IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FOR FRIDAY - FEBRUARY 21st

Hi everyone,

Okay, so I know this is post is a day late, but I wanted to get this up tonight before I forget and then Sunday rolls around ;) :) :)

In my continuing effort to work on paying off my student loans and getting out of debt, I'll be going through the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Class with some mentors.  Click here if you want to learn more about that. You can also visit the Dave Ramsey page on Facebook here.

I was on Facebook one day when I noticed this awesome little "cheat sheet" for remembering the baby steps to financial freedom. I originally saw this on the Dave Ramsey page on Facebook. Here is the handy reminder for those baby steps:

So that is my plan. My goal is to reach Baby Step 7 within two years.  It's going to mean a lot of hard work and sacrifice, but I'm willing to do this, because the result will be worth it.

So I'll be talking about that once I get the class started.  The first thing that I did was to make an accurate list of all the debts I owe, which isn't many. Student loans is the big fatty financial mountain that is standing in my way.  It is big, but it is not impossible.

It is really neat, because I can already start envisioning making the scream "I'm debt free" :) :) :)

Oh, I think the "Baby Steps" might look a little different for some people maybe.  I am not saving for college since I'm already out of college. I also do not own a home. I live in my aunt's home. So in that sense, I'm good, because I don't have a mortage to pay off.  It'll be interesting to see how these baby steps will apply to me as a single person.

I know this journey will not be easy. However, I'm so willing and excited to reach my goal and that is more important to me than having it easy all the time :) :) :)

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.

Love and  hugs,
Heather

PRETTY PINK FLOWERS

Hi everyone :) :) :)

How are you all doing?  It's been a long time since I last wrote a blog post, but I'm back and ready to go again :) :) :)

In fact, I was sitting in church on Sunday and a sweet friend of mine sat down next to me. She also happens to be an extremely talented painter and artist.  She earns a living selling her paintings on-line.  We had a nice little chat about that and I felt really inspired. She was really encouraging to me.  She and I are gonna get together soon and talk about details, because I"m interested in starting my own online store as well.

So we'll see.  It's still just talking, researching and praying and talking, researching and praying some more.  If you have an online store or home business, I'd love to hear about your experiences.

In the meantime, I made my ual coffee run at Whole Foods this morning.  There's this beautiful plant that has the loveliest pale pink blooms.  I think it's more of a bush, but they have it set up like a tree.  It's hard to explain.  In any case, here's a photo I took this morning:

I'm not sure what kind of flower it is. It reminds me of sweetpea or lilac, but I'm probably wrong on both counts. Do any of you know what this is?

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today.

Love and hugs,

Heather :) :) :)

IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FOR FRIDAY - DECEMBER 27th

Hi everyone,

How are you? I'm doing really well.  I am happy to report that I am feeling better and no longer sick. That's been like that for awhile now and the antibiotics really helped.

I was in Whole Foods this morning and going to buy a gluten free shampoo, when I found another one that I use was on sale AND it had a coupon on the bottle.  While I do eat gluten free for health reasons, I don't necessarily have to use gluten free body and haircare products. 

Here's a photo of the shampoo that I use. It's a really good brand that leaves my hair soft and shiny. Plus, the area that I live in has hard water, which can sometimes make my hair feel like straw, but this shampoo seems to counteract that really nicely.  In any case, here is a photo of the shampoo that I purchased today:

This was really cool.  I normally like to buy my products via Vitacost to save money. However, my budget is tight and I don't have enough money to place an order and get free shipping. So I have no problem just buying individual items at Whole Foods or another store when I absolutely NEED them. In this case, I needed a new bottle of shampoo, but it's one that is good for my hair and my skin.

I've used the 2Chic ultra sleek shampoo from Giovanni.  Just so you all know, I am talking about this product because I LOVE IT and IT WORKS FANTASTIC.  I was not paid in any way. I'm simply blogging about this because I love the product and at a fantastic price.

This bottle of shampoo normally costs $8.99 and with general sales tax of 7.5% comes to $9.66.

Now here's the cool thing. It was on sale for $7.19 AND it had a coupon pasted on the bottle for $2 off the purchase of any Giovanni product of $5 or more.....so I saved some major chaching...because I was able to combine both of those discounts along with my 10% mall employee discount and I only paid $5.18. 

That is a savings of about 46% off of the original cost. That's a great savings.  Now I can get shampoos for much cheaper than this, true....but this is one thing that I don't compromise on in terms of the quality of the ingredients.  I'm a really careful shopper and save in other areas, so I can afford this because it's important to me.

I also got paid today and gave every dollar a name.  I budgeted 10% of my gross paycheck for tithe and have that all in cash and ready to go for Sunday. 

God has been really faithful to me as I've been faithful to manage what is His to begin with.  It's been really interesting, because my budget is working out. I still have to be careful with how I spend my money and there are still things that I need and want. However, all of my current bills are getting paid easily and that is a huge praise ;) :) :)

It's going to take me awhile to reach my goal, but I will get there :) :)

Enjoy the weekend.  The weather here in Monterey is absolutely beautiful today. It's so warm. It feels more like summer than winter.  That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.

Love and hugs, Heather :) :) :)











IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FOR FRIDAY - DECEMBER 20th



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone,

 

How have you been? I've recovered from being sick. The antibiotics that I have been taking have really worked their magic and the sinus infection is G-O-N-E.

 

The photo I posted above was one that I took a few days ago when I was out at Asilomar State Beach and it reminded me of how God can still the storm-tossed waves of our lives. 

 

So I've been working on a financial plan of getting out of student loan debt and then I got thrown a curve ball the other day.  I'm still working on saving up a $1000 emergency fund when an unexpected expense for the dentist came up. I have to save up money for an xray before I can continue in my orthodontic/braces treatment. 

 

So sometimes when things like this happen, other wants get put on hold....again...and that  might be the situation here. I'm not sure yet.

 

One thing I have decided to do is tithe 10% of my gross paycheck. I started doing that last week and I'm going to continue to do that with each paycheck.  It's just something that I felt like God had been laying on my heart for awhile. It's all His money anyway and I just manage it...and I'm simply giving back what belongs to Him first.

 

I think it will look different for everyone and I firmly believe that we can also tithe with our time and talents when money is really tight. 

 

I've noticed a couple of things: 1) somehow my budget is working out and everything is getting covered, even inspite of me tithing 10% off the top of each paycheck 2) You can never outgive God.

 

I know that the money I give will be put to good use for people in need.  

 

That's just where I am at right now.  I got paid today and haven't given every dollar a name yet, other than to budget for my tithe.

 

The Christmas holiday season at work is still crazy, but once I can get past Monday, it will be smooth sailing ;) :) I'm so looking forward to Monday.

 

That's the news from the ocean shores of California today.

 

Love and hugs, Heather :)

UPDATE - BEING SICK IS ZERO FUN

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to update you all on how I am doing. I'm still sick. I've been sick since I worked Black Friday on November 29th.

Well, last Monday night I developed pain/soreness in behind my right eye, right cheek and lower part of the right side of my jaw.  It being so unbearable that I finally had to make a trip to the ER on Tuesday morning. 

I called out sick from work on Monday and it was a good thing because the congestion was just getting so bad.

In any case, I am now taking antibiotics and an indoor/outdoor allergy decongestant.  So far the pain in my face has gone away and that is a total answer to prayer.

However, I'm still noticing that I'm having a bad reaction to mold/dust at work. I know that it's at work specifically because when I leave the building I automatically feel better.

Anyways, this whole thing is really tiring me out quite a bit. I've been sick for 2 weeks now.  So I'm needing to rest quite a bit. That is why I haven't had any blog posts up in awhile. 

Pray that my body will heal from this sinus infection quickly and that the antibiotics will do their job!!! Thanks all.  Otherwise, I'll be praying for all of you. I sure do miss hearing from you.

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.

Love and hugs, Heather :)

BEING SICK IS NO FUN

Hello to all of my sweet blog readers :) :)

Sorry I haven't been around much the last few weeks.  Christmas/holiday season at my job is in full swing and it means crazier than crazy hours.

I've also been fighting some sort of cold/flu virus for a week. So it's really put me out of commission.  I will have more blog posts coming up this week, including and especially on Friday :) :) :)

Here's a Scripture photo that I created this morning. Last night I was feeling really miserable and I was extremely congested. I just couldn't stop coughing, which made sleep impossible. While laying in bed, I was starting to let the worries about my financies and others things start to overwhelm me a little bit.

However, almost as soon as those thoughts entered my head, another thought, or rather a Scripture, entered my mind. It was Psalm 50:10 where it talks about how God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. It just encourages me to know that God is in control and that He does care about the things that concern me. He WILL take care of me.

I also thought about this photo that I took a little over two years ago. This was shortly after I moved back to California. I thought it was very appropriate.  So I decided to put Scripture and photo together.

Here it is. May you all be encouraged today and everyday.  I'll be praying for the things that concern you today, too !!!

Feel free to share this on your blogs and Facebook pages. If you do, PLEASE credit it back to me here at Heather's Blog-o-rama and also at my public photography page, Heather Danielle Photography.  While you're at it, leave me a note that says you stopped by. I'd love to "meet" you all :) :) :)

My best friend from church brought over some cold and flu stuff for me. I'm feeling much better right at the moment.  Plus my father is being really sweet and doing all my chores which amounts to a single load of laundry right now AND cooking all my meals today :) :)

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today.

Love and hugs, Heather

 

IT MAKES "CENTS" TO ME FOR FRIDAY - NOVEMBER 15th

Hi everyone,

How are you today? How has your week been?  My week has been crazy and good and everything in between.  We're starting to get into the "BUSY" season at work. It'll stay busy until the end of the year.

I very rarely spend money on new clothes because I am on a really limited budget, so it's not worked into my budget, even when I really could use some new clothes. However, today was payday, and I decied that some new shirts for work were really needed. My goal is to have enough work clothes in my closet, that I could have one new outfit to wear every day of the week for 7 days, so that I don't have to wash the same thing over and over again.

I happened to be working in a department today that sells Ralph Lauren clothes for women. So I took a look at some basic long-sleeve tops. I ended up purchasing two black and one dark gray top.

Now listen to how I saved some serious "cha-ching" aka money, on the tops that I purchased today.  Most employees at work have a store credit card that they use.  We are required to have one in order to get the employee discount. However, there is also the option of having a prepaid store card. That's the one that I took, since I MUST put money on it FIRST before I can use it. 

So I happened to be looking at these tops, because I've purchased Ralph Lauren tops in the past on clearance and I've always had good luck with them. They also wear really well in the wash and still look good. so I know it would be a good deal, even if they were full price.


I saw these tops.  They are normally $32.98 each. However, they had a clearance tag price of $29.99 each.  When I checked the final price at the register, they were ringing up at $24.99 each. That's great !!! There was also a "use your card" discount of 20% on sale and clearance.

So I used my prepaid card and got 20% of the current clearance price. That dropped the cost of my tops to $19.99 each at the register.

So with all three tops together plus 7.5% sales tax, my total came to $64.47..

But wait, it gets so much BETTER.  Since I am an employee, I also get an additional employee discount of 20%. So that will bring my overall total down to $51.58.

Before I go into how much of a percentage I actually saved, let me throw in a picture of the cute little pocket on the left arm of each of the tops.  I don't normally like pockets on the front of any top. This is small, subtle and on the side. So strictly from a style viewpoint, this is fantastic.

Okay, if I had paid regular full retail price for all three tops and 7.5% sales tax, this would have cost me exactly $106.36.

However, since they were on clearance, there was a 20% "use your card" discount and my 20% employee discount AND the fact that I paid cash on my card FIRST....well, now my 3 designer tops only cost me $51.58 with tax.

That means I saved a GRAND TOTAL of 52% off the original retail price with tax. I'm really proud of that.

Now my next goal is to start building my collection of work pants. I literally have one pair that I wash every day. In fact, I will wear one of my new tops to work tomorrow.


Next week, I'll share more about how I give every dollar a name. I get paid every week, which is really nice. It's making "giving every dollar a name" much easier.

That is the news from the ocean shores of California today. Love and hugs to you all, Heather