Employment

I have known that Todd has not been happy with his place of employment since we’ve been together for 5 years.  The big plan was that we’d get out of debt, get our emergency fund into place, and then find jobs that we love…even if that means it pays minimum wage.

Lately, Todd has been talking about getting his resume updated and starting his search.  He does not want to make less than he makes now. 

The thought of him going out and finding a new job scares me.  I do not do well with change.  I know how much money is coming in right now.  We have not paid off his vehicle loan yet this year, and we still have $7,500 to go on his credit card before we can even BEGIN to stash money for our emergency fund.

This talk may be him venting, or he may be serious about it this time.  I’m not sure.  I am trying to remain positive, knowing that whatever happens, it will be for the best.  But I have such a hard time with the unknown and change.  I need to learn to “go with the flow,” and trust that everything with be as it’s supposed to be.

**After writing this, I read something out of Dave Ramsey’s The Money Answer Book (pg. 127) that completely refers to my worries listed above. It reads:

“The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.  They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, and live.  Chained by their certitudes, they are a slave, they have forfeited their freedom.  Only a person who risks is free.”  ~Author Unknown

Sarah Palin

There is one thing that I will NOT talk about on this blog, and that is politics. That being said, I have been watching Sarah Palin’s Alaska on one of the cable channels we get (TLC? Discovery? I don’t know which one.)  The only reason I started watching it was to see what it was about – out of curiosity.  After the first episode, I was hooked.  There were places that Todd and I had been to that we saw on the show, and there are now even more places that we want to go back and see first-hand.

I knew nothing about Sarah Palin other than the fact that she was a Republican, her daughter had a child out of wedlock (and all of the drama between Bristol and Levi,) she was from Alaska, and she has a son with Downs Syndrome.  That is all I knew of Sarah Palin. 

Watching the show over the past several weeks, there is one thing that is really prevalent … Sarah is a family woman.  Family is on the top of her list, and I think that is so admirable.  Not just with her husband and children, but with her parents, siblings and in-laws as well.  It is incredible how large their family is, and the things they do together.  From camping together, fishing together and hunting.  From what is shown on the shows, she is trying to teach her children something about the great outdoors, and building character in each of them.

I’m sure if my mother did all of this stuff, I’d roll my eyes and think it is annoying, as I’m sure her kids do.

But really, family is what is most important.  And even though Sarah has been in the lime-light for a while now and will continue to be, she seems to be down to earth and a really great mom.  It appears that her priorities are in order, and I commend her for that.

If you haven’t seen the show, I would highly recommend it.  The adventures and the witty quips are great entertainment.

Quote: Lottery

“The average person playing the lottery spends $32 a month.  That same $32 a month represents over $1 million dollars in retirement if invested over a working lifetime.”

(Author not listed.)

Dave Ramsey The Money Answer Book

Alaska

When Todd and I got married in 2007, we honeymooned in Alaska.  We took an Alaskan cruise to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria.  The trip was incredible!  Early May was the PERFECT temperature and it was an amazing trip.  The thought process behind Alaska was that “it’s a once in a lifetime trip.”

In the colder months, we like to talk about vacations.  We have been going back and forth as to where we’d like to go for our 5 year anniversary in May 2012.  There had been talk of France, Switzerland, Italy and Ireland.  While watching Sarah Palin’s show on TV, it made us miss Alaska and all of the scenery. 

While we were in Alaska, Todd had a rough time because of the 4 hour time difference.  He gets up anywhere between 3:30AM and 5:30 AM.  In Alaska, that was 11:30PM-1:30AM.  We’d be sleeping by 6:00 their time. That was Todd’s one big complaint about Alaska.  It wouldn’t have been a problem, but a lot of the activities on the ship were from 7-10 at night, and we missed a lot of them because I was passed out in the room (I was also motion sick for the first 3 days and the Dramamine was knocking me out!)

While in Alaska, Todd mentioned he’d like to stay in each town for a few days and experience all there is in those towns (Juneau, Anchorage & Skagway.)

The issue with going to France/Italy or Ireland is that the flights are about $1400/person round trip. A flight from Cleveland to Seattle, to Juneau, then to Anchorage and then back home would be $850/person! That is over 2 weeks. That is almost half the price!

We do much better when we go on our own versus with a group of people.  I think we could have a blast in Alaska together.  Of course, we’d probably want to rent a car so we could drive all over, and we’d probably rent out a house/cottage for the week as we usually do so that we can do our own laundry and cook our own meals.

We went to a rainforest (yes, in Alaska!) while on our honeymoon, and I will NEVER forget the trees that were bear scratching posts.  The bald eagles and hand-carved totem poles were so cool! Alaska is where I found out that I love salmon.  And the whale watching was breath-taking.  Oh, not to mention the train ride up the Yukon Territory.  We would do that again in an INSTANT!

We like to go to new places, but we absolutely loved Alaska.  There is only one thing I don’t like about Alaska, and that are the bears! But I’d just have to get over it, eh?

**After writing this, Todd found another destination he may want to go that is in the same time zone as we are in.  Peru!  Oh my goodness. The possibilities are endless, it seems. 

Book List 2011: The Money Answer Book

The Money Answer Book by Dave Ramsey is an extremely quick read.  Only 160 pages but chock full of useful information.  If you are a Dave Ramsey fan, listen to his radio program and/or podcast (like I do) and have read his Total Money Makeover, a lot of this information may seem redundant.  But, for me, I learn by repetition. 

Hubby and I are well on our way to debt freedom (hopefully by mid-2011,) and this book helps to keep the teachings of Dave Ramsey in the forefront of my mind.

Rate of Return: 2010

I am always curious to see what my ROR is at the end of the year.  OK...who am I kidding.  I check at least once a week.

At any rate, for 2010, my ROR was 16.3%.  Not bad at all!  I'll take it!

Recipe: Fondue

I was looking for something to make in the crockpot that would be fun for New Years.  I found a super-simple recipe for fondue, and it turned out AWESOME!

1 lb. Velveeta cheese (I had Velveeta in the freezer from last year - it was on sale but we never used it.  We're not big cheese people.  Go figure - why was I looking at fondue recipes? Who knows.)
1 can cream of mushroom soup

That's it.
Cut up the Velveeta into cubes and put it in the crockpot with a can of cream of mushroom soup, and you have a very creamy, rich, fondue!  I made homemade Artisan bread, and it all turned out SO YUMMY! 

As I mentioned, we arent really cheese lovers, but this turned out really good.  Todd is eating it right now as a snack as I type. 

I Sold A Book!

It has been less than two hours, and I already sold a book on Amazon!  How awesome is that!?!

I am not sure how I am going to keep track of all of this stuff that I'm purging/selling, but I'd like to keep a tally with the amount of money that we've sold some of these items for.

One down...6 more to go!

YAY!

The Purging Has Begun!

This morning, I logged onto Blogger.com, and was tired of having to search through the blogs I wanted to read.  I didnt realize this, but I had 87 blogs that I followed.  8-7! (I warned all the readers that I have OCD tendencies.) That's ALOT of blogs!!!   And I always frequented the same ones over and over again.

So...I decided it was time to do a little house-cleaning per se. 
I stopped following over 60 blogs.
I am down to 25 right now, which will help me with my time-management, and will keep my Dashboard clutter-free. 

Out of the 25, I may get rid of a couple of more.  We will see. 

But it feels good to go to the Dashboard and see who has posted from blogs I regularly follow.

I also listed 7 books that I am done reading on Amazon.com as "used."  Only one book was not recognized, so that will be a gift to a friend for her birthday.  Now, I am waiting for people to start buying them.  It's amazing, the ONE book that I was able to list at the highest price was one that I bought at a library sale for a quarter.  I have it listed at $9 used. I undercut everyone else by nearly a dollar.  Go figure.  We'll see if it sells.

All in all, I think it's been a productive start to the morning.

Have a great day!

New Years Eve 2010

Attached are a few pictures from the company we had over for New Years Eve.

This is my friend from work, Sharron, and her husband, Jim.

This is the first time they've met Lana and the kittens.  We had a great evening.  I was surprised that we all stayed up until midnight.  I was about to go to bed around 9:30 but trudged through.  By 11, I got my second wind.  Sharron, on the other hand, was falling asleep around 11:45 on the couch.  We nudged her and made sure she was awake with eyes open to watch the ball drop.

All in all, we had a great evening. It was nice to have company stay over. 
However, we have so much food!  Thank goodness most of it can be frozen!  We will be eating the leftovers for half the month!

 Super-Todd

 Sharron & Jim playing the Wii

 I think Lana likes Sharron...what do you think?

We had a great New Years thanks to Jim & Sharron.
What a great way to ring in the New Year!