Commit. Plan. Take action.
Each month I bring you a recap of the previous month’s progress on paying off our debt.
This serves two purposes — to keep my husband Mike and me accountable to our financial goals and to give you a look behind the scenes of our strategy for paying off our debt.
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It’s that time of year again!
The weather’s getting warmer, the kids will be out of school soon (if they’re not already), and garage sales are popping up in every neighborhood.
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Recycling (or upcycling) items and thrift shopping are two of my favorite ways to save money. A lot of the time, you wind up finding items just as good or better as what you would’ve found at your traditional retailers for half the price (or less). Earth Day has me thinking a bit about my own recycling and thrifting and how it’s save me money.
Today, April 22, is Earth Day. If you don’t already know the origins of Earth Day, April 22, 1970 was the beginning of the environmental movement. In the decades leading up to the first annual Earth Day in 1970, Americans were largely uninformed about the issues facing the Earth’s environment.
In 1969, the entire country witnessed a huge oil spoil in Santa Barbara. That prompted politicians and more people to back what was initially considered to be a “hippie movement.” The junior senator for the state of Wisconsin at the time was Senator Gaylord Nelson. He took students who were protesting wars and, well, anything they didn’t agree with and put their energy towards educating themselves about the environment.
The national potential for the program was recognized and there were 85 events put on across the country. Nearly 20 million Americans banded together to protest against the effects of global warming and other environmental factors. In 1970, it brought together Republicans, Democrats, and everyone in between. That’s something we hardly ever see anymore. While people from across the aisle aren’t banding together this Earth Day, there are still plenty of ways observing the holiday and what it teaches can benefit you in your everyday life.
One of the ways being more conscious about my carbon footprint has benefited me financially is through recycling and thrifting. If something can be used again, I use it. Similarly, if I can get something secondhand and it works, I’ll take it. Here are some prime examples…
Jars at the grocery store can be easily recycled for different things around the house. Clean them out and use them to store small things like popcorn kernels, your own homemade tomato sauces, or seasonings. I have also reused old wine bottle to create bird feeders and terrariums instead of purchasing something expensive from the store. One of the big ones that has saved me quite a bit of money is cutting up old shirts to use as cleaning rags around the house.
That brings me to thrifting. You can decrease your impact on the environment by shopping secondhand or taking used items. Instead of these things going into a landfill, they are used for the entirety of the item’s life. I have thrifted most of my clothing for years. I’m doing the same with our daughter’s clothes. We have gotten bags and bags of clothing to last until she’s about 2 years old. Of course, we will have to purchase a few items, but not much. Once we are done using them, they’ll go to another family until they can’t be used anymore.
Obviously, these things have saved me some money over the years. When it comes to clothes for my little one, we’ve probably already saved hundreds by accepting hand-me-downs. Recycling items may not save me as much, but it greatly reduces how much I’m dumping out.
What about you? Do you try to recycle or thrift items?
I’ve opened up a bit about my postpartum anxiety here on the blog recently. If we are being honest, anxiety is something I’ve dealt with most of my life. I’ve done well to find healthy coping mechanisms and avoid triggers, for the most part. One huge stressor for me every year is tax season. Like general anxiety and PPA, I wasn’t surprised to find out I’m not alone in this.
Without the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial stress is has brought many people, tax time is generally a season of anxiety for many Americans. If the words “taxes,” “tax season,” or related terms make your heart race, you are probably among them.
More than half of the United States population worries about their finances on a weekly basis. When it comes to taxes, I’m one of the people biting their nails. I wait until the last minute because I’m afraid I’ll owe and I’m afraid I’ll do something wrong. A few years ago, I wound up having my wages garnished for several months because I miscalculated. Since then, I’ve had some pretty intense tax anxiety.
Also, with more people working as freelancers (myself included), taxes can start to get a little hairy. If you don’t have a cushion in your bank account or no plan in place, things can start to spiral. That’s where my brain starts to spiral too.
Unfortunately, the saying goes that there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes. So, I can’t avoid this anxiety trigger like I can with other things. I can try to make it easier on myself though. Here are a few things I’d recommend if you’re also dealing with tax anxiety.
Last but not least, breathe. It is going to be alright!
An overwhelming majority of Americans prefer living in homes that are surrounded by beautiful yards and gardens. The sheer beauty of lawns as the summer season sets in is a sight 90% of Americans would prefer to wake up to daily
Any family can landscape on a budget and still have a beautiful lawn. Using a combination of patios, plants, waterscapes and window boxes, you can design a yard worthy of the neighbors’ envy without breaking the bank. Here are 5 tips for landscaping on a budget.
A tree sprouting from under your well-manicured lawn could take the beauty of your home to another level altogether. When placed in a strategic area of your lawn, the tree sapling you plant today could grow into a massive tree. Within no time, you could have hundreds of trees growing on your lawn, of course, depending on how large it is.
This should be your contribution to increasing the tree cover in the USA, which, according to the U.S. Forest Service, increased by 119 percent hardwood trees in 2007 over the 1953 statistics for the same. This is a 2.00 growth-to-removal ratio.
If you decide to later sell your home, this could be the one thing most buyers would find irresistible, and that can only be good for the value of your house. And the good thing is that tree saplings are not expensive. You can get one for half to a dollar-and-a-half.
You do not have to be overly worried about where to get money to landscape your lawn. Use those rocks you collected from your rockhounding excursions to edge your lawn.
Edging tells your lawn how far to go, giving it a patterned look that is simply beautiful. The key is to use what you have to enhance your lawn, and if you look around keenly, there are enough materials you can put to great use. These include ballast, logs, concrete, recyclable items, concrete, wood and bricks. You could also add edging to keep the mulch where it’s supposed to be (in your flower, shrubs and tree beds) and to prevent erosion besides making your lawn stand out.
Your yard may look beautiful during the day as the sun’s rays cast their bright hues onto it. It could look even more breathtaking at night with string lights that you can buy cheaply. Let the soft, ambient glow of these lights turn your deck into a beautiful summer hangout.
Depending on your budget, you can choose between white twinkle lights that retail at around six dollars per strand or the clear globe light that costs about $9. The latter is more durable than twinkle lights. They give your patio a modern look that’s hard to ignore.
Consider using vinyl-glazed window enclosures to add character to your deck or porch, or even the sunroom. For adequate ventilation in at least 75% of your enclosures, use vertical four-track or side slider horizontal panels that could provide ventilation to between 50% and 100% of your enclosures.
If you are not a fan of DIY projects, consider hiring a landscaping professional who does this type of work on a regular basis. Landscaping requires meticulous planning and keen attention to detail.
While you can easily carry out some landscaping tasks by yourself, or with a little help from family, hiring a professional removes the guesswork, especially for more complex landscaping projects. The good thing is that there are budget-friendly landscaping professionals you can hire, even on a shoestring budget.
You do not have to raid your bank account to landscape your garden or lawn. Even with a limited budget, you can have a lawn that people would marvel at. Just a bit of ingenuity and creativity here and there will bring your lawn or garden to life, even at night when string lights literally light up your lawn. Or perhaps you should leave the entire task to a budget landscaping professional. You will be surprised how far what you think is too little can go.
In America, about 90 percent of people usually get married before they clock 50. With several options, getting married can be confusing especially if you have a lean purse. Backyard weddings are becoming increasingly popular, and in this article, we will explore how you can save money on your dream backyard wedding.
Begin your backyard wedding venue by selecting a place that has an atmosphere you love or has meaning to you. This space could be your fiance’s cottage by the sea, your grandmother’s garden, or even your backyard. Take a stroll around the space and determine if it fits the bill. You need to be certain the wedding venue has enough weather cover as you need to factor in inclement weather. In addition to this, you need to find out if there is an ideal space for dancing, parking space, and washroom facilities. Once this has been confirmed, you can work on the smaller details, such as organizing a DJ for the music and purchasing suitable plastic traffic barriers to ensure the parking is clearly marked and your guests are kept safe.
The food choice for your wedding ceremony can be confusing, especially with the multiple choices available. You could tinker with several food ideas, especially considering a backyard family wedding. You could try rustic comfort food, BBQ and sliders, warm food, picnic spreads, and cheese boards. The best part of the menus mentioned above is that they are affordable and easy to prepare yourself.
Getting married outdoors means you should look as beautiful and blended with nature as possible. Summer weddings require wearing something casual and cool, and you may want to wear some extra clothing when it is winter. Although weather should play a huge role in what you wear, it shouldn’t discourage you from wearing the wedding attire of your dreams. Over 40% of buyers didn’t believe they would regret what they bought, but they did so. In comparison, about 30% of people had opinions before buying but regretted their buying decision.
After choosing the space you want to use for your backyard wedding, the next thing would be to figure out the decoration details. Consider centerpieces for tables, strands of old-fashioned outdoor lights, and chair decorations. The cool thing about these items is that they are affordable to buy and easy to make. Consider asking your family and friends if you can borrow items from them and, as such, save money while you give them a chance to contribute to your big day.
For the ceremony proper, you should give your guests seating options. You could borrow or rent chairs and have them lined up in rows so that they will have something comfortable to sit on in your ceremony. If the party lasts longer than dusk, you should consider lighting options to help your guests better enjoy the night. A unique landscaping option for decorating your venue is natural flagstone which could be broken up into layers and used for decoration.
Depending on what time of the year you are getting married, you should be able to plan the perfect backyard wedding in little time for less. For instance, you could consider using basic seeding and trimming to make your yard look perfect in springtime. But if you have enough time at your disposal, you could try out a few tips. First, have a designated space for an alter and select a dance space. Additionally, you could get your lawn greened up a bit and plant flowers around it.
The wedding of your dreams shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg if you know what you are doing. Backyard weddings are the perfect choice for anyone planning a family wedding on a budget, especially if it is properly done.
I’ve been battling some anxiety more recently and it made me realize I needed to minimize some of the things in my life. A lot of the time, I started to feel crowded in my space and cleaning it out can relieve anxious feelings. It can also help improve focus and, for me, it makes it easier to take care of myself and my family. So, I decided to come up with a declutter challenge for the months of April and May to minimize the stress (and clutter) in my home.
Before diving into the declutter challenge I’d love for you to join me in, I have a confession to make. I’m guilty of throwing too much stuff away. Sometimes, if it is causing me any stress or anxiety being where it is, it gets thrown away. I’m also not going to spend a ton of time cleaning anything. Take deeply soiled baby onesies. If it is bad enough, they get thrown away folks.
I’ve thrown a lot of other stuff away over the years for convenience sake or to reduce anxiety. Sometimes it is just easier to toss it rather than stress over fixing it, cleaning it, or just keeping it in my space. If there is a space that is too cluttered, my anxiety will tell me to turn around and do something else. After six months of baby clothes have piled up and Amazon boxes crowd the garage. So, it is time to mindfully declutter every room in the house over the next several weekends.
Obviously, tossing everything out isn’t a healthy coping mechanism. In the past, I’ve accidentally thrown away important paperwork and items I needed later, causing myself more stress and trouble in the long-run. Not to mention, it can be wasteful if it can truly still be used. So, I decided to embark on a more mindful declutter challenge. We will be starting with my kitchen and the living space this weekend. The pantry, cabinets, drawers, everything is going to get looked at and cleaned out.
Instead of throwing everything out, I’ll donate what I can and ask friends if they have a use for any items. For example, when I go to clean out my pantry this weekend, I’ll take inventory of the canned goods and things that are unopened (and not expired). If there are items that have been in there for a while unused, I’ll either plan a meal with it soon or donate it to a local food bank. Where clothing is concerned, we will save some old t-shirts for rags. Everything else that we haven’t worn in the last year or isn’t special (like my wedding dress) is getting donated.
Here is a look at my declutter challenge schedule! Join me in freeing up your space this spring!
You want your family to be safe. And is there any place safer than home? Unfortunately, a lot of times your home is not as safe as you want it to be. Danger can appear in any number of forms, including illness, injury, and harm from strangers. If you want your home to be safe from all of these things, you need to put the work in that will make it so. This can be overwhelming, but don’t give up. Instead, here are four tips to get you started on making your home a safer place for your family.
Locks are your home’s main form of security. However, there are times when it is better to get new locks than it is to keep the ones you have. If you’ve just moved into your home, you should get new locks made. Same if you’ve gone through a divorce or had someone move out. You don’t know who has keys to those old locks. With new locks, you know exactly who has access.
Installing new locks can also allow you to get stronger options put in. A chain or a simple lock might not be enough to keep someone out. However, you might consider putting in a deadbolt instead. This will give your family peace of mind whenever the doors are locked.
House paint used to have lead in it. While it’s been a long time since this was the case, many old houses still have traces of lead in them. Lead poisoning is dangerous and can impact babies and children if they eat the paint that chips off the walls in an old house. In adults, chronic lead exposure might lead to joint pain, high blood pressure, and concentration or memory issues. This is why it is so important to test for lead. If you find out that there is lead in your home, take measures to remove it. Then you can be sure your family is safe from lead exposure and you won’t need to worry about it anymore.
While you can’t prepare for everything, you can prepare for a lot of things that might happen. So take some time to consider how you’ll keep your family safe in different situations that might occur within your home. This could be anything from a power outage to construction. For a power outage, prepare yourself to live without electricity for a few days. For potential construction, determine what will need to happen to keep your family safe. You’ll need to talk to the project manager when that time comes. A project manager is responsible for all phases of the construction and makes sure that they stick to their timeline and budget. You’ll need them on board to keep your house safe.
If you need to replace your roof, consider getting steel roofing installed. Stone-coated steel roofing has a Class A fire rating and a Class 4 hail resistance impact. It is also 100% recyclable and lightweight. Your roof is very important for keeping the rest of your house safe, so you need to choose the best possible one.
Keeping your house safe is not an impossible task, but it can get overwhelming. If you’re looking for ways to keep your home and family protected, take some time to consider your needs and what the most likely problems will be. Then take these steps and follow them. This will get you started in securing your home from any problems, both natural and human-made, that might occur. Once you’re done, you’ll know that your home is safe.
Deep spring cleaning is an integral part of your routine property maintenance tasks. It highlights the thorough cleaning of your home. Ideally, frequent spring cleaning will help ensure your property remains appealing, structurally sound, and hygienic. Its objective is to degrease, vacuum, polish, mop, and wipe different surfaces. Using professional services will ensure that you get premium-quality results. The following are the top reasons to consider deep spring cleaning for your family home.
Statistics show that approximately 10% of U.S. households paid for comprehensive house cleaning services last year. You could attribute this to how conscious families are about their health. Hiring professionals for deep spring cleaning translates to less exposure to allergens within your home.
Professionals will help remove various allergens within your space. They will use different methods to achieve this goal, from steaming and vacuuming to dusting and moping. Whichever way they use, they will remove dust, mold spores, pollen, dust mites, and dander in the household. The goal is to cushion you against costly medical care in the long run.
Your plumbing system can significantly affect the health and comfort of your household. Keeping it in check will help you avoid stench and health issues. The plumbing system will likely accumulate debris, grease, and dirt over time, making it dysfunctional in the long run. Various signs show a dysfunctional system, including stench and water flooding in the house.
Notably, experts from the plumbing industry posit that you should clean grease traps once the volume of the grease hits the 25% mark. Usually, the other 75% is occupied by water. Unfortunately, you might not comfortably address this issue. Relying on a professional assures you of better results. These professionals have the required skills, expertise, equipment, and experience to handle the task smoothly.
Suppose you want to improve the air quality within your home. In that case, investing in deep spring cleaning would be a perfect solution. Professional spring cleaning will significantly improve your indoor air quality, ensuring that you are relaxed and healthier in the long run. Cleaning achieves excellent air quality in various ways.
First, spring cleaning helps eliminate dust particles within your room. It will also help remove the stench and allergens within the environment. Removing these elements will help reduce eye irritation, sneezing, coughing, and hay fever. You will also avoid asthma attacks.
In addition, spring cleaning will remove the bacteria, pathogens, and viruses within the environment. This move assures you of healthier breathing air. Spring cleaning will also help ward off pests. Rodents and bugs might sneak into your space, mainly if it is dirty. These pests will find a home in your kitchen if it has crumbs. Fortunately, excellent spring cleaning will help get rid of them.
Cleaning your home is associated with enhanced property lifespan. Since your home is an expensive asset, you will want to take the best care of it. Frequent maintenance practices will ensure that you get the most out of it. This maintenance will help keep the structural integrity of your property in check.
Deep spring cleaning takes care of various surfaces, from fittings and fixtures to wood flooring and carpets. Adequate care of these elements will ensure that your home lasts long. That is because it will help avoid molds, mildew, and dust on the surface. Dirt attracts pests, molds, and bacteria that will eat away from your surfaces, resulting in a limited lifespan.
At the same time, you can rely on deep spring cleaning to improve your curb appeal. An attractive curb can help enhance the value of your family property in the long run.
Professional deep spring cleaning is essential in your home. Yet, you must invest in a reliable professional to handle the process, assuring you of incredible results in the long run. This way, you can be sure of the benefits above.
As you all know, I have been practicing yoga for a little over a year now. (I recently wrote an article about my desire to do headstands.)
Every week, I try to go to at least one class and I have a one-on-one session on Thursdays with my yoga instructor and good friend. Usually, we are working on perfecting a yoga pose I’ve been working on or helping me with a problem area (this dang elbow). Every now and then, our Thursday sessions wind up being a couple hours of chatting with hot coffee in our hands while maybe hitting a pose or two.
This week’s session was one of the latter. We sat on our mats chatting about life, changes happening, and how we feel we could improve our own days.
One thing I try to do every day is wake up a bit before everyone else in the house. I need some alone time to have my cup of coffee, sort through what needs to be done that day, and have some stillness, quiet.
During the day, my house is hustling and bustling like everyone else’s. My husband is normally playing video games next to me or editing a video. The little one is out in the living room watching Toy Story for the thousandth time. The neighbor is mowing the grass. Our dog is at the backdoor, wanting in or out. My phone is ringing with a work call. The noise is constant and I need an hour in the morning to myself to enjoy the silence, along with a much-needed cup of coffee.
While I sip my hot, steamy caffeine in the mornings, I also go through my to-do list. I write down a few things that have to get done that day and a few things that would be nice to get done “if energy permits.”
This is what we started talking about on Thursday that really gave us both an “aha” moment.
I’m a list person. I make a to-do list for everything. Aspirational to-do lists. Adulting to-do lists. Lists for my bills. Lists for planning events. At any given moment, you might find about 10 lists in my house. I go through them each day and pick things that are important (to me). While we were chatting about these to-do lists, my friend said not getting things checked off her list makes her a bit anxious.
Well, I said, write it in pencil.
We both just sat dumbfounded for a minute. It was a spoken permission that neither of us knew we needed. You can write your to-do list in pencil.
Pencil isn’t permanent and, guess what? Even if everything doesn’t get checked off your to-do list today, you can erase it and try again tomorrow. This mindset goes for everything. Set your goals, but allow yourself some flexibility. Give yourself permission to write it down in pencil and change your mind. You’ve got all the power in the world.