Use it or Lose it!!

2018. I just can't believe it's here already!! Here we are 8 days into the new year, and I am prepping for a show, and finding myself surrounded by STUFF. 

You know how it goes. The holidays are over, and you have cleaned up the trash, but now you have to find space for the new things. On top of finding space for the old things.
Well, at least I am in this position. 

My house looks rather like a bomb hit it. Or I am auditioning for "Hoarders" but am not quite there yet. 

So 2018 is going to be the year of USE IT OR LOSE IT. 

My place will never be magazine ready, but I would like it to be company - or at least friends- ready. 

That means, using up the piles of fabric all around the house. Finding places to put the craft supplies so we can use them. Get the sewing machines that are waiting to be fixed, fixed.

And get rid of all the stuff that is here that we never use. I don't have a pretty picture to share, and I am certainly not going to share one of my place right now, hahaha, but suffice it to say that this needs to be done. 

Big yard sale? Well, when it's warmer, definitely! 

Facebook yardsales? Already on it. Not getting any bites yet, so I need to put a time frame on those so I'm not having stuff sit forever waiting. 

Took 2 bags of clothes to good will, and returned 2 bags of bottles. Not much of a start, but it IS a start.

I bet, if you look around, you will find something you can use up or get rid of too!

January Challenge

January Money Challenge!

For me, at least, the first step in getting better about money is to figure out where it's all going! How many times have you gotten to three days BEFORE payday and thought, but what happened to the money?? I still need to get food/gas/whatever!

Yeah, me too.

So the challenge for January is to WRITE IT DOWN.

Get a notebook- any notebook at all. I grabbed one of Curly's spiral notebooks she hasn't used yet, but you can use anything. If you want something nicer that will make you want to use it, go for it!

Next, I got all the bills together. I went over the bank account for last month and wrote down every bill we paid. Then in separate section, I wrote out all the credit card payments, and the overall balances. Then I made a section for groceries, and one for everything else we spend money on this month.

You don't need to get that detailed, but it will give you a clearer picture if you do.

Then, just start writing down every single penny you spend. The idea is to just get an idea of where money is going. This is the first step to creating a budget and financial peace.

My guess is that - if you keep up with it, of course - your spending habits will change by the end of the month. You might think twice about that extra grocery store run (what can we substitute that needed item for?) or that extra breakfast/lunch purchase - my biggest downfall!!

Even if your spending habits don't change right away, you might see some things you want to change or patterns in your spending.

Ready to join me??


Happy New Year!

Hi everyone! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Did you have a good holiday season? I know I did but dang it was expensive!!

This is the time for resolutions, and while I am not good at them, I am going to try my best to get rid of some debt this year. Being better with money is something I have tried to do, and mostly failed at but starting again is never a bad thing.
After all, whether you start now or not, time marches on and wouldn't you rather have a few less bills a year from now?? I know I would!!

So. I have my 52 week savings jar ready! I have even added a few dollars in change to it, lol. 

The other thing I got ready was my notebook that I called "The State of the Union."
This is where I am putting our monthly bills, current credit cards - minimum payments, total balances, etc, as well as what we spend on groceries and everything else every day. I don't do well on a budget, per se, but I do really well with seeing the numbers in front of my face as to where the money is going. Here's hoping this will help!

Do you have any New Year's resolutions? What are you doing to try to achieve them? Remember to give yourself some credit every day that you make progress too!