I'm sensing a theme

We had been apart too long. Almost a week.

I joined the clean plate club last night. It's been a long week and it's only Wednesday. Fortunately, Wednesday means Wine Down Wednesday. Chianti, cheese and time with friends just might get me through to the weekend. I'm making an effort to enjoy the week too. After all, how much of our life happens when we are wishing for Friday?

In with the new

After doing some research on finance software, and a failed attempt last Christmas with Quicken Deluxe (it's still sitting on my computer, and it still baffles me), I was directed by a few sources to mint.com.

Mint.com is an online site that syncs up with your bank, credit cards and savings accounts, so you can get a full finanical picture.

It looks a little something like this:























Clearly this is not my screenshot. I do not have 17k in checking nor did I spend $1500 eating out last month. But, I digress.

It's a little change from The Green Monster, but the nicely colored graphs and pie charts are winning me over. It's also a good way to see what I spent on each budget category, for record keeping sake. I log in every day and categorize any new transactions, and mint does the rest. They email you when you are over budget or have a low balance in your checking account, which is incredibly annoying helpful. They also send you a weekly summary of your finances, which is another great way to keep tabs on things.

Just a warning: probably not my last personal finance post. I love finding ways to save money and better organize my dinero. So, until I strike it rich, I'll be posting any good information here.

Out with the old...

One of my favorite topics to read and learn about is personal finance. By no means have I mastered the ins and outs of budgeting, I'm actually pretty terrible at most of it. But after some personal events a few years back that led me to take charge of my money and owe up to a lot of some poor decisions, I found a passion for learning to best use what I was given.

Over the years I've tried a few different systems for tracking my spending and keeping up with bills. This fall I took it back old school, Dave Ramsey style, and went to almost all cash. I had a goal in mind, and I saw this as my way to keep myself honest.


Enter what we lovingly refer to as "The Green Monster".




















And the contents of its belly.



















Every payday I would saunter into my bank, armed with a post-it (another great love of mine), on it scribbled how much cash went in each section for the next two weeks. The magic of payday. I felt so rich. Full tank of gas? Yes please! Groceries? Load up my cart! Dinners out? Table for two!

Ok, so I wasn't making it rain or anything, but I did learn over those months how quickly cash goes. Watching the money leave The Monster was a lot more painful than the simple swipe of a debit card. Monday would rear its ugly head, and The Monster was notably less full than before. By payday, it was downright anemic. It sure made decisions quick and made me prioritize my spending on to things I really wanted and needed. After 6 months with him, I met my goal. I celebrated with champagne, bought with cash.

Enter another monster, a beast for non-math PR majors like me, dual income. Yes, its double the money, its also double the math. I felt it was time to part with The Monster and start dealing with something a little less archaic and a little more user friendly for two people.


To be continued...

Hot Child in the City

Ok, so I'm not a child, but I am in the city, and I. Am. Melting. I felt like I had to preface the pictures below as to why I look like I just stepped out of a sauna. Probably, because I just stepped out of a sauna. I feel like I say this every year, but is it hotter than last? Here's how we attempted to beat the heat this weekend.

Friday night we grilled out with the Smiths. Either myself or the camera was too hot to funciton, so you'll have to check out her post if you want actual pictures. This seems to be the best I did.

Well, I did manage to snap a shot of these guys. Namath avoided heat stroke by dunking his entire head in the water bowl.

Not sure why his angelic face looks so devlish. Might have something to do with the moves he was unleashing on the Smith's dog.

I was in charge of dessert, so I referred to another Searson classic, Cookie Slop. It's cool and comforting and delicious.

Here's the play by play:

• Get two bags of cookies. You can do two bags of chocolate chunk, or a bag of chocolate chunk and m&m, pb cup, whatever tickles your fancy.


• Dip each cookie in a bowl of milk, and line the bottom of a 9x13 dish


• Cover with a layer of whip cream


• Make another layer of the milk dipped cookies


• Add another layer of whip cream.

For the visual learners, it should look a little something like this.

This recipe tastes better if you eat some cookies along the way.

After a little pool time Saturday, we headed to a wedding. I grew up going to the same church with Jessica, so we go back a little ways. Turns out, she also grew up living behind Matt. Small, small world. She also sold Matt my engagement ring and it was so fun having her a part of that process! At the risk of sounding old, I feel like I watched Jessica grow up, so watching her walk down the aisle with her sweet dad made me tear up. She was a beautiful bride!

Their wedding slide show was on the big screen at the ballpark. Pretty cool!

That was about all the outdoor fun I could handle for the weekend. Spent most of Sunday indoors, but I did manage to wash Namath's pride and joy, his dog bed. It almost deserves a post of his own. Here he is displaying his pride. Maybe we'll see joy another day.

Lunch Lesson

Why you don't leave your cup of sweet tea on the floor.

Namath helps himself.

Bread and Butter

Last night we met with the Invitation Lady. That is her actual name on her actual business cards. She spent a good hour on the etiquette and history of invitation wording, thank you notes, monograms and script versus block font.


In case we didn't have any plans this weekend, she sent us home with this. Carrying it from the car to the house was almost enough to count for a workout.



















Just as Matt's eyes had completely glazed over, we wrapped our session up. We were in desperate need of a drink and some carbs. Thankfully, we were right down the street from one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Leonardos. If you have never eaten there, put on your stretchy pants and head that way immediately. (Please forget the contents of Tuesday's post from here down)

These are waiting on you and calling your name. Yes, that would be butter you see them bathing in.
*I don't know why this picture is so big, and frankly, I don't care. These rolls are to die for.

Sanity was restored. I went home to find my roommate and her sister on the Lanai. Now that 3 out of 4 of these girls have headed to the lanai in the sky, we feel its our duty to carry on the lanai tradition for our generation, and I must say, we are carrying the torch well.

Counting Down

Save

The

Date

My roommate took these pictures and she did a great job. You should check her out here.