MyFitnessPal, No Pals Allowed

Seriously, what is WRONG with me!  My New Year's resolution for this year was to log every day on myfitnesspal---not to stay under my calorie guideline, just to DO it! I could eat all day long, log in 3000 calories and still be completing my resolution. And it lasted all of three days at the most. The app on my smartphone is quick, easy, and INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE for losing weight. However, I know the power of the app. If you record what you eat, you will make better food choices.  If you have a calorie budget, you will try to stay within it.  I wasn't ready in January, so when I wanted to go over my calories out at a restaurant or relaxing on a Saturday with great friends, I just didn't log my food intake. The band wagon had been jumped off.
BUT a recent shakeup in my life, dreading swimsuit shopping, and feeling unattractive is going to lure me back in.  I have been exercising well, my whole life really---I enjoy exercise.  And I enjoy food. Apparently I enjoy it more than exercise.  Experts say your quest to lose weight is 80% diet 20% exercise.  So doing great with exercise is only 20% of the results.  Yes, it is time to get serious about my diet.
My best friend recently signed up for Advocare.  She spent almost $200, and lost just under 6 lbs.  She is happy with the results, but I just can't part with that much cash.
Another friend signed up for Weight Watchers. I have always heard great things about this program, so I looked up the cost. It is still $30/month for the online program.  More affordable, but still not ready to spend that much.
I will be sticking with MyFitnessPal. There is an online version for computers users, and I love the easy app on my phone. It is completely free and when I stick to the calorie goals, it does work.  You can even connect with other friends on the program so you can have people keep you accountable, but I have kept my food intake private---less overzealous friends criticize my choice for  an inch or so of last night's french dip for breakfast or tells me I should put less cream in my coffee. Yes, this diet thing will certainly be good for me....

Spring Break Has Sprung!

I know I am incredibly fortunate to stay home with my children on all days off, summer break, and at the moment SPRING BREAK!  This is a big perk of being a teacher!  Non-teachers might not realize this is a chance for teachers to do things they normally can't do.  Typically, teachers do not take days off of school without being on our deathbeds or jury duty.  I have nearly two months of leave accumulated due to rarely taking time off.  So this is a welcome chance to go to the playground, beach, zoo, picnic, ect. with my children!  It is also time for major cleaning and organizing that get so far behind during the school year. I even have stolen a few hours for lesson planning, organizing, ect. in my classroom (that appalls non-teachers, too---but trust me, working without 18 kindergarten students in the classroom is a terrific treat!)

Here is how I maximized my time and money on this spring break:

1. Make a list of the days and a tentative schedule of what you would like to do each day.

2. Look for online deals for the events/activities that cost money. For example, before mini-golfing we found a $5 per person coupon to print out---saving $2/person for a total of  $8 saved.  It also caused a schedule switch for the science museum on a Friday instead of Thursday to save over $10 in admission fees.

3. Be flexible with the weather when you can for outdoor activities (resulted in switching our zoo day from the coldest day of spring break to a day about 10 degrees warmer--still chilly, but better)

4. Pack a lunch/cook at home when you can. Going out to eat with children everyday is one of those things that sounds cheap in theory, but even with deals can empty the bank account quickly.

5. Be willing to splurge a little on lasting memories.  Soon we will be back to the daily school grind, and the question, "What did you do on spring break?" should never be answered with "nothing."

Time to get off the computer now, so I can enjoy four more days off of school and work with these precious little children!

Free Ebook---By One of My FAVORITE Authors!

Joyce Meyer is such a gifted author, and now you can follow this link to a free ebook on financial struggles.http://jmm.co/PJVOnA I have not had time to read the whole book yet, but I skimmed and it looks quite good. It is a great reminder that money is NOT the most important thing, it should not control us, we should control it.  I hope you all enjoy this book as much as I will!

Do You Make Salad Dressing? (I Do Now!)

I love buying our salad mix from Sam's Club, at less than $3 for a HUGE bag, and often we plant leaf lettuce in our backyard garden, great inexpensive, healthy filler to our meals.  However, I stockpile and coupon heavily for the pesky salad dressings, which I have paid as much as $4 a bottle for the fabulous ones.  But looky here! This might cut WAY back on the amount I pay for salad dressing this summer. It was a fabulous birthday gift from my mother-in-law, which I have used for four dressing batches in less than a month since I received it.  The recipes on the bottle are DELICIOUS, claim to be "Healthy Dressings" according to the label, and are incredibly inexpensive to make--I am strange, I have not had to buy a single ingredient specifically for these recipes because I cook with many of them and keep them on hand. Yes, even rice vinegar (purchased a huge bottle for $2.49. I use it for mei fun noodles with chicken and making sushi rolls ourselves) I am so excited about this, and should post some of the recipes here if you want to try to make them (I don't know where she bought this actual bottle from....)Do you see my son eating his healthy dinner in the background? This is the French Vinagrette, SO GOOD!

Money Makeover

I LOVE the sound of this. Only one thing could be better, an Extreme Money Makeover (remember that extreme makeover show where the contestants were unrecognizable due to major overhaul including new teeth/lasik/surgery, ect?) How would that feel if your financial situation was not even recognizable due to a complete makeover of everything you do with money? Well, tonight, I applied for a money makeover (I will take it extreme if I am chosen!) with a local credit union. Here is the link if you are interested in applying too http://www.vystarcu.org/home/news/current/moneymakeover If I can't win, second best of course would be one of you winning!  Good luck! If I am not chosen, I will continue as I have been trying to makeover my money myself.

Triple Threat Lunches (Delicious, Healthy, and Inexpensive)

I think I know why I had to bring my lunch to school as a kid....wow, lunches seem cheap at school cafeterias, but the price can really add up if you buy them daily (plus there are a lot of extras they can buy up there in line, too---drinks, desserts, ect.) . Plus, my picky kindergartener will not always eat what they serve. Honestly they have become a lot healthier in recent years, but they are still not the healthiest choices. Typically I pack my daughters lunch for school daily, plus I need a lunch for work as well. Oftentimes I have dinner leftovers to bring in but sandwiches are certainly a standby. Frankly, I get bored with my lunches often but seeing this article by Bon Apetit inspired me to try something new from this list soon. YUM!  Many of the recipes look delicious, healthy, and not too expensive Check out this link.  http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/family-meals/slideshow/25-quick-and-easy-school-lunches-to-pack-for-your-kids/?slide=26

Credit Card on Ice

Who? What? Where? When? Why and How??  Yes, I froze my Visa card at the start of 2014 after a frustration at the hard to move balance lingering for years.  We'd pay it down, buy tires, pay it down, emergency this or that...I am so done. So here is my solution...We haven't used it in months, but could thaw it out in case of a real true emergency. Our goal is to pay this down ASAP, and ultimately, NEVER need it again!

What To Do With a Windfall

This post is, of course, assuming you will get a windfall.  Perhaps not a windfall in the thousands of dollars, but I do think all of us get those unexpected "good" money surprises.  The American way is the consumer mentality..."Oh, yay! I have extra money! What can I go buy?"  but our family is still focusing on debt-reduction (due to years of the "Oh, yay! I have extra money!" mentality that put us in an unfavorable debt-to-income ratio)  Surprisingly, we have been working hard at this for over six years, and progress has been made.  But, we have a long road ahead as well.  We have decided to implement this strategy in 2014 and I have been very happy with the results thus far.  This is my creation, as far as I know, so I get to name it!!!! I probably need a catchier name if I really want it to catch on, but in our home, we have been calling it the "thirds".  Every windfall is divided into thirds.  We take 1/3 and pay it as extra towards debt; 1/3 into our savings account to reduce the likelihood of needing to take on more debt in an emergency; and 1/3 we get to use for some wiggle room in our budget (AKA, spend)  I am hoping to revisit this post at the end of 2014 with amazing news of just how much debt was paid off this way, and let me know if you think your family would like to try this too!

March 1st, 2015 Update: This strategy helped us pay off over $6000 in debt in 6 months from May 1st to November 1st, and save over $5000 in our savings account! We plan on picking this up again for 2015 but are in a holding pattern to pay off another debt and replenish our savings account after purchasing a car for cash in February so our teenager could have her own transportation. We also have a senior in high school graduating soon which means we may be waiting until June before we get back to a normal budget.