Becoming a budget sleuth

We've been using YNAB for about a year now.
You'd think I would have it 100% figured out by now, right?
Wrong.

I learn something new every time I check out the blog,
every time I visit the forums,
I most importantly -- when I learn from my mistakes.

Now I could be way off when I say this,
but I'm sure Jesse (the guy that started YNAB) still learns new things from time to time too.

I'm no budget guru.
I don't have it all figured out.
Our budget is nowhere near perfect.
In fact, it has plenty of flaws.
Which means we have plenty to learn from & plenty of room for improvement.
We're just an average couple that set a goal last year to make some major budgeting changes.

We had kind of reached a net worth plateau
& it wasn't until September or October this past year
that I started to really grasp what was going wrong with our budget.
We weren't truly following the 4 rules...

1. Give every dollar a job (Be the boss of ALL of your money)

2. Save for a rainy day (Break all big expenses into manageable monthly chunks)

3. Roll with the punches (Be flexible & address overspending before it becomes a problem)

4. Live on last month's income (Stop living paycheck to paycheck)

It's amazing how well those rules work when you follow them correctly,

& depressing how quickly that net worth can drop or become stagnant when not following the rules.

Sure...
We were assigning every dollar a job
& rolling with the punches by moving things around when we would overspend.
But we weren't checking the category balances before spending,
which of course led to overspending.
Our rainy day funds would then become depleted as we moved things around,
making it near impossible to live on last month's income.

It's been quite the bumpy road,

(okay, maybe more like a roller-coaster)

but now we are debt free except for the house AND have a one month buffer going!

(meaning we are finally living on last month's income)

Such an awesome feeling!

Our next step is to remember to use the YNAB app on our smartphones religiously.

Because without checking the balances ahead of time,

we tend to very easily get sucked into the black hole of bad spending habits

& then we end up pulling from categories that we would rather not have to pull from,

simply because we are less aware of how much money is in each category.
There was an awesome post about that on the YNAB blog recently.
You should definitely check it out.
If that doesn't solve our problem,
we'll at least have one better budgeting habit under our belts.

We'll also have another reason to pull out our detective caps & magnifying glasses
to figure out what else we can do to better our budget & increase that net worth.

photo credit: listal.com

It's kind of fun being a sleuth when you think about it.
The delayed gratification that comes with solving a mystery after following the right clues
can parallel to the delayed gratification that comes with finally making a purchase
after saving up for it the right way.

I've noticed less & less delayed gratification in today's society.
We have cell phones at our fingertips with the ability to look things up in an instant.
We don't have to wait to receive a hand-written letter by snail mail since we have texting & email.
We can buy things on credit cards when we don't have the money saved up for an instant purchase.
However, I highly advise against that habit.

Seriously though, just don't do it.

I think it's human nature to want to take the easiest or quickest route to get things done...
We're constantly looking for shortcuts or life hacks.
But remembering things without looking them up keeps your brain healthy,
hand-written letters are so much more meaningful than a text,
& saving up for that purchase the right way can help you appreciate what you bought
so much more than just putting it on a piece of plastic & racking up more debt.

Because debt makes nobody happy.
Except for debt collectors.
Other people's debt is job security for them, so they probably appreciate it.

What I'm getting at is that if you take a step back & look at your budget with a new perspective
you may find something that you can easily change,
and have one of those "By Jove, I think we've got it" moments.
Then you can improve your budget, save more money, & feel better about your purchases.

Take the road less traveled.
Enjoy the scenery along the way.
It will be worth it.

Delayed gratification, folks...
Keep it alive.

Interested in buying YNAB?
Check out this link to get $6 off your purchase!

Also, you should check out my Building a Better Budget post if you haven't already read it...

xoxo

MOPS: Mompetition & Bullying

Last week at MOPS we had another great speaker!
Char Binkley came & talked about
'Mompetition'
(aka competition amongst moms)

She talked about 5 main points.
So I'll go over those first,
then I'll move on to the other random notes I took.

1. Comparison is a human, inborn trait - it's a God-given thing...

It's the way we can tell the difference between good & evil.

2. Comparison is necessary in life - it's a good thing...

It creates choices for us:

We compare prices when shopping to get the better deal.

We compare when we decide what kind of food to buy.

We compare when we decide which clothes to wear each day.

3. Comparison is embedded in our culture - it's a dangerous thing...

It can create:

jealousy

division

negativity

loneliness

feelings of inadequacy

distorted thinking

mental paralyzation

4. Comparison is your choice - that's a hopeful thing...

You're only a competitor in mompetition if you sign up for it.

Don't sign up for it.
Choose to be present with your children...
"Motherhood is not a spectator sport."

5. Comparison is a spiritual perspective - back to that God-given thing...

God is on your parenting team.

He doesn't compare any of us, so why should we?

Society can't tell you what you're doing right or wrong. God can.

The most important thing is to reflect God -- that is your job description in life.

Reflecting God requires being present with your children & husband.

"Just stop it."

Stop competing with other moms.
Remember that it is your choice.

Does the conversation always end up with you talking about your child
whether it be bragging or complaining?

Do you avoid talking about your family
because you are afraid of feeling inferior to the other mom?

Ask yourself... "What does it matter?"

Are you making it about you or are you making it about your child?

Make it about your children.

How do we avoid comparison when confronted in conversation?

1. Don't engage - deflect. (How great! You must be proud of them!)

2. Change the subject. (How great! Crazy weather we've been having, huh?)

3. Tell them that you would rather they try to avoid comparisons.

(Only if it's someone you're close to & you know they wouldn't be offended by you saying this.)

It's easy to feel like other people are intentionally parenting "AT US".
Is that really the case?
More than likely not, but even if they are...
What does it matter?
 Char read us this post titled 'Quit Pointing Your Avocado At Me' from Glennon at momastery.com...
It's well worth the read if you have the time!
I love the part where she says that we're all fighting the same fight on the same team.
There is so much truth in those words!

Be your child's best cheerleader.

Be careful not to give them an exaggerated idea of themselves.

Encourage them, but you don't have to say they're the best.

Don't brag about other people's kids or husbands.

Don't compare yourself to "experts".
It's so easy to do with Pinterest & social medial nowadays.

You never know what struggles the other person may be going through,
so when you catch yourself comparing, ask your Father in Heaven for help...

"Bless her. Fix me."

You can reflect God every moment of every day
to your families
& everyone you meet.

That's it for my MOPS notes, but please keep reading
since I have more to share on this subject...

Michelle from Connecticut Working Moms
so kindly let me share this picture with you on my blog:

It's part of a series of photos
on her 'End the Mommy Wars [Special Photo Edition]' post...
If you haven't seen those photos,
I HIGHLY encourage you to do so!
The pictures cover so many of the topics that moms tend to argue about,
& show how we can make different choices & still raise happy, healthy children.
Such a wonderful message (:

The way I see it, there are two main types of dangerous comparing...

Feeling like you are better than someone else (pride).

Feeling like you are worse than someone else (inadequacy).

I tend to do the latter more often than not...

The other night as I was reflecting about all of this,

I started thinking of a different angle that wasn't really mentioned at MOPS...

Comparing vs Bullying.

It may have been on my mind after reading this post about Bullying at Church
& watching the video at the end of the post...
It really hit home for me because I have been on the receiving end of exactly that.
Sometimes it was intentional.
Sometimes it was unintentional.
It was never physical,
but the comments hurt me just the same.
I like to think that I've gotten over the hurtful comments.
For the most part I have.
I've forgiven those that were mean to me,
but every now & then those comments sneak back into my mind.
I remind myself that I am a daughter of God
& that He loves me...
The only opinion that matters is my own,
& only I have the power to choose whether or not I let those words get to me.

Nobody likes being bullied.

I know I never enjoyed it.

So why do I bully myself?

That's essentially what's happening when I compare myself to others.

Really though.

Why do I allow myself to beat myself up

when someone else simply does things a different way than I do?

It's pretty ridiculous when you think about it.

That's when I have to remember to

"Stop it."

As Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in his April 2012 conference talk,
'The Merciful Obtain Mercy',

It's a wonderful talk
with a wonderful message.
Please read or listen to it.

Stop the competition.
Stop the bullying.
Stop beating yourself up.
You are a child of God.
You are loved.
You are enough.

Remembering these things reminds me that

I don't need to change for anyone.
I don't have to try to get 87,452 things done in one day.
Honestly, I don't want to be supermom.
I just want to be a super mom.
And I am.

Other MOPS posts you may want to check out:
Advice From Experienced Moms
Children & Discipline
Controlling Your Emotions

xoxo

Platypus Day 2014

Whatcha doooin'?
Oh yeah, you're probably reading this post...
Did you remember to celebrate Playtpus Day this past Saturday?

We did (:

There was no way we would miss it!

We couldn't celebrate at Disneyland like we have in the past years,

but we still tried to make it the best day ever.

Okay, so maybe it didn't go anything like I had planned,

but it was still a fun day!

photo credit: glam.rastamonk.com

Here, let me tell you the back-story...

I promise it has nothing to do with lawn gnomes or doonkelberries.

I woke up on Saturday thinking,

"I know what we're gonna do today."

But then I remembered Hubby had to work all morning

because of all the crazy weather over the past few months.

'Tis the life of a busy auto damage adjuster.

<le sigh>

When he came home, he changed into his Perry shirt & we ate lunch.

My pregnant mind is having a hard time remembering what we ate,

but I know it was some sort of food.

Hubby & I were sporting Perry the Platypus shirts again,

but the kidlets had grown out of the shirts I made for them last year.

I didn't have the time to make new ones for them this year,

so they wore regular clothes.

So sad...

Anywhooo, we couldn't start our party right away

since we are STILL trying to pack & get our house ready to list.

We let the kids watch some Phineas and Ferb while we were packing,

but us adults easily got sucked in & stopped being productive,

so we had to turn on Pandora instead.

The sister missionaries from our church,

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,

came by around 3 to help us clean & pack for a couple hours...

They're the best!

We ended up getting quite a bit done,

so we felt pretty good about starting our party shortly after they left.

We had a themed dinner which consisted of Phineas and Ferb mac & cheese, Phineas and Ferb shaped jello jigglers (A much smaller scale of the gelatin in Isabella's pool that was hit by the Turn-Everything-Evil-inator. Not nearly as large or evil & a different flavor, but just as jiggly...), mini corn dogs from Mr. Slushy Dawg, slushy gatorade & Icees (also from Mr. Slushy Dawg).

As you can see, it was kind of a lazy dinner...

(I even took pictures of the boxes instead of the actual food.)

But hey, Perry is a platypus.

They don't do much.

After dinner, we watched some Phineas and Ferb together as a family while our food settled.

We had plans for the biggest ice cream sundae ever made,

second only to the one that Doofenshmirtz ended up accidentally making,

but we all got sleepy so we nixed that idea...

I wish there were more hours in the day

so that we could have done everything I had imagined.
In my head I had pictured:
teal streamers,
teal, orange, & brown balloons (& Balloony)
decorating our living room.

I had pictured at least a half day of events including but not limited to:
pin the hat on Perry (to make him become Agent P),
a "Where's Perry" scavenger hunt,
a game of Skiddley Whiffers,
& of course watching Phineas and Ferb.

Although it wasn't how I had imagined,
It was pretty fun for just winging it when we had so much going on.

I'm thinking that next year we'll have 'The Candace Special' for dinner... grilled cheese!
That is of course if we can't make it to Disneyland.

xoxo

Mustache or bows?

Baby #3 is due in August!

We're super duper excited

but I have a feeling time will fly by

since we have so much going on between now & August...

We're moving again sometime this spring.

This time it will only be a couple hours away instead of across the country,

but still...

Moving is exhausting.

Especially when you're pregnant,

your Hubby is swamped with work thanks to the lovely weather,

& we can't seem to get the house ready to list.

Does anyone want to move to Northeast Indiana?

We have a wonderful house

& the best neighbors in the world!

I'm not kidding.

I want to take them with me.

Little Princess is turning 2 in March,

Little Dudeman is turning 4 in April,

Hubby's birthday is in May.

Busy with their parties all Spring.

Busy.

Busy.

Busy.

The kids & I might also make a super short trip to Utah in May

for my grandparents' 50th anniversary,

but right now with time & money that isn't looking possible...

My sister is graduating in June,

so we'll be heading to Minnesota to celebrate with her.

We're heading to Tennessee in July

to visit family & enjoy the beauty of the Smoky Mountains.

And then boom.

August will be here.

Just like that.

When I think of everything going on between now & then

my brain kind of wants to explode.

Hence the boom.

But we will be happy & surely my brain wouldn't do something like that.

At least I don't think it would.

That would be weird.

Really weird.

But really though...

Blue or pink?

What do you think?

See this post to find out the gender...
xoxo

Triple Berry No-Bake Cheesecake

Oh my golly gosh goodness!

I LOOOVE cheesecake (:

I don't care whether or not it's baked,

as long as it's cheesecake...

This recipe certainly does not disappoint!

Someone made this when we lived in Tucson & gave us the recipe.

I lost the recipe & was super duper sad.

I was ecstatic when I noticed this recipe was in my

Kraft Philadelphia 3 books in 1 cookbook.

That cookbook is one of my faves

because you really can't go wrong with cream cheese.

Anywho, this is one of my go-to desserts to bring to potlucks...

Enjoy!

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 Tbsp butter, melted

3 Tbsp sugar

4 pkg (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar (I like to throw an extra spoonful of sugar in when I make it)

1 pkg (12 oz) frozen mixed berries, thawed & well drained

1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed

Line 9x13-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Mix crumbs, butter and 3 Tbsp sugar; press onto bottom of pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling. Beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar with mixer until well blended. Add berries; beat on low speed just until blended. Whisk in Cool Whip. Pour over crust. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm. Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before cutting to serve.

Variation: Prepare as directed, substituting 3 cups mixed fresh berries for the pkg of frozen berries and increasing the sugar mixed with the cream cheese mixture to 1 cup.

xoxo

U is for Unicorn - Despicable Me

After a 10 month hiatus due to

the move, the funeral, & the holidays

Mommy School is back in session (:

Huzzah!

We left off with T is for Tiger: The Tigger Movie back in April,

which means that the letter U is up next...

U is for Unicorn.

I could have easily picked Toy Story 3 because of Buttercup,

but I already did a Toy Story theme so I thought I would switch it up a bit.

Vladimir collects ceramic unicorns in Tangled,

but that seems like such a small detail of the movie that I didn't think the kids would notice.

There is an animated short in Fantasia with unicorns,

"The Pastoral Symphony",

but I have other plans for Fantasia.

Although it's not a Disney movie,

when I think of unicorns I think of Despicable Me...

Why you ask?

Because of sweet little Agnes & her incredible love for unicorns!

Photo credit: openlettersmonthly.com

So this week was all about Despicable Me,
& of course, unicorns.

THIS WEEK...
Church Theme: Utah Pioneers

Primary/Church Song: 'Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked'

Preschool Song: chorus to 'The Unicorn Song' - (lyrics)

Book: Baby Unicorn & Baby Dragon by Jean Marzollo

While watching Despicable Me, we ate mini pancakes, a unicorn horn (ice cream cone dipped in melted white chocolate), a banana minion, orange unicorn horns (carrots), cookie robots disguised as coconutties, baby unicorn horns (bugles), a twinkie minion, & a Milano cookie minion in a mud pie.

Tumbling Tuesday:
We trotted around on my unicorn stick pony that I've had since I was little.
Living room dance recital.

Field Trip Friday (Wednesday):
After looking at the week's forecast, I decided to switch Wednesday & Friday this week.
Friday's -25 windchill didn't seem like safe weather to play outside in...
So on Wednesday, we went on a 'pioneer trek' pulling a loaded sled through the snow in our backyard.
Now that Friday has arrived, I'm 100% glad we switched days or we would be pulling that sled indoors.

Think About It Thursday:

U math sheets
Shaving cream moon craft

Word Wednesday (Friday):

U letter sheets
Decorated unicorn horns

I've really missed Mommy School
& so have the kidlets...
I don't know if I'll be able to do it every week like I used to
since we still have a lot going on right now,
but I want to try to pull it off at least every other week or every 3 weeks.
Hopefully I can make that happen!

xoxo

eNKSPOTy

I've done a couple book reviews in the past so as you may already know,
I love to read.
Do you love to read?

There's this awesome new site called eNKSPOTy

that hosts constant YA eBook giveaways, freebies, & deals!

Right now they are hosting 3 giveaways:

"A Memory Apart" by Daniel Elijah

"Waterfall: A Novel (River of Time Series)" by Lisa T. Bergren

"The Hunger Games Trilogy" by Suzanne Collins

Don't forget to check out the awesome freebies & deals section...
The deals range anywhere from .99 cents to $3.99, but there are a lot of free ones as well.

There's even deals on classics like "The Anne of Green Gables Collection"!

A sister site is in the works called eNKSPOTc.

It will be geared specifically towards Clean fiction & Christian fiction.

There aren't any giveaways, freebies, or deals listed on there yet

but it will work the same as eNKSPOTy from my understanding...

IF YOU ARE AN AUTHOR:

If you are a young teen fiction or young adult fiction author

and are looking for some extra exposure for your Kindle eBook,

check out eNKSPOTy's current author promotions.

Right now they are offering FREE giveaway, freebie, & deal promotion opportunities to authors.

These FREE promotion opportunities will end on Feb 28, 2014 so act fast!

If you miss that, from March 1, 2014 until June 1, 2014 eNKSPOTy will be offering 1/2 off

to any authors who participate in any giveaway, freebie, or deals promotion.
Pretty sweet, huh?

Seriously though...

What a great site for readers & authors alike!

If you want to check out my book reviews:
"A Memory Apart" by Daniel Elijah
(chapter 1) "Love.Loss.&Oh.My.Heck." by Maryn Hillman

This is not a sponsored post & I was not compensated for this review.
I just wanted to let you know about eNKSPOTy because reading is marvelous.

xoxo