Month: February 2018

Our Budget Planner and Setup

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Want a peek into our budget planner and how we keep our bills organized?

Well get ready because that’s what today’s post is all about.

Recently I’ve been sharing a closer look into our actual finances with some budget check-ins. I think taking a peek into how other families are managing their money is super helpful. Especially those months where unexpected expenses come up – like needing brakes or medicine for your dog.  I started getting a lot of questions on how our money looks – not the actual flow, although I did share how we setup our bank accounts awhile back.  But what I do each week to make sure bills are paid, budgets are updated and everything is tracked.

I put together a quick video of what my weekly budget check-in looks like, which is also our money date.  In this video I show off how we update our budget each week, track our spending on our online check register (thank you Google Drive) and make sure our bills are getting paid.

Each week I spend about 5-10 minutes just going over our family’s finances.  I like to have J around so we can talk about any big bills, trips or expenses that are coming up; however, if he’s not around I still do our weekly check-in (just by myself).  It helps a lot to have our time planned out, we do 3 months at a time so I know of any trips, birthdays, or events that we might need a little extra money for.  That way when I’m taking a look at our budget for next week, next month, or whenever then I can plan accordingly.

I put together a simple budget planner with a printed budget template, a bill tracker and other notes to make sure we keep our finances in order.

You can watch the video online or down below to see exactly what I do each week:

Here’s the gist of my routine:

I log onto our Google Sheets page that we use as a check register and then log into our online banking. From there I reconcile our bank statement with our register. This takes about 2 minutes since I do it on a weekly basis there isn’t a lot of activity.

Next I open up our budget spreadsheet (I’m working on a new one that will combine your check register with your budget on one screen – I’ll keep you updated!).  I also pull out my envelopes for tracking while on the go – make sure I didn’t miss any spending that I need to account for and check the receipts for right amounts.  I add in any spending from our online banking, cash, credit cards, etc. to our budget.  This takes about 5 minutes if we had a lot of activity, if not then it takes a lot less.

I also compare what bills have posted with our bill tracker to make sure we’re on pace to get everything paid.

I then spend less than a minute seeing where were at for the month – are we over, under, how much money do we have left in groceries, eating out, etc.

Finally I spend about 2 minutes comparing our calendar to our budget – should we be saving some of our eating out money for an upcoming trip, do I need to plan on buying snacks for a road trip, or what does our meal plan need to look like to keep us in our budget.

You can learn more about how we use Google as our check register in this post.

I love using a clamp binder instead of a typical three-ring binder.  It takes up less space and I can easily store it in a filing cabinet.  Mine is super old, but you can find a similar one on Amazon for less than $4.00.  I also use dividers so it makes organization a lot easier, but you could always use post-it notes to separate your different sections.  I have a section for: monthly bill tracker, debt payoff, account tracker, paid in full (all of our paid off letters and trackers go here), and goals.

Easy Low Carb Pizza in the Slow Cooker

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Ever find a good dinner recipe and then make it nonstop over the next few months? Well… I may be guilty with this dinner. The best part? J loves it and hasn’t complained with it appearing in our weekly meal plan every few days. That’s how good it is!

A few weeks back I shared our new favorite recipe over on my Instagram Stories. It was a pretty big hit, so I figured I would share the expired story over on Youtube. You can watch the video online or down below:

I found this recipe over on Recipes That Crock. I tweak it depending on what we already have on hand, which makes it one of the easiest recipes in the world.

Here’s what you need:

1-2 pounds cooked ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken, or deer)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 14 oz. jar of pizza sauce
2 cups shredded pizza blend (or mild) cheddar cheese
any other pizza toppings you want

Here’s what you do:

Use a slow cooker liner or spray with cooking spray. Mix the cooked meat with the mozzarella cheese.  Spread on the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour pizza sauce on top of meat mixture. Spread pizza blend cheese to cover sauce. Top with other toppings.

If you’re using any other meat toppings make sure they are precooked.

Cover and cook on low for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Here’s where you can find the slow cooker I have.  I love it! The base is removable, which makes clean up a breeze! Plus it has four different temperatures – high, medium, low and keep warm.

Take A Look At My Phone | My Favorite Money And Time Saving Apps

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I’m sharing something really personal today – a peek into my phone. I thought it would be really helpful to see my all time favorite money and time saving apps that you might want to incorporate. Because, let’s be honest, if you’re like me then your phone is your life. It holds all the things.

All the appointments, reminders, coupons, pictures, memories…everything.

As busy moms it’s important to make sure we’re utilizing our phones the best way we can.  Our phones can actually save us hundreds of dollars each year, if we take the time to use them correctly.  In today’s video I’m sharing a look at my phone, my favorite money and time saving apps, too.

I might even be sharing a few hacks to make life just a little bit easier for us.

You can watch online or down below to take a peek through my phone:

For more info on my favorite money saving apps, check out this post.

Also, for more ideas on how to use your phone for memory keeping, check this out.

If you’re interested in looking into Ibotta click this referral link.

I use the Samsung Galaxy S7.  I plan on holding onto this bad boy until it falls apart, too (knock on wood).  I upgraded a few months before our son was born.  It still works great and takes a pretty decent photo.

I think the reason it’s lasted this long is the case I have for it. I went with this OtterBox case, which makes my phone a little bulkier than normal. BUT it still works and looks brand new, plus it has been through puddles, down steps, fallen off tables and so much more.

Are We Having More Kids? How Old Am I? What Was My Major? | Answering Your Questions

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This month’s Q&A is going to be a bit different.  I wanted to take time to answer some of the more personal questions I have been receiving from you.  Back in December I sent out a four question survey and I offered a spot for you to ask any questions you have – no limit.  So, I’ve been working through those questions last month and now today I decided to lump together the more personal ones.

You can watch the video online or down below:

Here are some of the questions you can find an answer to:

  1. How old am I?
  2. How  many kids do we have?
  3. Are we planning on having more kids?
  4. What do I do for a day job?
  5. What was my major in college?
  6. Why did I start creating a blog and videos about budgeting?

If you’re looking for some of my older budget Q&A’s, take a look at the past months.

SEPTEMBER 2017 – SPENDING $100 PER PERSON ON GROCERIES, EATING OUT BUDGET, HOW OFTEN DO WE MEAL PLAN, WHAT DO WE ORDER FROM AMAZON

OCTOBER 2017 – HOW MUCH DO WE MEAL PLAN, BUDGETING WITH INCONSISTENT INCOME, GETTING READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS

NOVEMBER 2017 – HOW WE STAY MOTIVATED, CHORES FOR OUR TODDLER, AND BUDGETING FOR CHRISTMAS

DECEMBER 2017 –  PLANNING A NEW YEAR, REVISING YOUR BUDGET, AND SETTING NEW GOALS

JANUARY 2018 – HOW WE SCHEDULE OUR MONEY DATES, WHAT WE TALK ABOUT AND HOW WE MAKE SURE OUR BUDGET IS ON AUTOPILOT

 

Posted in Q&A

Focus on Finances Check In | A New Financial Challenge

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We’ve made it! Half-way through February.  Can you believe it? I really don’t know where 2018 is going.  I swear it was just New Year’s Eve and I was crashing before 1:00 am even with people at our house.  This momma needs her sleep!  

Not too long ago (about 2 weeks, if we’re counting) I introduced you to our this year’s Focus on Finances challenge.  Basically I pick the shortest month to set some hard financial goals for our family.  It’s never easy, but it’s always worth it.

The bottom line is, this year is rough.  We set a pretty big goal for ourselves of saving an additional $500 this month.  So far, we’re not even half-way there.  But that’s okay.  

I am not in panic mode.

Here’s the deal – I get paid at the end of the month (31st) and the middle of the month (16th).  The end of the month paycheck goes towards all of our bills and expenses between the 1st and 16th.  Then the second paycheck covers the remaining part of the month.

The first half of the month is always a bit tight.  That’s when we’re replenishing a lot we’ve ran out of, most of our bills hit during that time and this month we ended up needing to get a few things around the house and for our dogs.  Luckily I created sinking funds for those areas, but I really hate pulling from a savings account when we have the money sitting there.

The next part of the month should be a lot smoother.  I don’t see any big purchases we’ll need to make coming up.  knock on wood.  The only expense I am anticipating is our Amazon subscribe and save order, but this month it’s a smaller order.

I am pretty positive that next part of the month will be good at us reaching our goal or at least coming pretty darn close.

How are you doing on your big goal for this month?  Are you half-way there yet?  What setbacks have you faced?

Let me know in the comments!

Just remember – do not get discouraged if you’re not close to reaching your goal.  This month isn’t about successes and failures.  It’s about pushing ourselves and our budgets to see what small sacrifices we can make every day to help our financial situations.

Insanely Easy Packing Hack

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Want in on a BIG secret to make your life a little easier when it comes to traveling?  I’m talking about any type of travel, too. Overnight visit, weekend getaway, vacation, work trip, whatever you have coming up.  This one trick has been a genius lifesaver. 

We’ve been following this tactic for a few years now, we just update it as we change and once our son was born.  You can watch the video online or down below for our insanely easy packing hack:

If you want more packing hacks, check out this post for packing your toddler and this one for packing for a work trip.

Valentine’s Date Ideas on a Budget

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Happy Valentine’s Day, Mommas! I wanted to pop in real quick for any of you that might be late planners like I am.  I shared Monday how I was out of town all weekend and surprised my two boys with a Valentine’s Day cookie cake to show them just how much I love them.  

I mean, what doesn’t scream love like a giant heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie?

But I wanted to share a few budget-friendly ideas on date night you could try out with your spouse.  These ideas are not just Valentine’s Day specific either.  So keep these on the back burner for when it’s your turn to plan date night next.

Here we go, let’s jump into these Valentine’s Date ideas on a budget:

Cook dinner together

I have to admit, I love when J and I work together on preparing dinner.  Whether it’s a simple meal we’ve cooked a thousand times or something new we’re trying for the first time.

You can find a simple recipe on Pinterest using ingredients you already have on hand pour yourselves a glass of wine, and just have fun.

Picnic at home

Once you have your dinner prepared, setup a romantic picnic for just the two of you.  You could wait until the little ones go to bed and have a romantic dessert picnic in the family room.

Go out just for dessert

When money is tight, it’s hard to splurge on a five-course Valentine’s Day dinner.  Especially when most restaurants get booked weeks in advance.  Our solution is to go out for dessert – just to the two of you.  You could hire a babysitter for just a few hours, which should keep your costs down and the dessert doesn’t have to be fancy.  We love grabbing ice cream together.

Movie night at home

One of my favorite things to do as a couple is to just relax on the couch. With work, clinicals, raising a human being, running a house, and all the other demands on our time it’s nice just to be together.  

Put together a scavenger hunt

This one might take a little bit of time to pull off, but it’s so worth it. You don’t have to be elaborate with this idea, either.  Just simple post-its or notes around the house are great.  You can even kick it up a notch to lead your spouse to a nice dinner out, dancing, the movies or some place that they love.

Check out:

30 FREE weekend ideas for your family

Summer activities for your family for FREE

Fun Fall activities

Valentine’s Day Cookie Cake Using Boxed Cake Mix

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I’m going to show you the easiest way to make a Valentine’s Day cookie cake using a box of cake mix and two other ingredients. Your family is going to love this!

Hey Mommas! Valentine’s Day is only 2 days away.  TWO DAYS!?! Where has February gone? Heck, where did January go? I feel like we’ve been moving in warp speed lately. I feel like I’ve barely had time to breathe lately with all of the studying, working, being a Mom, and a wife that’s been happening over here.

I’m not complaining though.  You see, the truth is, I love being busy.  I cannot stand to have nothing to do.  Even when I was a kid I would bring home extra books on the weekends just to make it look like I was super busy – I never actually studied more or longer than I had to, I just wanted to look important.  Well these days, there’s is no pretending to our busy schedule.

I guess that’s what I get.

Well this past weekend I headed out of town for a review prep course for my upcoming exam, so I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time to do anything sweet for the two boys in my life.  So I opted for a simple Valentine’s Day love cookie cake.

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J’s dessert of choice (well the only dessert he’ll actually eat) is chocolate chip cookies, so of course that made my decision super easy on what to make.  I did a little baking magic to turn the cookie cake into a heart, but I’ll show you that down below.

We wanted to keep this Valentine’s Day budget friendly.  We’ve been working extra hard lately to stick within our budget (no one’s perfect and neither are we).  I realized I had just about everything we needed to bake a cookie cake on hand, except chocolate chips.  Someone got a little chocolate craving one night and finished off the small bag we had in the freezer – oops!

I’m pretty proud of myself on this surprise though because J totally did not see it coming, which never happens! I’m the worst at keeping secrets from him.

Here’s how I created this sweet Valentine’s Day cookie cake:

Here’s what you need:

1 box white cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Buttercream Icing or canned icing
Red food coloring

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, pour into greased pan.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. 

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Valentine’s Tip: To make a heart shaped cookie cake, I used one circle and one square pan.  I did not double my recipe, but you could.  I just opted for thinner cookies and started checking if they were done at around 15 minutes.  Once the cookies are fully cooked, pop out of the pan. 

Shaping the heart is really simple!  All you have to do is take the round cookie cake and slice it in half.  Then place the two circles on the square edges. You can take some icing to help hold it together. 

4 Ingredient Valentine's Love Cookie Cake, lazy cookie cake, cooke cake using cake mix, cake mix chocolate chip cookie, meredithrines, merelynne

For the icing I used my buttercream recipe and just used red food coloring to make it more Valentine-y.  You could also always use store-bought icing as well.

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Frozen Waffle Recipe

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When I was little my Mom would make breakfast for dinner.  It wasn’t often, but it sure was special.  My sister and I never knew when our favorite dinner was coming, but when she would utter those magic words “we’re having breakfast tonight” our eyes would light up.  It was the best!

As an adult, I’ve realized those were the nights my Mom was exhausted.  It must have been a long day at work and I’m sure having two kids, a house to clean and laundry to do didn’t make it any easier.  But she cemented my love for a flip-flop meal.

Now that I’m older, my love of breakfast hasn’t changed.  Breakfast food is my jam.  My all-time favorite breakfast food is waffles.  I’m not crazy about buying the store-bought kind because they always have extra ingredients that our bodies don’t need.  Plus they cost a ridiculous amount! I just don’t want to spend that kind of money on a monthly basis to feed my waffle habit.

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Honestly, waffles are a staple for busy mornings. I pop them in the toaster while I get our son’s diaper bag ready for the sitter. Then he can eat on the way if we’re running really late or he can eat while I finish getting ready.  Either way – they aren’t really messy.  He doesn’t get syrup with them, so as an on-the-go type option, it’s perfect. 

Then the idea of making homemade waffles each morning was just too much to handle. Who has time and who wants to make the time? I sure don’t.  

So I found a good compromise.

A homemade frozen waffle recipe. Yep! I found a freezer waffle recipe then adapted it.  Which means I can have homemade, not junk-filled waffles each morning.

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They are delicious!  The best part?

They go instantly from freezer to toaster!

What? No thawing required?  That’s right!  You just pop these bad boys right into the toaster when you’re ready.

I like this recipe a lot because it makes enough waffles for 

a few weeks.  This recipe yields about 20-24 waffles, depending on how much batter you need to fill your iron.  

Here’s how to prep homemade frozen waffles:

First, turn on your waffle iron to heat up.

Then combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.

When the iron is nice and hot, shoot it with a quick spray of cooking spray to prevent any of the recipe from sticking.

Place a scoop of the batter onto the waffle iron.  For my iron, it’s about 3/4 cup.  I have this handy ladle that is exactly 1/4 cup so it’s what I use to scoop.

Cook until nice and done.  About 5 minutes.

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To Freeze:

I then placed my waffles, single layer on a cookie sheet and placed in the freezer.  You will need to flash freeze the waffles for about 20-25 minutes.  Place in a gallon-size freezer bag and place back in the freezer.

To Reheat:

Take straight out of the freezer and place directly into your toaster.  I like mine on a medium-to-dark setting, just because I like mine nice and toasty.  One cycle is usually enough in the toaster, too.  If they’re too thick for your toaster, then you can easily reheat in the microwave.

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5 Things We Don’t Spend Money On

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There are some expenses each month you probably notice that are just wasteful. I mean, let’s be honest with ourselves, shall we? We all do it and we all have those expenses that we don’t need to be spending money on and we aren’t getting the full benefits out of, right?

Once my husband, J decided to go back to school full time we took a good hard look at our budget to see what expenses we could cut. Some of these expense were hard to say goodbye to (hello! it’s more of an emotional attachment and not so much an actual need) and some of them were super easy to kiss goodbye.

In today’s video I’m sharing the 5 things we don’t spend money on each month.  I also am diving into why I think these expenses are just money suckers and don’t actually provide much value to you. 

You can watch the video of the 5 things we don’t spend money on online or down below:

Here’s a recap of today’s video:

These are the expenses we gave up months ago when my husband went back to school full time.  To be honest, we don’t really miss them that much and they weren’t that hard to give up.

1) TV
2) Cell Phone Payments
3) Subscription Services
4) Birthday Cards
5) ATM Fees

For more budgeting help check out these posts:

How To Create A Budget

Free Monthly Bill Tracker

Why You Should Have An Emergency Fund

Need More Help?

If you’re looking for a great tool to help keep your family on budget, then check out out my budget spreadsheet.  Each month is laid out right in front of you where you can keep track of what you budget and what you actually spend. Now you’ll know in real time how you’re doing each month.