Step One: Financial Planning

My New Year's Resolutions included getting serious about money management because I'm the lazy type who rarely balances my checkbook or keeps track of our money.   As a step in this process I started listening to Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey which really has me fired up.   Up until this point I felt like as long as the bills were paid, we could buy new clothes on occasion and go on vacation once a year life was good but now I'm in the position to think it's not quite good enough.    It's going to take 3 months in order for me to fully embrace my new fiscally responsible lifestyle.  BUT, here's the steps I've taken in March to get me closer to my goals and I'm feeling stoked about the plan:

1.   COMPLETE A QUICK START BUDGET:  This is the WORST part but it's the most important step.  After you write down every expense for the month in black and white there's much less stress (at least for me) because you know exactly where you are sitting financially.   I first used a regular paper calendar but have recently converted my expenses to this form.   I discovered some surprises - for example we spent $1,000 in groceries for the month - I had no idea.  I'm hoping I can scale that back but I'll get to that part.

You can find this budgeting form here:  Quick Start Budget

2. DO SOME PLASTIC SURGERY - CUT THE CARDS:

I'm a TOTAL sucker for those credit card deals:  "if you sign up for our card you'll save 15% off today"  - in fact I have 5 department store cards.  Well, I did have 5 cards - ha!

3. SET UP A COLLEGE FUND:

I finally did it - I set up automatic withdrawals into a 529 educational fund for the kids.  While I REALLY regret not starting with Graham sooner, I know that Gus and Greta will be in great shape.  Did I tell you that Chad and I still have student loan debt?  The payments and interest rates are low but they won't be paid off until Graham graduates from high school - isn't that depressing?  That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid for my kids.

4.  AUTO BILL PAY:

Don't ask my why I've resisted this for so long, but I have set up my bills so that I can pay them all on-line or they are taken automatically from my account once a month.  I love how much easier it is for me to pay bills and I'm saving on stamps.

5.  BE A BETTER SHOPPER:

Just this week I discovered the best App from the App Store EVER suggested to me by my cousin Erinn.  It's called SnipSnap and in 3 days I spent $100 on groceries and a new outfit and saved $35 in a snap (hello, 35 percent!!).   This app. has every coupon imaginable from Subway to McDonald's to Target to Victoria's Secret.  If you need something, more than likely this app has a coupon for you.  All you do is hand over your phone and the cashier gives you the discount.  SO EXCITING!!

Recently I started shopping for some groceries at Aldi's too.  Forgive me for this - but I used to put my nose up at Aldi's thinking that I could only find some processed crap but guess what?  I ALWAYS find products we keep in our pantry and I can find certified organic produce for dirt cheap.    Love it!

I got this entire outfit at Kohl's this week for $20 thanks to SnipSnap

Obviously, I'm a little late to this game of financial planning but I guess better late than never.  I have a long ways to go but I'm already feeling so empowered about this recent mindful shift of our finances so I wanted to share.   What tips do you have? 

I better get back to dying Easter eggs. 

Time to dye the eggs

Have a great Easter!!

Kristin

Seven Healthy Breakfasts to Start Your Day

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and also my favorite meal.  My breakfasts are less than 300 calories, contain some healthy fats and fiber to keep you full until lunch, and they all contain over 10 grams of protein.  And, the experts say breakfast is especially important if you are trying to lose weight.

Here's my 7 healthy breakfasts for every day of the week:

• Monday, 1 cup of kefir with 1 cup of berries and 1 tablespoon of 3.6.9 flax oil / or flax seed
• Tuesday, an egg sandwich consisting of an 100% whole grain English muffin, 1 wedge of laughing cow cheese and 1 egg from my neighbors farm.  300 calories, lots of protein and SUPER delicious
• Wednesday, crockpot steel cut oats
• Thursday, 1 apple, 1 ounce of cheddar cheese, 1 ounce of nuts - YUM!
• Friday, Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal with 1 cup of milk
• Saturday, 1/2 grapefruit cut into wedges, 1 orange cut into wedges with 1 tablespoon of flax
• Sunday, Baked Oatmeal with Berries

Fruit in my Grandma's Dishes

On occasion I will also eat Kristie's homemade granola or gogi berry flax seed oatmeal which I can only get at Weaver's located by my parents.

So, what do you eat for breakfast?  Or do you eat breakfast?

Egg Sandwich on my Grandma's Dishes - love my Grandma's salt and pepper shakers!

My weekend was so crazy.  Friday night I went to a fun birthday party and listened to a fantastic band, Saturday I saw my dad in the play 7 Brides for 7 Brothers (wonderful show) and today I took the kids shopping for their Easter outfits (success!).

What did you do this weekend?

Kristin

Embrace the Winter Season!

Oh I know, technically it's Spring and you are totally sick of the snow and cold but it's time to embrace what's in front of you and start loving the snow.   Once upon a time I too HATED everything to do with winter and I dreamt of moving to a warmer climate and the only thing that stopped me was the thought of not being close to my family.  Below you will discover how I learned to love our weather:

FIND AN ACTIVITY YOU LOVE:

Here's a list of the activities I LOVE:

• Downhill and cross country skiing
• Snowshoeing
• Ice Skating
• Sledding with the kids
• Making snowmen

And here's other winter activities to consider:

• Snowboarding
• Ice hockey
• Ice fishing
• Snowmobiling
• Dog sledding

Ice Skating!

**One tip - when you return home from an outdoor activity I can feel frozen to the bone.  I've found the best way to warm up is to take a HOT bath or turn on my heated mattress pad and jump into my warm bed with a book.   Works every single time.


Next:  BOOK A WINTER GET-AWAY

Even if you can't afford a luxurious warm vacation this year, even a stay at a motel close and affordable can be a great way to break up winter.  But, of course ideally having a warm place to dream about when it's 10 below and you are stuck inside is incredibly helpful for me.

Enjoying the Florida Sun - NICE!

ENJOY INDOOR ACTIVITIES GUILT FREE

In the summer you wouldn't catch me dead watching a movie, playing cards or reading a book inside.  But when it's bitter outside and dark at 5:30 p.m. you have no reason to feel guilty about curling up on the couch with a blanket and watching a movie and sometimes there's nothing better.  (BTW, I watched Perks of a Wallflower this weekend and LOVED it).

THINK OF THE ENVIRONMENT

When someone complains about all the snow and cold, I always say, "well think about how great this will be for our farmers," and I've never met anyone who could disagree with that statement.  In fact right after I blogged about my concern for reducing our carbon footprint, we had a blizzard and the snow stuck - how great is that?

IN SUMMARY

Sounds simple doesn't it? I know for my own life I needed to fully engage with winter or I'd end up spending 30% of my life not happy with Wisconsin and that's not a great way to live. What do you do to help you enjoy winter? 

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

Bi-Monthly Book Reviews

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  Below you will find my bi-monthly book list and brief reviews with 5 stars being the best.

BOOK REVIEWS

When She Woke, Hilary Jordan - 5 stars
I found this to be a RIVETING, creative novel based on the book The Scarlet Letter.

Getting Past Your Past:  EDMR (which stands for Eye Desensitization Movement and Reprocessing) by Francine Shapiro - 2 stars
EDMR is something that I've been working on personally.  The whole concept is extremely complicated and someday I'll share my experience.  This book does a decent job explaining the process.

Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosney - 5 stars
I LOVED this book about the French involvement in the concentration camps of World War II - great book.

12 Tribes of Hattie, by Ayana Mathis - 3 stars
This is Oprah's Book Club current pick, but the book focuses on 12 different characters and I really wanted to know more about each one so I felt a bit frustrated but the book was well worth my time.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon - 4 stars
This is our book club pick for March and I thoroughly enjoyed this book about a female entrepreneur and her family in Kabul, Afghanistan.  I feel like I learned more about the Afghan culture and it was non-violent as compared to 10,000 Splendid Suns and the Kite Runner (amazing books btw).

MY NEXT READ:

Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I'm excited to delve into this novel.

Thank-you to Lit Lovers for the adorable cartoon

My St. Patrick's Day was full of house chores and a great ski with my friend Colleen.  How was your St. Patrick's Day?  What book do you recommend?  If I had to pick a book from above I'd pick Sarah's Key first with When She Woke as a close second.

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

P.S. - I heard Gail Francis speak this week about her adventurous hike along the entire Pacific Crest Trail (California to Canada) and her presentation was amazing and inspiring - she's writing a book too.  I bring this up because I want to remind you about the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed which I still highly recommend if you haven't read it yet.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Oh how times have changed!   Once upon a time St. Patrick's Day meant green beer and Irish car bombs but now St. Patrick's Day is filled with leprechaun traps, cookies and jello and I'm oddly perfectly content.

So, to celebrate St. Pat's Day we started with lime jello - I simply made jello, and colored the marshmallows and whip cream with food coloring.  Delicious!

St. Patty's Day Jello in my grandma's dishes

Later we made these cookie ice cream sandwiches with green filling (peppermint ice cream)- they were a hit!!!

Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich on my Grandma's plate

 

 

 

My kids are such BELIEVERS and I love it.  Gus has placed many leprechaun traps around our property hoping to catch a leprechaun tonight!!

 

I'm trying to catch up on some reading and I rented the movie "Perks of Being a Wallflower" I hope to find time to watch.  Sounds like a pretty awesome night to me.  What are you doing for St. Patrick's Day?

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Kristin

 

 

Back to the Blog

A month off from my blog seems to be just what the doctor ordered.  I was feeling incredibly pinched for time and eliminating my blogging habit for a month freed me up a bit!

Two pictures sum up the last month:

Birkie #3 Complete

My 3rd Birkie went very well.  At the half way point I was on track to have a PB, but it didn't end that way because of the super soft snow conditions.  I was skiing through about one foot of mashed potato type snow up almost every hill.  My left thigh cramped but honestly I felt FANTASTIC all day and I had fun.  What more could I ask for?

And finally, our trip to Florida was absolutely magical.  Throughout the week I remember feeling so full of love and happiness that I thought my heart could burst.

I guess that's why I need to start planning next year's vacation - the kids are growing up way too fast!!

FAMILY MEAL PLANNING

I haven't been cooking anything out of the ordinary since we implemented Family Meal Planning..  I can not begin to tell you how much this has simplified my life - wow.   My first full day back from Florida I fell ill (I blame the 7 days of crappy food) and I went to bed after work at 6 p.m.  Chad had to run into Hayward to pick up Graham from a ski field trip so Gus and Greta (age 8 and 7) were left to fend for themselves for 40 minutes because I was knocked out cold.  When Chad came home Gus and Greta made a complete supper on their own from beginning to end by following the meal plan - how awesome is that?

HOUSE ORGANIZATION PROJECT

My 2013 house organization project is also simplifying my life - nothing better than everything having a spot for everything.  For March I'm focusing on our living room, entry way hallway and finances.   I've been investing in various clear containers, labeling everything and trying to organize by categories - I love it!

FUTURE BLOGS

Sometimes I believe I need to change my blog name since cooking in the moment doesn't really fit anymore.  In fact my highest read blogs are consistently about books, working out, and organizing.  Isn't that funny?    So, I'll be blogging on those topics until the garden starts to produce.   

What has been keeping you busy?  What do you think I should re-name my blog?

Thanks for reading,

Kristin