State of our Debt

As a transitional housing case manager, one of the dozens of tasks I may be working on includes educating my clients on creating a budget. Some components of budgeting may include keeping a spending journal, saving receipts, pulling a credit report, debt repayment, and (hopefully) saving money. When our families first learn about program rules and expectations, we talk a lot about money killers and money takers. When asked what these phrases might mean, clients will often mention credit card debt, rent to own furniture, and expensive cell phone contracts. We highly emphasize need vs. want when making purchases and discussing any big financial decisions with a case manager.

For Andy and I, this last year has seen some major money grabbers: buying a house, moving expenses, travelling here and there, gifts, home maintenance, new furniture, eating out... just to name a few. To give you a brief summary of what has worked for us (and for me while I was single), our bills are always paid on time, and credit card/car/student loan payments are often much more than the minimum required. I believe that just knowing and mapping out when your bills are due AND how much is due is paramount to budgeting. I take on the role of household bill payer and utilize an excel spreadsheet to do so.

Our biggest issue is our "fun" money, which usually tends to go toward food. As I mentioned earlier, we eat out for dinner a LOT. On some occasions, 3 times/week. I fret just saying it, but there; it's out in the open! Granted, we make many visits to Muchas Gracias (cheap Mexican food), the sushi train restaurants, Sweet Tomatoes (always with a coupon), or dine in for a cheap bowl of of pho. Any "expensive" meals (and I am talking over $30) are more limited  (every two weeks, give or take). Still, we could be meal planning and saving quite a bit. We both eat breakfast at home and take our lunch to work. We also buy coffee beans at the store and grind them at home. Dinner is our downfall!

I could blame the busyness and emotional draining of my job, but seriously...  as I manage 18 households and take on extra projects (helping folks apply for health insurance, social security, or trying to rapidly rehouse the homeless), the last thing I want to do is come home and cook. Andy also works 40 hours/week, but he works well with direction and easy to prepare, ol' standby meals. Plus, we take turns and are bad enablers so there's that as well...

Enough of this pity party! It is time for this team to buckle down, stick to a strict budget for the next four months (at the very least), and pay down our debt. Because we've acquired a few new credit cards in the last year, our goal is to have 75% of the debt paid off by mid-April 2014, and the remaining amount in mid-May! To break it down, we'll be using a debt snowball model (paying the smallest balances first). Money has been budgeted on a weekly basis for food and gas, and we have a small buffer in between paychecks for emergencies. If we eat out, it will only be once per week and the money must come from our food budget. I'm going to print out our debt repayment spreadsheet and put it on the wall next to the calendar so it is always in the back of our mind. I figure if I check in on the blog regarding the state of our finances any time we're paid, I'll be able to update the masses and hopefully have a bit of accountability to boot. Here's to debt repayment in 2014!

Taking it easy Tuesday

I had my first migraine headache last night and stayed home from work today to deal with the after effects. It came on slowly; a dull headache after dinner. I thought it was because I didn't have a diet cola in the afternoon and was I experiencing caffeine withdrawal. I attempted to lift weights with Andy last night, but noticed the pain started to increase. We have our nephew for a few days, so I put Tommy to bed around 8:30pm and waited for Andy to finish his workout. We watched How I Met Your Mother, and then I was ready for bed by 9:30pm, still feeling headachy and a little nauseated. By the time I'd brushed my teeth and turned off the light, I immediately felt the need to run for the toilet. I hate getting sick... I called out for Andy to google the symptoms of a migraine, then lied down in bed again. He came in and asked how I was feeling: a pounding headache on my left side, nauseous, and it hurt to have the lights on. I had to get back up again to visit the toilet... my throat was feeling quite thrashed by the time I made it back to bed. Andy brought me some over the counter medicine to help out, but I recall it taking me a long time to get to sleep.

Image from this site

I woke up this morning around 6am feeling tired and I had a dull achy feeling in my head, similar to being hungover. I always go back and forth with calling into work, but thank goodness for having a quite a bit of sick time racked up. I checked my work calendar to make sure I wasn't missing anything important and called my boss' voice mail. I recall my mom having a migraine headache every now again when I was a kid and how debilitating they were for her. I've heard horror stories from friends who've had migraines and how sick they feel before, during, and after. This morning I got up around 7am to get Tommy ready for school, dropped him off at daycare, then headed back home. I thought about watching tv while on the couch, but going back to bed sounded much more appealing. I ended up sleeping for almost 4 hours this morning! I'm feeling better this afternoon, but getting up and moving around is a little slow going.

I'm not sure what triggered the migraine; it could be a plethora of things: work stress, lack of sleep/caffeine, my menstrual cycle, the weather. I'm going to do my best to take care of myself by continuing exercising and trying to get to bed at a decent hour. I also need to remind myself that it's okay to take a day off here and there, and the world will not end if I miss a day of work.

A trip to Bi-Zi Farms

A few weeks back, Andy and I decided to have a bottle of wine with dinner. We were missing out on our annual family trip to Walla Walla for wine (due to a scheduling mishap/lack of extra money to jet out of town), so we opened up a bottle of wine from last year's trip and enjoyed our home made meal and some Jeopardy. A bottle of wine led to other mixed concoctions, and by the end of the evening, my step-brother had come over (via a drunk dial by yours truly) to play ping pong until four in the morning. I crashed sometime around 1am with the intent of getting a decent amount of sleep before we headed over to the pumpkin patch in the morning with my mom and Tommy. Andy and Ian didn't hit the sack till close to 4am. 

Somehow, we all made it out the door by 9:30am. I had a little food before we left the house, but the boys were craving something greasy. So, in my half-awake/nerpy state, we headed to Macdarbles. I'm glad I ate before we left the house. Needless to say, it's much more difficult to bounce back from a night of drinks now that it was 10 years ago. And I don't get silly with the drinks very often; it's a once in a blue moon sorta deal. I was feeling rather lethargic until Sunday evening. At least we had some fun at the pumpkin patch and we were able to stave off the rain. If you find yourself in the area, be sure to check out Bi-Zi Farms for a fun time!

Beautiful, delicious apples. 

Ermagherd! At least it was delicious. 

Corn for husking

Old fashioned cider press

Cider press

Tommy, king of the mountain, who was hastily avoiding the camera.

No pictures, please.

Hello there, goat friend.

These kids knew there was food around. 

I liked his fuzzy coat. 

From this angle it looks as if the goat is stepping on his friend. 

Tommy, feeding the goats. 

My mom joked that she'd be purchasing a goat for Tommy for Christmas.  

Off to the pumpkin patch! 

Muddy pumpkin patch = : P

He's totally not hungover 

Ahh, pumpkin smash

We found some winners!

Hold onto that hot cocoa

 

Time to wash the pumpkins! 

The well water was pretty cold

Everyone is getting in on the action.

Weeee!

Sunday Funday

On the to-do list for today:

• Make macaroni and cheese
• Bake pumpkin bread
• Curb my cramps with a heating pad/ibuprofen
• Get started on a new beanie
• Meal plan for the week
• Work on holiday gift budget
• Watch football and entertain the guests

How'd you fare daylight savings? I was really confused around 1:47am this morning when Andy woke up to turn up the heat. I was extra warm and felt like I'd been asleep for quite awhile, but the clock said otherwise. Andy said that daylight savings had happened, and in my mind it felt as if I'd missed the NYE ball drop. I fell back asleep quickly and then awoke around 7:30am. And now for some random photos.

Tommy's serious "Go Huskies" face

A pretty fall tree on campus at Clark College

A Saturday in the Life of Andy and Cara

October 19, 2013. A bright and sunny Saturday  brought excitement to take pictures all the live long day. But I tend to forget most often than not that my cell phone battery does not last forever, and by 6pm I was hugging the red line... err, battery light. Less than 20% full, but more than 100% effort. Here we go with Saturday!

My cat Suki greets me in the bathroom. I awoke around 7:30am this morning, hoping to sleep in just a bit. Well, 45 minutes of sleeping in had to do. We had an estate sale to get ready for!

Why is my hair so poofy today? Must document with a bathroom selfie. 

Andy is making bacon. 

At this point he asks what I'm doing and why I'm taking pictures so early. I inform him that this is for a day in the life post for the blog and he gets excited about me documenting his breakfast makin'.

It's a foggy morning, but it will soon burn off. 

Eggs for all!  

English muffins

In go the eggs

Yes, I put some ketchup on my breakfast sandwich. I also added a slice of cheddar. This ended up being way too much for breakfast and we vowed to go easy on lunch and dinner. We've been counting calories and have delved back into our workout routine, but this turned out to be our cheat day. No harm, no foul!

Coffee Coffee Coffee! I've had this mug forever. 

After breakfast and shower come the clothes. I also must protect my cheapy $5 Target tights with a pair of striped socks. How do you like our orange shag carpet? It's original to our 1970 house! Our neighbors tell us that original owners always had their carpets chem dried, hence the great condition. They are clean, but worn through. Someday we'll replace them with hard woods or carpet. 

I have no idea why I always have to pose with duck lips. I do it to be ironic. For realsies. 

Hey, I straightened my hair!

My messy dresser and trying to decide between my green sweater or my blue sweater. I'm quite bored with my clothing as of late and can't ever seem to find anything worthwhile in the stores. I think it's time to venture into boutique land over in Portland. 

I bought this print on our trip to Bend over the summer. 

Blue for the win! This is one of our spare bedrooms that will most likely become a child's room at some point. I hope to rip at the carpet out at some point before a babby comes into our lives.

This is my attempt at fashun. Check out my flare for mixing colors! 

Hot! Running more is paying off!

My mother-in-law gifted me this necklace after her trip to New Orleans. I put a bird on it!

Fat cat Suki running down the hall. 

A blurry Andy, running for the kitchen to fill his water bottle which was left at his parents' house. 

Time to go! It's about 9:45am by this point. Here's one of our pumpkins we picked out last weekend from the pumpkin patch. And you know what? I have a draft waiting for that post to publish! Go me for posting more!

Hey, the fog has lifted!

Hey, sweet thing!

We ate your stick family. Also, thanks Obama! Go to youtube.com if you have not seen the Thanks Obama funnies, particularly by Jenna Marbles.  

This store has been going out of business for awhile. And by awhile, I mean since the beginning of summer.

 This morning we're heading north to Salmon Creek for the estate sale, so we won't quite make it to Seattle. Another day perhaps.  

Heavy fog awaits us on I-205. 

Now we're in the thick of it just two miles or so from home. 

We've entered Cougar country! 

Not the seedy lady kinda cougar, but the Washington State University campus here in town. My brother-in-law is currently attending, working on a second degree in mechanical engineering. He already has a degree in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington, but couldn't find work. However, he is a tried and true Husky, just like me (I graduated from UW in 2004). 

Cheese time! I just put on some makeup to cover up some spots.

Hey, we made it! It's only 10:07am and there are least 20 people in front of us in line. 

Estate sale sign

A lady in line mentioned this sale from which she just came. She said it was too good not to miss, so we decided to check it out afterwards. And it was only about 3 miles away!

I don't think there were 86 other people in the house, maybe 40 or so, but I'm glad this company only let a few folks in at a time. Some estate sale companies let everyone in at once and you are packed in like sardines which isn't very fun. 

Pretty fall colors

Hey, Andy. Make a face! Andy is an honorary Husky, as he's been a fan all of his life. Plus, we need him to balance out the family rivalry! 

Getting closer!

Not the best picture of the pyrex dish I found for $8 which I will resell on Etsy for about $15. It's the casserole dish in Town and Country. We also picked up some sweet vintage dinosaur cookie cutters, a huge gingerbread man cookie cutter, and a white board. 

This house was large and in charge!

Fantastic chairs, but we were not about to drop $140 for the pair. The table on the other hand was worth for $40 and would've been great in our basement.  

Sweet couch which also would've been nice in the basement, but not worth the price. 

By now it's about 11:30am and we'd been at the estate sale for about an hour. Now onto the Manor Grange.

Nice!

Front of the grange. 

This space has a good vibe and would be fun for an event. 

I love old Christmas tree ornaments!

Thought about getting this rooster plate for my mom but passed. 

I love the floor. 

Croquet balls

Seashells

Lights

A barn on the way to Battle Ground. We spent about 20 minutes at the grange sale but didn't make off with anything. 

The Goodwill in Battle Ground! It's now around 12:15. I ran into a lady inside the store who had a basket full of pyrex. I chatted her up for a few minutes and learned that she's also a collector and seller. We exchanged Etsy store names and hopefully I'll see her on the Pyrex Collective blog. I tried to slyly take a picture of her basket but it didn't work. 

A crocheted bonnet. By 1pm or so we ended up down the road inside Rusty Glamour, a cute little boutique with old, repurposed, and new items for sale. My old co-worker had mentioned this shop to me a few months back and everyone who works in the store actually volunteers their time and also host a booth within the shop. How neat is that! 

Boo! 

Hey, duck lips. 

Sweet colors of chalk board paint! I think the orange would be quite swell! Maybe not a whole walls worth, but enough for a large picture frame to border. 

Take a picture of me!

Groovy mugs

Andy dug the lamp.

I love kitchen carts. I don't love overpriced Pyrex!

Driving back through Battle Ground. 

We happened upon a yard sale, but it really turned out to be a hoarders stomping ground. What you can't see is the owner of the home holding her tall boy of beer at 12:30pm! I suppose it's after 5 o'clock somewhere. 

This sign is sweet! It's nearing 1pm at this point and I wanted to head to Barn Finds over in Hazel Dell. Andy wants to eat and I'm feeling indecisive about lunch. We should eat at home, but it's out of the way at this point as we're heading to the west side of town. We argue briefly about this afternoon's plans changing as we'll now be heading to his parents' house in Camas to watch the football game rather than watching from home. Andy hasn't spent time with dad in a few weeks as they've been out of town. I blame my hormones for my quick outburst and we venture on. 

TOTES SWEET! I have a Take-A-Long recorder but it's not as tubular as this Barbie model. 

Andy had me put on this jacket for him. The tag said it was from the 1950s, but it was made in China and we found it hard to believe that it would've been made in China at that time. Anywho, it was cute and fit well. 

I feel bad for Doug, class of 1995, who lettered in football at Prairie High School. His letterman's jacket is hanging in this antique store! This serves as a reminder to ask my cousins (who also attended Prairie, classes of 1993 and 1997, respectively) if they knew of Doug. 

I love it!

Buh bye, Barn Finds. We'll be back again. Also, this store is not in a barn. It shares space with an auto body shop. 

It's about 1:15pm and we've headed to Don Pedro's for lunch. Hunger has won. 

Holy geezus. I had a few bites of the americanized salad (with ranch!) and maybe half of the shrimp fajita business. Andy ate his whole plate, then nibbled on my leftovers. See that thick green sauce in the bottom left hand corner?
Spicy as f*ck. Ouch. 

You're welcome, Hazel Dell! At one time in the mid 1990s, Hazel Dell tried to become its own city, but still remains part of unincorporated Clark County. The city limits are growing, despite the large size of Vancouver. Urban sprawl, you are winning. 

2pm. On our way back home to rest for a bit before heading to Camas. 

Fall colors near our house. 

It's close to 2:45pm and we're heading toward Camas. Here's a blurry shot of Mt. Hood!

We drive by this abandoned house every time we're on our way to the in-laws and we think the fire department has begun using it as practice for fire safety. County property records state that the house/land was recently sold for $850k! What! There must be more land with that house. 

Lacamas Lake Lodge under construction.

Lucy! My in-laws' dog! She's always excited to see me. 

After the game started around 3pm until 6pm or so, I read these magazine, browsed my Feedly blog roll, and napped in the chair. 

 Around 6:45pm, we headed over to Killer Burger with Andy's dad and brother. Darn you, Saturday and your plenty of hearty calorie filled meals! I realized by phone battery was quite low at this point and reserved the juices until I got home. After a delicious girlie size peanut butter pickle burger, we headed over to Kohl's around 8:30pm for a very uneventful excursion. Why can't I find anything at department stores? Blah. 

Back home around 9:45pm. Time to throw in some laundry. I took Andy's laundry out of the dryer. 

That's a full load you've got there. A little laundry humor for ya. :)

Cleaning the litter boxes. My cat Suki is forever lazy and uses the potty pad instead of the box for his #1s. After this, we curled up on the couch to watch a rerun of Jeopardy! which we'd already seen from last summer. Bummer! So, we hit the hay around 10:15pm, read for bit, xoxo, and sleep!