Financial Friday: A Book Review

Okay okay okay, I know. It's Thursday.

But I'm too excited to wait until tomorrow to post this, so bear with me.

For the past couple years, I've been following a blog called Words of Williams. If you remember, I did my very first guest post over there last year. Eric and Kelsey write about topics on marriage, parenting, and finances, and I'm really enjoying seeing all the cute pictures of their daughter, Rooney, as she grows.

Today, Eric's first book, It's Your Money, released in hard copy and ebook on Amazon, and it's amazing.

I was able to get an advanced copy of it (thanks, Eric!), and I was a little skeptical. I'm familiar with the Williamses' financial story from their blog, and as I've taken Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (FPU), how much more would I get out of the book? Would the book really speak to me if I wasn't brand new to the budgeting process? I had my doubts, but I gave it a try.

Let's just say I sat down in my recliner one night with the book on my tablet, and next thing I know, it's an hour later and the book was finished. I couldn't put it down!

And you know what? I got so much out of it!

It's Your Money is based upon the same principles as FPU, but it spoke to me and encouraged me in ways FPU couldn't:

•  Eric and Kelsey are the same ages as Pete and I, and we got married around the same time; no offense to Dave Ramsey, but he's...umm...well, older. We're at different stages in life, and that plays a huge part in your monthly budget.
• In case you haven't noticed, the economic situation today is not what it was years ago. Hearing Dave talk about 12% interest for savings accounts is not easy to find these days; knowing that Eric and Kelsey are achieving their goals in relatively the same financial market that we are is encouraging. If they can do it, why can't we?
• They made similar mistakes to what Pete and I have made. We haven't been on the brink of bankruptcy like Dave and his wife were, but we still had finances out of control for awhile. And we're still making mistakes today, even while we're making progress on our goals. 

I think my favorite part of the book was when Eric was talking about when he wanted an iPhone while they were still making progress on their goals. He talked about how important it is to celebrate milestones and progress. Those aren't always words I hear when talking about finances, but for a free spirit like me, it was so encouraging! I do better with goals if I get to celebrate often; it keeps me motivated to keep up with the hard work. Having him say that and knowing that they have their six months of living expenses saved up (the goal Pete and I are working on) and are now on their next goal, just made me feel like it is okay to splurge sometimes, and that it's not going to deter from us still making progress. Wanting to celebrate milestones is hard wh
en you're married to a financial nerd...but sometimes he lets me do it anyway :)

This book would be great if you have never attempted a budget, if you're struggling sticking to a budget, or are a seasoned budgeter and are on to other steps. If you're familiar with the Williamses' financial story or FPU, you will still find something new and exciting to apply to your financial situation. 

To get your own copy, head over to Amazon to grab it for Kindle or get a hard copy! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

You can read my other Financial Friday posts here.

Financial Friday: Skin Care

Spring is here! 

Temperatures are rising, and with that comes skirts, shorts, and tank tops.

If you have skin issues, it's the time of year you dread.

I have a skin condition called keratosis pilaris. Wikipedia defines keratosis pilaris as this:

Keratosis pilaris (KP, also follicular keratosis, lichen pilaris or chicken skin) is a common, autosomal dominant, genetic follicularcondition that is manifested by the appearance of rough, slightly red, bumps on the skin. It most often appears on the back and outer sides of the arm (though the forearm can also be affected), and can also occur on the thighs, hands, and tops of legs, sides, buttocks, or any body part except glabrous skin (like the palms or soles of feet).^[1] Often the lesions will appear on the face, which may be mistaken for acne.^[2]

So pretty much I have red bumps, similar to what acne looks like but feels like sandpaper, on the back of my arms and covering my legs. It's unsightly and embarrassing. I hate spring and summer because it's visible, and people tend to comment, not because they're mean, but because they think I have a rash or something is wrong.

Now you're probably thinking, so why don't you do something about it?

That's the problem: there is no cure. Some treatments are available, but they're costly and don't always work.

What's even worse is my kids have it (figures, the one thing that they got from me had to be this!). Doctors always comment that their skin is extremely dry and I should use lotion, the school nurse will call me, mistaking it for a rash, and Paige especially is self conscious. Nate even has it a bit on his cheeks, but he's still at the age he doesn't really care.

I've spent lots of money on various lotions and creams to try and fix this. I've only had one lotion that's ever made the bumps smoother, but it only lasted a few hours (even though it claimed to be a 24 hour lotion), and the redness was still there.

Then I happened to stumble upon another possible treatment on Pinterest: coconut oil.

At first I was skeptical for various reasons:

1) It was affordable (on Amazon I found it for less than $8, and was available for free shipping on orders over $25).

2) You can do various other things with it, from cook with it to use it as diaper rash ointment and as a hair mask.

3) Even though many testimonials were saying that it helped their skin, nothing else would work for me, so the chances that this would help were very slim in my eyes.

After waiting a few months, I finally bit the bullet and placed my order. If it didn't work on my skin, well, at least I could cook with it, right?

All I have to say is OH MY GOODNESS.

After one application on the kid's skin and mine, there was a huge difference. Ryan, who had the least amount of bumps, was fully clear. Paige, Nate, and I were less bumpy, softer, and the redness was slightly faded.

After one week's worth of applications (I only do it after baths/showers; it absorbs quicker that way and you feel less greasy), our skin has never looked better. Now, don't get me wrong, it's far from perfect, but we're smoother and less red.

Other perks have been:

- It lasts 24 hours AT LEAST!

- After 2 applications on my stomach, Pete noticed my lovely stretch marks (thank you for those, Nathan....) were fading.

- It's an awesome eye cream! Just a tiny tiny amount dabbed around the eyes before bed makes me look more awake in the morning and I'm less droopy/wrinkly. Amazing what hydration can do! If I put too much on, it starts to run around my eyes, so just dabbing it with a tissue gets rid of all the excess oil.

- Paige and I have tried it once each as a hair mask. Paige has very thick and coarse hair that is impossible to get a brush through unless it's wet, and even then it's very difficult. We massaged about a tablespoon of oil into the bottom six or so inches of her hair, let it soak for about 45 minutes, then we washed it out twice. Her hair was so shiny and easy to brush afterwards! We just haven't had time to do it again, but we definitely will! I did it on mine, and used waaaay too much. I ended up having to wash my hair three times over two days in order to get it to not look greasy. But once I got it out, my hair was much more well behaved (which it never is!).

- Paige has ridiculously dry ankles. This has helped immensely!

- You use so much less than you normally would with any other lotion I've found. I normally have to use a hand full of lotion for each leg, but I'm using about a tablespoon, and it covers BOTH legs fully!

- It's really fun for the kids to watch: coconut oil is a solid, but melts with your body heat. They love watching me scoop out a chunk of white oil, then watch it as it melts and slides all over my hands.

Some tips:

- It definitely works best after showering or bathing. It absorbs quickly this way, so you're less likely to slip and slide on things or get oil on your clothing. I shower before bed usually, so the heat from being under blankets helps it absorb even better!

- Use small amounts to start out with. Less is definitely more!

There are hundreds of other uses for the coconut oil. I can't wait to see what else we can do with it!

For those of you interested, this is the one we use. The price has gone up, but Amazon tends to fluctuate their prices often, so I'm sure you could find it for under $8 again soon, or maybe even a different brand for cheaper!

Have you ever used coconut oil? What is your favorite lotion?

Ryan's Birthday: Morning

Ryan's birthday was on the 5th, and he had been looking forward to it for quite awhile now. Okay, so mostly he just wanted the cake, but he was pretty excited to be turning 3.

After a breakfast of toast and eggs (his favorite!), he got to open up a gift:

Birthday boy needs a new birthday shirt!

Modeling his new tow truck belt and his new age :)

Funny story: Ryan is learning sign language, and his favorite thing is the numbers. He will correct you if you do your numbers wrong, so beware! Here is is showing the correct way to sign '3'; at our church's auction, people would ask him if he was 3 now and hold up their pointer, middle, and ring fingers (you know, the usual way to show 3). And he would tell them that that was 6, and he's not 6, but he's 3 and would hold up his fingers just like that.

It's cute to see, but sometimes frustrating. He bumped his head a couple weeks ago, so I held up my three fingers (pointer, middle and ring) and asked how many fingers I was holding up. He said 6. I worried he had double vision, so I held up 4 fingers. He said 4, so I went back to the 3 fingers. He again said 6, and I said that it was really 3 fingers. He said it was 6, and then held up his thumb, pointer and middle fingers and said that that was 3.

Sometimes that kid is too smart for his own good...

But back to the birthday!

We asked Ry if he wanted to go to the aquarium or to the zoo, and he said sharks and fishies! So we packed up lunches and went to the aquarium in Niagara Falls :)

Now, don't get me wrong, I love the aquarium. But I hate getting there. We have to cross over Grand Island, and the bridge to get to Grand Island is not the best thing for people who are claustrophobic. Both bridges (to and from the island) are really big, but the one to the island is partially covered, and it's bad enough that I start to panic.

When we got to Niagara Falls, I was kicking myself because I had meant to grab the kid's birth certificates to go to the Canadian side to show the kids the falls. Oh well, there's always next time, right? We were able to see the spray on the American side:

The Falls

We timed our arrival at the aquarium just right; they were getting ready to start a harbor seal show, so we were able to get a pretty good spot so we could see the show. The kids love watching the seals perform tricks and watch them get fish for treats. The trick they like best was watching the seals spin around because we've taught our dog Mason to spin as well!

Waiting for the show to start

First stop was to see the penguins! Last year when we were there, one of the penguins was losing his feathers, and he'd stand there right in front of the window acting like he was the prettiest bird ever. There were no bald penguins this year (much to my disappointment; they make me giggle!), but they were still fun to watch.

Then we went to see all the fish and sharks:

Here fishy fishy fishy!

Nate loved this shark

Paige liked the big cat fish

Tropical fish

Turtles!!!!

Hmm, those penguins look familiar!

Ryan loved seeing Nemo fishies in their anemones

We were hoping to stay for the sea lion show, but Ry was crashing and wanted to go home. We stopped in the gift store and picked up some birthday gifts for Ryan from my grandparents (we got him a stuffed crab that we named Mister Pinchy, a floor puzzle, and some under the sea creatures), and Paige and Nate each got to pick out something small.

Once we got home, we put the kids down for a short rest. I'll post the rest of the day's festivities tomorrow!


Have you been to an aquarium before?

Side note: We have a membership to this aquarium; we pay $50 a year, and get in free every day. If we weren't members, we'd be paying $38 to get in once. We also get into the Seneca Park zoo in Rochester free, and the Buffalo Zoo for half price. If we go two of these places once, the membership pays for itself. It was cheaper to go this route than to get a membership at either of the zoos. If you're looking to get a membership to your local zoo or aquarium, make sure you check out what other benefits it includes; you might be able to find a great deal!

Financial Friday: Intro to the dreaded B word

I remember when Pete and I took Financial Peace University, we took it with another couple. Vanessa and Pete are very similar in that they save their money. Stephen and I, on the other hand, like shiny things. Shiny things distract us from saving. Money burns holes in our pockets. Budgets were evil things that made us not have fun anymore and we hated the word. But if you ask us now, we're kinda fond of our budgets!

Why are budgets important? A budget is a great thing to have because it helps you tell your money what to do, rather than your money tell you what to do. It helps keep your money in line, and forces you to prioritize where the money needs to go.

What isn't a budget? When I was talking to Pete about this post, he mentioned that I should talk about this. Stephen and I thought that budgets were really restrictive and controlling, but really they're not. Yes, they do keep you in line with your spending, but they give you freedom to spend as well. And if you use them right, you'll have extra money at the end of the month for other things like saving, paying off your debt and new shoes!

I mentioned before that when we started FPU, we were so proud of ourselves that we knew how to budget. Some months it worked, others not so much. So imagine our shock when we discover that we had no idea how to budget. What we did was write down every penny we spent over the month into categories (food, utilities, clothing, etc.). At the end of the month, we checked that against what money we had brought in. Most of the time it balanced out, but there were some months where we'd be off by a few hundred dollars...and not in a good way. Fortunately we never spent more money than what was in our account, but there were times I couldn't pay off the entire credit card bill (something we strove to do every month).

We were doing part of it right: keeping track of every penny we spent. But the part we were doing wrong was checking at the end of the month. In order for you to be in control of your money, the key is to write down how much you plan to spend in each category before the month starts. Yes, it's hard the first few times when you're trying to figure out how much to put in each category, and some months are going to be off more than others. You'll have to make hard choices (like seeing deck furniture you want for $75, marked down from $300...but you have to pass on it knowing that there really isn't money in the budget available for it...). But you'll be telling your money where to go, and life will be less stressful in the long run.

Next week I'll go more in depth about starting your first budget! The first month's budget is very easy, so don't panic!

This week's money savings tips are in regard to those of us who have swimming pools. Pools are a wonderful thing to have during a hot summer, but they can be super expensive!!!

Buy supplies in bulk. A couple years ago we bought the cholrine pucks in a huge bucket; if we bought them in bulk, it worked out that each puck was about half the cost of buying little packages. We still have a lot left, and they're still good!

Check the ingredient list! We had to just put a bunch of chemicals in our pool as the levels were off. There's a pH buffer powdered product that comes in a big bag; the bag was over $20 at the pool store. My chemist husband looked at the ingredients and noticed that all it was was baking soda. I just went to BJ's yesterday, bought a bag of baking soda that was bigger than the bag of pH buffer, and paid less than $7 for it. Score!

Thanks to reader Jennie; last week she mentioned a way she saves on money for laundry: she cuts her dryer sheets in half! I tried this tip all week, and I didn't even notice a difference in how my laundry felt and it still smelled super fresh.

Do you have a budget that works? How do you save money if you have a pool?

Financial Friday: Emergency funds

Financial Fridays: Emergency funds

What a response last week! I'm really excited that people are so interested in getting their finances in order. Just remember, it's not easy, but sooo worth it!

If your refrigerator was to die today, what would you do? Would you panic because you had no way to pay for it? Would you race to the store and buy the first one you see, and then use your credit card (or even open a new credit card account) to pay for it? Or would you be able to calmly go to the store, pick out a great fridge, and buy it in cash?

I'm sure many of us would either panic or use a credit card. This only leads to stress, buyer's remorse, and spending more money than you thought (due to interest on the credit card). But with an emergency fund in place, emergencies will seem a lot less stressful.

What is an emergency fund? Well, it is just that: money set aside for when emergencies happen, because I'm sure you all know that emergencies do happen!

Where do I keep an emergency fund? What we do (and Dave Ramsey recommends) is we have a money market account (ours is through Capital One). It makes more interest than a typical savings account, and we have a checkbook that goes with it, making emergencies much easier to deal with; there's no transferring of money or running to the bank involved. The interest we're getting right now is extremely low (less than 1%), but when we started, I think it was between 6 and 7%, and we were making quite a bit of money each month (and who doesn't love free money?).

How much should I have in an emergency fund? For right now, $1000, or $500 if your income is less than $20,000. Later, after all your debt (excluding mortgage) is paid off, it'll be increased to 3-6 months living expenses.

How am I supposed to find the money for an emergency fund? I can barely pay my bills! This is the hard part. Try saving a few dollars every month, even if it's only $5. Put any unexpected income into your fund, whether it be overtime you weren't expecting, a bonus from work, or that $20 you found in an old purse. Every little bit helps. It's not going to happen overnight (unless you have a fund already established or you have $1000 sitting around unused). But once it's there, you won't worry so much about a car breaking down or living without a stove as much.

A tool that will greatly help in saving, either for an emergency fund or for bigger purchases, is that dreaded B word we all love to hate: Budget. We'll talk about how to start setting one up next week!

And, as promised, some tips for saving money in unexpected places! I'm sure a lot of us know the usual tricks, like eat out less, make your own coffee in the mornings, and bring your own lunch to work. But what if you're already doing that, or it's not making a big difference in your budget? Here are some ways we save money on laundry:

Hang the clothes out to dry: I'm sure this is an obvious one! What's better than pulling bed sheets off the line and they smell all fresh from being outside? I love that smell! Granted, this is probably a seasonal thing for most of you, but even during the summer it can cut costs. And for a few dollars start up cost for line and clothes pins, it really pays for itself!

Use your machines at off peak times: Off peak times are apparently first thing in the morning and late at night. I've tried that and haven't seen a big enough change in my bill to warrant me only doing laundry at those times, but who knows, maybe it would work for you!

Make your own fabric softener: I was wary about trying this...but I'm soooo glad I did! My clothes are all softer and smell better. It's not as strong of a smell as fabric softener, but because I get to choose the scent I want it to be, I like it better. You could skip the conditioner and just use vinegar, but I like the smell of the conditioner added. I even used a little less than what was recommended and didn't notice enough of a difference to go back to adding more. We buy gallon jugs of vinegar (and they only cost .25 more than buying a quart jar!) and I use whatever cheap conditioner I find.

Make your own dryer sheets: I have yet to try this one; I had just bought a huge box of dryer sheets at BJ's when I discovered this. Instead of cutting up fabric like they suggest, I'm going to try some baby washcloths that have seen better days!

Make your own laundry detergent: I haven't tried this either as I tend to be a detergent snob. I've heard great things about those who have tried it, so it's something I may consider in the future......maybe.

All the principles regarding the emergency fund were based on Dave Ramsey's teachings from Financial Peace University. I only touched on the subject; for further information, you can check out his website! And as always, feel free to ask me questions about emergency funds or anything else :)

How would an emergency fund change your life? How do you save money when you do laundry?