Financially Fit Friday

“When real faith grips you, you develop a mind-set that looks for the best in everything, refuses to give up, finds a way around or through every obstacle, and presses on to victory.”

– Norman Vincent Peale

Have you started a money makeover? What are you planning on paying CASH for? What bill are you paying off? Share a bit of your story! No story is too small to share! Real life stories keep Carrie motivated 😀 Catch up on Our Story to see how far we’ve come.

Emergency Fund – $1000 – Stocked

Computer Fund –  I bought a computer this week!  My next goal is to visit my sister in West Virginia.  I’ll talk to her to see when so I can get rough estimates of air fare and spending money 🙂

House Fund – Goal $30,000.00 by 3/31/2013. This will cover the down payment, closing costs, as well as “sprucing up” the home to make it our own – aka, new furniture, paint, bedding, fencing for the backyard, swing set, etc. It will also be used to fix up our side of the duplex we are living in so it is ready for new renters.

• Deposited $87.30 from consigning at Encore
• Deposited $7.30 in spare change.
• Currently Saved $5,000.60

The following are the other loans we currently have, but will put them on the back burner as we save for a house bigger than a 2-bedroom for our family of SIX 😀 We plan on keeping the duplex we currently own, and renting out the side we currently live in, thus earning more money each month that will pay these off for us 😀

Hubby’s Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $9395

• Outstanding Balance is $8,872.28

My Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $6480

• Outstanding Balance is $6,095.23

Family Loan $3000 – I was told to keep this and put this towards a new house, since the person doesn’t need this money right now 😀 Bonus 😀

 

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Give The Gift Of Gratitude

Have you ever “meant to do” something but just never got around to it?

Then this one is for you (and me!).

What's on Sale?

 

Wondering what’s on sale this week?  Looking for coupon match-ups to help you find rock bottom stock up prices?  We are too!  Here’s where we go when we want to find the best weekly deals or coupon match-up.  Just click on your favorite store’s logo above to see the current deals for that store.

Are there other stores you shop at regularly that you would like to see linked here?  Let us know and we would be happy to add them for you!

Financially Fit Friday

“When real faith grips you, you develop a mind-set that looks for the best in everything, refuses to give up, finds a way around or through every obstacle, and presses on to victory.”

– Norman Vincent Peale

Have you started a money makeover? What are you planning on paying CASH for? What bill are you paying off? Share a bit of your story! No story is too small to share! Real life stories keep Carrie motivated 😀 Catch up on Our Story to see how far we’ve come.

Emergency Fund – $1000 – Stocked

Computer Fund – $350 by 9/30/2012. I’m tired of copying and pasting numbers one through four, and number nine sometimes. I also can’t type an exclamation mark, question mark, at sign or number sign, as well parentheses and half the time the shift key doesn’t allow me to make a letter into a capital letter. My computer lasts for a split second when unplugged. I haven’t been posting recipes lately because I don’t have the patience to copy and paste that many numbers and you should see how long it takes for me to post a FFF post every Friday.

• Total $350.00

House Fund – Goal $30,000.00 by 3/31/2013. This will cover the down payment, closing costs, as well as “sprucing up” the home to make it our own – aka, new furniture, paint, bedding, fencing for the backyard, swing set, etc. It will also be used to fix up our side of the duplex we are living in so it is ready for new renters.

• Deposited $5 from Superpoints
• Deposited $8.49 in spare change.
• Deposited $138 in leftover income
• Currently Saved $4,906.00

The following are the other loans we currently have, but will put them on the back burner as we save for a house bigger than a 2-bedroom for our family of SIX 😀 We plan on keeping the duplex we currently own, and renting out the side we currently live in, thus earning more money each month that will pay these off for us 😀

Hubby’s Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $9395

• Outstanding Balance is $8,872.28

My Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $6480

• Outstanding Balance is $6,095.23

Family Loan $3000 – I was told to keep this and put this towards a new house, since the person doesn’t need this money right now 😀 Bonus 😀

 

Having A Bad Day?

Some days I need a little reminder to be grateful.  You know those days – you oversleep, can’t find your keys, forgot to pack the kiddos lunch last night, got to work late…… the list goes on.  When one of those “when will it ever end?” days seems to be taking over, just remember:

Then take a deep breath and remember that you get a fresh start tomorrow.

Try This! Cleaning The Dishwasher

The purpose of having a dishwasher is to make LESS work, right?  For the most part, mine does just that.  I assign one of the kids to empty and re-load it and it’s one less thing on my to-do list each day.  But sometimes (you knew there was a “but” coming, didn’t you?) the dishwasher starts to look like it needs a good cleaning itself and I find myself trying to get off all the stains and discolorations left from un-rinsed dishes and our hard water.

I was on Pinterest the other day (shocking, I know) and saw this neat tip.  I’m going to try it out and see if it really works the next time my dishwasher is empty.

Clean lime deposits and iron stains inside the dishwasher by pouring a packet of lemonade Kool-Aid (the only flavor that works) into the detergent cup and running the (empty) dishwasher. The citric acid in the mix wipes out stains; you don’t have to.  Presto!  Clean dishwasher.

Homemade Tortillas

My friend, Kallie, made homemade tortillas.  Here’s her recipe…

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup canola or olive oil (I really like coconut oil in this, actually)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients together. Then add the oil and mix like you would a pie crust. Add the warm water and mix. Dough will be sticky add more flour while kneading until dough feels soft and light and loses its stickiness. Using a handful of dough at a time, roll out on a floured surface. Roll out several then heat dry pan (iron skillet is good) to medium heat before setting tortilla in pan. When it starts getting a lot of air bumps flip to the other side. It will have a few brown spots. Watch them carefully as they cook quickly.

This recipe makes 8 (10 inch) tortillas…or 10 8-inch tortillas

Organizing – Kitchen Cupboards

My 6-year-old daughter asked to help organize my cupboards the other week.  This is what she did to them…

 

We basically have just the cupboard you see to store food. I have a smaller one on the bottom, but our youngest can get to it too easily. So when this isn’t organized, I have no clue what we have. And we all know, if you don’t know what’s in your cupboard, you tend to run uptown for unnecessary grocery purchases or worse…hit up a fast food drive-thru.

 After a whopping 20 minutes, I was able to see what we do and do not have…

 

I’m truly looking forward to having a home with multiple cupboards, or even better, a pantry where I can really stock up on supplies. 

 

How do you organize your stock pile in your home?

Financially Fit Friday

“When real faith grips you, you develop a mind-set that looks for the best in everything, refuses to give up, finds a way around or through every obstacle, and presses on to victory.”

– Norman Vincent Peale

Have you started a money makeover? What are you planning on paying CASH for? What bill are you paying off? Share a bit of your story! No story is too small to share! Real life stories keep Carrie motivated 😀 Catch up on Our Story to see how far we’ve come.

Emergency Fund – $1000 – Stocked

Computer Fund – $350 by 9/30/2012. I’m tired of copying and pasting numbers one through four, and number nine sometimes. I also can’t type an exclamation mark, question mark, at sign or number sign, as well parentheses and half the time the shift key doesn’t allow me to make a letter into a capital letter. My computer lasts for a split second when unplugged. I haven’t been posting recipes lately because I don’t have the patience to copy and paste that many numbers and you should see how long it takes for me to post a FFF post every Friday.

• Total $350.00

House Fund – Goal $30,000.00 by 3/31/2013. This will cover the down payment, closing costs, as well as “sprucing up” the home to make it our own – aka, new furniture, paint, bedding, fencing for the backyard, swing set, etc. It will also be used to fix up our side of the duplex we are living in so it is ready for new renters.

• IT WAS A GREAT WEEK – GOD IS GOOD
• Deposited $30 from selling things on the Mankato Facebook Garage Sale.
• Deposited $12 from a survey
• Deposited $10 from Superpoints
• Deposited $7.05 in spare change.
• Deposited $867.94 in leftover income
• Currently Saved $4,754.51

The following are the other loans we currently have, but will put them on the back burner as we save for a house bigger than a 2-bedroom for our family of SIX 😀 We plan on keeping the duplex we currently own, and renting out the side we currently live in, thus earning more money each month that will pay these off for us 😀

Hubby’s Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $9395

• Outstanding Balance is $8,872.28

My Student Loan as of 10/01/2011 $6480

• Outstanding Balance is $6,095.23

Family Loan $3000 – I was told to keep this and put this towards a new house, since the person doesn’t need this money right now 😀 Bonus 😀

 

I Will Be Grateful For This Day