My hairspray, contact solution, straightener, and so on has always been just thrown under the sink with little regard to organization. Not anymore! I took the little Cider Boys cardboard caddy and Ta-Da!
After.
Awesome!
And the best part is you can use these to organize just about anything!
I’m not traditional. I’m also trying to be practical about our wedding. For me, purchasing fresh flowers for nearly thousands of dollars only to have them die in a few weeks was not my thing. If you want fresh flowers at your wedding, then go nuts. I will not judge you.
So, I must sound crazy? What sort of flower alternatives could there be? Well, if you simply search Pinterest, you can come up with an array of ideas. Here a a few that perked my interest:
Food has to be the area we spend the most money on. I have gone through how we normally prepare meals for the week to give you an idea of what this involves. These items I made were done in a matter of 2 hours.
This is my first video for this project, so enjoy the awkwardness!
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Religious or not, this phrase reigns true through the longest of workweeks. Even though you love seeing the money build up, you can’t help but give up on yourself. You lose focus, become ill, or just get too exhausted to carry on.
Since sleep really isn’t an option with a 50+ work week, there are other ways you can keep yourself focused.
Stay hydrated: Keep a water bottle near you, visit the drinking fountain when you can, or just opt for bottled water rather than a Mt. Dew from the vending machine at your next break. An increase in caffeine consumption to be expected when you’re trying to keep pace with a long work week, and I am guilty of this too. However, offer your body a break. Too many stimulants can have a negative effect on your body that includes restlessness when you are ready to go to bed, upset stomach, headaches, and so forth.
No alcohol or sleeping pills: Trust me, alcohol is fantastic after a rough day. It helps to dull your senses, which in turn can screw up your sleep cycle. This could lead you to waking groggy and unprepared for the day. Same with sleeping pills. When I say sleeping pills, I’m mostly referring to the PM pain killers I’ve been known to take when I can’t shake my tension headache before bed. Avoid these when you know you are getting up the next morning to start a very long day. Your body will thank you.
Don’t change your hygiene habits at all: It’s EXTREMELY easy to come home after a long day and say ‘screw this shower, I’m going to bed instead.’ Please remember, the cleaner you feel, the more fresh and ready you’ll feel as well. Stick with a hygiene routine! Your co-workers will thank you in this case.
Eat when you can: Don’t go hungry! Keep snacks with you at all times, and munch on them when you can.
Find moral support: I’m lucky enough to work with my fiance… And I use the word ‘lucky’ loosely sometimes. It’s a blessing, but we are with each other ALL THE TIME! Anyways, you need to let people know what your situation is. You don’t need to blabber on about your financial woes per-se, but maybe allow a few of your co-workers, friends outside of work, and family to know that you are working crazy hours and why. My fiance and I have a few co-workers we’re close with that know why we’re working extra hours and they are pretty supportive. They have been nothing but excited for us, calling us crazy sometimes.
Pre-make meals: You’ll be extremely tempted to purchase your food at work or on the way to work. This will more than likely eat into the extra money you are earning. My fiance picked up a second job to make ends meet last year, and he ended up eating McDonald’s breakfast nearly every day. After we ran the math, he was only making an extra $30/month with this second job after gas and food.
Offer yourself incentives for working long days: Our favorite is buying vending machine cake if we stay an extra 4 hours at work.
Set a goal, find a way to visualize this every day: This gets hard. When you’re tired and don’t give a crap, you can’t see anything but the troubles in front of you. If you’re trying to save up for something, picture that something in your head. My visualization is my future children, which is hard because I don’t know what they look like yet. However, I’m doing all the OT so I can pay my stuff off and give them a great life, so I try and make it work.
Get plenty of protein: Protein helps. Seriously. Nuts, cheese, etc. Eat it! Check out this article here: http://men.webmd.com/features/benefits-protein
If you can afford to do so, make sure you have 1 catch-up day planned each week: Use 1 day a week to pre-make meals, rest, catchup on bills, update your blog, make phone calls, etc. I try really hard to keep up with the household necessities like laundry and dishes throughout the week even with a crazy work schedule, but it is REALLY nice to have one dedicated day to these things just in case they don’t happen.
Hello my lovely readers! Happy Christmas and Happy New Year!! Things got nuts, and then I tried to revamp the website. Clearly, that did not happen. Now that my life is starting to ‘even out’ again, I’m going back to the old format so I can bring back the tips!
If you guys have any questions, suggestions, what have you, feel free to comment below and I will address them.
***I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE CELL PHONE COMPANIES NOR AM I PAID TO ENDORSE THEM***
When I was in high school, my first cell phone was a Trac Phone brick. Since then, pay-as-you-go phones have come quite a ways. They also can cut your phone bill in half!!! And many are available on iPhone.
Here’s the lowdown on no-contract phones. I have organized them by brands. I will work on organizing them into a page at a later time.
Per Minute Plan is $0.25/minute and mobile-to-mible calling, $0.20/text, $0.25/picture message, $0.99/day for data, no daily access charge
Per Day Plan is $0.10/minute, unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling, $0.10/text, $0.25/picture message, $0.99/day for data, $0.99/day for access (if you use your phone that day, you will be charged $0.99, plus whatever other services you use. This includes checking your voicemail)
Best Value Per Day plan is unlimited minutes, unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling, $0.02/text, $0.25/picture message, $0.99/day for data, $1.99/day for access
$2/day for unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited text, unlimited data (you are only charged on the days you use the phone
Daily plan for smartphone:
$3/day for unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited text, unlimited data (you are only charged on the days you use the phone)
Monthly plans: Boostmobile offers a chance to reduce your monthly payments as long as you make them on time will include those in the information below.
Blackberry phone plans
$45/month for unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited data, unlimtied blackberry messenger ($5 deduction from each on time payment. Stops when you reach $30/month)
$60/month for unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited data, unlimited blackberry ($5/month deduction from each on-time payment. Stops when you reach $45/month)
Smartphone plan:
$55/month for unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited data ($5/month deduction with each on-time payment. Stops when you reach $40/month)
Basic phone plan:
$50/month for unlimited anytime minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited data ($5/month deduction with each on-time payment. Stops when you reach $35/month)
I discovered this one by accident while doing laundry. I left a used dryer sheet on the carpet at my in-laws. When I picked it up tot through it away, it was covered in pet hair! It sucked it all up from the carpet.
Used dryer sheets or new ones will pick up dog hair. Just rub it over the area and it pulls it right up. You’ll have to follow up with a vacuuming of course, but it loosens it enough to make vacuuming more effective.
Holy cow, it’s been far far too long!! I am still here, we just made about a dozen life changes. We moved to a completely different area and found new jobs that are COMPLETELY out of our field.
I will continue to post money-saving tips on a weekly basis. Stand by!
Got kids at home and looking for a fun project to do? Homemade Play-Dough is the easiest and funnest project ever. Here’s just three recipes I found online. You can always Google to find all sorts of other neat recipes that use different ingredients.
Basic
Add fifty drops food coloring to two cups water. Then add two cups flour, one cup salt, one teaspoon Cream of Tartar, and two tablespoons Wesson Corn Oil. Mix well. Cook and stir over medium heat for three minutes (or until the mixture holds together). Turn onto a board or a cookie sheet and knead to the proper consistency. Store in an airtight container.
Edible (CONTAINS PEANUTS)
one 18-oz. jar creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup non-fat dry milk
1 Cup White Rice Flour
1/2 Cup Cornstarch
1/2 Cup Salt
1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
1-1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1 Cup Water, hot but not boiling
Food Coloring, as desired
The Barebones Project 