Two-a-days *And Cheap Movie Date!!!*

Uhm.  No, not training… these darn tortillas.  I have been having two a day for three days now. 

Since I had to fast this morning for a 10:00a.m. blood test (routine checkup), and because I did “cardio” (just incline walking at a slow pace… s-l-o-w… no sweating, I didn’t want to wash my hair this morning – yes, I am THAT lazy!), I was STARVIN’ MARVIN by the time I could actually eat.  So I threw together another pizza.

 

I made this one saucier.  And baconier. Baconier. Mmmm.

Because I was STILL hangry, I threw together more chicken, veg, and olive oil mayo (I am OBSESSED with this stuff. I wish I could make it at home, but it never turns out yummy.), and ate some more.

And I pretty much had the same “chicken salad” for lunch, but on a coconut flour tortilla. No wonder I get sick of my food quickly. I get on kicks and wear them the eff out!.

I think we’re having a big juicy steak for dinner. CAN’T WAIT!!!  I will feel SO MUCH better after eating that than I did at the birthday party last night… six slices of pizza, a chili dog, BBQ chips, cake with tons of icing (by request, because icingismymostfavoritest part), beers, Doritos, and cheese & crackers… Yep. I throw down like a 200+ pound man… or maybe an even bigger gorilla.  What can I say? I like to eat!   Good thing I don’t eat like that daily.

Random side note: I also CAN’T WAIT to watch the NEW X-Men in the theatre!!! Seth and I are definitely hitting up the cinema for a date night this weekend! WOOP!

If you want to score TWO movie tickets for only $9, CLICK HERE TODAY!, this coupon will only be up for  less than 15 more hours. JUMP ON IT PEOPLE! You KNOW you want to watch Wolverine become Wolverine.  Or maybe you want to see Zak Galifinakis (I refuse to Google his name to check spelling.) act a fool in the Hangover II, because that IS some funny shit.

  –> CLICKETY CLICK CLICK ME!!! <—

On ANOTHER random side note, a friend shared a site with me this morning.  (Thanks Tori!!)  And, while I’m not a raw foodie by any means (I do not food discriminate! I want it all! ), there are so many cool, raw “cheese” recipes on here that I might just have to try a couple!  Who doesn’t love cheese? or “cheese”? or cheeze?… whatever.  Take a look!

Nouveau Raw Spreads/Nut Cheeses

Budgeting! (and a GREAT coupon!)

I know, I know. Blog slacker here.

While walking into work I had our budget on the brain.

(skip to the bottom of the post if you just came here for the coupon! ) 

I have been diligently working on the budget at least weekly! I have a spreadsheet (of course!) with ALL of our bills, expenses, and miscellaneous items listed.  I know how much money is coming in per week, and I make sure I set aside a specific amount into each category until EVERY PENNY is spent (or put into savings).  Yep. Down to the penny.

I will admit, this screenshot is not completely accurate, and I have hid quite a few cells, including income. This is a good glimpse. I just wanted to show you an example in case it helps anyone trying to save some dough right now.

Honestly, I have a hard time with budgets. The number crunching is fun for me. I LOVE the idea of budgeting.  However, when I want something, I have a hard time not buying it… or if we want to do something, go somewhere, eat out, go to a bar… yep, it’s so easy to swipe the credit or debit card. 

At the beginning of the year, we decided to go “cash only” for daily expenses like groceries, restaurants, and entertainment.  That worked well for a week or two. Then we noticed we were burning through the cash in a weekend (LOL!), and we would just swipe the debit card whenever we wanted (or needed) to spend on something else.  Oops.

A few weeks ago Tina over at Faith, Fitness, Fun wrote a post about a seminar she attended, so I stumbled through the links to find a WONDERFUL spreadsheet to help me with my goals. -–> Find the spreadsheets here <—  Big thanks to her for sharing her experience!  It helped me get my own bucks in a row.

It took me a good month to get organized and figure out exactly where our money was going, bill-wise.  Of course, I altered the spreadsheet to my liking, adding and deleting categories, making it mine. I even have a category for money to blow on whatever we want! Because, in reality, I would not stick to a budget that did not set aside cash for random fun!  The spreadsheet does all the math for me, so I know who is getting paid, how much, and what bills are paid that week… That leaves me with a specific dollar amount left over.

If you look closer, you will see some rows highlighted in green. These are variables that are in MY CONTROL. These are the numbers I mess with so I know I am saving and spending exactly what I want and no more than what we are bringing in for the week.

Sometimes there are things that pop up (see Passport Renewal fee for $182.72), and I make sure to work in those nuisances in as well.

All the green rows get added up, and the total (see highlighted cells on bottom row) is what I take out cash for the week!  I put the cash into categorized envelopes, and we spend out of those envelopes only! It has been working beautifully! I never could get the envelope method to work so well prior to the spreadsheet.

That’s just a little insight on what I’ve been doing to make my financial dreams a reality. (bahaha, How cliché does that sound? )  I am so excited to see something finally REALLY working for me, so I just HAD to share.  I’ll be sure to follow-up with more about how I make the envelope method work for me in a later post.  But for now, I have to work out where my money is going after tomorrow’s check!

 

Do you have any budgeting tactics that work for you? Please share!

And, of course, the COUPON!!!

click here!–> Get $10 for $20 of Summer Apparel at OLD NAVY!

I know where I am going this weekend.