I can't believe that the month went by so fast. Just seems to be more and more so the case the older I get... ah well. Hopped onto Mint and took a look at my spending for the month. Things are a little off for a few reasons, but here's the snapshot:



My CC payment bar is off because of my balance transfer. But I actually paid off the remaining $200 after the transfer and then the minimum payment on my Amazon Visa.

Given that I've counted all grocery purchases made at the end of this week for this coming one, they didn't apply to the January grocery budget. Also, I filled up the car twice - I just started using the joint account a bit more at the end of the month, so that isn't accounted for here.

I was just under on the restaurant budget, which was a bit frustrating. Still not awful, but I would have preferred to eat out less. There were a few other times that DH paid from his account, too. I'm hoping to do less dining out in February. Internet has been over every month for the last 6 months. I may have to reassess there - but paying $10 more still seems like a better deal than increasing our plan most likely. Will have to look into options.

The "business expense" overage was due to filing my sales tax, and the "Everything Else" at the bottom was my Q4 local tax. I had forgotten that both of those hit in January.

"Shopping" also included a $20 pair of slippers that I paid from the other account. My feet have been suffering this winter, despite it being relatively mild. DH bought a pair to replace his go-to pair that began falling apart. I didn't own a single pair, and when I tried his on I realized that was the solution to my frigid toe problem. 2 pairs of socks hasn't worked, but these things are like magic.

So all that being said, my "No Non-Essential Spending Month" wasn't entirely successful. But I have been practicing more mindfulness with my spending - thinking through purchases rather than just impulse buying. And I didn't go hideously over budget. I'm just going to continue on that trend.

February will also be the first month we're operating mainly out of the joint account. I'll be closing my PNC account here shortly, and DH will do the same. So we'll get a much clearer picture of where we're both spending. Which I'm sure will be enlightening!

I think that's it for me now. Hope you all had a successful January!

Went through and switched all of my autopay bills to the joint account, and paid off the last $200 of my PNC credit card. So now all I have to do is withdraw all of the money from my checking and savings accounts and put them in my business account for taxes. Then I can close those. Still haven't decided if I'm going to close my PNC CC or just put it in a box and keep it just in case of emergencies. It's my longest standing CC to date, and it'll keep my credit score a bit higher theoretically just having a higher credit allowance overall. For now, it goes in the box. But I do still need to call and close that silly Toyota credit card that I never wanted in the first place.

I'll be saving approx. $40/month now that I've switched over to a 0% interest rate, and I added 11 months worth of savings to my spreadsheet where I'm keeping track of these things.

***

Also went grocery shopping today - and sad to report that it put me over my $200 limit. I could have waited until Monday to buy a lot of the items I got, but rather than making two trips, I figured it made more sense to just buy everything for next week this week. So honestly, I think I'm just going to start this trip for February's budget and just not going again until the week after (which is entirely do-able). So I retract my previous statement. I did make it under $200 for January

Spent $34.78 at Aldi - and stuck to my grocery list. My second stop was at Target, where I spent $40.76. But that included some considerable savings. We weren't really in need of cat food or litter yet, but they were having a great deal on our brands, which included sales prices, a $5 gift card for purchasing, two coupons I printed, Cartwheel coupons, and my 5% off for using my Target RED Debit Card. So I essentially spent $17.67 on a huge bag of food and a 35lb. container of cat litter. We'll be stocked for a long while, and in total it was way cheaper than I had priced it via Prime Pantry. So I count it a win! Everything else I purchased was on my list and I had coupons for as well. We shouldn't have to buy personal care products for quite some time either.

On the menu for this weekend/next week:

- Thai Chicken Stir-fry
- Pork Chops w/ Roasted Carrots and Cabbage
- Mexican Pizza
- Baked Chicken Drumsticks w/ Sweet Potato Gnocchi
- BBQ Chicken w/ Cheddar Pancakes

After about 2 hours in the car this morning, I finally made it home. Staying at mom's wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated, but I'm happy to be back with my kitties - and excited to see DH when he gets home from work. Sleeping in my own bed is going to be glorious.

Didn't end up doing laser tag yesterday - as it's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Instead, went back to the house with my sister, played a board game, and then went out to dinner at Bob Evan's. She seemed in much better spirits, so hopefully my time there was able to cheer her up a bit. Either way, this conversation with mom is going to be a rough one when she gets home. Not sure exactly when it's going to happen - but it'll have to be within the next few weeks. Preferably sooner than later, her birthday is just in a couple of weeks and I know she's stressed about turning 50. But I'm not sure there will ever be a "good" time to have that conversation. Sigh.

***

Sales tax payment went through today, so that's been taken care of. Also saw that my local Q4 taxes hit my account. So much money out for taxes, and I've still got so much more to go... sigh.

My American Eagle gift cards finally hit from Swagbucks... so I went to purchase the swimsuit I had planned (my reward for hitting my Dietbet goal) and of course they sold out of my size. That's the second suit I found that I loved and sold out a few days after I decided on it. It's been a frustrating experience. I found 2 other tops that I liked, and decided to order both for now in case I didn't end up liking one and the other was sold out (as it will most definitely be, given the trend). So once they arrive I'll decide between them and return the other.

Speaking of my Dietbet, my first game finalized, and I won a profit of $9.63 - not a ton, but I also got my money back. So that's good. And, you know, lost weight Second game finishes in a couple of days.

That's about it for news. Hope you are all having a lovely week!

After about 2 hours in the car this morning, I finally made it home. Staying at mom's wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated, but I'm happy to be back with my kitties - and excited to see DH when he gets home from work. Sleeping in my own bed is going to be glorious.

Didn't end up doing laser tag yesterday - as it's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Instead, went back to the house with my sister, played a board game, and then went out to dinner at Bob Evan's. She seemed in much better spirits, so hopefully my time there was able to cheer her up a bit. Either way, this conversation with mom is going to be a rough one when she gets home. Not sure exactly when it's going to happen - but it'll have to be within the next few weeks. Preferably sooner than later, her birthday is just in a couple of weeks and I know she's stressed about turning 50. But I'm not sure there will ever be a "good" time to have that conversation. Sigh.

***

Sales tax payment went through today, so that's been taken care of. Also saw that my local Q4 taxes hit my account. So much money out for taxes, and I've still got so much more to go... sigh.

My American Eagle gift cards finally hit from Swagbucks... so I went to purchase the swimsuit I had planned (my reward for hitting my Dietbet goal) and of course they sold out of my size. That's the second suit I found that I loved and sold out a few days after I decided on it. It's been a frustrating experience. I found 2 other tops that I liked, and decided to order both for now in case I didn't end up liking one and the other was sold out (as it will most definitely be, given the trend). So once they arrive I'll decide between them and return the other.

Speaking of my Dietbet, my first game finalized, and I won a profit of $9.63 - not a ton, but I also got my money back. So that's good. And, you know, lost weight Second game finishes in a couple of days.

That's about it for news. Hope you are all having a lovely week!

I can't believe it's already Friday! What a week. Things are feeling better in terms of the uncertainty mentioned in my last post. I've been starting to think through options, and that helps. I feel less out of control in the situation.

Yesterday I went to the grocery store - spent $48.45 at Aldi and $53.81 at Target, which seems like a lot, but I got enough to pretty much cover us through the rest of the month. And I still have $25 left in my budget to still stay under $200 for the month. The Target run included purchasing 2 bottles of vitamins - which was pricey, but were needed, and also got me a $5 gift card. I also got another 5 Lean Cuisines, as they were still on sale for $2 each, and I had a coupon off of 5. It's nice to have them around just in case, and I doubt I'll find a better price. Used my coupons again, as well as Cartwheel for the first time. Still waiting for my Target RED debit card to come in the mail so I can start using that. But the Chase card came. I'm just waiting for the balance transfer to go through - which should be on the 18th.

Last night I had a meeting with someone I met photographing an event a few months back. I sent him a photo I took of him meeting the former mayor, and he promised me a drink - the first I've had since New Year's. It was nice, and it turns out he has contacts in Nashville - both in the photography and urban planning worlds (that's what my degree is in), so it's encouraging that he's offered to put me in touch. I need all the help I can get.

Because it's the 15th and photos work again, here's where I'm at:



The internet is autopay, and doesn't come out until the 20th. The credit cards I've actually paid on this month - not sure why that's not up there. And the car payment should post today (I dropped it off yesterday).

But most important observations: Only $12 in shopping! "Shopping" includes anything other than what's included in the other categories, so it's also my misc. Also $0 in gas this month. I think I only spent $40 last month, with it being so very cheap and my not leaving the house much these days. haha. It's nice to not be running all over the place. Business expense really shouldn't even be on there - I need to switch those autopay accounts to my Huntington.

Next month there wont be a finance charge category, theoretically

I'm thinking I'm going to look into consolidating my student loans - at least my private ones with Sallie Mae. My interest rates are through the roof (I'm talking like 9.5%), and it would at least be worth it to try so I can start making a bit more progress on them - or at least not losing a crapton of money every month.

So that's that. Halfway through January, and making a bit of progress! Here's to an equally (if not more) successful second half!

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!

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

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!

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

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!!

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!

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!