DIY Iced Macchiato

Again with Starbucks. I mean honestly, a venti drink costs roughly $5.00, and who has money to spend on that?  Yeah sure I've got it budgeted, but I want to save my coffee budget. For what? I don't know. When I go hog wild and buy the entire Ulta store. lol. Anyway, here's a picture of what you'll need. 

Vanilla Syrup, which you can actually make yourself. 

Milk

Coffee or expresso

Ice

Put the vanilla Syrup in first. You should put enough in to cover the bottom. If you put a lot in, it's super sweet and just doesn't taste good. 

Add the milk. I put in less than half the glass because I want more coffee less milk. Here's a note, about the milk. I personally like 2 % milk, but it really isn't thick enough for the coffee to really sit on top of. It will, but not the same as regular vitamin d Milk. 

It really doesn't matter because it's all going to get mixed anyway. 

Now you add the ice. 

Then pour the coffee in slowly. If you dump it in, the coffee will go directly in the milk and you'll miss that whole slow mixing. 

Now, take that coffee budget!

Stay tuned, I think I'm doing the Chai Latte this Saturday. 

DIY Vanilla Syrup

So, in order to save some money I decided to cut back on Starbucks, because I mean seriously, paying $5.00 for one drink is just ridiculous.  So, one of my favorite drinks is an iced caramel machiatto. It requires vanilla syrup, and sure I can buy a big thing of it for $5.00, that's still super cost effective, or I could make my own.  I was in DIY mode, I decided to make my own. It's incredibly simple.  So first you'll need to get your stuff together. 

1. sugar 2. water 3. Pot 4. Vanilla  5. Container So the nice thing about this is it's a one to one ratio on sugar and water. So one cup of water takes one cup of sugar.  So I did one cup of water and one cup of sugar in a pot. 

Turn the burner on and stir the sugar and water until it's been brought to a gentle boil. Make sure that everything is mixed completely. 

 Pour it into a container and let it cool off a little bit. 

 Add roughly two teaspoons to the mixture. Stir that together. 

Done!

 

5 Ways to Save Money Shopping

All right, so you've got the budget in hand, and you've made it to the store, but you're still a shopaholic, and you still want to buy nice things.  Here are five things that could help you save some money. 

I'm not a couponer. I don't have the patience, but if I'm going to buy something from a specialty store, I'll always check my phone for online coupons. Then I ask the cashier if they have any coupons they can scan for me. 

This would be your TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross, and even on occasion I think Dollar Tree. What it is, the mother company has put out too much merchandise at the regular store. Over stock gets bought back and sent to the off-price retailers.  Personally, I love T. J. MAxx for beauty products. I can get huge bottles of good shampoo and body wash there for $10.00. If I were to try to buy the sulfate, paraben free things at normal retailers I'd pay through the nose.  Dollar Tree is another amazing place to shop. Before I go anywhere, I check dollar tree first for home wears and kitchen utensils. There's no real reason to pay a lot of money for something you can get for a dollar. 

My two personal favorites are Shopkicks and the Wal-mart savings catcher. I don't have time to sit and scan through every single circular that comes my way to look for price matching. The effort vs return isn't high enough for me. Instead, I let the savings catcher do it for me. Every time you get a Wal-Mart receipt, you scan it in the savings catcher and let it search for lower prices. Then you get that money saved up and can cash it out for a Wal-Mart gift card.  I know they don't jip you either; once I got a penny back from something.  Shopkicks isn't a money saving app so much as it is a get something for minimal effort app. With Shopkicks, you walk around stores scanning things and gathering points. Once you have so many points, you cash them in for a gift card to a place. (I'm holding out for a Starbucks or Sephora gift card.)

This saves you money gets and gets you things. For example, I have an Ulta card, for so many dollars I get so many points. I think it's 100 points = $1.00. But I can save up my points and use them to get money off purchases. I will never recommend getting in store credit cards. Those are bad juju, but the free or inexpensive rewards cards are worth a fair amount. 

Comparing prices will save you a pretty penny. So if you want to make a largish purchase then you'll want to compare prices at different retailers. Too, it can help you wait for the deals. But there is no need to pay more money for something if you can help it. 

5 Money Saving Tips At Home

So in favor of money month, I decided that you may already have a tight budget and saving money is super difficult. There are a few things you can do to lower your actual bills. 

 When you're not using unplug them from the wall entirely. Even when you turn things off, you still use a lot of power, which is sometimes called phantom energy. The only way to actually save money is to unplug it. I personally unplug my microwave, coffee pot, and entertainment center when I'm not using it.

 If you keep your thermostat at a set temperature it won't have to work as hard to either heat or cool the house. Also, another tip is kind of roll with the season. Keep it cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer. I know it sounds a little uncomfortable, but we have a two bedroom apartment and we keep our electric, which includes our heat bill at roughly $50.00.

Now I don't always like to air dry my clothes, but I always dry my shirts and delicate clothes. It saves the clothes and on the electric bill. I'm not saying don't dry any of your clothes, but smaller loads means you can combine and run fewer loads. 

Not eating out is good in more than one way. You save money and you can lose weight. But going a step further can save you even more money. So assume you buy one tv dinner a night at 1.50 a piece, not only will you be consuming a lot of wax, you will only make a dinner for a single night for $10.50 a week. but that's only one meal for one person. For a little more you buy chicken and rice, make multiple meals for multiple people. 

Don't throw away the toothpaste tube until you're sure the last squeeze is out. You can actually purchase things that will help you along. Same goes for shampoo and conditioner. If you get the dollar tree empty carry on bottles and cut open the shampoo and conditioner, you'd be surprised how much more you have in there.  Also, reuse things. For example, I bought a bunch of shirts from Forever 21, and they shrank nearly right away. Well rather than waste the money and throw them out, I use them for towels. They're gentler on your face and hair than most towels are anyway.  Also, all the newspaper style adds you get in the mail, you can keep some and use them to wipe up spills rather than paper towels. 

Making a Budget and the Envelope System

Hello everyone,  As you all saw in the last post, I want to create and stick to a budget this year. No better time to begin that goal than January. I've decided to make this month's theme money saving/budgeting.  There are some people who are have immaculate budgets and some people who think that "Bud gets" is the start of a sentence.  Me?  I fall in the middle.  I do more than my fair share of impulsive buying. Way more. But, my bills are always paid and I can count the times I've over drafted on one hand. Comparatively to some, I'm doing well. Then again, we're not supposed to compare ourselves to others are we?  So, the goal is to do better than myself. No time like the present to start. It also helps that I want to save for my Israel trip. If I want to save for that, I know that my current nonexistent budget won't do.  I sat down one night and figured out my own budget and set up some goals. I'd like to share that with you guys too. Occasionally give you updates on what I'm doing or how I'm doing. This way it gives me some accountability and kind of clues you into the process.  Once I had my budget down, I felt like the envelope method would also be a help. I'll explain what that once I'm done with the budget.  When I started, I didn't really know what to do with a budget. I knew that I had to figure out a way to allocate money accurately, so I did some research. One of the biggest things in life is credit. It's no different for budgeting either. If you're in debt, you need to try to settle it as quickly as possible.  To do that, you need to take a look at your credit report. 

(That's me getting on my soap box.)
Credit is extremely important.  I know that may be kind of a duh thing to some of you, but there are people who may come across that and not know it.  Being in debt and having bad credit is like being enslaved. It controls the things you need or want. For example, there are many places that pull your credit before hiring you. This tells them a lot about you in a way, and also tells them if you're likely to steal money from their company.  Have bad credit?  No have job.  No kidding. Why do I know this? I've done some dumb things and had dumb things happen to me along the way that has brought this to light.  At this point, I have a little bit of debt to pay off, and I mean a little bit, but still. I want that off my record as soon as possible.  I'll get off the soap box in a minute, don't worry. To keep track of your life, you need to get your credit report. Now, you can get one free credit report every 365 days. Or you can pay for it. Personally, I like CreditKarma.com. It gives you the Trans Union and Experian reports for free and updates your score regularly.  Anyway, back to budgeting now.  So, when you first do a budget, you're supposed to take a cross section of your spending over the last three months, not counting Christmas. This will give you accurate trends in your spending. However, for me the last three months would not be accurate. I started a new job, did some travelling and had Christmas.  I just did a month, because with the new pay, it's the most accurate thing I've got.  Before you start doing the math stuff, you need to have a long intimate conversation with your banking statement. This helps you see where you're spending your money so you can plan better. If you're accustomed to spending so much on Starbucks or McDonald's then you'll want to plan for that. Quitting cold turkey and not leaving any wiggle room for those things you know you love will only make you blow your budget.  Reading your statement will help you see that.  Once you feel sufficiently comfortable with where your money is going make category titles for the things. So for example, you know you're going to pay your phone bill. Make a category for that.  I broke mine down into broad fields Known Expenses and Unknown Expenses. I did this for a reason. Known expenses are the things I know the amount I will spend each month. I put things like rent/mortgage, car payment, phone, and electric in these categories. Unknown are things like my coffee, food, gas, or personal maintenance. Those are things I put a cap spending amount on. I'm going to put in a parenthetical here, and expand on the cold turkey idea. As in it's a bad one. Remember, budgets aren't meant to limit you. And there will be months where you've got it all wrong, but they're here to help you live better.  So, make space in your budget for that treat you like to get yourself.  Parenthetical over.  Then I have an extra and savings category. These are the most fluid. Things that I know I want to budget for, but not necessarily want to buy right away.  To help you, I've created a little Downloadable Excel Sheet to help you work your budget. It's got the formulas already in place so you won't have to try to math.  The way it works is you do the amounts column first.

Enter your income in the top left column in the income area. 

In the expenses area you enter your fixed expenses in the right column. The left one will populate with the money you have after you subtract the expenses.

The real budgeting comes in when you get to the unknowns. You have to decide the amount of money you intend to spend on things.  Next you actually budget. I have a included three other columns. Budgeted Amount, Actual Amount, and Difference. (The goal is to keep the difference at 0.) Difference has a formula in it that will do the math for you in budgeted and actual.  I think this one will work out and help you see on paper what your spending. The great thing is, this can be as broad or detailed as you'd like. If you want to do a broad one and then a detailed one, you can do details on a second page.  Ok, so having a budget is all good and well, but you also have to find the ways that help you save money. For example, I will swipe my card all the live long day, but I won't spend cash. I will literally forget I have cash in my wallet because I refuse to spend it.  I know this, so I was compelled to try the envelope method. Sounds terrifying doesn't it? It's super complicated too.  Just kidding. I'm an idiot; we know this. I can't do complicated. So the basis of this idea is you get envelopes and put cash money in them. Once the money is gone, you don't have any more money for that category.  If you're feeling crafty and motivated by pretty things, make your own from scrapbook paper. I'm using plain mailing envelopes at the moment. I'm not motivated enough to make my own. On the front of every envelope, write the names of your categories on the front of the envelopes. You can also attach a blank sheet of paper on the back so that you can write down your spending if you feel the need. I wouldn't recommend doing it on the envelope directly, because it would get messy if you did more than one month or had a lot of purchases.  The theory is that this stops impulse buying. 

That has to be the greatest enemy of shopaholic on a budget.  So, if you go to the store and don't have your envelopes, you can't spend the money. Here's another tip. Try to avoid using your credit cards unless you're paying something then pay the balance off right away. If you don't have the cash. Don't buy it. And I'm speaking to myself just as much.  Part of the envelope system is it makes you really consider your purchases. Once you're out of money, you're out of money. This should make you think about where your putting your money. I think that is one of my greatest downfalls. I just will spend money not thinking about it. Granted, I don't run out of money, but I still spend it all willy-nilly.  I'm hoping this also helps with prudent planning. Things I want to accomplish, knowing that I want to put money towards them will help me plan. You can take money from your left over things and put them towards savings or projects. Things of that nature.  Here's something to keep in mind. You're budget will never be perfect. It will always be a work in progress. You may find things change over time, or that you haven't budgeted enough for something. If it doesn't work, we won't get discouraged, right?  As always,

Purple NYE Glitter Look

It's a day late and a dollar short, but here it is: the Purple NYE Glitter Look. I tried to so something a little different. I think it looks nice, but you know, that's just one woman's opinion. We're always to be improving right? 

Let me know what you all think. 

Also, what do you think of the new look? 
As always, 

New Year and January Goals

So we all know my stance on New Year's Resolutions. I hate them.  The thing is, it's a new year, and I've got a somewhat new out look on life. Yes, I'm still me, but I can work with that. I've decided to set some goals for the year.  When people say things like "I will loose weight"; "I will eat better, sleep more, love more," they forget to plan.  Sure, I can say I will loose weight, but you have to plan. To use my favorite word, the idea is too nebulous. So this year, or month or anything, when I say I will... I'm going to make a plan to accomplish it.  At my last job, they were big on goals. My manager taught me this acronym to help me reach the goals.  It kind of stuck.  It's SMART. Literally.  Specific Manageable Attainable Relevant Timely
Specific  So your ultimate goal needs to be specific. For example, I want to go to Israel again this November. I need to save around $3,000 to go. Now, in the mean while, I have to realize this isn't going to happen over night. So I need to move to the next step.  Manageable How am I going to manage this?  So in a goal it has to be broken down into manageable chunks. Unless I have a rich uncle who dies and leaves me his fortune, I'm not going to meet this goal over night.  I know that I need to save so much every month to accomplish said goal. I went through my budget and figured everything out to save the amount each month that I need.  Attainable Now once you've gotten your goal and seen if you can manage it, you have to ask yourself can I actually attain this goal. And how will you attain it? How will you actually meet your goal?  This kind of dove tails with manageable. Don't set the bar so high you can't meet it. I could say I'm not going to spend any money on beauty products, eating out, or coffee, but then I would get so overwhelmed, I wouldn't do any of it.  However, if I set a realistic goal and leave room for other spending I'll be all right.  Relevant So, does the goal fit with your life? Does it match with long term and short term plans you've made? Israel does match with the plans I've made for this year. And since I don't want to plan too far in the future, I figure this fits in with my yearly goal.  Timely When will you accomplish your goal? If it's something like I will get published, you can say I will have submitted so many proposals by this date. I kind of have my deadline built into mine. I have to have the money saved up by November. But some goals don't have that luxury. Like getting published or loosing weight. Those you have to mark down on the calendar I will have this amount accomplished by this day.   So that being said, here are my January and New Year's goals.  Save for Israel. Create and keep a budget. I want to get to 130 by November. Submit one freelancing proposal a month--failed Continue to update the blog regularly.  Write 100 words a month. Small goals. I know, but like I said. I want them to be attainable for me. I believe in small goals.  
Happy New Year  and  As Always,