Money Matters - My Top 5 Apps

I want to take some time to share with all of you my Top 5 apps for helping to keep our money tight and right!

1)  Last week I shared YNAB with you all and this app has become the foundation of my money management.  The other day an employee from YNAB asked, "what are some ways YNAB helped you find money that was previously being wasted?" So I got to thinking, have I made any significant discoveries about our spending? I can't say that it has brought to the surface anything we didn't already know, like food categories are the big ticket items (groceries, dining out, Starbucks), but it has enlightened us to what we have become accustomed to in regards to the cost of our living.  As a result, priorities will need to be examined to determine if our money is doing what we want it to do. Most importantly, helping us achieve the financial goals we've established.  To me, that in itself is a significant discovery. 
One change I have begun to notice is that I now really analyze my choices when I'm shopping.  Do I need this item or want this item?  If needed, is it immediate or can it wait? Lastly, I look at the numbers in the budget to determine where that money might come from if it's an immediate need.  If it can wait, the item can be added to a wish list for future consideration.  Who knows, once the money does become available, I may come to find that the priorities have changed and that item is no longer considered necessary; saving money and keeping us on track to completing the goals we've established.

2)  I have been using iBill Reminder for quite some time so that I track our bills and don't miss any payments. Late fees can be ridiculous and I want to ensure any surplus we may have gets us closer to our goals and not further into debt.  With this app you can log in all your accounts with the following info for each: the payment amount, due date (can set recurrence), whether or not you have it on auto pay, and a reminder.  It helps you forecast how much money you'll need over the next few days, week, and month.  I like using it for the reminders and as a reference when budgeting in YNAB once a check comes in. 

3)  Grocery iQ is a shopping list that allows you to track your spending as you load up your cart to make sure you're staying on budget.  As you add the item to your cart, you select it, enter the price, then check it off. It then moves it to your app cart and shows you a running total of everything you've added to your real cart based on all the prices you enter.  You can add favorites with the prices you've previously entered to make creating future lists a breeze.  This feature can also be helpful in seeing the history of price changes, helping you get better at projecting your grocery budget.  An added bonus is being able to search for coupons to print before you head out based on your list items.

4)  Boxed is a great app for getting bulk items delivered straight to your door.  There are no membership fees and everything ships within 2 business days. Prices are comparable or sometimes better to big box stores and they have so much variety on everything from grocery items to household cleaning to personal care.  I get the benefit of buying in bulk without being tempted to buy 10 lb bag of ravioli they're offering samples of at the end of aisle 10. So I save on gas, membership fees, and resist temptations that can add to my overall cost.
Considering these upsides, it's certainly worth a shot - no commitment, no hassle. Plus, if you use my code, you can receive $15 off your first order of $60 or more.

5)  Ibotta is a really cool app that gives you cash back for items you already plan to purchase! You can shop anywhere from your groceries, to clothing, to travel expenses and see a return.  I usually get cash back on my WinCo or Target shopping trips. You can even get cash back on your Boxed orders because lots of different kinds of mobile shopping is included! For my crafty lovers out there, you can even earn cash back on Joann's or Etsy purchases 😍. For in store purchases, "unlock" the items you plan to purchase by answering a one question survey or watching a 15 second video, then take a picture of your full receipt and send it through the app to get cash back.  Any mobile purchases (Etsy, Hotels.com, Amazon), simply find the offer in your Ibotta app and click on it so that it routes you to the appropriate mobile app.  Complete your purchase and Ibotta will make note of the transaction and send you your cash back so many days after delivery or so many days after your stay. Lastly, you can link your loyalty card (Best Buy) and let Ibotta take care of logging your purchases. You can then turn all that cash back into gift cards or send it to your PayPal or Venmo account. Use my code to get started! Then once you have yours, refer your friends to earn additional cash back!
One word of caution, don't just add things for the sake of getting cash back, otherwise, you defeat the purpose of reeling in your spending and making the most of your savings.

I would love to hear about any money saving tips you have or apps you love - share in the comments below! 

Money Matters - You Need A Budget

I don't remember my first experience with money management, but I do remember my mom being religious about balancing her checkbook.  To this day, she still relies heavily on keeping that book on point. But one thing we never really discussed is maintaining a budget. I've heard the term and understood the premise behind it, but never really new how to sculpt one out.  It seemed like something that was rigid, fixed, involved Excel, and was very intimidating. When I was single I just made sure I had enough money to cover bills that were due before the next check came in, along with some fun money.

Then I got married and I still operated the same way. Just before our first child was born, my husband decided to go full time in the world of sales as a real estate agent, I left my full-time salaried position and didn't plan on ever going back.  There we were, ready to be responsible for a tiny brand new human, with no clue as to when the next check would come in, and the market was still trying to make its way out of the sinkhole of the recession. Yet, I still didn't make an effort to create a budget.  When you're in this position you find yourself living paycheck to paycheck, no matter how much money is coming in.

I would randomly search Google for "ways to budget with a variable income" and most of the time I was led to the envelope system or Dave Ramsey. There was something about the Ramsey site that immediately turned me off.  I'm not trying to judge, and I'm sure it works for many others, but it felt like there was so much information coming at me and I just didn't know where to start.  So I decided to give the envelope system a try, starting with those expenses that tend to sneak up on you throughout the year. It seemed like the most straightforward system and would work based on our needs.  I went a little gung-ho and created this beauty!

But as you can see, I never really touched it, I just liked the excuse to be crafty and resourceful.  I found this beautiful, durable folder at, you guessed it, Dollar Tree!  I was already well on my way to becoming a budgenista! I got on the coupon train for a while too, but that all soon faded out (no surprise there). I never used the folder and I stopped being so relentless with coupon searching.  Believe it or not, it can be ruthless out there in the world among all the coupon clippers!  I didn't last very long.  Ultimately it didn't seem worth the hassle to run around to different stores making sure I got to the stock of toothpaste that was only going to be .25 a tube, after the sale and with my coupon, before someone else cleared out the shelves.  My one major success is that I still have a major stock of shampoo and conditioner from those days!  Besides all that I recognized how important it was to maintain a budget.  Because even though those tubes of toothpaste were only .25, I needed to ensure I had the $10 I needed to buy 40 tubes of toothpaste!

I then resorted to writing things down in a ledger, but all I was doing was writing down purchases and debt payments.  I still wasn't managing the allocation of the money we did have.  I made sure the bills were paid, but I couldn't quite tell you the amount of our monthly nut (as my husband refers to it).  If my husband asked me if we had the funds to go on a fun outing with the kids, I couldn't confidently tell him we had the money for that because I really didn't know!

This is where You Need A Budget (YNAB) comes in and shakes things up in a good way.  I can't say enough about this program.  Simply stated, it's an app that allows you to create, reference, and alter your budget.  You can also access it on a desktop by logging in to the website.  It is extremely user friendly and has made me feel more confident with managing our money.  I now know that having a budget does not mean you are stuck within rigid parameters based on your income.  Fundamentally, YNAB teaches you to simply be aware of where your money is going and allows you to examine your priorities by always following the 4 Rules: 1) Give every dollar a job, 2) Embrace your true expenses, 3) Roll with the punches, and 4) Age your money. 

I've been using it consistently since August and so far, it's proven to be extremely helpful!  As of this post we've managed to fund some future trips and get slightly ahead on some bills for next month because I can confidently say that we have the money to do that! It's all right there in front of me!  I'm looking forward to getting even more familiar with all the features the app has to offer and am continually soaking in all kinds of information from YNAB's resources.  

They don't just give you the functional tool to set up and keep a budget, they offer free workshops, forums, docs, podcasts (also available through your podcast app for iphone users), weekly newsletters, weekly videos (whiteboard Wednesdays), and blog posts.  By no means would I call my self an expert and I have barely begun to scratch the surface of these resources of all the cool things this program can do and the insight into our spending that it can provide.  I am currently hooked on working my way through the podcasts; they are short and offer huge gold nuggets of information. I can't say enough about what this program has done for my relationship with money.  I look forward to sharing so much more with all of you as my journey continues. I'm also curious to know what has your relationship with money been like? Do you have a system that you already use that you absolutely love? 

I am in no way affiliated with the website, but if you decide to do a free trial, please use my link because if you sign up at the end of your trial, you earn yourself and me a FREE month! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! 

You Need A Budget

Plan With Me

I've been talking about planners and my obsession for a couple of weeks now, so let's jump right in! Here's my process from start to finish. First I start by outlining my week by sectioning off each day with headers I purchased off Etsy.  I went with a shop that allowed me to personalize them (color and writing) to fit my wants needs.  This planner came with an hour by hour layout and I tried that for a while, but found that it just didn't fit my style or needs.

I think if you're looking to structure your days to keep you on task or your work requires appointments all day, an hour by hour format is excellent. I may get a smaller daily A5 size planner that is hour by hour for this reason because I could use the help maximizing my days, but for me, that's not necessary for every day. I ultimately decided to cover up the hours with decorative washi tape, so I've utilized a decorative sticker in a functional way.

I then move on to inserting some other key elements and typically non-negotiable items, but ultimately everything is flexible because, well you know, (💩) life happens! And toddlers undeniably rule your world 😜! But if I had to pick something, these items include the kids extracurricular activity, at this point they're limited to one, and my extracurricular activity. My husband's schedule gives him flexibility, so for the most part he can work his stuff in when he wants and he usually has to work his schedule to accommodate our stuff.

I have turned a leaf and made a commitment to getting fit (more on that in future posts), so I make sure to log in all my gym days or activities. In doing so, I've already made the commitment to follow through and go because it's been added to my planner. I mean, let's face it, if you're a planner kind of person, chances are you have some anal retentive qualities 😉 and if you're like me, you don't really want to ruin a pretty planned page by trying to carefully remove a sticker only to have it tear through! So you go to the gym! Then you get to put a satisfying ✔ next to it after you've completed your task.

But if life happens, it's okay, there's a sticker for that too! I also add in my habit trackers. There are three activities I currently track because I feel like this action helps with the accountability aspect.  I get satisfaction from coloring in the bubbles for the days I uphold the habit and am disappointed when I see more empty bubbles than colored ones.  As of right now I'm tracking my Reading, this year's goal is to read 40 books, but I'm 8 behind my target at the moment. I hope to share with you in future posts a little about what I like and how I work in all that reading time. I'm also tracking my Exercise here.  In addition to marking them in my scheduling, I feel like I need another form of tracking as an incentive to do more.Lastly, I'm tracking Finance.  I have never ever had a real budget in my life, until just recently.  I discovered this awesome App, that you can also access on your desktop, called You Need A Budget (YNAB). I have a basic understanding of how to budget, but I was having trouble figuring out just where and how to start. It was also tough considering a household like ours where my income is fixed, because I'm salaried, and my husband's is variable, because he works in real estate and the money comes in whenever all the paperwork is done and both sides are happy. But now that I've found YNAB, it is all making cents 😆. So ideally everyday I log on and work on logging transactions and reconciling accounts.  I will also write more on this topic in future posts.

In addition to the physical part of getting fit, I'm also trying to be more conscious of what I eat, so I include meal planning for my lunch and dinner. It helps me shop for the week and if I get my lunch ready the night before, saves me some time and brain power.

Lastly, I add in all my fun kawaii stickers that are functional and write in all the stuff! As you can see I chose cakes for my date stickers because it's my birthday month 🎉🍻!

I would love to hear anything you're planning or already have implemented in your system. I'm always looking for ways to optimize.

What are some things that might be non-negotiable for you?

If you're new to planning, do you have a better sense of what you may want to implement in your system?

Can't wait to hear all the great stuff you have to share on your journey to rise up to be you!

Planner Culture

Last week I talked about getting back into the swing of using a planner. I didn't put too much effort into researching what was out when I chose mine because I didn't know there was a whole culture of planner addicts like myself out there.  There are several aspects that go into determining your planner style. I'd like to go through some here for those of you considering changing your current style or those of you who've never used a planner and want to make a more informed decision. Buckle in, it's a bit of a lengthy post.

Vertical vs. Horizontal
There are typically two types of layouts that you can choose from and not all planner companies offer both options. A horizontal layout may be favored if you like to be more descriptive when scheduling your day.  You could also use this format to monopolize on space by lining down the middle, as shown in the second picture here.  Then you could divide the day between home and work or day and night, or any other combo you might prefer. 
If you prefer more of a list format, then a vertical planner might make more sense. Some of them come with hour blocks already incorporated, but either way, you could still do some kind of alternative split.  I used washi tape to cover up the printed hours on my planner.  I found that I like the vertical layout, but didn't want to be restricted to the hours and decided to break up the days into different categories.

All Rights Reserved

All Rights Reserved

Dated vs. Undated
You can choose to go with an Academic year planner, where the beginning month is typically August. Or you can choose a Calendar year planner, where the beginning month is January.  At this point in time I gravitate toward calendar year, but I imagine I will transition to academic year once the kids begin elementary school. I imagine the feeling of when my year begins will start to shift in line with school because of all the activities that come along with that.

The advantages of a dated planner include being able to journal a bit on each particular day to have a record of not only what you did, but maybe how you felt, or a memory you want to have logged in writing.

The advantages of an undated planner include being able to spill over into another day if you need the extra room. You can also explore your creativity by writing the dates in a fun new way. If you've gotten into learning script lettering or modern calligraphy, putting in the dates yourself can be a way for you to practice different styles.  Lastly you can also use fun and themed stickers, which I'll get into down below.

White Space vs. No White Space
First, let me introduce you to the planner term, "spread." The word spread in planner lingo simply refers to the way you organize your layouts for the month, week, and/or day.  If you do a search for "planner spreads" in google images, you will see exactly what I'm talking about. What primarily comes up are the Erin Condren or Happy Planner spreads people have shared.  Essentially, it's the before or after of what your week looks like, after being organized, written and out, and more than likely stickerfied, (yes, I'm making that a word 😎). 

Those who like to giver their planners more of a journal or scrapbook feel tend to use sticker kits to cover up all the white space. They write on top of the sticker, rather than just leaving that space empty to write on. If you're aesthetic is more streamline, you may be okay with having white space and maybe only using the occasional decorative element.

If you want to geek out with me, there are also "plan with me" videos you can search for to get ideas about how you may want your spread to look. There's something oddly satisfying about watching others seemingly getting their lives in order while they fill out their planners 😌. Just be sure to indicate in your search which planner you're curious about, otherwise all of the initial searches are bullet journals.

Stickers - Functional vs. Decorative (or both!)
Now onto my favorite part of planning, STICKERS!! I have awakened the inner child in me when the days of Lisa Frank brightened every corner of my binder, notebook, diary, and anywhere else I could think of to put a sticker.

Remember these beauties 😍! I went nuts when it came to wanting these stickers all the time! I have awakened that desire as an adult with planner stickers. I absolutely LOVE using stickers in my planner, but tend to lean toward the cute functional ones. There are stickers that help you make lists, track habits, stay on top of bills, and just about anything you can think of to organize. I tend to lean toward a combination of functional and decorative, specifically kawaii stickers.  Kawaii is the culture of cuteness in Japan.  These kinds of stickers can be people or a number of objects personified with a face which has the eyes and mouth close together and they don't have a nose.  Here are a few examples from my personal stash.

The first picture shows a couple of my kawaii functional stickers I use for lists and meal planning.  The second picture shows strictly functional stickers.  The last picture are some kawaii fall drink decorative stickers.  Can you tell, I can't wait for fall y'all 🍁🎃🍵! The cute cups are actually extras from a sheet that included the same cups, but with numbers, so I can use them as dates for my weekly spreads in November.  Can you guess which design I chose for October?

I just love opening up my planner and seeing all these happy little face looking at me.  It helps to relieve the overwhelming feeling that might accompany seeing a weeks worth of stuff to get done.  Whatever your style might be, I recommend searching Etsy for a variety of options.  If you like anything you've seen in the pictures above, the Etsy shop names are printed on the sheets.  The mugs are also from A Happy Blue Tree, which happens to be my favorite shop 😍! Let me know in the comments below which style (functional, decorative, or both) you would prefer.  Below is a closeup of one of my weekly spreads.

                       

Writing Instruments - One color vs. Color-coded

These options are also based on your own personal aesthetic.  You can choose to keep everything written in black or blue and use your stickers to infuse color and be the more functional aspect of your system. Or you can choose to use colored markers or pencils to color code your tasks and opt for black and white stickers, there are plenty out there. If you're super minimalist, strictly black ink and B&W stickers may sound appealing.

In any case, no matter which way you're leaning, don't go crazy with committing to a style you think will work for you right out of the gate.  Just experiment until you find what works for you!  I'm still trying to figure out where I am with organizing my spread and to color-code or not to color-code is my burning question.

Next week I'll do a "plan with me" style blog to walk you through how I organize my weeks; including what items are absolutely non-negotiable and which are flexible. Let me know in the comments if there's anything else you would like to know. Thanks for your patience in getting this post out to you.  Enjoy your three-day weekend!

My Planner Obsession

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation and do not receive any profits for purchases of the items listed in this post.

In college I was a devout planner user.  I used a very simple planner provided by my university and colorful ballpoint pens to make sure I stayed on track with every avenue of life.  It was organized, color-coded, and helped to maintain my sanity because my chaos was cleverly curated in those pages. Along with working all of my adult life, I was also in school up until I was pregnant with my daughter.  After two bachelor's programs and a master's program I moved from school to married life to family life.
My last transition sent me into a tailspin.  I basically flew by the seat of my pants, working things out as I went along.  Now I had a tiny human to work into my life and I let go of all the systems I had created, including the planner I religiously used upon starting college.

Fast forward four years later and I was still having trouble feeling organized and was still feeling overwhelmed. I missed myself and I missed feeling put together. My husband kept trying to get me on board with his systems, but I kept pushing back. Going back to my previous post, I kept trying out all these different ways to "find" or rather center myself by finding an activity that could satisfy my creativity and push me to begin to streamline all the thoughts running around in my head.  I'm so distracted most of the time because I'm always thinking about the next thing I have to do.

Then I discovered Bullet Journals last year.  I thought I had found my solution. I think it such a non-linear way. If could take a picture of my thought process, it would appear similar to the image you see when you open up your junk drawer.  You know that drawer that everyone has that's the catch all for everything you think doesn't have a place. You swear you know exactly what's in there, and as you search for one thing, you get distracted by discovering the item you were looking for, but couldn't find, from two weeks ago. Then proceed to forget the original item for which you were searching. That's what my thought process can sometimes feel like.  So the bullet journal seemed like a wonderful solution to organizing all the squirrels in my head.

It's essentially a blank journal that allows you to exercise your creativity to keep yourself organized in a stream of consciousness type format.  You may have a weekly spread on one page and a running list of books you plan to read on the next.  Then you pick right back up on the following page with your next weekly spread. If you watch the video from the link above, it does a good job of explaining the purpose and functionality of a bullet journal. I ended up moving away from it because I was fighting the artist in me to make these elaborate spreads, but didn't always have the time to do so. I ultimately decided this option didn't work for my lifestyle. It's great for creative folks who crave constant change and want a planner/journal combination.

I decided a planner that was already formatted for me, but with room to add my own flair would be the best option. I had purchased a planner, created by Brit + Co, for Target. It was the perfect set up. It's undated, has plenty of room to write, and has a section for notes. It includes a monthly spread and a weekly spread. 

Because this planner was a temporary item for Target, I searched eBay to find some more blank ones, already committing myself to plan for the next two years with this format. Afterward a friend of mind introduced me to Inkwell Press LiveWELL Planners and I couldn't believe what I was missing out on! It offers space for planning yearly goals and connects them so that you are conscious of tracking and thinking about your goals on a monthly basis. They offer vertical and horizontal layouts, tabbed pages, and a pocket in the back to hold stickers, notes, or whatever you want to keep with your planner. 

There are a number of other leading planners out there that people are just devoted to: Erin Condren, Simplified Planner, The Happy Planner, and Living Well Spending Less to name a few. Check them out and comment below as to which looks like the best fit for you and why. If you're already an avid planner user, comment with which one you use and why you love it so much. It would be nice to get a variety of opinions to help each other out!  This post is so much longer than I had planned it to be so come back for next week's post where I'll cover the ins and outs of using a planner and planner accessories (squeals with joy)!

Starting Over For the Last Time

I started this blog many moons ago as a way to feed my need for expressing my
creativity. Then I cycled through an Etsy shop, an MLM, and probably lots of other
ventures that I left by the wayside. You see, that’s been my modus operandi for a
long time and I don’t like it.  I’m ashamed of it quite honestly. I’ve finally decided it’s
time to get my life where I want it to be.

I wish I could tell you there was some miraculous convergence of events that led me
to change my outlook, but there wasn’t.  If I think long and hard about it, it has to do
with my returning to work. Long story short, I worked full-time and was enrolled in
college completing a second bachelor's degree up until I had my first child, a beautiful
baby girl.  Then, together, my husband and I decided I would stay home without any
intention of ever going back to work. At least not to a 8-5 kind of job. Which worked
out at first because 7 months after our daughter was born, we found out we were
pregnant with our son.

I basically flew by the seat of my pants when it came to managing two under two
and the household chores. In my work and school days I was a religious planner
user. Once I made the transition to staying home I didn’t think a planner was
necessary because my schedule was now ruled by tiny humans who didn’t
understand the concept of time or my need for organization. Fast forward three
years later and I was feeling overwhelmed with managing a household of four as
well as feeling like I had lost all sense of self. I didn’t feel like an individual anymore.

Coincidentally, a position became available in my old office and
after discussing things with my husband, I decided to go for it. I needed to feel as
though I was contributing to society on a larger scale; albeit the biggest and hardest job
with an enormous impact we can ever have is being a parent, I still needed to restore
my sense of self.  Last year I got back into the working world and I started to feel better.
I was connecting with adults, who have become great friends, on a regular basis and
contributing to society. Yet, I still felt like I hadn’t gotten myself on any kind of path
connecting me to that sense of self.

Fortunately returning to work helped me begin to form connections that were positive and
encouraging and I somehow found the motivation to truly make an effort to find my happy self. The old wives tale is true, if mom’s not happy, nobody's happy. My frustrations and unhappiness
radiated from my body and at times infected my kids and my husband. My husband is a true
purveyor of self help. He reads all the books, listens to all the podcasts and encouraged me
to do the same, yet I continued to push back. I didn’t want to hear it. I wanted to figure it out
myself. I slowly, my husband would probably equate to to a snail's pace started to come around and listen to a few podcasts. With these new messages I began to allow myself to hear, in
combination with the positive influence of my coworkers, I started to make changes to my life
that have led me to this post here.

I plan to share with you my journey through personal growth including: fitness, my planner
obsession renewed, my reading corner, and a host of “favorites” posts, in hopes of offering
some inspiration to those who may feel where I once was. I don’t warrant myself a life coach or
proof of concept, by no means am I completely where I want to be. Quite frankly, I don’t know
that I want to be in a place where I am 100% satisfied with myself. I want to continue to grow
and ask myself what I can do to be better and hopefully inspire all of you to do the same.