of stuff to do on the weekends.<br />
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So far I have learned to start small. If I try to accomplish a lot of things at once I feel overwhelmed and end up not doing anything. This week my focus has been on the kitchen. Every day I have made myself do the following and hope it become a habit. Wipe down the counters and, load the dishwasher instead of piling things in the sink, and sweep the floor. It seems to help if ti do most of this while dinner is in the oven.<br />
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After I get into the habit of having the kitchen finished each day I'll add another room, then another. We still have a couple of rooms that are in disarray from the move. Tomorrow we will hopefully straighten those up and get the garage sorted into my sewing room. I've promised my mom I will share pictures when the place is ready to go.<br />
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How do you form new habits and make them stick? I seem be to really great at learning bad habits, like plopping on the couch and watching the entire season 2 of The New Girl. I don't really need any encouragement to do that! Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-8404146057195324652013-09-17T09:48:00.000-04:002013-09-17T09:48:02.118-04:00Movin' On Up We aren't spontaneous people. At all. I usually hem and haw about whatever decision needs to be made and when I'm finally ready to make a decision whatever I was going to buy is gone and the whole process has to start over again. Perhaps this is why it took us 5 years to go from first date to wedding date. <br />
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This week we made a pretty spontaneous decision. We're moving. I've been miserable in our apartment for quite awhile, being overrun by spiders and having a drunk and clumsy at 3am upstairs neighbor isn't really a picnic. We had been looking at rental houses but last Thursday we decided to just stick it out and for awhile. Friday a friend from church sent me a picture on Facebook "My friend has this house for rent if you guys are interested."<br />
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Friday I called the number, Saturday we looked at it, Sunday we said yes, Monday we signed the lease and started moving in. Best part? I rode my bike to work this morning and it took me about 4 minutes to get here! It's in the area of town I've always said I wanted to live, we have trees now! I can put up bird feeders, have flowers, and the walls aren't drab and scratched up, the carpet isn't all stained and icky. I'm so stinkin' excited!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I've been kind of like that for the past 48 hours. </td></tr>
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The rent is a bit more than we were paying but we will definitely save on gas and we are closer to town. We had been driving out to the bike path which is about 15 minutes from the apartment and now we can ride to it.<br />
Here are some more happy gifs. Have a great Tuesday!<br />
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Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-40764719422219393902013-09-14T21:49:00.001-04:002013-09-14T21:49:58.223-04:00Grocery Day! We did manage to stay on budget today! I also managed to lose my Kroger receipt so no recap for today. The only notable thing we purchased is a jar of Coconut Oil. It was on sale for $6.39 which is a pretty good deal. I also found Fage Greek Yogurt for $.35/container.<br />
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Today I made tamales for lunch, they were not fabulous so I ended up eating the chicken with sour cream and some cheddar instead.<br />
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Tonight I made <a href="http://honestfare.com/yogurt-banana-oat-muffins/" target="_blank">Yogurt Banana Oat Muffins</a> and they are awesome. I used a container of the Fage Greek Yogurt. They are made with oats ground into flour instead of regular flour. I have 2 more overly ripe bananas so I think I will make another batch and freeze them. I would take a picture but my kitchen is kind of a disaster. No need to share that with you folks.<br />
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I'm really glad I stumbled upon this oat flour trick. A friend of mine has recently cut gluten from her diet so it's good to know that I can replace regular flour with oat flour in some baking things.<br />
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Hope everyone is having an excellent weekend! Fall has arrived here in East Tennessee and I don't even have the words to express how amazing it feels! Get out there and enjoy it!<br />
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~SunnySunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-58318317442607382822013-09-13T12:19:00.000-04:002013-09-13T12:19:04.350-04:00Clean Eating for 14 Days I have been MIA for awhile, sorry about that! Business from my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/BurlapAndFrills" target="_blank">Etsy</a> shop has started picking up, this is super exciting! I did a craft fair last weekend so I made a few new items for that event so that took up a lot of time as well. My best seller, well in fact my only seller have been my cupcake toothpicks. I have to admit they are pretty darn cute! I may be a bit biased though. <br />
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Also since this is supposed to be a get out of debt blog I feel guilty writing about things that don't pertain to that. Honestly we are now kind of on auto-pilot as far as that goes. I pay all of our bills on the 1st of each month, after that most of the following paychecks are getting moved into the savings account so we can buy a new-to-us car pretty soon. Pretty boring isn't it? There really isn't any magic in getting our student loans paid off, just lots of work and sticking to a budget *yawn*.<br />
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One thing we do struggle with is our food budget and how to balance eating real, healthy foods without breaking the bank. <br />
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I read <a href="http://foodbabe.com/2013/02/12/how-food-companies-exploit-americans-with-ingredients-banned-in-other-countries/" target="_blank">this article</a> yesterday and passed it along to Phillip. It discusses all of the different additives that go into our food, some of which are actually banned in other countries. Last night we talked about it and are setting up to do a 14 day clean eating plan. So basically for the next 2 weeks this blog will be new recipes and if they worked out or not!<br />
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Here is a chart I found on Pinterest outlining what we'll be attempting to do:<br />
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Basically our goal is to eliminate artificial flavorings, artificial colors, and preservatives. Whatever we eat we will try to get food in its most basic form and then prepare it accordingly. <br />
I will probably fudge on the avoiding white flour thing, I have never been able to successfully bake a loaf of bread with wheat flour. <br />
Our budget is going to be $75/week, this will not include meat.We bought a Groupon to a local butcher shop, more about that in another post. We'll also keep track of if we lose any weight and how we feel each day.<br />
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If you'd like to read more about clean eating check out <a href="http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/the-clean-eating-diet-whats-it-all-about.html#b" target="_blank">this article.</a><br />
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Thanks for stopping by!<br />
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<br />Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-50888185351599520852013-09-02T13:06:00.002-04:002013-09-02T13:06:58.063-04:00My First Guest Post! I came home to find a link in my inbox to my first guest post ever! It's over at <a href="http://jennifermckennasays.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/debt-and-life-balance-guest-post-by-sunny/" target="_blank">Jennifer McKenna Says</a>. Basically it's an overview of what we are trying to do to get out of debt.<br />
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Now it's my turn to pass on the opportunity to be featured in a guest post here! If you would be interested in sharing your journey to get out of debt send me an e-mail.<br />
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Enjoy your Labor Day!Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-54587207096761886262013-08-21T22:10:00.000-04:002013-08-21T22:11:24.382-04:00You Can't Always Get What You Want (When You Want It) Sometimes I don't have a lot of patience. Growing up an only child I had more than my share of temper tantrums.<br />
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My most memorable tantrum was when I was around 4 and we were going to Wal-Mart, which parents love to do anyway right? There are 2 Wal-Marts where I'm from, one was infinitely cooler than the other because they had lobster tanks. We ended up at the other Wal-Mart, a huge tantrum ensues because "I WANNA SEE THE LOBSTERS!!!!"<br />
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Don't worry, I got my butt busted for that and rightfully so.</div>
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There are a few lists circulating out there about <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/7-characteristics-of-debt-free-people" target="_blank">"Characteristics of Debt Free People"</a>, each of the lists I've seen posted says that they are patient. When it comes to patience we're a work in progress. We have been very patient with our cars but in the past month we have poured $900 into our Jeep. Not cool Jeep, not cool. </div>
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This week has been full of car browsing, we had a list of ideal characteristics of the car we want. After visiting a few dealerships and doing some online research we were told repeatedly that what we're looking for doesn't really exist anymore. </div>
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Were we looking for some crazy space car? Nope. </div>
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Here is the list we brought with us:</div>
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<li>Less than 100,000 miles</li>
<li>Made in this century</li>
<li>Less than $6,000</li>
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Doesn't look too outrageous does it? We didn't think so but apparently it's unrealistic. We did find a few cars that we liked that were a bit over that price range. We could have very easily sat down and filled out the financing papers and walked away with a new-to-us vehicle and a car payment. We are pretty adamant about paying cash for it though so we left with a list of cars and a business card. </div>
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Now it has become a challenge to see how fast we can save for it and how we can make adjustments in our budget to put more money aside each month until we get it. This will put a hold on paying extra to our student loans but we think is a wiser decision to get a newer low mileage vehicle that will last instead of getting another clunker. It will be nice having a car that isn't old enough to be a junior in high school! </div>
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So we're working on this patience thing.</div>
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How do you handle having to wait for something?</div>
Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-34928367652040118602013-07-14T23:27:00.000-04:002013-07-14T23:27:11.305-04:00Thrifty Weekend We did more this weekend than we have in a long time. We're pretty much homebodies and are totally okay with that.<br />
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A friend of mine got a new puppy last week, on Friday she gave me a call and we took her doggies to the dog park downtown. Afterwards we walked them up to Market Square, I've lived in this area for 5 years and this is the first time I've been downtown on a weekend evening. See, I'm definitely a homebody. I learned a lesson, if you want to attract lots of stares take a beautiful and well behaved Malamute into a public place. He loved the attention and it was adorable. Cost of the trip: Rita's Italian Ice - $5.<br />
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Saturday was a big day. I didn't post it but these came in the mail a few weeks ago:<br />
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It was pretty fun, we scrambled around the week before trying to find things to have appraised. We settled on some of my jewelry pieces from my grandparents and a Stein from the now defunct Falstaff Brewery.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are La Rel costume jewelry pieces from the 50's that belonged to my grandma Louettie.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a resin stein from the brewery where my grandpa Elmer worked.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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So are we going to be millionaires and pay off all of our student loans tomorrow? Not likely! The jewelry appraised for about $50, I took my grandma Kathryn's pearl ring from the '30s and it appraised for a little more. They looked at the stein and were like "umm we don't know what this is, so $20?" The tickets for the even were free and so was the parking. Only thing we spent was our time. <div>
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We also ran into our only family members who live in the area, they were in line a bit ahead of us. After we had our stuff appraised we all went to McKay to forage through stacks of books. This was my first time there as well. It was overwhelming! We're going on vacation soon and I was looking for some cheap "fluff" books to read. We brought home 10 books and only paid $5.68. Now that is an awesome deal! </div>
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Saturday evening some friends from church came over to play cards, Phillip lost for the first time ever. He's still grousing over it a little bit. Cost: Free! </div>
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We had a lot of fun and are totally tuckered out. I'd call that a successful weekend. :)</div>
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What did you do this weekend? What are your favorite "budget friendly" weekend activities?</div>
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Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-88372038039357539742013-07-07T22:09:00.000-04:002013-07-07T22:09:06.815-04:00Adventures in Quinoa If you know me you know that I'm a really picky eater. Last week was my first time trying steak (it didn't taste like anything...what's the fuss y'all?) and ribs. The ribs were actually pretty good.<br />
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On Saturday we said bye to my parents and I sat on the couch and cried for a bit because 500 miles is a lot of miles! Then I finished my pity party and we went out to pick blueberries. We were going to head to Knoxville and get some blackberries too but I talked Phillip into going to Three Rivers Market instead. They have fancy pants healthy food and I was feeling adventurous. They also sell lots of grains and spices in bulk which is great because if you don't like something you're not stuck with 5 lbs of it! We bought some turbinado sugar, tricolored quinoa, and some banana chips.<br />
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Do you know what quinoa looks like? Bird seed. If you say it doesn't your totally fibbing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WQNa_bqwz4_PCrubWPIps8UD8gmHVuPC8xTT4oRfZDf6o6AJoH978ghmYCum4a9ZzF04NfXCJtENS8c5Ejh80JimumGQEaUL8FHEenk2ReMw9kwNWubUzC-_ym9Yi_nEqv4XHyzkGc6k/s1600/IMG_2204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1WQNa_bqwz4_PCrubWPIps8UD8gmHVuPC8xTT4oRfZDf6o6AJoH978ghmYCum4a9ZzF04NfXCJtENS8c5Ejh80JimumGQEaUL8FHEenk2ReMw9kwNWubUzC-_ym9Yi_nEqv4XHyzkGc6k/s320/IMG_2204.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bird seed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BIRD SEED!!</td></tr>
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I actually googled it to see if it was the stuff they put in the cheap bird seed, apparently it's not but I think they're wrong.<br />
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I didn't know what to do with this stuff, so I did what everyone looking for recipes does; check out Pinterest. I found <a href="http://overtimecook.com/2012/08/02/mini-quinoa-pizzas/" target="_blank">this recipe.</a> Mini Quinoa Pizzas, that sounds harmless right? You cook them up like potato cakes, throw on some cheese and sauce and stick them in the oven.<br />
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Did you know you have to rinse this stuff first? I don't own a strainer that small so I had to get a little creative.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnm-J6_9p_Zbbb17ztMDEBw3yNsZcAYBYX096xzL0uYjo3ZxHvLSf77bIH0B6LjG1eWoxiveXflu5zzqYND0eB9v1KiTWh1v8A_ECJxSzA2NWlUMGOha2vp9DdBtY5aY1-eemxUsTRsT6/s1600/IMG_2206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnm-J6_9p_Zbbb17ztMDEBw3yNsZcAYBYX096xzL0uYjo3ZxHvLSf77bIH0B6LjG1eWoxiveXflu5zzqYND0eB9v1KiTWh1v8A_ECJxSzA2NWlUMGOha2vp9DdBtY5aY1-eemxUsTRsT6/s320/IMG_2206.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's my snazzy flour sifter.<br /></td></tr>
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This called for 1 cup of quinoa boiled in 2 cups of water until it's absorbed all of the water. I think mine sprouted, is that supposed to happen? It wasn't in the instructions but they definitely had tails when they were finished cooking. <div>
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After it's finished cooking you put it in the fridge to cool. </div>
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I decided to use my time wisely.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9MhMN913hQFEtyF_mTp9HzHYbLKRinQKqp5DSJaQ8nJDbZjFK2cn85hGNNo2VxAyXTreCiez_bviSzBciNRsiQO7kv_iqtjOjNsQnmmo0Ijq8bDapaWG6ak7rCt5JOkMkh6kHiva9O7c/s1600/IMG_2214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9MhMN913hQFEtyF_mTp9HzHYbLKRinQKqp5DSJaQ8nJDbZjFK2cn85hGNNo2VxAyXTreCiez_bviSzBciNRsiQO7kv_iqtjOjNsQnmmo0Ijq8bDapaWG6ak7rCt5JOkMkh6kHiva9O7c/s320/IMG_2214.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I've made this recipe for blueberry muffins before and it's pretty wonderful.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJk3M_y3ZhVZvswyBqZcDgQS0pfdEEoypOrcoJay3bC6vV4UDS_xXBGpSYRRyjl-cGXLcOgQ4YgnplozH-zhe5YaPCKFVDJXtt7jisvWMUI65HiIhG8KO7kSUAYHt8M6RTsc7HXIxclzSx/s1600/IMG_2216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJk3M_y3ZhVZvswyBqZcDgQS0pfdEEoypOrcoJay3bC6vV4UDS_xXBGpSYRRyjl-cGXLcOgQ4YgnplozH-zhe5YaPCKFVDJXtt7jisvWMUI65HiIhG8KO7kSUAYHt8M6RTsc7HXIxclzSx/s320/IMG_2216.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/to-die-for-blueberry-muffins/">http://allrecipes.com/recipe/to-die-for-blueberry-muffins/</a><br /><br /></td></tr>
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So I mixed up my muffins whilst waiting for the quinoa to cool. When it has cooled you mix it with your spices and eggs, then pan fry it in oil. I used canola but you could use anything. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQ6xLka2Zg_vKMZ9MLhVsUJxo9XrcKH5xgCFG-VBpFW8wOu_qgHoqiBGDXTsTOx6P4AOe5SWUUGEZnxtF-HVPuBHBBz9QRUVmK8xpY1E4mrSgo-G4mNthFeLszxqRR_bLvKjeUcHpobn5/s1600/IMG_2221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQ6xLka2Zg_vKMZ9MLhVsUJxo9XrcKH5xgCFG-VBpFW8wOu_qgHoqiBGDXTsTOx6P4AOe5SWUUGEZnxtF-HVPuBHBBz9QRUVmK8xpY1E4mrSgo-G4mNthFeLszxqRR_bLvKjeUcHpobn5/s320/IMG_2221.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See the sprouts? I'm not crazy, I promise!<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When they're finished top them it a spoon of tomato sauce and a little cheese. Bake until the cheese has melted.</td></tr>
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So the verdict is that they're not terrible. They tasted a lot like potato cakes, I can handle that. Do you have a favorite quinoa recipe? Care to share?</div>
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Oh and my muffins, they're pretty much awesome. I made a double batch because we're taking them to work tomorrow. I've dubbed it Magical Muffin Monday, because I adore alliterations. </div>
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Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-67986564230902878072013-06-22T21:03:00.001-04:002013-06-22T21:05:05.930-04:00Easy Corn Tortilla Recipe<br />
We had been doing well on eating whole foods for quite awhile, but slowly and surely we slipped. Now we're back to trying to do things from scratch and only eat things that are really food that grows from the ground. Not chemicals created in a lab. Did you know red food coloring is made from the shells of beetles? Sounds appetizing doesn't it?<br />
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Cooking from scratch seems more expensive but is actually way cheaper in the grand scheme of things, it also only contains things that you put in there yourself.<br />
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A friend of ours is going gluten free to see if it helps her feel better, they came over for dinner yesterday and Phillip was going to make Fajitas. We usually make them by using store bought flour tortillas. Since flour contains gluten I decided to make corn tortillas from scratch. It was a little bit time consuming but overall it was really easy! Phillip picked up a bag of this stuff at Kroger on his way home:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXfg2UF1A7qMOw5b72C2-w_F3ikiXqoSLb-ORCLBkxMZRCjnhPPRPe46HiR419MWfXsl7dQjhs0EUp9OqRuFG3nI9hx6F0a1Dlu4CikpSQJVgU_SeCEzGMmB7Z0gzhct-sx9yjHO5bT8h/s1600/IMG_2142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXfg2UF1A7qMOw5b72C2-w_F3ikiXqoSLb-ORCLBkxMZRCjnhPPRPe46HiR419MWfXsl7dQjhs0EUp9OqRuFG3nI9hx6F0a1Dlu4CikpSQJVgU_SeCEzGMmB7Z0gzhct-sx9yjHO5bT8h/s320/IMG_2142.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think he said this 4lb bag was $2.50. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzz5V33YP4c9ilVkhoWoziIZ0tICZx8X87I-l4tvDfqEXs6sIVJI5kPKdLSlWw-yP4Y95vJr461f4auNEPcLnjMrT83oxMXgp-qMvRXLYBmBI2NDN4R7HqWiGNuZj5PkGbDPnjE2d0-rB/s1600/IMG_2143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnzz5V33YP4c9ilVkhoWoziIZ0tICZx8X87I-l4tvDfqEXs6sIVJI5kPKdLSlWw-yP4Y95vJr461f4auNEPcLnjMrT83oxMXgp-qMvRXLYBmBI2NDN4R7HqWiGNuZj5PkGbDPnjE2d0-rB/s320/IMG_2143.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The recipe is right here on the bag!</td></tr>
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I just followed the recipe listed on the bag.<br />
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Ingredients:</div>
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2 cups Torti Masa</div>
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1 1/4 cup water</div>
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1/4 tbs salt</div>
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In a large bowl stir together the salt and flour, then add the water to make a dough. I ended up using 2 cups of water because the dough came out crumbly at first.</div>
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After you've made the dough section it out, this amount should make 16 tortillas. Roll each one up and get your skillet warmed up.</div>
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Now you can roll out your tortillas, which is easier said than done! I placed the ball of dough between a ziploc bag and a cutting board so it wouldn't stick to the rolling pin. They're going to look a little wonky but they're still pretty tasty. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxnIAnu_UwDADKti6fQQntCMwrQpEPiVMj9V2t3ZCGxNjX7Zob_6slWji62r71sh5RrXM0ENwrDgm-TI6BtEAyyyZOBn9pucbcVI9FZFdswOsncoA-7c24AYNz7CJB9RZykbCrn2zGmdb/s1600/IMG_2156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxnIAnu_UwDADKti6fQQntCMwrQpEPiVMj9V2t3ZCGxNjX7Zob_6slWji62r71sh5RrXM0ENwrDgm-TI6BtEAyyyZOBn9pucbcVI9FZFdswOsncoA-7c24AYNz7CJB9RZykbCrn2zGmdb/s320/IMG_2156.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It helps to have someone rolling them out while you're cooking the other ones, this way they don't get the chance to dry out!</td></tr>
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I at first tried putting the dough <b>in</b> the ziploc bag but it just stuck to everything. When transferring this to the griddle I did have to carefully remove them with a spatula or they would fall apart.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsKee773fkwC50XfKwkbo70TyWjch9AW6cpSfXmeaxLgVTaMv4LgRAmhHb3mZdtc4ixF89_4R4yL4RCgA_F-flHkzjVuZW9a8aRUIfRiOqeTabHNU1iX5mvdnH_gnBWxadH6pMK7vuyNJ/s1600/IMG_2154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsKee773fkwC50XfKwkbo70TyWjch9AW6cpSfXmeaxLgVTaMv4LgRAmhHb3mZdtc4ixF89_4R4yL4RCgA_F-flHkzjVuZW9a8aRUIfRiOqeTabHNU1iX5mvdnH_gnBWxadH6pMK7vuyNJ/s320/IMG_2154.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now you just cook it until it's done! Just brush a little oil on your griddle before placing the tortilla on, if you want them to bubble up pat them with a damp paper towel before you flip them. </div>
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I'm not sure how long they took to cook, I wasn't really paying attention! </div>
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I'm also not sure what the nutrition facts are for this recipe but I can't imagine it would be too terrible! I didn't realize that we had corn tortillas in the cabinet so I decided to check out their ingredients.</div>
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Ingredients:</div>
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Corn</div>
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Water</div>
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Sodium Propionate (propionic acid, sodium hydroxide)</div>
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Methylparaben</div>
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Propylparaben</div>
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Gum Blend</div>
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Sorbic Acid</div>
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Fumaric Acid</div>
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Dextrose</div>
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Again our ingredients were: corn, salt, water. I think I'll stick with homemade from now on! That bag of flour was $2.50 and I estimate that it will make at least 5 batches of 16 tortillas. The corn tortillas we bought at the store were probably $2.00 for 18. Making them yourself is a much better value!</div>
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What things do you make from scratch? Care to share your recipes?</div>
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Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-37907302736683595362013-06-18T09:29:00.001-04:002013-06-18T09:29:28.296-04:00Swimming in Strawberries This post really is really just an update on what we've been up to. Kind of budget related but not really.<br />
Strawberry season has wrapped up. Think we stocked up enough?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZ8VmZong_zs015QvG_v3DXoDdZYpgfnApQtFN2Mvc2EjI_hyphenhyphenbtwJGN-Q_7dVw2AQ8hkUrECX2oLPDNsbvpF3jx6RkfPfdlp_vdkv52dOQ6eRY3NYsWxncDPYEovLx24hw2X9dsPjw0mr/s1600/IMG_2077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZ8VmZong_zs015QvG_v3DXoDdZYpgfnApQtFN2Mvc2EjI_hyphenhyphenbtwJGN-Q_7dVw2AQ8hkUrECX2oLPDNsbvpF3jx6RkfPfdlp_vdkv52dOQ6eRY3NYsWxncDPYEovLx24hw2X9dsPjw0mr/s320/IMG_2077.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESPjLGXDG-O-fqQfK1o4UL86VUDL8qvfDYB8olRf9xgBsVuXsgvSnaPn1i-iVONIPFamHQpSNFyGeWb0JQaKDjmPS82a3L6AFDTDAANiDh99HR6plGzRAg14KW3p8u_I-O7VSSsB6XAed/s1600/IMG_2100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESPjLGXDG-O-fqQfK1o4UL86VUDL8qvfDYB8olRf9xgBsVuXsgvSnaPn1i-iVONIPFamHQpSNFyGeWb0JQaKDjmPS82a3L6AFDTDAANiDh99HR6plGzRAg14KW3p8u_I-O7VSSsB6XAed/s320/IMG_2100.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This load was from our last trip to the berry farm.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvrXLtf7lhSK_h2tUMx2qZzU8ApNgo7QHRd_ZOfPXUcXUce7koNOEIaeT9qGfdxxKfJIKcNB1n0sfAZ5MVegoKqs_vmfZIgR760YFsDJXh11Lt8q4J4SnikM8ds4swEfht5D2BBDbkNUW/s1600/IMG_2141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvrXLtf7lhSK_h2tUMx2qZzU8ApNgo7QHRd_ZOfPXUcXUce7koNOEIaeT9qGfdxxKfJIKcNB1n0sfAZ5MVegoKqs_vmfZIgR760YFsDJXh11Lt8q4J4SnikM8ds4swEfht5D2BBDbkNUW/s320/IMG_2141.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 gallon size bags full of frozen strawberries. I tried to stack them on the scale but they kept falling over! I'm estimating it's about 20 pounds.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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I also learned to make jam this year! It was pretty easy! We have 8 half pints of strawberry jam in the cupboard. It was a lot of fun to learn and I look forward to using this new skill when blackberries come in season in a few weeks!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzySCOezQEQIU7UbBtCV_YPD4ECzmM5qWq4L-EqaT8DEHjbcEEzZWB7YYC0J5pavp5UCHpbez8oOvR-r4yYrOxpA3qF_cuvl4WrcOtwAOMj8TRJ2yblV4tiVOsxriaGu3LGRq3Jj7j3QxG/s1600/IMG_2138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzySCOezQEQIU7UbBtCV_YPD4ECzmM5qWq4L-EqaT8DEHjbcEEzZWB7YYC0J5pavp5UCHpbez8oOvR-r4yYrOxpA3qF_cuvl4WrcOtwAOMj8TRJ2yblV4tiVOsxriaGu3LGRq3Jj7j3QxG/s320/IMG_2138.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The farm we have been going to charges $1.35/lb for strawberries, this is typically cheaper than the grocery store. They taste so much better since they're so fresh! They aren't really sprayed with any insecticides and shopping there supports local business. Sounds like a win/win situation for everyone!<br />
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We're hoping those strawberries will last until next Spring but I'm not sure they will. We're running out of room in our freezer and it's not even blueberry season yet! I'm going to start scouring Craigslist for a mini freezer to keep our fruit in.<br />
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We went back to Missouri for Memorial Day and brought this contraption back with us. I am pretty excited about it. Here's a really easy recipe for Kettle Corn if anyone is interested.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixs2J4j-hNq5zu0mSpHtB13wxSXyfs0h4tCMQesOnhg-m8F4ttdllDGcfnnUx-VIUbXZ3sKZmLA_2xpOgUPwG0GOP-XS_VUfuxmuBIGwXxwnKb1mDpAWoIFdd3u3xhxH6FSGKX3S2D_p6g/s1600/IMG_2131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixs2J4j-hNq5zu0mSpHtB13wxSXyfs0h4tCMQesOnhg-m8F4ttdllDGcfnnUx-VIUbXZ3sKZmLA_2xpOgUPwG0GOP-XS_VUfuxmuBIGwXxwnKb1mDpAWoIFdd3u3xhxH6FSGKX3S2D_p6g/s320/IMG_2131.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's a really easy recipe for Kettle Corn if anyone is interested.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2-GFODnkM9FopT7CrSRw57GlOUdhx4tUJzWGlmy4eKM7QCfsyJIp3rvGquGTn5NBrqdPqGz1sdiETaU0rAkBeLtwZFHy20h7rx_oZE3IttaNapKh1Um3Q9LIT8wsCGkXu5eEn-LhjIo7/s1600/IMG_2132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv2-GFODnkM9FopT7CrSRw57GlOUdhx4tUJzWGlmy4eKM7QCfsyJIp3rvGquGTn5NBrqdPqGz1sdiETaU0rAkBeLtwZFHy20h7rx_oZE3IttaNapKh1Um3Q9LIT8wsCGkXu5eEn-LhjIo7/s320/IMG_2132.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 tbsp Coconut Oil, 1/3 cup Popcorn, 2 tbsp sugar, and salt to taste.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitkcMvYvE0U6L-CwFteutfEXemYhK22hbljjK5RvjhSnrc6sJmnzuNtGr9uPxfTZL9fjlCpWzpaeD5lMbXYWoCjqsZ1QHuj5OKX6qifuA_g0f33AWB5TAWT82Gm9rOMQYsCEJgzHlEBNbf/s1600/IMG_2134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitkcMvYvE0U6L-CwFteutfEXemYhK22hbljjK5RvjhSnrc6sJmnzuNtGr9uPxfTZL9fjlCpWzpaeD5lMbXYWoCjqsZ1QHuj5OKX6qifuA_g0f33AWB5TAWT82Gm9rOMQYsCEJgzHlEBNbf/s320/IMG_2134.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melt your coconut oil on medium heat. Drop in 1 kernel of popcorn. When that kernel pops you're ready to add the rest of the popcorn and sugar. Attach the lid and stir like crazy!<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVdci6kHnaqptUiKhkqVDfruiqLrJUpY-GVXfLTggNXBGIBw1GfIFmAAYDXyn_w4jKI0Tg2Q2ZPiRIqbhjYvwU_EjzzmUG9voXejECPIkbNKh6mZfMr3NgEXtlOAZaRvQlo8bXVxYE1iv/s1600/IMG_2135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVdci6kHnaqptUiKhkqVDfruiqLrJUpY-GVXfLTggNXBGIBw1GfIFmAAYDXyn_w4jKI0Tg2Q2ZPiRIqbhjYvwU_EjzzmUG9voXejECPIkbNKh6mZfMr3NgEXtlOAZaRvQlo8bXVxYE1iv/s320/IMG_2135.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As soon as it has stopped popping dump it into your serving bowl. If it stays in the hot popper it might burn.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJe0TMVujPQE6ExTVvSrLBm-YTNmK-htlcQoJmz35_rxIsPBD41zz_jOXuMV0hPYfQEmBOpFyZrsr46wYZymU3engQsdhJ7Y1qxf3SuopEXq3mjhZry2093l4onG96LevjEudRLn1O_Ar-/s1600/IMG_2136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJe0TMVujPQE6ExTVvSrLBm-YTNmK-htlcQoJmz35_rxIsPBD41zz_jOXuMV0hPYfQEmBOpFyZrsr46wYZymU3engQsdhJ7Y1qxf3SuopEXq3mjhZry2093l4onG96LevjEudRLn1O_Ar-/s320/IMG_2136.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoy!</td></tr>
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Yesterday was the first successful batch I have made on my own! No burnt kernels here! No burnt Sunnys either. I usually have Phillip make this for me because hot grease freaks me out, since he's taller his face is not as close to the popping grease as mine is. </div>
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That's all I have for today!</div>
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Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-52390667923284222562013-06-13T09:07:00.002-04:002013-06-13T09:07:38.460-04:00Halfway to our 2013 goal! I just have to say I'm pretty excited. Our personal debt payoff goal for this year was $30,000, it seemed impossible. That's like the price of a new car, or half a house.<br />
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Yesterday we hit the $15k mark. $15,071.41 if you want to get nit-picky.<br />
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Now it feels like we will actually reach that goal which is pretty crazy.<br />
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The even crazier thing is we haven't even done anything too radical. We're not selling our plasma or dumpster diving. Just living in a cheap crappy apartment, driving <i>really</i> old cars, cooking at home most of the time, and taking our lunches to work. I thought I would be super controlling of our electric bill during the summers but when I get hot, I get cranky. When I get cranky, I cry for no reason. It's ugly and I don't like it. We turn the thermostat down in the evenings to a level that doesn't make us want to maim each other.<br />
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We've faltered on the cooking/going out thing quite a bit but are trying to get back on track.<br />
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Now for my celebratory dance!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/31206884.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/31206884.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Really? No dancing?<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmji41rYx61qfg52qo1_400.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmji41rYx61qfg52qo1_400.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Much better!</td></tr>
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In other exciting news I'm teaching a free budgeting class tonight for the first time. I'm excited but kind of nervous because I'm a really crappy teacher. We'll see how that goes!<br />
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Have a good day!<br />
SunnySunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7798999722951009837.post-41055083444403466052013-05-28T09:29:00.003-04:002013-05-28T09:30:05.569-04:00Brown Baggin' It One of the biggest things we've done to save money is taking our lunches to work. Wouldn't you if you had a cool lunchbox like this?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY3uJO0hR6hcHqM4V0by-h9YksKdeyJK-iQ2I5-3bzcfq7Q4AKUzTGy_jagRv8I1O7bSysbxASJSIEFjz82Jy60bEvVf6wSVuK9O6kiv6-2cTQd-CXVjL7OKx8QlSVrP4TXhpTr7d9PG16/s1600/IMG_2073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY3uJO0hR6hcHqM4V0by-h9YksKdeyJK-iQ2I5-3bzcfq7Q4AKUzTGy_jagRv8I1O7bSysbxASJSIEFjz82Jy60bEvVf6wSVuK9O6kiv6-2cTQd-CXVjL7OKx8QlSVrP4TXhpTr7d9PG16/s320/IMG_2073.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9gLbGMQF2NPSvpUM_Srt4agbzZqileQysHjt6ItVxGJhxIaysvcWu0vmRvXHnm_sTsJ8GV-7r25jGOtXurc2TL9PtbRKRgkVGbKMakdR1VBchSohe64bMdF-ZF8IESCwiibH0rSrlnW3/s1600/IMG_2075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9gLbGMQF2NPSvpUM_Srt4agbzZqileQysHjt6ItVxGJhxIaysvcWu0vmRvXHnm_sTsJ8GV-7r25jGOtXurc2TL9PtbRKRgkVGbKMakdR1VBchSohe64bMdF-ZF8IESCwiibH0rSrlnW3/s320/IMG_2075.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sadly, it's not bigger on the inside. </td></tr>
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Phillip takes pretty much the same thing every day. A spinach/veggie salad with a homemade vinaigrette dressing. We've never really sat down to determine how much it is but this is my estimate based on the groceries we buy for it. This is the cost/salad.<br />
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<u>Phillip's Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing</u><br />
Celery $.23<br />
Spinach $.33<br />
Cucumber $.07<br />
Onion $.18<br />
Red Wine Vinegar $.23<br />
<u>Lemon Juice $.01</u><br />
<b>Total: $1.05</b><br />
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This ends up being $5.25/week. That's less than you would spend on one meal if you went out to lunch. He usually adds in a banana and apple so that adds on another $1/day. That's still REALLY cheap! It's also very healthy and since he makes it all himself he knows what's going in it and that there are no preservatives, overloads of sodium or sugars or anything else food companies try to sneak in.<br />
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On the other hand, I'm not quite as good at packing healthy salads for lunch. Because there is a restaurant right across from my building it's way too easy to run over and grab something, I've learned that if I don't bring a variety of stuff and sometimes have snacks I will run over there instead. Here's a list of common items that I'll grab to take along with me along with the cost/item. The produce varies so I did a guesstimate based on my previous shopping trips.<br />
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PB&J Sandwich: $ .40<br />
Peanut Butter $.15<br />
Jelly $.07<br />
Bread(wheat) $.09/slice<br />
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Ham & Cheese on a Hawaiian roll: $.68<br />
Hawaiian Rolls $.12<br />
Provolone $.19<br />
Ham Slice $.37<br />
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Apple ~$.82<br />
Banana ~$.20<br />
Grapes ~$.15/ounce<br />
Strawberries ~$.11/ounce<br />
Clementine ~$.12<br />
String Cheese $.24<br />
Greek Yogurt $.94<br />
100 Calorie Almond pack $.38<br />
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Today I packed: A PB&J, grapes, string cheese, yogurt, almonds, and a clementine. That brings today's total to $2.23. This is actually the first time I've ever priced out what we buy, I'm pretty happy with the results.<br />
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It took me awhile to get over how much we were spending on produce and things at the store but if you break it down like this it ends up being much less expensive than anything you could go out and get on your lunch break. Chances are you'll be eating more whole foods and feel better than if you were to get something that had been more processed.<br />
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I'm always looking for new combinations to put in my lunchbox, what are some of your favorite things to take along? <br />
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<u><br /></u>Sunnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07440645252793165206noreply@blogger.com0