Home Upkeep

This may not seem like a financial type post but it is.  If you do not stay on top of your home upkeep it could cost you in the long run.   This is my opinion and what my hubby and I do to take proper care  of our home.
We have a contract with a local heating and cooling company.  We pay a yearly fee and they come out twice a year to give our heat pumps a check up.  If anything needs fixing they do it then and we get a discount on parts.  If something emergent should happen we get priority over someone that does not have a contract.   We have had a couple incidents where our heat pumps have had issues at bad times and they we were taken care of quickly.   Like the air not working in 100 degree weather.  
Here is another issue nobody wants to think about but, you better.  Termite inspection.  Our bug guy comes out once a year for a nominal fee and checks our house for termites.   They inspect and say if you are clear or not.  If there is no evidence of termites and at some point within the year you have termites they treat for free.  I feel like we live on an ant and termite hill.  We have termites in our garden because they eat our tomato stakes every year.   I am relieved that they have not made it to the house.  This is why our bug guy comes every year to check.   You may think these things are useless and not worth wasting your money but, I believe you keep your car in good working order with oil changes and tire rotations. You have invested far more money in your home so you should make sure everything in it,  is in good repair. 
With all of this being said, one more item you should check on yearly.  Do you have gas logs?   These should be checked and cleaned out yearly to ensure they are in proper working order.   So many things could happen if your gas logs are not working properly;  carbon monoxide leak, explosion, house fire, and a gas leak to name a few.  Each of those are very dangerous and worth having someone come out and inspect your logs. 

I believe each of these are worth looking into and well worth the money based on my experience.   

Super Bowl Eats. . .

Do you throw a Super Bowl party?  If so, what do you fix for those that come?  We always go to my mother-in-laws' house with our whole clan.  She always has a fabulous spread with all the fixings.  My brother- in- law brings wings, sometimes restaurant and sometimes homemade.  Everything else my mother-in-law fixes.   We have homemade pimento cheese sandwiches, pickle sandwiches (my favorite), ham sandwiches, wings, chips and dip, crab dip with crackers, mini corn dogs, veggie pizza, and sweets of all kinds.  This is enough to cause severe heartburn and usually does.  

Here is a favorite of mine and it is super easy:

1 block cream cheese

1/2 jar of pepper jelly ( I like the green)

box of crackers of your choice

put block of cheese on plate and then dump pepper jelly over top.  Yummm

I love cream cheese so here is another one with cream cheese, it is also super easy.

1 block cream cheese

1 jar of salsa (I like Pace)

shredded mozzarella cheese 

Spread cream cheese in the bottom of casserole dish and cover with salsa and microwave until a little bubbly then cover with shredded cheese and microwave a little longer to melt cheese.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Here is another favorite:  Texas Caviar 

2 cans black beans drained

1 can kidney beans drained

1 can corn drained

1 can hominy drained (sometimes I use 2)

1 bottle Zesty Italian dressing

2 cans rotel tomatoes

cilantro

1 onion chopped

garlic powder 

Combine all ingredients, this can be used as a dip with tortilla chips or a side dish.  Serve cold.

Hope you enjoy these, they are a few of my favorites, and as always my favorites are usually simple and very yummy.  Until we eat again. . .

Suicide and Your Kids. . .

Several years ago a friend of my hubby's son committed suicide.  He was an honor student, top athlete, and an all around great kid.  My hubby went to the funeral and when he came home he cried to me about how the video they showed of his youth looked just like our kids.  He played little league baseball and football, was involved with his friends.   When you read the paper or Facebook about a teen that has died either by suicide, alcohol poisoning, drug overdose, or even a car wreck you may say that could not happen to my child.  It is happening all over and yes, it can happen to anyone, to any child. 

The only way to battle these things is to keep an open dialogue with your kids and pray for them.   Make sure that they know they can come to you for any thing, that no matter how bad they think something is that they can still tell you about it.  You may sit there and say, my child knows they can come to me but have you told them so.  Have you told them those very words, that it is ok to tell you anything that you will not fuss or judge them?   My hubby and I had an in depth conversation about these things right after his friends' son killed himself.  Our kids were young but, they still needed to know that they can come to their dad or I for anything.   We talk about this often in our house.  I want my kids to know that there is nothing so bad that they cannot tell their dad or I.  Kids need to know that you will love them no matter what, they need to hear those words.  Often, I think we assume that our kids know things and in reality they need to be reassured.  We also told them if they did not want to talk with us to find someone that they could talk with, whether at Church or school.  I would prefer they talk with us but if they feel they cannot I want them talking with someone.  There is so much going on with kids today, they are bombarded by sex and drugs on TV, music and the Internet.   They are bullied at school by other kids that are probably dealing with worse things than we could ever imagine.   

Talk with your kids, know who their friends are, and pray with them and for them.  

One of my favorite books, I know I have mentioned it numerous times but here it is again.  "The Power of a Praying Parent" by Stormie Omartin.

Saving Every Week. . .

I have talked many times about the envelope system and saving money that way for different things.  The two big things I save for with my envelopes are vacation and Christmas.  I put a certain dollar amount each pay period into my envelopes for vacation and Christmas/Birthdays.  This is an amount that I budget for each month and it has no effect on my bill paying at all.  We never even know that it is there so there is no tempt to spend that money on something else.   Saving is like anything else, it must become a habit if you are going to be good at it and we want to be good at it.  
I saw on Facebook that someone has already posted that there are only 48 weeks till Christmas 2015.  Yikes!! Are you serious, someone is really already in that countdown?  If you start saving now, $20 a week by Christmas you would have $960 cash.  Wouldn't it be great to have that kind of money to help pay for Christmas?  I know, I love being able to pay cash for gifts.  I use my Christmas money for birthdays too.
Let us think about vacations.  The first time we paid cash for our vacation I was so excited, I could not believe I had actually done it.  Not only had we paid for our room but we paid for our meals and for a few other activities while we were at the beach.  It was great knowing that we would not be paying for the beach fun for the next several months on a credit card.  The other thing that is also important to remember is that every time you use your credit card you are opening yourself up for theft.  I must veer off course here for a moment.  While participating in the Dave Ramsey class one of the couples mentioned how their credit card number was stolen while they were on vacation at Myrtle Beach.  They said they had traced it back to a restaurant  in Myrtle Beach.  Luckily the gentleman was a police officer and had some contacts in Myrtle Beach, they helped him track down the crook.  They traced it back to their waiter at this one restaurant and when they found him he had a note pad with several credit card numbers in it that he had planned to use.  He had used their card to buy new tires for his car.  This is why I always say cash is better especially when you are on vacation.  We use only cash for restaurants, it keeps our eating out under control.    Now, back to saving for vacation, we have roughly 23 weeks till vacation time starts.  If you save $40 a week for 23 weeks you have $920 to put toward your vacation.  Depending on how you vacation, that may not cover everything but it will sure put a dent in it.   What if you start funding your vacation envelope as soon as you get back from vacation?  You would then have roughly 52 weeks to save for the next vacation.  Let's do some math, $40 times 52 weeks is $2080 toward your next vacation.   Seems pretty simple, right?
How are you going to pay for Christmas and vacation this year?  I am still funding our envelopes, and have I said lately how much I love the envelope system.  You do not have to have a fancy envelope to start saving, I grabbed some plain white envelopes to get started.  Here's to vacation not following you home and not paying for Christmas for months afterward.   Good Luck!!

Thinking Creatively. . .

Today Big T had school as did I but, Sprat was out due to exams.  Mom must get creative especially since hubby has been out of town all week, headed home this evening.   I decided Sprat would go with me to school.  I did not want to leave him at home  alone and I thought it would be a good chance for him to check out a college campus.  I know it is just a two year college but he has to start somewhere.   I also thought he should know how my day goes when I go to school.   There are kids only a year older than him in my class, they are in early college.  It is kind of weird being in class with kids that are young enough to be my own.   Most days it does not bother me, today I was a little bothered.  I guess I am just wondering what is the rush in growing up these days.   As it is the youth today are all doing things two to three times earlier than I ever did and now we want them to go to college quickly so they can face the yuck of finding a job and going to work.  Why can't they just be kids a little longer?  Many of the kids in my classes  will graduate high school with not only their high school diploma but an Associates in something through early college.   Are they really ready for that?  Are they ready at that age to face the drudgery of work?   I guess I want my kids to enjoy being a kid and to enjoy college life, not to the extent that they neglect their grades or do something stupid and mess up their life but have some fun.  They have their whole lives to work, why not enjoy being young and free.   I am sure some of you probably think I am out of my mind and that is alright, maybe I am.   I just know that these kids are not really ready to face the work world, they need to experience a little more life first.   There is a bigger push now to test out of certain subjects by demonstrated mastery.   This may seem like a good idea on paper, the kids do not take a class they already know and end up being bored out of their minds.   What next, what will they take if they test out of a couple things, or do you end up sending them to college two years early.  I know from my kids that mine are not emotionally able to handle that kind of responsibility.   

Think about when you were in college, you did not have to attend class if you did not want to, the professors never nagged you about homework.   They told you one time when assignments were due and it was your responsibility to make sure that it was done on time.  Yes, there is a marvelous little bit of technology called Blackboard that allows you to keep up with your assignments but you still have to check in with it, it does not check in with you.  

I know I have blathered on again, but this was on my mind today.  I would love to know what you are thinking.  Here is the question:  Are we rushing our kids to grow up too fast?  

Book Club Eats. . .

Trying to decide what to fix for book club this weekend.  We usually do appetizers of some sort and I would like to try something new.  I went to Pinterest to my appetizer board to see what I might fix and these are the ones that I thought would be good.  A cold crab dip with crackers, pineapple cheese ball, dill pickle dip, or my standard jalapeno corn dip.
I picked the crab dip because it reminds me of a restaurant in Charleston called the Trawler that had the best crab dip in the world.  We used to go there as a family when my brother was in school at the Citadel. They would bring the dip like the Mexican restaurants do chips and salsa.  The pineapple cheese ball is very yummy, one of my dear hubbys' aunts used to make it all the time for family get togethers.   I love pickles so that is a no brainer and my standard jalapeno dip is just really good and fairly easy to fix.
Here are the recipes of the day;
Cold Crab dip courtesy of http://mom-machine.com
1 lb real crab (you can use imitation but not quite as healthy)
1/2 cup sour cream
16 oz cream cheese
1tbsp hot sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced green onion
2tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp horseradish
Mix sour cream, cream cheese, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, Italian seasoning, and horseradish.  Gently fold in the crab meat, onions, and cheese until it is full incorporated.  Cover and chill in fridge for a couple of hours before serving.  I will let you know if it is as good as the Trawler.

Pineapple Cheese ball by Chef in Training
12 oz of cream cheese
1 small can crushed pineapple (well drained)
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar to taste
2 tbsp of green onion chopped
2-3 tbsp chopped deli ham
1 cup chopped pecans
combine your ingredients and mash into a ball and chill.  Roll in crushed pecans.

Dill Pickle Dip by http://www.food.com/recipe/pickle-wrap-dip-397575
16 oz cream cheese
12 oz budding beef, chopped
16 oz baby dill pickles drained and diced
Combine cream cheese, chopped beef, and diced pickles mix well.  Serve chilled with crackers.

Corn and Jalapeno dip by a friend
32oz frozen kernel corn
1 stick of butter
1 block of cream cheese
1 jar of jalapenos
Soften the cream cheese and butter and cream them together.  Add a few table spoons of juice from your jalapenos.  Add your corn and mix pour into a casserole dish and top with jalapenos.  Bake 350 until bubbly, around 30 minutes or so.  Serve with tortilla chips.  This is very heavy but oh so good.

I have taken the corn dip to book club before so I think I may take one of the others.  I am leaning toward the crab dip.  Until we eat again.

What Social Media are your Kids in to? ? ? ?

A friend on Facebook brought up all these new apps and social media sites where our kids may be hanging out.  I decided to do some research on the subject to see what I could find out.  These are the top apps and such, as a parent you need to be aware of:  Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, Google+, Vine, Wanelo, Kik Messenger, OooVoo, Ask.fm, Yik Yak, WhatsApp, Omegle, Yo, and Whisper.  I knew what Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram were but some of these others I was unaware of.   Tumblr is a cross between a blog and twitter.  Parents need to be aware of this one because porn is very easily found through this app.  Google + came on the scene with circles of friends but, Google tries to keep an eye on the content.   Vine is also one parents should keep an eye on.  According to the article I read it is full of inappropriate videos with sex and drugs.  Wanelo is a shopping site, the only issue I think this site has is that kids have access to clothes that are inappropriate for their age.  Ask.fm  is a really bad app for the kids.  A friend of mine warned me about this one a while back.  Both my friend and the article I read said it is full of cyberbullying and lots of sexual content.  YikYak reveals your location by GPS and is full of cyberbullying and sexual content.  Some schools have banned this app due to its nature.  WhatsApp is for kids over 16 and is a texting app.  Omegle, users get paired with strangers with similar interests.  This one seems to be the most troublesome to me because of the stranger aspect.   There is no registration required with this one either which makes it all the more dangerous.  Whisper is a confessional type app and has lots of sex and encourages "meet ups" between users.
With all of the sex trafficking, drugs, and kids disappearing all around; I think we have to be diligent in our parenting.   Technology is changing everyday and we must keep up with it in order to keep our kids safe.   There are at least two apps that encourage talking with strangers and possible meet ups with strangers, those seem the most dangerous to me.   I am sure most days people think I am to over protective of my kids, I probably am and I really do not care what anyone thinks when it comes to this topic.   As a parent we must protect our kids from things they are not aware.   It is our job to step in and say no sometimes.  We are not parents to be popular, we are parents to raise strong minded adults.  

Men and Gift Giving. . .

I had a wonderful Birthday weekend.  We watched "Guardians of the Galaxy" and the new X-Men movie.  They were both very good movies and I enjoyed watching them with my fellas.   When my hubby and I were dating and first married he was the best gift giver.  He always got me something really cool and usually something I wanted but did not know I wanted.   After having the kids his gift giving has gone somewhat awry.  He did surprise me the first Christmas after Sprat was born with a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring.  I cried like a baby when I opened it because sapphire is Sprats' birthstone and I thought how neat that he picked that out.   It was a fluke he did not realize that sapphire was Sprats' birthstone, he just liked the ring.  I still loved it very much though because it was the first ring he had gotten me since my engagement ring.   He does have moments of greatness and I do love him dearly.  He is also a stickler for not letting me open my gifts before my birthday or get anything before Christmas.  I do not like that, I am worse than the kids when it comes to gifts.  I remember one Christmas in particular that he teased me by telling me he had a gift for me and he was going to let me open it before Christmas.  I was so excited I could not stand it, he dangled that bag in front of me and I snatched it out of his hands and went running through the living room.  I looked in the bag and it looked like a ring box, I screamed, "it's jewelry, it's jewelry!!!"   He tackled me at the couch and dumped the bag out on me and it was a bar of soap.  He is such a stinker.  From that point forward I knew he would never let me open anything early.
This weekend he teased me again and said he would let me open my birthday present early.  He did let me have it a little early.  He did good this year and on his own and everything.
Do you remember when I was posted about the different types of streaming devices?  It would have been on a Tuesday.  I posted about the Roku 3 and what a cool device it was and that it was tops on my list of the streaming devices.  I got a Roku 3 for my birthday.  yayyyy!!!!  Now that I have it and have played with it over the weekend it does get my big stamp of approval.  It is the coolest thing ever.  There are several options for FREE services and then there are those you must pay for.   I love it, I have watched "Mr. Ed," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and I have pinned a few series I would like to watch from the beginning that are no longer on TV.   I consider myself an old soul, because I like the old black and white shows, like "I Love Lucy," and "Mr. Ed."  
Even though this was my gift, everyone loves it.  They each have some aspect of it that they like, it really offers a lot for everyone.  It has other shows that you can watch, my hubby and I have started watching "Breaking Bad" from the beginning.  We never watched it when it was on TV we just never could sit down and watch it when it was on.   So, it does offer other shows than the old black and white and it offers Netflix too.    You have to have an account through Netflix to be able to use it.  Netflix offers a lot of movies and series you can stream.
All in all my dear hubby did really good for my Birthday this year.

OOPPS??? I was a Day Ahead. . .

Ok, I got ahead of myself yesterday, sorry.  I thought it was Friday, I am so mixed up this week.  Sprat with the flu, exams, and this nutty weather and school delays, it is any wonder that I am not at the Funny Farm.   So, you had "financial Friday" yesterday I guess that makes today "crafty Thursday."   Now that I have you all completely confused let's get moving.
I saw this idea on Pinterest several years ago, and like everything, I bought the stuff to do it but did not get it done.  This is something neat if you have bird feeders and have a good many birds that frequent them.  That means you have a lot of birds nesting near your house.  
This will help your birds "feather" their nests, so to speak.   You will need one of those wire baskets that you put the suet bricks in to hang them from your shepphards' crook.  Next you will need some colorful pieces of yarn.  If you do anything with yarn you will have little scribbies that you keep because you think there must be something I can use these for.   If you have small balls of yarn you can cut these up into smaller pieces.   You are going to take these pieces of yarn and stuff them inside the wire cage.  You will hang your cage out by your bird feeder so that your birds will be able to pull the yarn from the cage and use it in their nest.  I should have probably done this sooner since the birds are probably done "feathering" their nest for the season.  I will still try it and see what happens, with the colorful yarn I have as my left overs it will be evident in the trees if it is being used.
I looked to see when birds actually build their nests and according to what I read, it begins in Spring. One source said they begin in March.  I have put my little yarn dispenser out and we will wait and see what happens.  My yarn looks a little roughed up, so I think they have at least checked it out.  I will let you know if I see anything in the trees.  This would be a good craft project for the kiddos, maybe elementary age.  Let me know if you try it and what your results are.  Good luck!

Credit Card Craziness. . .

Flash back to 1997, I had been in business for myself for almost a year and had gotten involved in Junior Achievement through our Chamber of Commerce.  Junior Achievement was a program that sent business people from the community into the schools to teach a practical business class.  They had lessons that we used and this was all on a volunteer basis.  I went into the high school once a week and taught a lesson in practical business finance to a freshman economics class.  It was a lot of fun and the kids were great.

One of the lessons I wanted them to learn was about credit cards.  This was the prime time for credit card companies to send out credit cards to entice people to join their company.  I decided as part of a lesson I would keep all of the credit applications I received for a month and total the amounts to show them how much debt they could be in if they filled out all of the credit applications.  I think it is very luring for young people to think they can buy things now and pay later or buy things now and pay forever.    I took them the stack of applications both my hubby and I had received and wrote on the board the amount of credit we could have, had we accepted all of those applications.  I was astounded, my total was around $350,000 and my hubby had $400,000+ in one month of mail.   The kids were amazed too, especially when I told them if we had used those cards we would not have been able to pay them back.   

Today they do not send those out with as much frequency, thank goodness.   They have picked up recently though and it is funny they do not have an amount of credit they are offering you on them anymore.  I am not sure how that works now, maybe if you work for a credit card company you could post and tell me about that.   

I am sharing all of this because I fell into the credit card trap in college and I was in debt when my dear hubby and I got married.  I did get out of that credit card debt but I did not truly learn my lesson.  It is so easy just to swipe that card and not think about having to pay the bill for several weeks.  If you use it often enough it gets easier and easier and the deeper in debt you become.   I did get better about using my credit card and I tried not to use it until I had the balance paid off but then something would come up and I would use that card again.  

Here is my closing advice:  do a little plastic surgery and cut those cards up and pay that balance off.  We do not use credit cards any more.  It is a great feeling being out from under that credit card.  I encourage you all to step out and take charge, no pun intended, of your finances and stop being a slave to your credit card company.   Good luck!!

Dreary Wednesday. . .

Schools closed, not unhappy about that.  Sprat needs the extra time to recoup and goodness knows Big T could use a break.   It is so dreary and cold today and it is hard to cook with two growing boys always in the kitchen eating.  Today may be more about organization in the kitchen.  Heaven knows I need help in the organization department.  I have started trying to clean my dumping ground, I mean the kitchen island, off so it is of more use while cooking.   Does anyone else have a catch all place in their kitchen where all the mail and everything else in the free world comes to congregate?   My landing pad seems to be my island.  How can you cook when you cannot see your counter tops? 
I took a before picture, I hope you will not judge.  My island is pretty bad.  I spent most of the morning tossing useless or outdated  paper.  Then I had to find a home for those items that did not belong in the kitchen in the first place.   That was a chore, many of those items were the boys so they had to do some work today too. 
I still have a basket with greeting cards and some other things and a dish with the kids medicine so they do not forget to take it.  I also have that tumbler for change on my island that I talked about one Friday when I was sharing how we saved our $1, 000 cash. 
I feel like I did get something accomplished today with my home organization that I have been wanting and needing to do for some time.  My next goal in home organization will be my "in cabinet command center."   Stay tuned for that one.
I hope you did not mind that I did not cook or post a recipe today. 

Paper Books vs. E- Readers . . .

What is your opinion on the e-readers like Kindle, Nook, and tablets?  I personally prefer paper books to any e- readers.  I like the feel of the pages and I also like being able to pick up my book and see I only have so much left till I am done.   Sprat had a fit several years ago and wanted a Nook, he had his own money and so I let him buy one.  We found a used one in his price range and he was happy.  I think he was in sixth grade because he was reading the Hunger Games and this particular Nook had this book already loaded.  I think he has only read one book on the Nook and now he uses it to play games.  I know there are people that use them regularly to read their books and love them.  I can see the lure if you are traveling, because they take up less space than a paper book and would be perfect for that.
According to an article I read, six minutes of reading is enough to reduce stress by 68% and reading keeps your brain working effectively as you age.   If that 68% is accurate I should be stress free.  Since my classes have started all I have been doing is reading, funny how I do not feel stress free.  Reading may also keep Alzheimer's at bay, now that I can believe.   This particular article goes so far as to say that paper books are better for reading comprehension.  They said it was something about our brain linking the story to where it fell on the page.   If this is the case why are our schools so up in the air trying to push all of this testing to computer.  Maybe they should be informed of this study.  Reading an old fashioned novel is linked to improving sleep too.   Maybe I should be reading a novel instead of my programming text book before I go to bed.  I think this may be a good topic for my book club ladies.
So what do you all think; e- readers or paper books?  I would love to know what you are thinking.

ughhhhh Monday!!!

OMG!!!  I cannot believe the bureaucracy in insurance.   I have spent my morning at the doctor with Sprat and the flu.  Then to the pharmacy waiting to get Tamiflu, only to be told my insurance would not cover it.  What?  Really?  Meanwhile my poor Sprat is sitting in the car baking with a 103 temp.   Paid out of pocket for Sprats' Tamiflu and did not get mine filled.  Now I am on the warpath.  I hate anyone telling me when and how often I can get a prescription filled.  I realize with controlled substances and such there have to be regulations.  I do not think with Tamiflu this should be an issue. Maybe there is some high to be gotten taking Tamiflu that I am not aware of.  All I know is some pin head with no medical background in New Jersey should not be making health decisions on my behalf.  So why do we allow this to happen, why do we allow insurance companies to make our health decisions?  They do not know us, they do not know our bodies, and they do not have a medical degree.  Sorry to blather on but this infuriates me to no end.
I call the insurance company to complain and they tell me it is my husbands' company that set the regulations on how often things can be filled.  Yep, you guessed it, I called hubbys' company HR department to find out what is going on.   According to hubbys' company I cannot get my Tamiflu filled until March.  Gee, that is nice to know I can only get the flu in March and not before.    Now we all know life does not work that way and we all know if I get the flu it will be within the next few days since my dear Sprat is raging with it.    I would just love to go to New Jersey and give the whole HR department a big open mouthed, wet, sloppy kiss.  UGHHHHHH!!!!  Pin heads!

Financial Resolutions. . .

Everyone makes resolutions at the start of a new year, most of them are dealing with health and attitude.   Do you make resolutions, are any of your resolutions financial?    You probably do not think of financial goals as resolutions but, if you do not set goals and make a plan you will never achieve what you want.  This especially goes for your finances.   Dave sets up "Baby Steps" to help you achieve your financial goals when using his plan.
Dave's first Baby Step is saving $1,000 in cash fast.  You may think this is easy, if you do then great go to it.  This money should be set aside for emergencies and kept in cash.   Just so you know; Christmas, birthdays, new clothes, eating out, gas, and groceries are not emergencies.
Now let's talk about how you can reach that goal quickly.  We cut back on eating out, I did not realize how much money we spent eating out before I started budgeting.  That was our black hole for our money and boy could it suck it down.   If you are not doing a budget each pay period I really do recommend you start one.  I started by keeping all of my receipts for everything we did for one pay period and then I wrote everything out long hand to see exactly where our money was going.  That gave me a good idea on how we could save money and how to set up our budget.  
My hubby hates carrying around change in his pockets so as soon as he came home he would dump that change on his dresser.  I started having him put it in a tumbler so that I could keep up with it.  About once a month I take that money to a coin machine and get cash, that is one way to add to your $1,000.  That will not get you there by itself, you will need to do some other things.   I am a clothes and pocketbook horse,  I will admit it.  I sold a few pocketbooks that I did not carry as much anymore online to help get us to our $1,000 fast.   Dave also recommends having yard sales and getting extra jobs to help you finish that first step.  
I did not think having that extra cash would be a comfort, but it really is.  When life throws you crazy things, it is so nice to know you have that cushion to keep you sane.   You always hear people talk about saving money for a rainy day.  This is your rainy day fund, and it will rain, so be prepared.

Homemade Mac & Cheese

Many years ago dear hubby was diagnosed with food allergies.  Unfortunately the first doctor we went to was a crack pot.  He told us hubby could not eat anything but potatoes and certain meats.   We went for that all important second opinion, thank goodness, and found out that he does have food allergies but not to the extent the first doctor told us.   He tested positive to salicilates; this is found in most green, orange, or red vegetables and it is what aspirin is made from.   They also said he could not have store bought bakery items or pre-packaged or boxed things like mac & cheese.  This was when I started making our bread from scratch and homemade mac & cheese.   Since he was off of all of these things for a long period of time he is now able to eat those yummy orange, green, and red veggies.  He still stays away from aspirin though, just to be safe.
I have mentioned many times how talented my sister is in the kitchen well, this is her recipe for homemade mac & cheese.  It is so very good and I use whole wheat elbows to try and make it somewhat healthy.   I am making this today because my poor Sprat had to get his spacers yesterday and his mouth is extremely sore.  I hope this will be soft and filling enough for him.   I hope you will try this one, you will not be disappointed at all.

2 cups dry pasta (I use whole wheat elbows)
1 cup milk
Lots of grated cheese ( cheddar, mozzarella, or jack)
2 eggs
salt and butter

Cook pasta according to package directions

Combine eggs milk and salt to taste.  Grease a casserole dish.  (I use my Pampered Chef stoneware bowl it makes a deep dish) You could use a dutch oven, that would give you depth too.  Layer noodles then cheese 2-3 times then dot with pats of butter and pour egg/milk mixture over the top.  I usually top with extra cheese and you can top with bread crumbs if you like.  Bake 350 for 30 minutes.
This does not look like Kraft mac & cheese but, it is not supposed to.  This is a very good dish.
Enjoy.

Sorry I'm late today. . .

I am feeling technology over load today.  I love having a phone that  is smarter than me.  I like checking email quickly without having to go to my computer or laptop and log on and wait for everything to connect.  It is a nice, let's just say it, luxury.  I like checking Facebook with my phone,  it is quick there is no log on required.  The smart phone is a fabulous tool.
Now that I have said all of that.  I absolutely detest sitting in a nice restaurant and seeing someone constantly checking their phone and completely ignoring the people that are right there in front of them.  I do realize there are exceptions and I try not to judge.   One of our family members had their phone out over New Year's dinner because there was an illness in the family and they wanted to be able to be in touch if needed.  Those things I completely understand because I have been there and done that.  It is almost like we have created a whole new type of ADD.  

You know how I feel about children having cell phones, I have expressed that many times here.  My oldest did get a phone this year due to his football schedule and practice.  He did not get the newest and the best $500+ phone, I do not even have one of those.   His phone is not allowed out during meal time, whether we are at home or out to eat.  I personally just think it is rude to be on your phone all the time and ignoring the people that you are face to face with.  I see this more with young people and that goes back to my whole feeling of their lack of respect for anything.  That scares me because they are the ones that are going to be taking care of my age group in our old age.  They do not respect  us now, how will they act when we are old and cannot take care of ourselves.  I have seen them blow by the elderly person coming in a store or almost hit the elderly person crossing the road in front of them, as if to say, how dare you impede my route.   This bothers me because I was raised to respect your elders and be respectful of those around you, whether you are in a car or on foot.   I do not think parents are stressing this today, or maybe they were not raised that way.  

I went off the deep end today sorry about that. 

Break Over. . . Here comes School. . .

Break is over, back to the grind.  The boys went back to school today and hubby is back at work. Today the Christmas decorations come down,  and my beautiful living room goes back to normal.   It is always a little sad when Christmas is over and the decorations come down.  When my hubby and I were first married he insisted on taking everything down on New Years Day.  I hated that, that was too early to take down decorations.   I have left my decorations up till mid March before, with a real tree.  That was an accident though.  That was the year Dad fell through the roof of our barn and was in the hospital for almost six weeks, three of which were in ICU on a ventilator.   Poor hubby was home by himself and after most of the needles had fallen off the tree he decided he would put away the Christmas ornaments.   I stayed with my Mom while Dad was in the hospital so she would not have to be by herself.    That was a wild year.   The next year we had an artificial tree and it was like an Easter egg hunt finding my ornaments.  Men are just not made to put delicate things away, unless you use them to fish with, that is.
The boys are back in school and dear hubby is back to work, so I  am appreciating the calm and quiet of my house this morning.  As I reflect on this past year, we have had good days and not so good days.  I will not say bad, because as someone told me at Church yesterday, any day the Lord has made cannot be bad.  I think that is how I will approach this year.    So, here is to no bad days in 2015.  

Someone posted on Facebook one time about the kind of person they wanted to be.  It said something like; I want to be the woman that when I wake, the devil says, oh no!! she's up!  I think I would like to be that kind of woman.  

Let's Start 2015 off Right. . . Organized

Wouldn't you love to be organized this year?  I know I sure would.  The one thing I do stay on top of is financial organization, thanks to Dave Ramsey.  I know you are probably tired of hearing me talk about him and how much I like him and his view on finances.  Sorry, that is the way it is.  Why re-invent the wheel?  When it comes to money, if you want to be financially set, you need to do what those that are financially set do.  One thing for sure, you must be organized.  The rest of my life is terribly unorganized but I am on top of the financial end of things in our house.  
The first thing to do is get a large file to hold all of your bills.  I have one that I keep all of our bills for the whole year.  You never know when there will be glitch in a computer somewhere and a creditor might come to you and say, you did not pay your bill when you were supposed to.  If you keep that bill and mark how much you paid and the date it was paid, that will never be an issue.  You can simply say, oh yes that bill was paid on X date and if you have kept your bank statements you can go back and see when the transaction cleared your bank.  I have had this happen once.  I was prepared and it was taken care of very quickly because I had kept very good records.   You may ask why would I keep all of my bills for the entire year other than what I mentioned above?   If you are self-employed and work from home you may have some home deductions for your taxes.  If you work and have a cell phone, use your Internet at home for work then there is a possibility that those could be deducted from your taxes.  Check with your tax person or if you do them yourself check with what ever software you use to do your taxes.   Turbo Tax is the most well known but, HR Block has come out with their own tax software and it seems to be more reasonable than Turbo Tax.   If all else fails contact the IRS.  I have actually done that before, we had a crazy year where we had odd deductions that I had not dealt with before and I called the IRS.  The gentleman I spoke with was very helpful and very nice and he walked me through filling out my forms for this particular deduction.
I always start in January getting my information together for tax time.  Whether you do your taxes yourself or you have someone do them for you, you need to keep everything straight.   I keep my tax specific information together separate from my other bills so that I can make sure that I get all of that information before I start our taxes.  Those usually start rolling in about mid January.  
The IRS started issuing warnings in March of 2014 about con artists calling people and telling them they were with the US Treasury and that they owed the IRS money for their past due taxes.  There were many that fell victim to this scam, please be aware government agencies do not just call you and have you give them your debit card number over the phone to settle a debt.  If someone calls you and says they are with some government agency please demand identification.  Do not take anything they say for the truth, question everything.  If you stand your ground odds are they will get scared and hang up, then you know it was a scam.   If you suspect a particular phone call is a scam, simply call the agency using a number that you know to be true and let them know or call the police.   This goes for all government agencies, there was a scam that ran through an area near us where people were threatened to be taken to jail over a failed jury duty appearance.   These people were told if they paid a sum of money that it could all be taken care of with no jail time.   Con artists and scammers are all around and come up with new ways to steal money all the time, be on your toes in 2015.   Here is a link to Dave Ramsey's tax tips:
www.daveramsey.com/tax-tips 

Happy New Crochet Beanie for Me. . .

My hubby and I are not big party animals so we do not do New Year's parties.   We did go to First Night when we were first married with another couple, it was fun and we stayed awake just long enough to watch the ball drop.   That night it was terribly cold and we watched the ball drop from our hotel room.  We also watched the pick pockets work the crowd below and get busted by the police.
With that said, I can tell you what I did last night.  I finished my crochet beanie hat that my very talented niece helped me get started over Christmas.  Yayyyy me!!!  It takes me forever to finish my crochet and knitting projects but, I decided that I was going to finish this one so I could use it this winter.  It is terribly cute and my dear hubby even liked it and he wants one too, just not pink.  I have started him a beanie in dark blue.  I hope I can get his finished as quickly as I did mine.
YouTube is a marvelous tool for crafting.  My niece and I found this tutorial on YouTube by Ms. Craft Nerd.  She does a really good job of explaining things and this particular pattern is really simple.  Ms. Craft Nerd "How to crochet a slouchy beanie" check her out.  There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube for crochet and knitting all sorts of things.   I have a new love of YouTube now.
I hope you all had a safe ringing of the New Year.    I cannot wait to see what the new year holds for our family.  I am very excited, 2014 has been wild and crazy and I can just bet 2015 will be that and more.   We have had our trials and tribulations and we have lost some wonderful people but, I know that each of them is smiling down on us and watching over us.   Stay tuned, 2015 is going to be crazy with this Mom of two wild and crazy boys and wife to the man that makes us all smile.    Best to you all in 2015.