this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

On Wednesday, I just happened to open up Quicken to check on things. And I'm so glad I did. I knew that our student loan payment was due that day and saw that checking account at our local bank was about $6 short. Oops. I had no cash to put into the account, but thought that perhaps The Tall One did, so I called him at work to see if he could run to the bank to deposit some. He had already taken lunch, so it was all on me. I could pull some cash from our ING checking account via an ATM and then deposit that into our checking account at the local bank. Easy, right?

I headed to the bank and used their drive-up ATM to withdraw money from the ING account. I planned to deposit it into the other checking account right at the ATM (so I didn't have to take the kid inside) but my ATM/debit card for my local bank had long expired, so inside we go. I deposit the cash and also request a new debit card.

Everything worked out fine in the end, but of course I learned a few lessons:

• Keep an eye on things, especially automatic transactions. Check you accounts and bills due frequently.
• Keep some cash on hand. I could have saved myself a $2 ATM transaction fee if I would have already had some cash.
• Don't let your cards expire without getting a replacement. This wasn't the first time I wished I had had a current card.

These were concepts I already knew, but apparently I need a little reminder every now and then!

I'm still getting used to having a child in school full time and all that that entails. One of the new daily tasks I have is packing my son a lunch. This is best done before I go to bed each night in order to avoid the chaos of the morning. In an effort to help me remember to do this each night, I created a little chart for my son to fill out.

I typed out the things that most often seem to be choices and then left blanks for me to write on. I covered the paper with clear contact paper and then used sticky back velcro to attach them to the dry erase board (one that has clearly seen better days). He can then circle the things that he would like in his lunch. It's my hope that seeing this up on the fridge will be a good visual reminder for me to make his lunch before I go to bed! I also imagine that it could be used as sort of a grocery list - as soon as we are out of something, it can come off of the chart and I'll know I need to add it to my list.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go make a lunch!

Have you blogged about something you made recently? Leave me a link in the comment section - I'd love to see it. What to join in next week? Send me an email and I'll be sure to link to you in next week's post.

My birthday and Christmas are just around the corner, which means it's time to start figuring out what I  might want. This is not hard at any other time of the year, but for some reason around October 1 my mind goes completely blank until the end of the year. Then January rolls around and it seems that everywhere I look I see something that I'd love to have!

Instead of thinking to myself "wow, that's cool, I wish I had some extra money to buy it", I'll think "awesome, something to add to my wish list!". And then comes the part I apparently always forget about it - I'll write it down!

A little bit of positive thinking can go a long way. In this case, I can have a list full of ideas for the gift giving season and it will perhaps help quell the "woe is me" feeling that I get when it seems like I'm never buying anything for myself.

I had a strange thing happen to me this week.

It all started late last week when my flat iron died on me. I then realized how much I depended on it to do my hair each day and knew I quickly needed a new one. A friend of mine (who is also a hairdresser, so I trust her advice) had told me that she saw the kind she has at Costco and at a great price too. On Monday I went to Costco and while they didn't have the one she told me about, they did have one (which was cheaper also) so I bought it and was happy. And then the next day when I used it for the first time, I was incredibly excited. It worked so well, much much better than my old one ever did. I could style my hair in half the time and I loved how I looked. I was very pleased with my purchase.

Word of the other flat iron (the one I didn't get) got out and a few of my friends headed to Costco to purchase one. Apparently I was just at the wrong one, the other Costco in town had several in stock. They said how wonderful it was and suddenly I found myself a teensy bit jealous.

My once wonderful flat iron was now not at all good enough for me.

For the most part, if I have something I'm happy with and someone else has something like it that she is happy with, I have no issues, I don't usually start thinking that what I have is inferior. But this time is different and it's over a hair styling device for crying out loud.

I wish I could take mine back. I wish I would have checked another store first. But I know it's all ridiculous. I've never tried out the other one, I've never even seen it before, so I don't know that it's better. I was completely satisfied with what I had until I knew others had something else.

Wow.

Have you ever had a similar experience?

Last year, I wrote a post about what I feared would happen should Santa bring my family a Wii for Christmas. And now, as I sit here listening to The Tall One play Beatles Rock Band, I realize that exactly what I feared has already happened.

We held out long enough. At Christmastime, there were rumors of a Rock Band game dedicated solely to Beatles music and I succesfully convinced TTO to wait until it came out to purchase any Rock Band-esque game. And now we are proud owners of it, but that is not all, oh no that is not all. You see, in this game, you are able to sing three-part harmony. Three singers means three mics and only one comes with the game. Don't worry though, we bought two more. Three mics, plus a drumset, a guitar, and a bass means six things need to be plugged into the Wii - and there's only room for four. So TTO went out and bought a USB hub to accomodate all the peripherals. It actually came with one, but not after the new one was opened and we decided it was much better than our old one so we were going to keep it.

And it will continue because, you see, the game came with just the bass and no guitar. And we must have the guitar as well (what if we both want to play?). And those geniuses who market the game decided to slowly release all of the Beatles albums so that you can add more songs to the game. Well, we certainly have to have those, don't we?

And so it is, one purchase leads to another.

It is a sweet game though.

I've been wanting to try out a Mod Podge project  for quite awhile, but when I came across this wonderful blog, Mod Podge Rocks, I was determined to find something in my house to apply this wonderful stuff to. I have been looking for a spot to keep important papers sent home from my son's school, and when I saw a bag full of hanging file folders inspiration hit.

I took a plain hanging file folder and used Mod Podge to attach some scrapbook paper to the front and back of it. Mod Podge is quite fun in that it works as a glue and a nice finish all at the same time. After the paper was on, I attached some letters also using the Mod Podge. I brushed some onto the surface, put the letters in place, and then brushed more over the top of the letters.

To keep the front and back together, I punched holes on the sides and threaded some ribbon through the holes in a shoelace-like fashion.


I love creating things using supplies that I already have.

Have you blogged about something you made recently? Leave me a link in the comment section - I'd love to see it. What to join in next week? Send me an email and I'll be sure to link to you in next week's post.

Before the baby was born, I made a few extra pans of enchiladas to throw in the freezer for later. I loved being able to just pull something from the freezer for dinner so much, that I kept doing it. I've found it's a great way to save myself time and money as well.

Saves time:
Doubling a recipe and stashing some in the freezer does add some prep time, but the clean up time and the time to you take to gather ingredients is more or less the same. For example, I can take 20 mintues to prepare one night's dinner, or take 30 minutes to prepare dinner for that night, plus one or two extras for the future.

Saves money:
If you're one to fall into the trap of going out to eat on a busy night when there's not enough time to prep dinner, then having some meals in the freezer can save you money. For me, I can buy a big package of tortillas and a lot of chicken and use it all up at once when I make more than one night's worth. These items are cheaper in the larger packages, but might go bad if I don't use them right away.

An added bonus? You have a meal all ready to go should you have a friend in need of dinner one night.

So far I'm just doing this with enchiladas (sometimes with chicken and sometimes just cheese), but I'm sure there are many other dishes that can be easily frozen. Any ideas?

I try and keep this blog focused on personal finance in that I write about my family's finances as well as financial topics that are of interest to me. Saving money plays a large role in my families finance and that's where What I Made Wednesday comes into play. I like to make things when it means that money will be saved, thus freeing up funds for other endeavors. Today's post is no exception.

I wanted a place to store my son's books. Simple bookends weren't doing the job, and really our children's book collection isn't quite large enough for its own bookshelf - yet. I picked up a wooden crate at Michael's for under $10 (I used one of the 40% off coupons that come in the weekly ads) and used some leftover paint from another project. The giraffe (and the elephant on the other end) were already painted and ready to attach and cost fifty cents a piece. It's very sturdy and adds a nice decorative touch to the boys' bedroom.

Looking for some more What I Made Wednesday creations? Visit Sunny Side Up and learn how to make some apple cinnamon pancake syrup.


Have you blogged about something you made recently? Leave me a link in the comment section - I'd love to see it. What to join in next week? Send me an email and I'll be sure to link to you in next week's post.