I still think it was elegant, but definitely "us."
And tasty too!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Keep Your Fork, There's Cake!
I still think it was elegant, but definitely "us."
And tasty too!
Friday, March 20, 2009
One Down, Several To Go.
As part of our own stimulus plan here at Casa de Inky, we created a budget this year and now in our third month, we are doing a great job sticking to it. While there are many good free budget programs and you could always do your own spreadsheet, we found Pear Budget to be a useful tool for us. Easy to use and maintain, we tried it free in January then purchased a one year subscription. We considered it an investment in ourselves :)
By creating a realistic budget, today we paid off a credit card. In Full. Woohoo!! Ableit it was our smallest balance, but it's still paid off. We're keeping the card as cancelling credit cards can adversely affect your credit score and we're trying to up that as well. We plan to use the card once a month for gasoline purchase to keep it active (credit card companies are now cancelling inactive cards due to the risk of identity theft on unused credit cards) and pay off the small charge each month.
Freeing up one monthly payment gives us a snowball to pay toward our next card, which should be paid off within six months, and of course the ongoing slightly larger than minimum due on other cards, as well as "paying ourselves" $150 a month into our emergency fund.
A budget is no easy thing, but once you set it and know where every single dollar is going, it's a completely stress-free way of living. You would think the opposite, but it's like exercise - the more you do, the better you feel.
Though we are living a more frugal lifestyle, we are not going without, and budgeted a clothing allowance, entertainment dollars and dining out for each month. We want to still enjoy our lives while we improve our financial situation. I think this is key in frugal living. We can suffer and go without, but how long does that last - trust me, we've tried that approach as well. This way our budget already builds in wants as well as needs, and takes the stress out. Additionally, any dollars we do not spend in these more flexible categories snowball to paying off debt - which worked for us this month and allowed us to pay off card number one!
Coming topics for Our Frugal Living will include "Made Do and Mend." Our grandmother's and great-grandmother's made the best of what they had, and we can too! End the disposable way of thinking!!
Good luck to all of us during the New Depression.
By creating a realistic budget, today we paid off a credit card. In Full. Woohoo!! Ableit it was our smallest balance, but it's still paid off. We're keeping the card as cancelling credit cards can adversely affect your credit score and we're trying to up that as well. We plan to use the card once a month for gasoline purchase to keep it active (credit card companies are now cancelling inactive cards due to the risk of identity theft on unused credit cards) and pay off the small charge each month.
Freeing up one monthly payment gives us a snowball to pay toward our next card, which should be paid off within six months, and of course the ongoing slightly larger than minimum due on other cards, as well as "paying ourselves" $150 a month into our emergency fund.
A budget is no easy thing, but once you set it and know where every single dollar is going, it's a completely stress-free way of living. You would think the opposite, but it's like exercise - the more you do, the better you feel.
Though we are living a more frugal lifestyle, we are not going without, and budgeted a clothing allowance, entertainment dollars and dining out for each month. We want to still enjoy our lives while we improve our financial situation. I think this is key in frugal living. We can suffer and go without, but how long does that last - trust me, we've tried that approach as well. This way our budget already builds in wants as well as needs, and takes the stress out. Additionally, any dollars we do not spend in these more flexible categories snowball to paying off debt - which worked for us this month and allowed us to pay off card number one!
Coming topics for Our Frugal Living will include "Made Do and Mend." Our grandmother's and great-grandmother's made the best of what they had, and we can too! End the disposable way of thinking!!
Good luck to all of us during the New Depression.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Nectar of the Gods
I can no longer drink soda (too bubbly) and though my sweet tooth is considerably smaller since my gastric bypass, I occasionally want something tastier than water.
I found this product at the over-priced local gourmet market and now can't live without it. It's expensive for a tea drink, but the diet doesn't even remotely taste like a diet drink (hello Splenda, I love you) and if you love a sweet southern-style tea and love no calories, then try this out.
I have found Sweet Leaf in the small bottles at Albertson's, but not the diet version. I buy the large bottle and must always have a spare in the pantry now. There are so few vices left for me ;)
I found this product at the over-priced local gourmet market and now can't live without it. It's expensive for a tea drink, but the diet doesn't even remotely taste like a diet drink (hello Splenda, I love you) and if you love a sweet southern-style tea and love no calories, then try this out.
I have found Sweet Leaf in the small bottles at Albertson's, but not the diet version. I buy the large bottle and must always have a spare in the pantry now. There are so few vices left for me ;)
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