Things are looking good in that department so far. I'm sure it helps that I haven't left the house in a few days. haha. Today I will be getting out a bit - and doing some spending (obviously not on non-essentials). I have to hit the post office to get a few things out that I've been procrastinating on. It's just been so hard to motivate myself to go anywhere now that it's actually cold. haha. I also spent yesterday catching up on some editing, and that is a big priority right now.

I also need to head to the grocery store for a few key items - toilet paper and tissues, mainly. Still sick. *Really* hoping it will let up soon. It's been over a week now. When I get ill, it's difficult for me to shake. Never horribly severe, usually, just lengthy.

***

A couple of frustrating/weird things happened in the last couple of days. I had a rather unpleasant experience selling my camera on Amazon - long story short, the buyer didn't have any familiarity with my old-model camera, expected it to perform like a new one, and requested a return saying that it was damaged and/or not in the condition listed (which is not true). All of my previous selling on Amazon has gone smoothly, so I didn't have much familiarity with their returns policies. So I sent several messages back and forth after she filed an "A-to-Z Guarantee Claim." I didn't realize, while I was conversing with her about it, that I had to appeal the claim. So instead of getting the partial refund we agreed to (to cover my shipping), she received the full amount (Amazon automatically transferred the money) AND I have this nasty performance ding on my account for selling "damaged or dysfunctional equipment" (which it's not - I tested the camera after she returned it to me).

Ugh. Out $20 in shipping and still have to get rid of this stupid camera. I know there are people out there that love selling things online, but I have no patience for it. Hoping someone on Craigslist will pull through for me. May just drop the price substantially so I can be done with it.

In other news, we got our reimbursement checks from State Farm - opened new policies, and our good driving discounts don't get added until after it goes through underwriting, I guess? But then a couple days later we got an invoice. After calling our friend/insurance agent, turns out they overpaid our reimbursement and then invoiced us for the difference? lol. Good to know the method behind the madness, but it seems like a really inefficient way of doing business for them.

Either way, I'm saving about $170 this year with the switch, just for my car. I forgot to ask DH what he was paying before. Also - I'm starting to log our savings/snowflakes, partially because I'm a numbers junkie and partially because I like to have stuff to show DH when we talk finances. Maybe it will inspire him

***

Also made a decision on the CC conundrum, I think. I found another card that is 0% APR for 15 months, with no balance transfer fee OR annual fee. I'm going to transfer the balance from one CC there, close the one that I don't want/use, and then see how it affects my credit score. Then I'll make a decision on the remaining CC. I'll either close it, or just leave it in a drawer for an emergency (that's what I do with the one that I don't want/need now).

That's enough for now! Lots to do today. Hope you all have a good one!

So I'm in the process of restructuring our finances so that we can handle them together now that we're married. DH and I opened a joint checking account, which is what we'll use to pay for all of our expenses. I think we're both going to close our personal checking accounts and just each have a credit card to use when we want to purchase gifts, etc.

So I have a personal checking, savings, and credit card with my current bank. My savings account currently holds my tax savings - which I'm going to transfer to my business account (which is where it needs to be anyway) and then open a savings account for my business so I can keep things separate. Money from my checking account will be transferred to the joint account. And then I'll have my credit card.

It currently has a balance of about $2,200. I get charged roughly $35 in interest every month. In Mint today I saw a suggestion of getting an Amex Blue Cash Preferred card, which would give me 0% APR for the first 15 months. I'm thinking I might open that card and transfer my balance, to save on that interest, and then close all of my accounts with my current bank to make a clean break. I haven't really been spending with that card (it's been near its max, and I've been trying to pay it off). At that point, I would only use the Amex for business expenses (as needed), and I would pay off my Amazon Points Visa and use that one for my personal expenses (mainly just gifts for DH and anything that might pop up as an emergency).

My current CC is my longest standing, though. I'm not sure if my credit score would suffer terribly if I were to close that account. I have another CC that I need to close (that I don't ever use and didn't even want. Long story). I know closing these things will have a negative impact, but not sure for how long. Or if it even matters - DH and I have no plans of purchasing a home anytime soon, nor any vehicles. And I'm pretty sure his credit score is stellar. Kid has almost no debt (god bless full rides to college).

So for a savings about $420 this year, it seems to make sense. Because I'm saving for my tax payments, I'm not going to have the opportunity to focus on the CC for a while (beyond making my slightly above minimum payments).

Any thoughts would be appreciated Thanks, everyone!

Our NYE party was a hit - only about 10 people all together, but I still made a nice spread: hot sandwich roll, honey glazed smokies, and caprese skewers. As well as some hummus, salsa, chips, etc. DH handled the bartending for the night. We had made up homemade sour mix the day before and if how I felt yesterday was any indication of how much I enjoyed them, well...

Thankfully, we do have quite a bit of food left. A lot of lunchmeat and some ciabatta rolls, so we'll do sandwiches a couple of times this week. Tons of leftover drink fixins as well, but I think I'm going to take a break there. haha. I've been sick for the last week or so. Drinking as much as I did NYE was probably a mistake, but it's a holiday... Now I'm focused on getting better ASAP. It's starting to get rather miserable.

I don't have much to report on the financial front. Yesterday was a NSD. Today will be much of the same. I do need to go through and pay bills, but I decided that January will be a no-spend month. At least outside of the essentials. So far so good! Yesterday DH and I literally laid around all day, hungover. We watched a couple movies - Interstellar and the Lego Movie. Both were incredibly good. Then the rest of the day I finished the book I was working on, "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. Another good find. Not terribly exciting in the plot department, but a nice calming read that speaks to how peoples' attitudes change as they encounter abundance. Interesting stuff.

After finishing, I made myself some tea and started another in bed. Decided to tackle "Walden." It's one I've never read, but you hear a lot about. And I think it's perfectly tied into my theme of Making Space. I opted out of sitting on social media for hours this morning and got a good chunk of pages this morning read as well

***

I sat down and thought through some of my goals for the year, and usually I write out a list of 10-20 things I want to accomplish. And usually they sit in that list all year without much accomplishment. I decided to do things differently this time around. I'm going to set basic monthly goals, but other than that I'll just stick to making good daily decisions (a la "Making Space") and record my accomplishments as I meet them. I'd rather celebrate the things I'm proud of than be perpetually reminded of the things that have no longer become priorities.

Not to say that I don't still have goals It's just hard to tell at the beginning of the year if something like NaNoWriMo will still be a priority in November. Things change, and I like to stay flexible. So instead, I'll tuck things like that away in my mind, and re-evaluate when the time comes.

For January, my goals are:

- No spend month, outside of essentials (no clothes, home items, beauty products, entertainment, etc)
- Cut grocery budget to under $200
- Win Dietbets (lose 6.7 lbs by Jan 25)
- Finish 28 Days with Sue Bryce Program (I purchased this last year and never went through it)
- Go through pricing course with photog friend

As for overarching financial/budget goals with DH, I've decided to not even have that conversation. haha. We went over our basic goals when we had the original (stressful) conversation, so until we really know what this is going to look like, I'm holding off. Instead, my goals will be to get things actually set up! In January, I would like to:

- Set up Mint for Joint Account
- Switch DH's direct deposit to Joint Account
- Switch all autopay bills to Joint Account
- Figure out account structure and open/close necessary accounts (personal and business)
- Enter all of my backlogged income and expenses into Quickbooks so I have an accurate look at what I'll owe in taxes

So I will add these January Goals to my sidebar, and hopefully we'll see some progress!

Wishing you all a lovely New Year!

I know I've mentioned it before, but I LOVE New Years. Not so much for the partying (though I don't hate that part. haha). It's just exciting to take a look back, learn from my experiences, and look ahead to the possibilities of the future.

2015 was a big year. My look back:

- I shot 16 weddings this year, which is 6 more than the previous. I learned that this volume is a bit too much for me, as I got incredibly burnt out. In 2016 I'll be limiting that number to 10 and focusing my work more on portraiture.
- This is the first year that I didn't work a part time job at all, and focused my time entirely on my business. Which is a huge (and wonderful) change. I'm hoping that I can maintain that in 2016, but we shall see.
- DH turned 30. This was kind of a fun milestone, and we had a really nice celebration.
- DH and I took a trip to Cincinnati to visit with friends and a trip to Nashville to scout out neighborhoods to move to.
- I alone took a trip to Denver to see my dad and visit friends, and then a trip to Montreal and Lake Placid to shoot a wedding, just a week before...
- We got married!

Financially, I can't say I ended the year *much* better than I started it. Because I worked solely at my business and because I wasn't great about putting aside money for taxes, I'm in saving mode to make sure I can cover them without having to dip into our joint account.

We're also now in my slow season, so my income levels wont quite be as high as usual. A lot of my focus in 2016 (after hitting my tax savings goal) will be on organizing my business finances better, so I don't run into this struggle at the end of the year.

One big victory that I made this year, though, is getting into the habit of regularly posting on this blog. I can't describe how much help it is. I keep myself in check much better that way. I’ve added to my morning routine checking my bank accounts (and mint) to see where I am on the budget.

Looking ahead…

2016 will also bring with it some big items:

- In March, we are taking our 10-day honeymoon to Peru
- In April, we are moving to Nashville!
- In May, we are very possibly taking a weekend, all-inclusive trip to Mexico for my 30TH BIRTHDAY!
- DH also wants to take a trip to Denver at some point to visit my dad
- I anticipate quite a few weekend trips after we move, given that we’ll be close to a lot of new cities
- This will also be the first full year that we are married, and handling our finances together (though we still haven’t really jumped in all the way. We need to do that.)

As I mentioned in my previous post, my theme for the year is “Making Space.” I wont have concrete financial goals put together until DH and I sit down and work through them, but I think every month I’m going to have mini goals/challenges of sorts to help me save/earn more. Some examples:

- No Spend Month (outside of essentials)
- Grocery Challenges (cook all dinners under $3/meal)
- Snowflakes (more surveys, Swagbucks, etc.) and being more creative with them (using my Amazon GCs for grocery products, etc.)
- Restaurant Challenge (don’t eat at restaurants at all, only x number of times)
- Make all beauty/cleaning products myself

In January for sure I am going to attempt the no-spend month. This is the time of year that I NEED to be saving as much as possible, and honestly, I just want to learn to make do with what I have. I live in complete abundance. There’s really no reason I need more clothes, books, house stuff, beauty products, etc. The only thing I’m going to rush to pay for before midnight is the acting class that I really want to take in February. It’s only $120, and isn’t “stuff.” I’ve been trying hard to reconnect with my creativity, and DH is entirely supportive. So it’s coming out of our joint account. I’m incredibly excited!!

I was thinking of adding an unlimited Zumba package to that (I went with my SIL last night, and loved it), but for a month I can either just do them online or drive over to where my SIL lives… her classes are free ☺ That is a want, not a need. And I save $30 for the month.

So that’s the idea for January!

***

Tonight we’ll be hosting a NYE party – of like 10 people, so nothing crazy. But I am cooking, and DH is making some fancy cocktails. We spent a little more than I would have liked on stuff for the party, but I still thought it was better than going out and spending a ton on a big dinner or party, and I don’t enjoy crowds. All in all, it was still less than I thought it would be. We’ll have a really great time tonight, our last NYE in town for a while! I’m going to enjoy the not so healthy food today. After midnight, I need to focus on my dietbet and ridding myself of those 7 lbs.

Speaking of unhealthy food – I also gave up fast food in 2015! Today I’ll be heading to McDonald’s for a Big Mac and fries, and then it’s no fast food again until the end of 2016. I’ve gotta say, I’m more than a little excited for that burger.

Hope you all have a lovely NYE!!!

So yesterday I did some shopping and exchanging. My mom had bought both DH and I pairs of pajama pants from Kohl's - his were too small, and mine weren't even close to something I would wear these days (my mom's understanding of the things I like froze about 10 years ago). She didn't give us gift receipts, and I wouldn't have known where she got them had the price tag not been left on one of them. But I figured I'd stop and see. I was able to exchange his for the smaller size, and I got a $7 store credit for mine. It was busy and I didn't feel like searching for too long, so I found a pair of Lauren Conrad leggings on a rack that said $9.99. When I brought them up she said it would be $8 after the credit. ugh. Despite saying it was on a rack with other pairs, I just decided to pay the extra and get out of there. In the end, I really love them and they're super comfortable. So no big deal.

Also hit Trader Joe's for a few items. Some frozen veggie and gnocci dishes, and coffee. I decided to give the reusable k-cup thing a try and see if purchasing the delicious Ethiopian blend that I grind there will be cheaper per cup than buying the regular cups from Aldi. I know the coffee is better, and not throwing the cups away is better for the environment. If it's actually cheaper, then it'll be a no brainer. I'll be putting a tally on the can for each cup I use.

The reusable k-cup I also purchased yesterday, from Target, for $15. As well as my Moleskine notebook that I'll use as my journal for 2016. They have always and forever been my favorite. And a $5 phone case. Mine had broken.

Made chicken paprikas for dinner. Delicious, and we'll have leftovers for days. Tonight and tomorrow we'll be eating dinner with friends out of the house. I do need to hit Aldi today or tomorrow to get a few ingredients for dinners the rest of the week, as well as food to prepare for NYE. We will be hosting, and I'm really excited to have our small group over.

***

Got my new debit card in the mail for our joint account. So I can start using that. We do still need to start funneling money into it, though. DH will switch his automatic deposit and I'll have to link my business account to the new one so I can start transferring my income that way - though most of my income from now until April will go toward that tax bill, so it may be a while...

Also got a $50 check in the mail from USPS, an insurance claim payout. They had damaged a lens I sold. I'm a little surprised and impressed with how quickly they resolved that. The camera I sold is on its way back to me - the woman that purchased it (as I sort of expected) decided she didn't like it, and wanted a refund. Ugh. I agreed to refund minus the cost of the shipping I spent. But now I have to go through the process of selling it again. It looks like I have an interested buyer through Craigslist, so I might try and go that route once I get it back. Sigh.

***

In other financial-ish news, I joined a Dietbet for the next month, so I'm looking forward to (hopefully) losing some weight and if so making a little bit of money from it. Goodness knows I need *something* to motivate me. Why not extra cash?

***

Tonight is our gift exchange within our little friends group. We decided to do a Secret Santa this time around, and it should be a fun time. I'm excited to see everyone. It's always nice when we all get together. I call them my Lakewood family, because they really are like family (the way I like to think of family), and we all live in the same city. I'm not sure that will ever happen again in our lifetime, with little ones coming into the picture in 2016 and people dispersing a bit. But we really enjoy the proximity and the relationships we've built. It almost feels like the end of an era.

Hope you all are having a lovely Monday!

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone. I feel like I've been saying this for years now, but it just didn't really feel like Christmas this year. I'm thinking maybe it's just because I'm getting older. I'm hoping once we have kids that it feel magical again. But either way, it was enjoyable.

DH and I had our lovely Christmas Eve. We exchanged our gifts earlier in the day so we could play with them. I got him the Amazon Echo, and we both love it. He got me a Fitbit. I'm hoping it will help me shed some unwanted pounds and generally live a bit healthier. We exchanged a few other smaller gifts as well - but tried to keep it simple. He did include a spa package for me, which was unexpected and very nice He really is a keeper.

Christmas itself was a lot of running around. We went to my mom's in the morning for breakfast and presents. It went over fine. I have a very odd relationship with my family, and the holidays tend to be very stressful for me. But all things considered, things went well. Mom seemed to enjoy the purse I got her (which is a relief. It's always so hard to pick things like that for people, even with general guidelines). I didn't get much of a reaction out of my siblings, but that's usual.

After my mom's we went to DH's parent's for presents. I think my MIL lives for giving presents. Gift Giving is definitely her love language. I came away from it very appreciative, and also a bit guilty that we didn't get her a bit more. It's always such an awkward experience trying to figure out what is "appropriate." I think that's why my SIL made everyone agree to do no gift exchange with her. But my MIL got her a bunch of stuff anyway. I think it made her feel really uncomfortable. Not sure how that is going to be handled next year.

After his parents we go and do his extended family party. Which is always kind of a hoot. Never a boring moment with his aunts there. Very loud, boisterous ladies, supplying much fodder for his cousins, who poke and prod them all night. haha. Beyond the fun, though, it seemed like tensions ran a bit higher than normal this year. We did end up staying reeeally late, engrossed in a religious discussion with his aunt's that was a bit more than a little awkward for me, but still very interesting. Oh, family...

I think in 2016 I'm going to try and somehow improve my relationship with my family. It's the single biggest point of stress in my life, and it's saddening that I constantly dread any interaction with my mom. A lot of it I know will be on my part - working harder to practice empathy and not let the things she says/does get to me so much. But at some point I need to be a bit more honest with her about those things. I bite my tongue in fear of hurting her feelings. But the more I think about it, if I had a daughter that felt the way I do right now, I'd want her to say something. And I know my mom would love to have a closer relationship with me. Sigh.

***

Speaking of the New Year, I'm really excited for it. I love fresh starts and the energy that comes with setting goals. We have a really eventful year coming up - our honeymoon in March and moving out of state in April. Then all of the fun and challenge that comes along with acclimating and building a new life in a new place.

I generally pick one "theme" to focus on every year. 2015 was the year of mindfulness. And I think that idea helped me establish some great new habits and let go of the past, bringing my attention more to the present - and practicing gratitude for all of the wonderful things I have in my life.

For 2016, I think I've landed on the idea of "Making Space." Certainly in a physical sense - finishing my Marie Kondo journey, getting rid of more stuff and creating a home that really speaks to the person I am today. But also making space in a less tangible way - letting go of my negativity to make space for more empathy and compassion. Spending less time on social media to make space for activities that recharge me instead of distracting me (like reading or crocheting). Reducing the junk food in the house to make space for healthier, delicious options. Stop spending money on stuff I don't really need to make space for working toward my financial goals that matter. Generally making space to cook more food from scratch, spend more quality time with DH, to focus on those important projects that get caught in the whirlwind of everyday, unimportant tasks.

I constantly gripe about being busy and not having enough time, but I know that's not entirely true. My time management could be 1,000 x better than it is, and if my priorities are true priorities, the things I want to do in my life will get done. I just have to let go of the garbage time. And truly focus on enjoying every aspect of the things I choose to replace that time with.

So there you have it! We will be setting some more specific financial (and general) goals for the year, but that's the framework.

What are your resolutions for the new year?

Who can resist a good xmas pun?? In fact, I had all of my gifts purchased and wrapped a couple of days ago. Grabbed a couple more last minute things for DH, mom, and my grandfather (who I kind of forgot about until then). Spent more than I would have liked to this year, but what do you do? I think maybe next year I'll have conversations with friends and family prior to the season starting - I'm sure there are others in my life who wouldn't mind spending a little less. This year I dropped about $600 all together. In my world, that's quite a chunk of change :/

***

Now that shopping has been done for a couple of days, I've been trying to wrap up all of my home projects prior to the holiday. DH is off work until after the new year, so I've been trying to take advantage. Yesterday I organized the attic. I can't believe how much room is up there now! Every time I move something out of the house I'm reminded of how much easier it's going to be to move in April... and now I have another whole carful of stuff to take to Goodwill. And a lot of stuff fits in my Honda Fit.

I've also got a few things that I need to sell - my army stuff, largely (I guess that's more than a few things. More like 4 bags worth), as well as a ring an ex boyfriend purchased for me. I think it's time to let that one go. lol. Pretty ring! I hope I can get a little bit of money out of it.

***

Yesterday DH and I finally added me to the (now) joint bank account. Now we just need to actually start using it. We paid for the new chair and the honeymoon booking out of it, and it's now only at about $2k. Not too bad given the only money we've put into it was from wedding gifts!

Now we have to start feeding money into it, and changing our bills to come out of that account. Which, I think, will be a project for the new year. At that point, I'll set up a new Mint account so we can readjust the budget to include everything.

***

Last night I went to see "Sisters" with my SIL. I feel like I've gone to the movies more in the last 2 months than I have in the last two years. lol. Our tickets were only $5.60 each, though! I forget how much cheaper it is to go during the week. Those weren't even matinee tickets... The movie, by the way, was HILARIOUS. Perfect for us two gals I'm so lucky that the two of us get along so well. I do have a (blood related) sister, but she's 8 years younger than me and incredibly socially awkward (mild special needs), so I never had the kind of relationship with her that you see in the movies. My SIL, however, is the same age and we have the same sense of humor. Over the last couple of years she's become one of my best friends. It's been something I've missed, and something I cherish greatly.

Speaking of relationships with women in the family, I just finished reading "Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan - an older read, but so very good. It's been on my shelf for a couple of years now. Just got around to it. Just a great read. Now that we've scaled back our books to one bookcase (from about 6), I'm going to attempt to read everything we own! That's a challenge that will keep me from purchasing more books for sure! Now I'm riding the Chinese theme and started "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. A couple chapters in, and so far so good!

***

The last few things to wrap up today:

- Visit the butcher to get meat for tomorrow's dinner
- Laundry
- Make trip to Goodwill
- Clean carpets (borrowing mom's upright cleaner)
- Do some editing

Christmas Eve is DH and I's day to just sit around, watch movies, relax, and make a really lovely dinner for just the two of us. We usually exchange our gifts over the course of the day. So I'm very much looking forward to that. It's nice to have some quality down time before we run all over kingdom come on Christmas day.

Probably wont update again until after the holiday, so everyone have a Christmas full of joy, love, and gratitude

So though DH and I got married in September, we still haven't gone on (or planned) our honeymoon. I think all of the planning for the wedding burnt us out, and we didn't want to deal with it. Our plan has been to go to Argentina.

Months ago, we found a Groupon deal that hit both Argentina and Brazil, but DH wanted to wait it out for a trip that hit exactly what he wanted to see (including Patagonia), and they stopped offering it after a while.

So yesterday I started poking around, and found a few vacation packages that sounded fantastic. None of them were in Argentina, unfortunately. When I looked for trips there it was either incredibly expensive, or just flights/hotels, and we didn't really want to have to plan much - so we focused on the pre-planned packages with tours and such.

It was up in the air between going to Peru or Japan, and Peru won out - they were both around $2k/person (including flights), and Peru was 2 days longer. Also, I get to cross Machu Picchu off my bucket list! I purchased the Groupon yesterday, and we'll be booking the trip first thing Monday when I can get a hold of the travel agency. If everything goes according to plan, we'll be taking our honeymoon for 10 days in March!

I'm so excited

Even better - I have the Swagbucks button on my browser, so when I went to purchase I clicked the thing to enable my Groupon purchase to add up the points and add it to my account. At 7 SB per dollar spent, I'm earning 27,986 SB. Which seems so hilarious to me for whatever reason. I'll be able to redeem that for at least two $100 gift cards. So even better!

So good news. $2k/person seems so insanely cheap to me - we paid almost that for just our flights to Europe last year. It'll end up being slightly more, because we have to get to JFK to fly out first, but still... for everything included, it seems like a fantastic way to travel.

At any rate, on my way to mom's to bake cookies! Hope you all have a great day

Thanks to everyone who posted such lovely comments on my last post. You all are always so wonderful Today is the 3 month anniversary of that beautiful day! Which means...

We've passed the midpoint of the month - and it's been a rough one over here.

In GOOD news:

- I sold another piece of equipment, and after Amazon fees, I'll be getting about $465. That will of course go straight into my tax savings.
- Worked with a friend who is an insurance agent, and restructured DH and my auto insurance (as well as my renter's policy) into one account. My policy premium dropped from almost $80 down to $55/month... which is even less than I was paying before the rate hiked for me. They also reimbursed part of the month I already paid.
- I caught up on my invoicing, and have almost $5k due right now. I'm not in a *huge* hurry to collect it all right away, mostly because if my clients drag their feet til after the new year I can consider it 2016 income, so it wont count toward taxes for this year. Which would be nice. heh.
- I went to a holiday party for a previous employer/current client. I'm designing their new website, but because of wedding season and election season (they are political consultants), things went on hold. Once the new year kicks in, that's a $6k project that will be completed.
- I've still got a considerable chunk leftover in my restaurant and fuel categories, so I guess tiny wins there?
- Pretty much completely done xmas shopping. The only thing I have left to do is design our "Family Cookbook" for our group of friends. I'll be printing them through Blurb - the high end magazines. So that'll be an additional $50 or so, but that literally wraps up all of my shopping.

In some less than good news:

- Over budget in my "Shopping/Misc" category, though, it's a late fee, a parking ticket, shipping charges for sold items, and just one purchase at Victoria's Secret. A girl needs a new bra every now and then. lol. So at least it's not rampant impulse spending...
- Not much left in the grocery category. And we've gone out to eat more than I'd like this month. Granted, DH paid for that most of the time, but I'd rather just establish the habit a bit better.
- Our internet payment hits in a couple of days and is going to be $30 more than I expected. We need to re-evaluate our plan. ugh.
- Another local tax payment due. Just paid Q3 (albeit quite late).
- We still haven't printed or mailed our xmas cards. heh. Needless to say, that has been a bit of a trainwreck, and now I just want it done. Tried to get them finished, and my design program kept crashing. Which is ominous for many reasons. But it needs done. We still haven't sent out those thank you cards from the wedding :/

***

In completely non-financial related news, the new Star Wars movie was AMAZING. We saw it last night, and it was everything I could have ever hoped for. Seriously.

***

Cancelled Hulu yesterday - the shows I follow there have all ended for the season. I brought up the idea of leap frogging services with DH. We don't have cable, but we do have Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, and Amazon Prime... and it seems silly to have them all at once when we can do one per month (with the exception of Prime - we pay for that a year at a time, so that would always be around). Seems like a fun challenge. Just need to get him onboard entirely. Would only be a savings of about $25-30 per month, but that's still $300 over the course of a year we could put toward another goal.

At any rate, I hope you all enjoy your Friday!!! The weekend is almost here!

Since my last post, I've sold a couple of items. A portable DVD writer for $30 on Facebook, and a lens for $50 on Amazon. Nothing earth shattering, but it's nice to see things leaving and getting some kind of return on them. I'm also talking with two potential buyers of my extra camera - which would be an extra $500 in pocket. Nothing to shake a stick at! Crossing my fingers.

In less happy news, I got my internet bill for the month - $90! That is far higher than what I'm used to paying, and it's because we went over our data limit. I didn't even know that was a thing until a couple of months ago, and it's never been this high. So I need to talk to DH and see what we need to do to get that lower. Either upgrade or readjust what we're doing. That's just absurd.

Went to Aldi and grabbed groceries today. Spent about $40 - not too bad. We had a couple of meals left over from last week, and we're not going to be doing a ton of cooking this week either. Largely stuck to my list. Didn't get milk because they didn't have the organic 2% this week - after drinking it for so long, I can't handle non-organic milk. It just doesn't taste right to me. Did grab my $3.99 bundle of flowers this week - the last bunch lasted 2 weeks! I couldn't believe it. And these were incredibly fresh and gorgeous. Very much enjoying them already!

Tonight I've got a holiday party. Tomorrow, a meet up for my BNI group (still haven't decided 100% if we're going). But we'll be cooking Wednesday night for sure. Thursday is Star Wars!!! Shout out to another SA member that lent me the first 6 movies so I could watch them all before Thursday

Friday, we'll be having friends over for dinner - and making home made crunch wraps! yummm. The weekend is a bit up in the air, but Sunday I'll heading to my mom's to do holiday baking in the morning. So I may or may not be sticking around for dinner that night. We shall see.

Either way, shouldn't be a *terribly* spendy week. My xmas shopping is pretty much done, so it's back to normal (for the most part). I can't believe how much it all adds up to. It definitely set me back a bit on my goals, and I'm looking forward to finding new ways to make up for that... let's hope.

At any rate, I hope you all have a fantastic week! And yay for all of the great fixes we've seen on the site!!

It's not quite the middle of the month yet, but I'm already feeling a bit discouraged on the budget. It's not terrible, but there were a few unexpected (and stupid) costs I didn't anticipate.

$169/300 in Groceries, so I need to reign it in for the rest of the month for sure.

$0/150 in Restaurants. Woooo! I'll prob spend a little on Sunday, but beyond that we've been doing really great.

$130/100 in Shopping/Misc. This is my catch-all, and it included a $35 late fee on my CC (stupid, and really no good reason that I paid it late) and a $37 parking ticket from a couple of months ago that got lost in a pile... it was $25 originally, so again. Stupid. I did purchase a small purse yesterday - I've been searching for one to replace mine, so that it matches my wardrobe. I found one for $20 at Target. I also purchased a new bra at VS. I have a hard time finding ones that fit me correctly (and unfortunately not because they're too big. haha). But I had a coupon for $10 off and it's really quite a need at this point. Still went with an inexpensive one, so I ended up spending about $30.

$17/80 in Fuel. I'm so thankful that I don't drive a ton for work. Most days I work from home, and when I do drive it's quite a bit of distance, but I've been averaging about $60/month for my tiny Honda.

$79/65 in Car Insurance. I have one of those devices that tracks my driving patterns, and apparently they think my driving hasn't been going as well for the last 6 months because it jumped :/ Upon investigating, the reasoning doesn't make much sense - and DH and I are going to have a friend switch our policy so that the two vehicles and our renters insurance are all together. That should reduce our payments by at least a bit. I was a bit miffed about that for sure.

Christmas shopping is still under budget. And almost complete! Which gets us to our crisis...

DH asked for a new Brown's t-shirt (die hard, and ever-hardened Cleveland fan he is). I decided to design him one custom and ordered it a few weeks back. It was $50 for one screen-printed shirt, which is a lot. But I trust the company (have used them in the past), I chose the more expensive t-shirt with the fabric DH likes, and the print quality is great. When I received the shirt yesterday, I realized I had made a big (rather, tiny) mistake - the stuff printed on the shirt was waaaay too small. I hadn't planned it correctly, and it looked rather ridiculous.

I immediately called them and explained my situation. It is certainly my fault that the dimensions weren't correct. But I also uploaded a proof so they could see what the shirt was intended to look like. If anyone actually checked it for QC, they would have noticed the discrepancy right away (because they see these every single day).

They were so very helpful - not only ran the shirt again for free, but upgraded my account to get better pricing and then on top of it ran another shirt for me using their other (cheaper) printing process so I could see the difference. They expedited the order so it would get to me before xmas, and I was left in awe at having such a great experience with them. I'm sure I'll end up doing additional t-shirts in the future, and I'll definitely be going with Scalable Press.

They saved Christmas

I guess I'm just not used to that level of service and I appreciate it so much when I do encounter it. It definitely inspires me to want to create that kind of environment for my own clients.

So that's that. Busy weekend coming up - shooting an event tonight and a proposal tomorrow evening, which should be a lot of fun Then Sunday will (thankfully) be relaxing and fun, hanging out with my SIL.

Hope you all enjoy your Friday and weekend!!

Things are moving along - yesterday was a bit spendy. $6 for lunch at Panera (I had to meet with my second shooter to pay her and get her files). $200 for her payment (which is honestly too little, but unfortunately I can't afford to pay her more, and she seems to be okay with it).

Talked with DH and got a couple of ideas for the last of his gifts - which I ordered last night. So he is completely done. There wont be a whole lot of surprise, except for the one gift. He asked for a Brown's t-shirt, and rather than purchasing one, I designed a custom shirt for him and had it printed. I'm hoping he loves it. The couple of his friends I got opinions from said they thought it was great.

I freaked out a bit the other day talking to a friend. I usually get him and the other person in our "trifecta" a gift for the holiday - but the last couple of years neither of them have given me anything, so I felt comfortable forgoing it this year. Of course, he made mention that he had a few more things he needed to get together for our gifts so.... apparently we are exchanging. lol. But I figured out a no-cost solution.

We have SO much alcohol left over from the wedding. A bottle of gin each and a fun print (that I can create at home) in a frame (of which we have several from the wedding) and I'm going to call it a day. Also gets some more liquor out of our house. Not that we don't like it, but it'll take us years to get through it all, and I don't want to move it all out of state in April.

All of the rest of the gifts I'm doing are for the most part DIY or something I'm designing, so I need to get that stuff taken care of. It's coming up quick.

But at least we're making progress!

***

In other news, I booked the yearly Republican dinner again (this Friday), so I have another shoot this month. I'm not a republican (I'm independent), but it's always so interesting to meet and hear what their speakers have to say. Last year, it was Ben Carson (at the time I had no idea I would see him all over the news). This year, it'll be Karl Rove. It's always such a funny, "How did I end up here?" moment when I'm walking around. But always so fascinating.

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Yesterday I finally sat down and mapped out our meal plan for the week and went shopping. I ended up spending $58 in total. $11 of that was at Walgreens for face wash and dry shampoo, which I use quite regularly but only have to replace every other month or so. I went to Walgreens instead of Target thinking that it would reign in some off the cuff spending. And it did.

The only item I purchased outside of my list was a small bouquet of flowers from Aldi. Every week I look at them, and every week I talk myself out of it. But for $3.99, they have brought a lot of joy already. This morning I even changed the water - something I'm terrible about doing and the reason my DH refuses to buy them for me anymore. haha. I'm hoping my appreciation and care for these might inspire him to change his mind about that in the future

But ANYWAY. Here is the meal list for the week:

- Gruyere Pasta w/ Chicken
- Honey Sesame Chicken w/ Egg Rolls
- Parmesan Crusted Chicken Cutlets w/ Risotto
- Chicken Burrito Bowls
- Emergency Pizza

"Emergency Pizza" in our house means a frozen pizza we throw in the oven when we're craving junk food and don't want to cook. A $3 pizza keeps us from dropping $20, so we keep one on hand for those "emergencies." We try to save it if possible, though!

Made the pasta last night - I had bought some smoked gruyere last week from Aldi to snack on, and we used up most of it in the pasta. Kind of like a pasta/mac & cheese. Turned out great, despite it being one of those completely thrown together meals.

***

Today I've got a deadline to meet, so it's going to be a busy one! Hope you all are enjoying your week!

Though not *exactly* a point of excitement, I can't believe that we're here. Sigh.

I sat down and created my budget today - finally going through what I should expect coming in this month. I really need to go through and get a hold on my accounting. I got Quickbooks for my business back in May, but I haven't backlogged everything yet, so I'm not entirely sure what my tax situation is going to look like. That's a big priority for the month.

I also mapped out what I plan on doing for xmas, and that is looking pretty grim. I need to scale back a bit. We don't have a ton of people to buy for, but it all adds up... That being said, I finally got out of my mom what she wanted, and I picked up a purse for her on Nordstrom Rack yesterday. No crazy Cyber Monday deals, but it was already marked down almost 50% and at least shipping was free for the holiday.

DH and I mentioned the joint account again yesterday and resolved to figure out how we're going to really use it. Hopefully that conversation will come soon. We still have to put me on the account as well. We also acknowledged that our honeymoon will probably not be taken right after xmas, as we still haven't planned any of it. Which is fine by me. We'll figure it out. We're just not really in the mindset to plan a vacation. I'm sure once the weather starts to get chilly that will change quickly

***

As for today, I'll be heading to the grocery store and then having a marathon work session. We have pretty much nothing in the house at the moment... but beyond that there should be no spending!

So that's that. I hope you all enjoy the day!

I spent 12 hours on Wednesday editing photos... so I was able to take a bit of time off around the holiday. And it felt pretty fantastic. Not only that, but my client was SO excited about her photos. Surprisingly, I don't always get a reaction (I deliver files electronically), and it's such a treat when I do.

The holiday itself was pretty good. We do a lot of running around, and while it's nice to see everyone, it's exhausting at the same time. Black Friday we stayed in and put up our tree. I don't bother with shopping. Though we did watch some videos online of stores opening up on Black Friday - honestly, it was probably one of the more depressing things I've seen (which is saying something given the news recently). People trampling each other and fighting over boxes. It's like we've abandoned the concept of decency in favor of stuff. Granted, I know it's not like that everywhere, but still...

I did do a bit of online shopping yesterday - Amazon had the Echo listed for $150 instead of $180, so that was a great deal. The $10 gift card I had essentially took care of the taxes, and it ships free. So DH's big gift is done. Picked up a book for my sister as well.

I also hopped on Bath & Body Work's site to see if they had any deals on Wallflowers - that's what I get for my MIL every year, and sure enough they were marked down to $3.50 from the usual $6 each. I got 3 of those and some random lotions, etc. They were having a buy 2 get one free deal, and I'll be giving away two of them as gifts.

Still waiting to hear what mom wants - she pulled this weird, "Don't worry about me..." thing after she asked at length what we would like. Like we're not going to get her a gift. Sigh. I'm just hoping she lets me know soon. I'd rather not do the last minute thing, and it seems silly to buy her random stuff if there's something she's planning to purchase anyway.

I do have some designing and putting together of presents as well. I don't do a whole lot of hand-made, but definitely a good bit of custom-made. It's where my skillset becomes really helpful! I'd rather do something special than generic most of the time.

DH asked what I wanted last night - and I'm still not 100% sure. Originally I threw out the idea of a Roomba. We have 2 cats and I constantly battle with pet hair. But then I realized that I was asking for a $300 vacuum cleaner and I just felt silly. haha. Our vacuum works great, and it's not that much work. I've been thinking of getting a Fitbit for a while now, so I suggested that. And maybe one of those fancy camera harnesses. I'll need to do some research on that, though. I'm trying to reduce the amount of stuff we have, so that makes it a bit difficult. And equipment for work is a bit too expensive to ask for xmas. That's better for tax write-offs.

At any rate, time to get to work. I've got a lot to get done this week! Hope you all had a lovely holiday!

So November has almost come to an end. It's hard to believe. I know they say that time goes faster the older you get, but holy cow...

Yesterday went to Aldi and spent about $53. That put me over my grocery budget for the month, so that was a bit of a downer. I also went over my shopping/misc budget as well, as I purchased a sweater for our xmas card photo. Only $16, but that was enough. I only spent $13/$200 of my restaurant budget, so I've got wiggle room. Which is good, because I'll be heading out to grab the last of the xmas decorations I'd like today. I was going to wait another week so we could just attribute it to the December budget, but I'd like to get the tree up on Friday when DH and I will both be home and not out Black Friday shopping.

So that's that! The rest of the week will pretty much be a no-spend after that! Looking forward to time with family and friends. I think it's going to be a lovely holiday.

Hope you all have a good one!

It's the time of year where things are starting to slow down for me - in terms of shoots, anyway. And the weather is getting colder. We had our first tiny blanket of snow. And the holidays are quickly approaching.

That means my brain starts shutting down, and it just cant.

For no other reason than I have clients who are expecting their photos, and more often than not would like them prior to Christmas, so they can use them in gifts.

So even though it's a holiday week and a bit shorter, I need to stay focused. And not get distracted - both in terms of my work and my spending

***

Over the weekend I did spend a bit at Target and Marshall's. Mostly on groceries and personal care products. We had some people over to watch the Ohio State game, so I grabbed some snacks. I also needed to get conditioner and moisturizer. While at Marshall's I saw little sweaters for pets, and snagged one - we now have 2/4 of the sweaters we need for our Christmas card photos. Mine and DH are the only ones left. Though I realize we need to get those soon and get that photo done to send them out.

The only other money I spent over the weekend was for a movie ticket - $6.75 yesterday, to see the new Hunger Games. It was good, and nice to go with friends. It was also a matinee on a Sunday, so not too expensive. I opted out of any popcorn or drinks.

***

It's time, too, to start thinking about the holidays. I'm not a Black Friday shopper. I loathe crowds and prefer a more relaxing shopping experience. So I will not be venturing out. We have pretty much everything we need in terms of decorations. I *might* grab some different tree ornaments, as ours don't really match (one another or the living room). I saw a pack at Target, plastic ones that come in a pack for like $15. We also don't have a tree skirt. Though I might just use some burlap and call it a day. I have some on hand, and all of the tree skirts I've seen in the stores are like $30-40! I may run to Pat Catan's and get some cheap fake greenery and some little odds and ends as well.

Mom asked what we wanted, and I think I'm just going to have her buy us Christmas stockings. We don't own any, and I have some in mind. But they're $13 each, so I figure that's a good gift. We'll ask for 5 - two for me and DH, one each for the kitties, and an extra for any additional family members that might creep up in the next few years. I mean, I want the baby's to match when the time comes... Also, my MIL bought us christmas stocking hangers that go on the mantle and spell out our last name, which conveniently has 5 letters.

As for gifts, DH wants an Amazon Echo. I've got a few Amazon gift cards I'll use toward that purchase, but that will be his one big gift and I'll just get him a few other things to open that are smaller. I'll be asking family members what they want at Thanksgiving, but we don't have too many people to buy for, thankfully. In our friends group I think we may be doing a secret santa gift exchange - two of the couples we're close with are having babies in the spring, so they're trying to reduce spending. That's fine by me, of course. I'm putting together a personalized project for everyone, so I should for the most part be covered anyway.

So that's that. Back to work! Hope you all have a lovely week

It's not generally like me to be this excited about a piece of furniture, but our chair arrived yesterday and I just LOVE it. Not an expensive one, mind you - $200 recliner on Overstock. But it actually matches our living room and by golly, our house is starting to look like it was purposefully put together and not some college bachelor pad. I've been spending more time in that room, too - reading and generally enjoying the progress we're making.

Sometimes it's the little victories.

***

Today I'll be doing a bit of running around. I called our internet company yesterday AGAIN. I called last week to get my last name changed on the account. They said they were going to email me a form. It never appeared in my inbox. Called yesterday, and the rep said that I had to go to a Cox store to get it changed. Sigh. I loathe dealing with cable companies, and this is why.

So today I'm heading there to get it all taken care of, and going to Verizon to do the same. I was on their website yesterday, too, and it looks like they do military/veterans discounts! So I'll be discussing that as well. I could use a break on my cell bill.

***

I have to stop and get gas - but it's so inexpensive right now, I'm almost excited for it. haha. Yesterday I saw signs for under $2. Hopefully it's remained through today.

I also need to head to the post office and ship off one of my lenses AGAIN. When I got it back, they had solved one, but another developed. Thankfully it's under warranty still and they sent me a prepaid shipping label. So it wont cost me anything to get it back to them. Let's hope the issue is resolved. That lens is kind of my workhorse come wedding season.

***

This weekend is going to be a fun one. Dinner at a friend's tonight. Friendsgiving tomorrow. And we still have 3 meals from our list that we didn't get around to cooking this week, so groceries will be light next week for sure.

Hope you all enjoy yourselves!!

Went to Aldi and Target yesterday to finish up my grocery shopping for the week. My grand total was $65.60 - and included a $10 sweater for one of the cats. We're going to be doing a very silly Christmas card this year, given it'll be our first year we send them out. We still have to send out thank you cards from the wedding... is it rude to just stuff the both of them together? lol. Also, is it rude to wait 3 months to send them? haha. Tomorrow will be our 2-month anniversary, so we need to get those out soon for sure. Also, plan our honeymoon, which is supposed to be next month.

We LOVE traveling, and I'm really excited to go to South America, but for whatever reason neither of us has been motivated to actually do the planning or booking. I think we're just worn out on planning in general. I honestly wish we could just wait until February, but DH doesn't want to use up all of his PTO days for 2016 with the move coming up in April.

***

Some of you asked for the sweet potato casserole recipe I'm using for our Friendsgiving Celebrations. I've used this one in the past and it's delicious:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/sweet-potato-praline-swirl

This is the one my mother loves and I'll be bringing it to her house, but it's a bit on the sweet side for me. So I'm going to try this one for this weekend:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/praline-sweet-potato-bake

It's got a crunchier top. We'll see which one turns out best!

***

Should be a no-spend over here. Have a shoot this afternoon at a law firm - headshots for the whole office, so that should be fun. I'll be eating leftovers for lunch and we're making perogies (frozen, from the last time I made them) and roasting carrots from the garden.

I transferred money from my business account, so I'll be moving some of that around. I'll transfer $500 to our joint account (I had to deposit one of our wedding checks to my personal account for name reasons), and I'll be transferring $1,500 to my savings account to add to my tax savings.

Hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday!!

Well, not much has changed since yesterday, and it was a no-spend for me. I was going to head to Aldi and Target, but the weather was unseasonably nice for November, so I figured it was a good day to get all of my container plants put away for the winter. Ran my last little "harvest," and have a handful of tiny peppers, a whole bunch of small carrots, and a few smaller onions. I was able to salvage one tiny strawberry (I need to be better about actually picking and eating our strawberries next year!). I cut back my lavender plant and stuck the branches in a bottle of gin - I've been wanting to try infusing it for a while. Hopefully it'll be good!

The strawberry plant went in the garage for the winter, and my heartier herbs came inside (I have a container with lavender, thyme, and sage together). The rest of my plants are annuals, and my tomato plant got some kind of illness, so I was going to chuck that one anyway (somehow it still produced a ton of tomatoes though). The pepper plants were harvested and chucked. My basil was looking reeeeeally rough without constant watering here at the end of the season. So it too was chucked. And they grow so easily that replanting next year wont be a big deal.

Also, with moving in April I didn't want to transport too many plants. I'll bring my empty pots and plant things after we move, when we know what our yard situation looks like. It'll be exciting to see how things grow differently that much further south. I'm hoping, though, that I wont be too late in the game given that I'm sure it gets warmer there more quickly than it does here. Up here in the Great Lakes it's sometimes still snowing here and there in April, after all!

Nonetheless, the task is done and I got to spend some time outside yesterday, which was really nice.

Made beef and broccoli in the crock pot - and it was fantastic. I didn't follow the recipe exactly (I don't keep oyster or fish sauce in my house because I don't end up using it). Nonetheless, I'd recommend it:

http://damndelicious.net/2014/03/31/slow-cooker-beef-broccoli/

If you can't tell, I really love Chinese food - made in the crock pot at home is even better. I love saving money and calories! Though we put ramen in ours instead of serving it with rice, so maybe there weren't *too* many calories saved.

Going to the grocery store today. This week's menu:

- Leftover Beef + Broccoli
- Perogies (frozen from last time) with Roasted Carrots (Garden)
- Chili
- Breakfast for Dinner
- Chicken with Risotto

Saturday we're attending one of two "Friendsgiving" celebrations we're taking part in this year. We'll be bringing Sweet Potato Casserole. Friday we'll be having dinner at another friend's. So it should, theoretically, be a relatively inexpensive grocery week.

We shall see!

Hope you all have a lovely Monday!

What a weekend! A bit spendy - but so much fun. Yesterday I had a Girl's Day with my sister in law. We got lunch at a cute little cafe in the area, then got tattoos together It was her first, and a really exciting milestone for her. She went with a word that symbolized an overseas living experience as well as her new, post-divorce take on life. I went with something small that could easily be covered up, but it says, "Yes, I do." During my marriage vows I was so excited and full of conviction that I messed up and said yes, then corrected myself. I think that's a great moment to remind myself of. Being so happy that I forget the formality and just say "yes!"

So our girls day consisted of lunch, tattoos, then beer and pizza, finished off with karaoke (which was a blast). Not the girliest of girls days, but I kind of like that

All in all, I spent: $11 at lunch, $70 on my tattoo (including tip), then $20 in beer. All of which was accounted for in my budget. That being said... here's my mid-month checkup:

***

We are half-way through November, and I am not in the red for any category!!

Left in the budget:

- $38 Shopping
- $150 Groceries
- $189 Restaurant
- $40 Fuel
- $30 Business Expenses

My shopping budget is the tightest at the moment, but there really are no items that are urgent. I decided to not buy an additional pair of glasses or contacts this month. Those can wait. Same with any clothing purchases or home goods. I think we'll be good on that front until we move, now that our new chair will be delivered Thursday!!

Not to mention, I should probably roll that over to next month anyway, with Christmas coming up.

I'll be heading to the grocery store either today or tomorrow. We've been doing really well with eating at home, most days. We falter a little on the weekends, but overall it's been a good month for food. We will be attending 2 Friendsgiving celebrations, and bringing a side dish, so that'll add a bit. But I still think we can remain within our budget for sure.

At any rate, time to put some beef and broccoli in the crock pot and get some tasks done around the house. Hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

This week really flew by - and I didn't even have any shoots. Going into the weekend, I *still* don't have any shoots, and it feels good. I know it's better to be busy and making money, but after busy season it feels nice to have a few weekends back.

Last night we were supposed to go to a social function for my BNI group, but honestly I'm a little burnt out on the time commitment that has entailed, and we saved at least a good $40 - between parking, games, drinks, and the food we would have likely gotten, it would have easily added up.

Instead, we had dinner at a friend's, which was really nice (and free!). He also gave us the lovely wedding gift he was waiting on (a custom handpainted sign with our last name and the coordinates of our current home). He also took our ugly green recliner, so it is finally out of our apartment!!! Wooooo!!!

We ordered the replacement chair last night, and it should be arriving next Thursday. I'm incredibly excited. Our living room is going to actually look like it was purposefully decorated Also, the replacement recliner was only $200 on Overstock. So not breaking the bank, either. That came out of our joint account, so it doesn't eat into my personal shopping budget.

***

I did talk to my financial planner friend yesterday, and she'll be emailing me to set up an appointment. I think it'll be good to go over what we've got going on budget and goal setting wise, also I think DH needs a little direction in terms of his investments (a little ad hoc at the moment) and we're going to open a Roth IRA for me, so I'm looking forward to some product recommendations. It's nice having someone I know I can trust. And I think if nothing else it'll give us a little push to get things organized. They say money is the #1 reason for divorce. I'd rather be proactive!

***

I have some really fun plans this weekend. Today I'll be making dinner in the crock pot, doing some work, and running some errands. I think I might just load up another carful to run to Goodwill.

Tonight we're going with a handful of friends to a local bar to see a band we really like play. Tomorrow I have a whole day planned with my sister in law. I haven't seen her in a few weeks, so I'm excited to have a girl's day. We'll be bouncing around quite a bit, and we'll end the night at karaoke, which will be a blast. I will probably cook tomorrow as well. Sunday we have no plans, but it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day, so I think I might try to convince DH to go on a long hike. Goodness knows we can use the exercise

So that's it - I hope you all enjoy your Friday, and have a great weekend!!!

So anyone that's been reading along (though I certainly don't assume any of you hang on my every word. haha) knows that I'm in the midst of a purging. We donated about 10 boxes of books on Monday, I've been rounding up clothes and house items for sale and donation, and in some cases it's just to downsize. In others, it's to make room for things that I truly love.

I'm a pretty firm believer in the methods of Marie Kondo (The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up is her book). Her basic premise is that you should only surround yourself with objects that "spark joy." That's really her only criteria. haha. And while it sounds cheesy, it has been enormously helpful in my efforts - and effective!

Or example, we were only left with the books we really enjoy. When I look over my bookcase, I feel less overwhelmed and am so excited to read some of the books sitting there, or reread others. Granted, many are DH's and I will never read them. haha. But it feels so much calmer nonetheless.

I've been slowly paring down the things that I don't really enjoy in our home. Our bedding was more of a necessity (our comforter was ruined). But since buying new bedding that I love (inexpensively, at IKEA) I make our bed every day and absolutely LOVE being in our bedroom.

Even when it just comes to paring down and not necessarily replacing, I find that clearing out the noise of the things that don't make me happy allows me to better appreciate what does. Clothes are where this makes the biggest impact for me. I would keep some "just in case" I lost that weight, or pairs of pants that I could barely squeeze into that made me feel uncomfortable and insecure when I wore them. Once I finally let go, I had one pair of blue jeans, a pair of black jeans, and a pair of black dress pants. They all fit well, and I didn't have to go through the stress of rifling through and being reminded that these other pieces no longer fit.

So call it minimalism, or KonMarie, or trying to adapt the Feng Shui of a room, whatever. Less stuff in general and more stuff you love is a great practice, I've found. And things I love aren't necessarily more expensive. They're just more joy-sparking

***

So along those lines, I did another purge of clothes - and went off to sell them yesterday. I made $145 total. I still have some left that I may try to sell online, so hopefully that figure will improve. But the money I made yesterday was used to buy a new coat (one that fits me correctly!). I found one I absolutely love - and got the coat, then a matching scarf, hat, and set of gloves all for $170. The remaining $30 came out of my shopping budget. Then I went to Target and found a lamp I loved for $15 - to replace the wonky one in our living room, and then a throw pillow that was on sale for $20 that I've been eyeing for a couple of weeks now. The living room is slowly coming together now

We still could really stand to replace:

- Recliner (this has been a planned purchase for months)
- End Table
- Floor Lamp
- Area Rug (wont purchase until after the move)
- Coffee Table

These aren't needs, so I'm not in any particular hurry - except for the recliner. haha. It is this hideous green fabric, and doesn't match the rest of the room in the slightest. It was a hand me down, and we've already found a $200 chair to replace it. We just have to get the thing out and order the new one. Part of me wants to wait until we move so we don't have to move another one down south. But I'm not sure I can have that chair in my life for another 5 months. haha. The rest is harmonious enough with the room to not warrant any particular hurry

The nice thing, too, about only landing on the items I truly love is that I'm a bit pickier about what I do buy - and I'm happy to wait until I've found "it." Why spend money on something and let it take up room in your life if you aren't going to be super excited upon seeing it every day?

***

In other simplification news, I disabled the mail notifications on my computer. Even less distraction from my tasks!

Hope you are all having a lovely day!

Alrighty. We're a third of the way through the month, and upon checking on my budget, I'm pretty much right on schedule. I'm at 1/3 of my shopping budget and haven't touched my restaurant budget (woo!). I am almost halfway through my grocery budget, though, so I'll need to tone things down a bit. Thankfully, the groceries I bought the other day should last us through at least a week and a half.

Tonight will be leftovers - we have a ton right now. Always nice to not have to cook!

We do have a date night planned tomorrow (the first since our wedding), which I'm really looking forward to. But we're actually using a local restaurant gift card that a friend got us for the wedding. So dinner will be covered. We will be paying to go see the new Bond film, though. Very much excited

***

I mailed back the Warby Parker try on at home glasses yesterday, and I'm deciding against buying a pair. At least for now. They were cute, but none of them were just *amazing,* and I can still wear the ones I have now. They were most certainly a want and not a need, and if I'm going to make a purchase I want it to be something that I truly love. They try on at home was free anyway, so no harm no foul.

***

Today I believe I'm going to swing by a few consignment shops and attempt to sell some of my clothes. I was going to attempt the online route, and still may for a few pieces, but for the rest I think it might make sense to let go of them all in one go. I'm hoping to make a little money, so I can use the cash toward the purchase of a new coat.


Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic day. Happy saving!!

Well, we attempted to open a joint account today - but unfortunately my ID is only a week old and I haven't changed my name elsewhere, so I don't have any bills or such with my address on it. So they weren't able to add me. Despite having pretty much every other piece of paper documenting my existence ever. haha.

Nonetheless, DH opened the account, and I'll be added on as soon as I have proof of address. The important thing is that we got those checks deposited - I hate waiting too long, as I'm sure our wedding guests have been wondering when the money would be pulled from their accounts.

I did, however, get my name changed on my personal account. So there's that. Now I just have to change it in a million other places. Including my business banking. And with my business in general. I don't even know where to start there.

We also finished up sorting through our books and everything in our spare bedroom to see if there's anything we can purge. We loaded up an entire carful (and I drive a Fit, so that's a rather large carful). Also brought a bunch of DVDs to the Exchange, and made $30 - which went to pay for our lunches, and then some. Lastly, we made a stop at Goodwill. While we still have quite a ways to go, our apartment feels so much lighter already! I'm really looking forward to even more.

I think tomorrow I'll run some other errands - including trips to a couple consignment shops to attempt to sell a few things. I have a decent collection of clothes I need to offload still. I also may try to list some of the photography equipment I've been meaning to sell. That to-do list just never ends. haha.

I'm just thankful we have a big move coming up to motivate us. It'll do well for us to downsize!

At any rate, hope you all have a lovely evening!

I think I made it sound more dramatic than it really was - haha. I really just didn't use social media for a week, and honestly, it was fantastic. Hardly missed it, only was tempted a couple of times, and not only did I have a much more productive week, but I felt much more relaxed. Which was good - because otherwise it was a rather stressful go of things.

I think I'm going to start limiting my social media usage to just Sundays, with the exception of posting for my business. Honestly, I wish I had the money to pay someone to do social media for my business so I didn't have to worry about it. Ironic because I used to do precisely that. But I don't have time to keep up with it enough for it to be terribly useful. I need to come up with a system to improve that.

***

So thankful that the week is over - I worked a wedding yesterday, which is a LONG day. People think being a wedding photographer is a glamorous business. haha. In reality, it's tiring and full of pressure. Certainly high-energy and fun (with the right group), but nonetheless it leaves me spent for a few days.

Today I was happy to have the opportunity to relax a bit. Drank my morning coffee in the quiet and then we did brunch with friends, which was a lovely time. The weather has just been gorgeous for our part of the country. And fall is my favorite

So DH and I had a nice chat last night about our tentative 5-year plan. He's been working for the same employer for about 4 years now and isn't really interested in staying in the industry. He decided back in the spring to take a new job within the bank for the next 2 years - because they're going to allow him to work remotely from Nashville once we move and because he didn't really know what he wanted to do otherwise.

In the end, it didn't make sense to give up a rather sizable income with nothing on the horizon.

At that point, we talked about him going back to school and getting his PhD. We revisited that possibility last night, but now that we've got kids in the plan in 2-3 years, figuring out the timing makes it a little tricky. I definitely don't want him to be wholeheartedly distracted by an intense program in the first couple of years of our baby's life. And raising a kid on just my income is not plausible (at least with my business).

In the end, I told him I supported him returning to school, and we'd make it work no matter what - but in the mean time we should probably be saving as much as we can so that when we move to a greatly diminished income that we can get by. He's not the reckless type, and he mentioned feeling selfish for even wanting to go through with more school. Which is silly. Our family may face a rough patch in the beginning, but in the long term I'd like my kids to grow up with a father who is happy and passionate about what he does.

That being said, our tentative future plan of coming back here and buying a house after a year or two is probably going to face a bit of uncertainty and change. Which is difficult for me to sit with (I'm a control freak who likes her plans), but something I'm willing to work through.

All in all, though, it's really exciting and comforting to be talking with him about what's best for "our family" in such real ways. That's a newer concept for us, having just gotten married. It's definitely weird and a bit scary, but also something that brings so much joy and warmth to my heart. I could get used to it

Last night I stayed up getting prepared for my 10-minute BNI presentation, which was this morning. I talked about my business and brought in a bunch of samples. I had really hoped to have new samples printed by it, but I used my Canon home printer to at least get some more recent shots included. I'll replace them with quality printed shots soon - as well as the new photo books.

Always something else to do! Thankfully, I noticed that the site I generally use to print books has this incredible deal on samples. So that should save me some money in the long run.

But the presentation went really well. Everyone in my group responded well to it, and one member handed me a referral right then and there to have his family photos taken Definitely a good sign.

I started chatting with another member right after the meeting, who complimented my work and talked about the photographer he's used in the past. He said her prices were double mine, and my work was just as good as hers. Comments like that are always so discouraging and encouraging at the same time. haha. I do plan on revamping my pricing and process come this winter, when I have time to really sort through it logically. It's just terrifying at the same time. You always fear people wont be willing to pay your prices. In the end, though, they have

***

Went to Target yesterday. Had to pick up some items I can't get at Aldi - bathroom cleaner, cat litter and litter deodorizer. Grabbed some other grocery items while I was at it. Including my favorite hot chocolate

So I finally got that sign made for my clients at the library yesterday - after heading back to the lumber place to get the pieces cut again (they were too big for the machine) and heading downtown. Unfortunately, I managed to get a parking ticket - without any good reason. I put 2 hours worth of change into the meter, set a timer on my phone to go off in 1.75 hours, and still had 25 minutes left on my timer when I came out. The meter showed it had expired, but there is no possible way.

ugh.

So I'm not sure if I should just pay the $25 fee or try and fight it. I feel like the time I would spend getting out of it wouldn't be worth the money. It's just the principle of the thing.

***

In good news, I voted yesterday - though I feel like I was going against the grain in most cases and nothing I voted for seemed to pass. haha. Still did my civic duty.

After voting, I replaced my drivers license so my new name is on it. Exciting stuff Monday, DH and I are headed to the bank to open our joint account. Then the fun begins! It'll be interesting to sit down and create a budget with him. I'm hoping the process is painless. Hoping.

Today is yet another busy day - and it started at 6am. I have a deadline I'm trying to meet. A client text messaged me at 6:20am asking about their photos, which was enough to set me off and get the day started in a bad mood. Not only are their photos not due until next week, but who sends texts that early? And why wouldn't she have sent me an email? I hate to complain about clients, but there have to be some boundaries. I wouldn't text my best friend at 6am.

But I will get through the day alive, I know it. Just can't wait for the craziness of the season to die down. Sigh.

At any rate, I hope you all have a lovely day!

Yesterday was a productive day - with some annoying setbacks. I finally made it down to the library to use the laser engraving machine. Turns out that they no longer (as of 2 weeks ago) carry the plywood that I generally use. So I wasted a trip down there, had to go purchase it elsewhere (more expensively) and now have to return today to finish that up. I think I'm going to remove that service from what I offer. In the end, I'll be taking 2 trips downtown and I spent $15 total on materials (though I have more than enough for one sign). It's not worth the $30 minus sales tax I will make on it. Particularly when I paid $5 for a train pass to go downtown.

Thankfully I was able to knock a couple of other tasks off my list while I was down there - namely, going to the probate court to pick up certified copies of my marriage license ($4) and change my name at the social security administration. After voting today I'm planning to head to the DMV and get my driver's license taken care of. Then we'll (finally) be able to set up that joint bank account.

So progress is being made.

Also paid my bills yesterday and dropped off my car payment. Had dinner at our friend's last night. Tonight, I'll be throwing a ham in the crock pot. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without my slow cooker. It keeps me sane

Everyone have an awesome day!! Happy saving!!!