Author: Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®, a budget and financial strategist helping families pay off debt and live the life they've always wanted.

Dreaming of a new Planner

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

With the wedding gone and over its time to rethink my planner situation. I have a slight addiction to planners, organizers and todo lists. I’ve mentioned my love of todo lists before, a few times.  Read here about how I keep to=do lists and take notes to fake it.
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For the wedding I was carrying around a letter size At-A-Glance calendar filled with post-it’s, paper clips, slips of papers and binder clips. It kept me on track of all the things that needed to get done for our big day, and it really did work perfectly.  However, now the wedding has come and gone.  Now it’s time to get back to a simpler way of keeping my life organized.

filofax metropolI’ve been eyeing this Metropol planner over at Filofax’s website for awhile now, but just can’t force myself to pull the trigger yet.  So, I turned to Ebay and have been patiently waiting for one to hit.

My dream planner consists of:

month @ a glance – weekly on two pages – to-do lists – goal sections – pockets

Here’s to keeping my fingers crossed for my dream planner to appear.

Slow Cooked Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Note: Some links in this post contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for supporting my blog!

broccoli cheddar soup

I love fall more than any other time of the year.  Something about the crispness in the air, the dark pretty colors in the trees and all of the family time.  The most natural thought of something that loves fall is that they must love soups because they scream fall.  But, not so much.  I love one soup, I tolerate a few others, and dislike quite a few.

The one soup I love is broccoli cheddar.  I have always wanted to make it myself, but was never brave enough until I saw Dani’s recipe over on This Workman Life.  I adapted the recipe and added a few things to make it my own.  You can see her version here.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 ½ cups milk
1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
10 oz pkg frozen (and chopped) broccoli
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon dried, chopped onion
⅛ teaspoon salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients into your slow cooker, turn to low and let it cook for about 4 hours.  It’s best to stir the soup deliciousness occasionally while it cooks.  Once done, switch your slow cooker to keep warm until ready to serve.  My slow cooker is amazing and I can set the timer for how long I want it to cook then it will automatically change to the keep warm setting.  I would recommend a slow cooker like this Slow Cooker so you don’t have to worry about your meals overcooking if you get busy and forget to switch the setting.

 

slow cooked broccoli cheddar soup

Let me tell you, this soup is pure deliciousness.  Hello Fall!

Time Management Tools Series

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

time management tools

Welcome to my series on developing time management tools.

I’ve been tossing around this idea for the past few weeks to talk about time management tools.  Not just talk about it, but also share what I’ve learned from trial and error, from others, and from all the books I’ve read.  I’ve mentioned here how I love to read books that make life easier.  Developing time management tools will make your life so much easier and you will be so much more productive.

Now for a little confession, you see time management is a touchy subject for me.  I haven’t always been good at it.  I can still hear my Dad’s voice in my head saying “You are burning the candles at both end.  You are taking on too much.”  Yet, I would never take his advice.  In the end, I would wind up sick and exhausted.  In high school I would plan in one day what should have probably been done in two.  Just because I hate missing out and I want to get every memory that I could.

As I’ve gotten older I still hate missing out, but have learned how to be better at time management.  That way I can take on a lot, still have fun, and get things done without getting myself sick.  It’s a pretty good feeling to know that you have a lot on your plate and have it all under control.  I guess I thrive in those situations or get something weird out of them.  I am not sure which, but my brain is hard-wired to be busy.

Sitting still was never fun for me.  Ever.

In this series I am hoping to share some time management tools that can help you do more and be more successful.   I plan on sharing tips so you can get organized, do more, and boost your efficiency.  Can’t wait to get this party started!

Our Wedding Photos :: The Details

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

wedding photosI’ve already showed off some of our wonderful wedding photos in this post here.  But today I wanted to talk about and show off some of wedding day details.  I worked hard at planning our wedding, I had help from an awesome wedding coordinator, from our friends, and from our family.  I found small touches that illustrated the type of couple that J and I are, but still keeping some tradition alive.
wedding photos wedding photosJ doesn’t care for champagne, but I still wanted to do a toast.  Our venue hosts over at the Savoy came up with this genius idea – champagne for me and Bud Light for him.  Also, I wanted a guest book that we could display in our home, that was unique and colorful just like all of our loved ones.  I hand painted a tree on a canvas, bought some ink stamp pads (and some ink removal wipes) and there you have it!  Our own personalized guest book.  Sitting with our guest book was a handmade R covered in twine that my best friend and one of my bridesmaids gave to us for one of our showers.  It fit in perfectly!
wedding photos wedding photosI designed all of the paper goods for our wedding.  I talked about that in this post here and gave a tutorial how to create a Chevron pattern.  Plus, I love sweets.  Anything with loads of sugar is the best.  Our favors were a candy bar that we had chock-filled with goodies.  The one thing I did not consider was how all of the blue and purple candy would turn everyone’s mouth different colors.  But at the end of the night we had very little candy left, so I guess no one minded.wedding photosCheers!

All photos by our fabulous wedding photographer: David Coleman

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

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J and I will be traveling to see my family.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  My Dad’s side of the family tries super hard for all of us to get together.  As we get older and are getting married it’s becoming more difficult for all of us to get together.  Even for J and I.  You see, we decided after last years debacle and 15+ car ride over the Christmas holiday that we would not do that to ourselves and any future kids.  So, we will switch holidays.  I get Thanksgiving with my family during odd-numbered years and he gets Christmas with his family; then we switch.  It’s only fair and we are willing to negotiate if need be.  I hope your Thanksgiving is stupendous and you get to share time with those you love… and eat too much!

Cheers!

Thankful for in 2013

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

thankful

Here we go the post of what I am thankful for in 2013.

I’ll try to keep it short and sweet, but you will get the point.

J & I got hitched and it’s pretty amazing to think that I now am half of a whole.  You can read about our perfect wedding day here. // Maggie, the best dog a girl could ask for.  You see, it used to be just Maggie & me.  We would travel, lived alone, and took care of one another. // Tiny – the new pup on the block.  She was saved from the side of the highway back in January and I am pretty sure she made our home complete // family // my best friends // finding our townhouse days before our move back in August to a new city // having a job // good health // thirst for knowledge // merelynne.com // all the memories I made from 2013.

Last Thanksgiving was our first one together and we spent it in his apartment – just the two of us.  He had to work the morning of Thanksgiving and we both had to work on Black Friday.  We couldn’t travel to see family so instead we made it work with just us.  I cooked the driest turkey known to man, baked soggy biscuits, and Christmas shopped online.  This year we will be with family, eating great food and laughing.

Cheers!

Personal Finance: Learn From Others

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®
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When growing up you probably looked up to your parents, teachers, older siblings, or other mentors that were in your life.  You may have even tried to imitate them, just as I did my older sister (except for that blue lipstick phase she went through – she was on her own).  It’s no surprise that we learn most of our spending and saving habits from those we surround ourselves with.

My Dad is good with money and I think that is where I get a lot of my personal finance passion from.  I love seeing money grow by investments and trying to calculate out the future value of a dollar.  I know, I know – I’m a strange duck.  But that’s okay!

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It’s important before going out on your own, or if you are out on your own before making mistakes to learn from others about their personal finances.  Now, I am not stating that you need to go digging into your boss’ bills or expense records because that would be wrong, very wrong.  But what I am saying is ask questions and then listen to the answers.

Here are some questions to get the conversation started:

– approximately how much do you save out of your paychecks?

– do you follow a monthly budget?

– how did you create your budget?

– do you see a financial planner?  (FYI – I always recommend seeing a financial planner, this is their job and it is what they are trained to do!)

– what are your life goals?

From there just let the conversation flow.  Learn from people around you when it comes to finances, or any area.  People would be willing to talk about what works and what didn’t work for their families.

Our Wedding Photos

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®
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DColeman Photography

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Our Wedding Photos are absolutely wonderful. OH MY GOSH!

Seriously, I could have dreamt of anything better. Our photographer, David and his wife, Sarah are a phenomenal team.

wedding photosI thought our engagement photos were freaking awesome (you can check out our engagement photos here.) and then I saw our wedding photos.  David out did himself.  We look great.  You can’t even tell that it was barely 50 degrees outside and I was freezing.  But you know me, I wanted an outside wedding with lots of pictures so that’s just what I got.  Don’t mind that the week after the wedding J and I both came down with strep.  Oops!

wedding photos
I’ll post more photos of our wedding day details soon.

Cheers!

All photos by our fabulous wedding photographer: David Coleman

I’m Secretly Weird

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

secretly weirdWhen I was younger, like high school age, I would love when I would get sick and had to stay home from school. Not because I love being sick, no.  I am not that messed up. I really enjoyed having nothing to do and a reason to sleep all day. My parents were always concerned that I was trying to do too much and would get myself sick from the lack of sleep and busy lifestyle I lived.  Now if I only I could go back and just start skipping school like normal teenagers then maybe I wouldn’t have this love/hate relationship with being sick as an adult.

Nowadays it’s not easy to call in sick to the real world.  In high school all I had to do was convince my folks that I was too sick to get out of bed then send one or two texts and I was home free.  But now, oh man have the times change.  I have to wake up early because I feel that a 2 hour notice to your boss is minimal, which means I have to wake up by 6am to make that call.  Then on top of that I still have bills that need to be paid, clients at work expecting their services to be completed, documents to file and a house with a husband & 2 dogs to care for.

But yet, somehow when that first twinge of a throat ache or body aches sets on, I secretly rejoice for a brief moment.  That short-lived moment where I know that a couch, my pillow and fluffy blanket are in my immediate future.

Why am I so weird? Now I would like to clarify my sanity by saying that the brief and shining moment of “I’m getting sick! Yippee!” Quickly fades into “Crap, I don’t have time for this because I am an adult.”  Maybe one day I will be normal and hate getting sick from the beginning or, should I dare type it, be someone that goes straight to the doctor with the first sign of a throat ache.  That might be a bit too far in the opposite direction for me.

Advice To My 21 Year Old Self

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

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Older and wiser seem to be true with each year that passes.  I can look back on my years in high school, college, in the graduate degree program with fondness.  Each section of my life is better than the last, and for that I am happy.

I’ve written a post about going back to college and what I would do differently, which you can read that here and I’ve written a letter to incoming college freshmen, which is here.  But there are so many facets to that time of your life that maybe we should just keep it simple with the advice.

Here is what I would love to tell my 21 year old self:

1) take risks
2) go to Taco Bell at 3am
3) say yes more to adventures
4) love yourself
5) be your biggest fan because your professors, bosses and sometimes even friends won’t
6) wear better shoes, your future feet will thank you for it
7) start running, it’s harder to get in the habit when you work full time
8) don’t get wrapped up in the small stuff, if you won’t remember it in 5 years then don’t stress
9) intern more, get more experience in a variety of fields
10) tell your parents you love them every chance you get

Cheers!