Thursday, March 29, 2012

There is smart and then there is.....



How Smarterer are you?

I.. despite being the 90's music "expert" that I perceive myself to be, only managed to get to the "Familiar" rank! :/ BUT...if you think you can do better give it a try by signing up for FREE!

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Holy procrastination batman!


I've been busy! But I've also had plenty of non-busy time. lol! Yet somehow I still managed to let this slip off my radar with only 2 posts! Shame on me. I truly do feel bad. So rather than make a list of excuses I'm going to jump, feet first into the purpose of this blog! Saving money, finding great free samples..and you know...actually blogging!







Sooooo.... onward free samples!

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Monday, January 2, 2012

What I've done today...

For the sake of accountability for reaching my new goals (I refuse to call them "resolutions" as it seems synonymous with "fail") I've decided that I'm going to track what I've done in a day towards those goals.

Today was a late start so not exactly starting on a good foot. I didn't get up until after 9am and here it is almost 11 am and so far all I have accomplished is making the kids bowls of cereal, making myself a cup of coffee and this entry. Today shouldn't be a very busy day so hopefully with a little motivation I can get some things done before the kids go back to school tomorrow. It has been a LOOOOONG winter break. 16 days! Today we're going to take them to Toys R Us to spend the giftcards they received for Christmas. So..

What I've done today:

  • Entered an Allure Magazine giveaway. They've got a lot of great giveaways going on! http://www.allure.com/free-samples
  • Get a couple of hours of PAID work one!
  • Clean downstairs guest bathroom
  • Wash at least 1 load of the kids clothes and PUT AWAY the pile of clean clothes currently in my room! I don't mind washing clothes, it's putting it away that sucks big time!
  • Reorganize the coat closet
  • Mop dining room.
  • Take kids to spend giftcards
  • Dust living room
  • Ate smaller portions.
  • 30 min on elliptical.

My first post!!

I'm an avid blog reader but had yet to take the leap into blog writing. Well here I sit at my desk, at 1am and it finally hit me...MONEY! Saving money, spending money (wisely), making money, managing money. An essential part of life that fascinates me greatly. I'm not the best at managing money, and as a SAHM I hardly make any, BUT...it's always been an area that motivates me greatly.

In short, I get a THRILL...and honest-to-goodness, thrill out of saving money! Sometimes I can be a bit miserly though and realize that I'm not enjoying something that God wants us to enjoy! He blesses us with money (no matter how much or how little) and He wants us to be wise with our choices but be blessed and enjoy it as well. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in saving, managing and feeling like my husband and I aren't doing enough to save and then I suck all the joy out of the financial blessings God gives us.

So this..in part...is a blog about spending wisely and saving wisely. My goal for this year is to learn more, save more but also BUY more for less and get much more bang for our buck!

Sounds like a simple goal but it's not right now. My husband will be officially unemployed in less than a month when he separates from the U.S. Army after almost 10 years. We have a substantial amount of savings to live on for now (about $50,000) but...a big part of me is fighting hard not to stress over how long my husband may be unemployed. He'll get a check from the VA once a month for about 1/8 of his previous monthly income and add to that unemployment (which should equal close to 1/2 of his current monthly income) and money is not an immediate concern. But my mind keeps me worried anyway. LOL! We've paid off debt and built up enough to live more than a year on but it's hard not to let my mind wander to the negative possibilities when we're facing such a huge transition.

So a goal for this blog will be to keep me from obsessing too much about our finances. I hope that this will be a fun way to find deals, have a bit of fun with our money and learn lots of tricks and tips to save money on our everyday expenses to make our money stretch even further. In the mean time I intend to be HEAVILY in prayer that my husband is blessed with a great new job SOON, not just for the income but for the peace of mind and familiar routine that he (actually WE) are missing during this transition.

Now, a little more about me! I'm a 27 year old mom of 3 (ages 5, 7 and 8). I've been married to a wonderful (soon to be former) soldier for almost a decade! I currently bring in a bit of income freelancing from home (usually about $500 a month so it isn't much) and for our entire marriage, DH has been the main bread winner and I've been primarily at home. Needless to say, becoming a civilian family is not an easy transition when military life is all we've known together, but it's exciting and the possibilities are endless.

My DH (who is 28) is also a musician and plans to focus on starting his own production company soon. He's seeking employment right now but his ultimate goal is to build a business that can support us and be his own boss.

If you've made it this far, thanks for stopping past my blog! Hopefully I'll have some interesting content soon. Maybe a snazzy new blog layout at least...lol!

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! 2012 is bringing changes and I am ready for God to pour down his blessings on us!