I wanted to post a couple websites that you can earn gift cards from. These websites are completely safe, I promise! I like to use these sites to earn Amazon, Target, Itunes giftcards and save them fro Christmas. Please use the links below and I will earn points as well.
Swagbucks
swagbucks.com/refer/mikalacasey
You can take daily polls, sign up for new programs or just use their search bar to earn points. Good Luck!
Recycle Bank
https://rcycle.it/5ttb5
You watch videos on recyclable materials, take pledges to be better at recycling or find a local recycle bank to earn points. You can earn coupons, gift cards and restaurant discounts!
Kelloggs Family Rewards
kelloggsfamilyrewards.com
This is an account through Kellogg that you enter codes from specially marked Kellogg products. Plus when you sign up to receive emails they will send you bonus codes on occasion. You can earn coupons, gift cards and special Kellogg product.
Pampers
Pampers.com
This is also a program that you enter codes from Pampers products (diapers, wipes and pull-ups). You can earn credit to Shutterfly, toys and magazine subscriptions. I am saving mine right now to get my niece a toy for Christmas!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
No Spend July Week 1
Well, after week one of No Spend July it's not been too bad. I will admit I am a little tired of cooking, so we are going to look for some new stuff this week! I stayed in my tight budget for food and we've only had to put $10 worth of gas in the tank. We got propane for the grill but used a coupon – it's to hot to do all the cooking inside anyways.
Funny story (well now anyway), I needed a Happy Hour pick-me-up so I pulled into Sonic... and then remembered I couldn't get anything and drove right back out!
Also, we got really tired of being in our incredibly hot apartment, but we couldn't eat out or go do anything (not that there's much to do in Warrensburg anyway) so we drove down to Office Depot and looked at a few things on our home and work office lists, and then wandered around Wal-Mart for an hour... just to be in the a/c!
Lastly, I do have to admit one major purchase – we bought new phones.
Now hear me out and tell me you wouldn't have of done the same thing: First, Josh and I have been saving our allowance for new phones, so this was cash in our wallets – nothing was taken from the checking/savings account. Secondly Target was doing an awesome trade in deal: we'd get the trade-in price, plus additional target credit towards a new phone, and a $25 gift card after purchase! So I spent $5 plus tax on a new iPhone 5! Ha, that's right! You would've done the same thing. But hey, I was honest and told you we spent some money...
We'll see what the second week brings us. I know we won't be eating out again and not using the car and I will continue to delete my groupon emails!
How are you doing with no spend July??
Funny story (well now anyway), I needed a Happy Hour pick-me-up so I pulled into Sonic... and then remembered I couldn't get anything and drove right back out!
Also, we got really tired of being in our incredibly hot apartment, but we couldn't eat out or go do anything (not that there's much to do in Warrensburg anyway) so we drove down to Office Depot and looked at a few things on our home and work office lists, and then wandered around Wal-Mart for an hour... just to be in the a/c!
Lastly, I do have to admit one major purchase – we bought new phones.
Now hear me out and tell me you wouldn't have of done the same thing: First, Josh and I have been saving our allowance for new phones, so this was cash in our wallets – nothing was taken from the checking/savings account. Secondly Target was doing an awesome trade in deal: we'd get the trade-in price, plus additional target credit towards a new phone, and a $25 gift card after purchase! So I spent $5 plus tax on a new iPhone 5! Ha, that's right! You would've done the same thing. But hey, I was honest and told you we spent some money...
We'll see what the second week brings us. I know we won't be eating out again and not using the car and I will continue to delete my groupon emails!
How are you doing with no spend July??
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Pinterest project...Book shelf
Alright it's official: I am back to my creating/crafting mindset again! We've been living in an apartment these last six weeks, so it was nice to move around and do something creative. I wanted to share the process of my latest project with you so I decided to blog about it and explain it step-by-step. This whole project only cost us $6 and this is how I did it...
First, I took an old laminate bookshelf – just one of those cheap ones with fake wood grain and cardboard backing that you can buy at Wal-Mart – and sanded down the laminate. Not much, Just enough to rough it up so the primer and paint can soak in. This took about 30 minutes. Don't forget to do each of the shelves.
Second, you prime. You need to buy a primer that works on laminate and soaks into the wood. I used Zinsser Water-Base Primer (pictured below), which cost about $6 at Lowe's. I did two coats, but honestly I would only do one next time.
Thirdly, paint it any color you want using regular paint from your local hardware store. I used a leftover gallon from Josh's office, so it was FREE!
Finally, for the backing Josh used an old pallet. Now I have connections which got me free pallets (sorry, no handouts!), but you can go to Lowe's and they can sell you one of theirs from a previous shipment – usually just for a few bucks. Also, be sure to check out local industrial parks and businesses. Anyways we cut down the boards, I arranged them and nailed it down. The finished product looks great! I'm excited to get it in our new place.
I hope you enjoyed the process and be sure to ask any questions you may have about how to do this for yourself!
Friday, June 28, 2013
No Spend July
Monika told me the other day about a blog she had read about "No Spend July" and we decided we were going to do it with them! First, the blog we got it from is smallnotebook.org and if you search for "no spend July," you will come to her posts from last year.
I recently went through Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University and then relayed everything to Josh. We won't do everything he talks about, but all of his cash envelopes, budget set-up, and ways of paying off debt we will try to follow. The first baby step is getting a $1,000 emergency fund, and that is what our "no spend July" is going towards.
We are actually starting ours July 8th because we will have a friend in town and also a quick trip to Muncie, so not spending any money that week isn't possible! We are hoping do this through the first couple days of August. Basically, all you are allowed to spend money on are your bills, gas (but limit it) and groceries (get out limited cash for the month). There will be no eating out, no dates (unless free!), no traveling, no extra activities, no shopping!
I think there are two things we are wanting to get out of this experience. The first is how to live simply. What can we truly go without? What things do we under-appreciate in our lives? What things do we do in excess?
And secondly, we are wanting to jump-start our Emergency fund! This is a great way to be able to put aside the money for something specific. My sister is saving it for a trip with her hubby for his birthday. Why not use the money for Christmas? Or maybe a trip? Or maybe you need to just put it in savings for those car tires you know you will need soon.
Want to join us? Challenge yourself! Maybe you only do it for two or three weeks, but try it. Let me know if you are because I would love to hear stories! I will try and update each week on how we are doing.
I recently went through Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace University and then relayed everything to Josh. We won't do everything he talks about, but all of his cash envelopes, budget set-up, and ways of paying off debt we will try to follow. The first baby step is getting a $1,000 emergency fund, and that is what our "no spend July" is going towards.
We are actually starting ours July 8th because we will have a friend in town and also a quick trip to Muncie, so not spending any money that week isn't possible! We are hoping do this through the first couple days of August. Basically, all you are allowed to spend money on are your bills, gas (but limit it) and groceries (get out limited cash for the month). There will be no eating out, no dates (unless free!), no traveling, no extra activities, no shopping!
I think there are two things we are wanting to get out of this experience. The first is how to live simply. What can we truly go without? What things do we under-appreciate in our lives? What things do we do in excess?
And secondly, we are wanting to jump-start our Emergency fund! This is a great way to be able to put aside the money for something specific. My sister is saving it for a trip with her hubby for his birthday. Why not use the money for Christmas? Or maybe a trip? Or maybe you need to just put it in savings for those car tires you know you will need soon.
Want to join us? Challenge yourself! Maybe you only do it for two or three weeks, but try it. Let me know if you are because I would love to hear stories! I will try and update each week on how we are doing.
Funny Family Fact
A couple weekends ago I was at my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary along with 150 other people! Some I'd never met and some I hadn't seen in 10+ years. And yet all those people got to hear this story. My mother loves to tell this story and it is kind of funny. You could watch my mom talking to a guest at the party and then turn and point to Josh, Josh and Joshua.
Five years ago I married Josh I. Two years ago my sister married Josh II and currently my youngest sister is dating (very seriously) Josh III! Yep that's right, my parents could have three sons-in-law all with the same name. So of course trying to have a conversation and talk about one of the Josh's is complicated, and now there are two grandkids and we are trying to figure out how to define them.
So here is what we have...
My Josh is called "Josh" or "Uncle Josh"by all. He was the first so he gets the #1 title, he does like to make sure the others remember who was first in the family. Monika's Josh is also "Josh", Uncle J for Cadence and Josh II. And then lastly we have "Joshua" – Kristin's Josh.
I know you guys all really wanted a random fact about my family! Hope it made you smile!
Five years ago I married Josh I. Two years ago my sister married Josh II and currently my youngest sister is dating (very seriously) Josh III! Yep that's right, my parents could have three sons-in-law all with the same name. So of course trying to have a conversation and talk about one of the Josh's is complicated, and now there are two grandkids and we are trying to figure out how to define them.
So here is what we have...
My Josh is called "Josh" or "Uncle Josh"by all. He was the first so he gets the #1 title, he does like to make sure the others remember who was first in the family. Monika's Josh is also "Josh", Uncle J for Cadence and Josh II. And then lastly we have "Joshua" – Kristin's Josh.
I know you guys all really wanted a random fact about my family! Hope it made you smile!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
New Beginnings
Well we did it. We packed up our 20' U-Haul and... it didn't all fit. We said really hard good-byes and shared tears. We left an iPhone in Muncie (accidentally) and drove 8.5 hours to Warrensburg. We pulled into "my new campus house" (as Cadence says) – a new town in a new state. New job. New beginning.
I am not one to embrace change, it's a quality I don't think my husband enjoys much! But this move is something I have wanted for months. I wanted to move, to change my living situation. Shoot, I even bought new bedding! I knew that if I wanted our current circumstances to change, to be more positive, to see Josh enjoy a job again, we had to move. So when that call came I was relieved.
I would like to say that I cried the whole way to Warrensburg dwelling on all that I left behind but I didn't. I still haven't cried and I hope I don't. Now don't get me wrong I left my best friends in Muncie, I left our first home, I left the place of our first ministry. My heart breaks when I think about the conversations I am missing out on. That's all true, but still I didn't cry. Instead, what I was thinking about was how in the world I would handle an even smaller town than Muncie (though there is a Sonic here!). I thought about how our lives are going to crazy-busy again (which I'm weirdly excited about). I thought about what our next home would be like. I thought about how I hoped someday we would bring another baby into this world but instead he/she would have a Missouri birth certificate. I thought about new beginnings.
So no, I don't always like change but I do know when I need it and when to embrace it. I know that sometimes we need to wipe the slate clean. I know that over time I will become more positive and life can be "normal" again. I know that this isn't the last time we will get thrown a curve ball in life. But for today I get a new beginning and that is exciting!
 |
| Cadence wanted to load up his bag |
I would like to say that I cried the whole way to Warrensburg dwelling on all that I left behind but I didn't. I still haven't cried and I hope I don't. Now don't get me wrong I left my best friends in Muncie, I left our first home, I left the place of our first ministry. My heart breaks when I think about the conversations I am missing out on. That's all true, but still I didn't cry. Instead, what I was thinking about was how in the world I would handle an even smaller town than Muncie (though there is a Sonic here!). I thought about how our lives are going to crazy-busy again (which I'm weirdly excited about). I thought about what our next home would be like. I thought about how I hoped someday we would bring another baby into this world but instead he/she would have a Missouri birth certificate. I thought about new beginnings.
So no, I don't always like change but I do know when I need it and when to embrace it. I know that sometimes we need to wipe the slate clean. I know that over time I will become more positive and life can be "normal" again. I know that this isn't the last time we will get thrown a curve ball in life. But for today I get a new beginning and that is exciting!
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