And the winner is…

{everyone who knows me on FB this is totally un-suspenseful…}

So we have a winner on the car over the weekend and tonight I get to pick it up and drive it home {a car without rattles?? GET.OUT.OF.TOWN.}

and just in time for a big doozy of a storm too.

We almost didn’t go out as they were saying snow in our area but I woke up really early {well for me on a weekend} and was PUMPED to find us a car.  I am the planner of the family and although the hubs absolutely hands down knows more about cars and finds the process wayyyy more exciting then I do…I am totally the planner of where we would go, what order, and the logistics of finding a car.  I love planning so I was all over this part!!

Here are a couple things that I learned with going out trying to find a car…

#1 Having technology is key.  My iphone was so awesome being able to look up blue book prices on exact cars we were getting, looking up dealers in the area, and of course addresses.  This can all be done prior to leaving the house for the most part and I did have a map planned out of the day but it was still great to use my Iphone as a resource.

#2 Know your shitzznat! Know what you want, what you don’t because man will they try to sell you a boat when you are looking for a car! They tried to show us really late models 2005/2006 when our cut off was 2007, ridiculous amount of miles on cars, etc.  We just steared clear to the way under our price range flashy yellow signs and knew we would back here looking for another car earlier than we wanted. 

#3 I brought stock numbers on cars I definately wanted to see.  This was uber helpful as I was really really able to pinpoint what we were looking for and they then knew we kinda meant business. Yea we didn’t walk off the street to gaze at cars we wanted to BUY one! Plus once they knew one stock number they were able to show us others in that same price range, same category, same model, etc.

#4 Don’t sit in cars you can’t afford. Don’t test drive cars you can’t afford {or willing to budge on price}.  Don’t even look in the direction of a car that you can’t afford with a salemen near you. My husband sat in a 2011 version of the car we bought and well I had to talk him off the ledge of buying a new car because in his words not mind the car was SAAWWWWEETTTT and totally pimped out. oh boy that was a fun 15 minutes.

#5 It is a long day. Eat before you go, bring snacks and really plan on spending your entire day there.  We did not do this well and man was I feeling it at 2pm where I was getting grouchy, I was starving, and exhausted from the entire process. 

#6 If you are a sappy person you may get emotional about the car process.  For the hubs he got attached to cars, but for me I got attached to my salesperson! The first place we went they were awesome, our person was awesome and I wanted to give him my business. We ended up going with a better model car at another dealership and I struggled in buying the car because I was giving my business to a salesman I didn’t care for as much.  IT WAS SO HARD!!! The hubs helped me off that ledge for a good 30 minutes plus about we aren’t buying the salesman but we are buying the car! HAHA. Who knew?

#7 Plan nothing for after you spend all day car shopping {whether you buy or not}. I had to go to a hockey game and the in laws were coming and I barely mustered up enough strength to talk in complete sentences.  All i wanted to do was curl up on the couch and do nothing. seriously nothing.  I also didn’t want to make a decision for my life after the experience. We had to buy face wash and the hubs asked which kind I wanted and I freaked “i can’t make any more decisions today! you decide!” It is completely draining and make sure you don’t have major plans after the experience. 

#8 Yes you just spent a crap ton of money. So be ready for the buyers remorse.  Mine only lasted about 15 minutes in the car after I signed all the paperwork and I just looked at the hubs blankly and said “did we make the right decision in there…” Probably not what he wanted to hear after we just gave them a lump sum of money–but it didn’t last long.  I know it is safer, more reliable, better for the snow and New England weather and just better for our family all around.  Don’t feel too guilty for too long because you did a ton of research you test drove the cars, compared, shopped around and made a logical decision—go with your decision after you sign the dotted line.

Okay so now you know what I learned  let me recap what we needed in a car {or at least HOPED for…}.  I didn’t state this in the last post but we were looking for a car that was no more than in the teens price wise {$15,000-$19,999}.  Something about going into the 20somethings scared us as we felt we needed some sort of cut off point because honestly we are a sucker for high end luxury cars.  We didn’t want to fall into the trap of well if we are at 21,000 why not do 24,000 for higher end of a SUV or different year. 

{items in bold is what we got in the SUV we purchased}

So to break it down:

-High Safety ratings (lots of red stars in the book)

-Automatic Car

-AWD OR four wheel drive

-Looking for a mid size SUV

-One with 30-40k miles

-Will not go over 50k on a car no matter the emotional attachment (hehe)

-Big ole’ trunk

-Prefer a 2008 or 2009

-Certified would be fabulous, but don’t think necessary (need to check with the hubs on this point)

-No red color car

-A/V jack preferred but not necessary

So as you can see we got EVERYTHING WE WANTED in a car except for one minor fact…IT IS RED.  Seriously I am not joking the one color I was not too keen on as I had a hot cherry tomato red car for so long and our car is stinkin’ red!! Now let me say it is RED ROCK NOT CHERRY RED and this made a huge difference in me signing on the dotted line.  It is definately way more muted than I imagined a red SUV and it goes really well with the type of car we got and I love the interior colors and so it balanced each other out.  Plus it had so much we wanted and MORE that really I couldn’t let color be the deal breaker. 

AND SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADOOOOO…HERE IS THE CAR WE PICKED…

2008 Grand Cherokee Laredo {X package} -not our car in picture

Are you looking for a car? Here are other SUVs we looked (last one is the SUV we puchased):

–2008 Hyndai Sante Fe

• pros: really low mileage (10,000), high safety ratings, 23 miles per hour for gas, easy ride, not too large, good trunk size, safe, automatic, good on gas, great warranty, great colors we looked at, 1 owner on cars, bff really loves driving hers and finds it very reliable.
• cons: cream interior, no ipod jack, rattled a bit on the highway, felt more like a car then SUV to us, no cup holders in the back (that I saw), pricey when low mileage, in our price range when we looked at some with 50,000+ miles, fake wood trim inside

-2007 Grand Cherokee Laredo

• Pros: felt very sturdy, felt very safe in car, ran very smoothly, high safety ratings in our price range, 20 miles per hour on gas, great color, big trunk, heated cloth seats, heat vents in the back seat, sunroof, cupholders in the back, nice color outside, lower mileage (32,000), elderly lady used car very rarely-well taken care of, great interior colors, driver seat was power adjustable
• Cons: not a certified car, would need to add on a warranty (but still but us in our price range), would be a 3rd party warranty though, first place we went so wanted to shop around before deciding, had cup holders placement of them was “okay”, no A/V jack, –we really liked this car not many cons

2008 Ford Rogue

• Pros: very cute car–girly for me, loved the style shape of car, loved the color outside, interior was great, co-worker who loves it and finds it very reliable
• Cons: trunk very very smaill, inside small, realized we didn’t want a compact SUV and more of a mid size car.  didn’t test drive the car because it was smaller on our end. Only checked this one out briefly so can’t give much on it.

2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee {X package}

• Pros: similar to the 2007 pros-sturdy, reliable, great interior colors, large trunk, ran smoothly, felt safe. 21 miles per hour in gas, heated seats but leather on this car, both driver and passenger car seats were power adjusted, pedals power adjusted, sun roof, remoter starter, steering wheel radio controls, fog lights {i could care less but hubs was impressed}, the ipod jack (YESSS!), certified car.
• Cons: red rock red, higher end of our budget but at least still in our budget {with adding bumper to bumper warranty), cupholders in same place as on 2007 model, had to add bumper to bumper warranty it just wasn’t included

We loved the Jeep Grand Cherokee SO MUCH after test driving that we focused our search on the Jeep ( parents have a Jeep Liberty and Jeep Wrangler and LOVE them both!) and so we went to a Jeep dealership nearby to compare prices, look at 2008/2009 models and other packages on the Jeep to see which one we loved the most.  Limited was just out of our price range, we loved the Rocky Mountain edition as well which the 2007 had (heated fabric, sun roof, etc), the Laredo was a little basic and once we saw the Rocky Mountain with the heated seats we were kinda sold on getting a Rocky Mountain Edition.  The X package is right in between the Limited and Rocky Mountain edition and we weren’t even looking for a Laredo X and got lucky by having on on the lot! Was in our price range and gave us the luxury we were looking for!

Friday Foto!

it is friday and EVERYONE should feel like this when it is friday!!!

wait, you don’t do the sound a music with a hot pink feather boa with your friends???

 

I am one of those girls.

yea one of those girls that I try not to be, but ultimately my true self shine through 

one of those girls who watches The Bachelor {GASP!} if you didn’t know from this post

i know i know I try to tell myself it isn’t real, only a few actually make it in the end, and once again IT IS FAKE.

But man, every season I just really get sucked into the drama, the love triangles, the crazy girls, and of course wait impatiently to find out who is ultimately the one.  {at least the one on the show}

I give the same CAUTION: if you hate the bachelor/bachelorette show then this isn’t the post for you…but like before you can go to THIS and get your laugh on. {this was a real news story (which is equally hilarious) and they put the news to autotune.} Oh and it is on itunes and the guy made so much money he is out of the projects and bought a house for his mom…crazy right??

Go check it out–totally worth it. No really it is, I’ll wait for you to come back from that youtube video.

 

 

Okay so if you are back from laughing at the youtube video we will get back to the Bachelor! I’ll give some background of The Bachlor before I talk about this season because some people are crazy  normal and have never seen The Bachelor ( I still think this is impossible but true). 

**SPOILERS BELOW**

Okay so The Bacheor is a show where it is one man {sometimes famous/sometimes not} but normally a very pretty man and he has to choose out of 24 ladies who will be his wife {or at least propose to one of them at the end of the season}.  Each episode he gives out roses at a rose ceremony and sometimes a lot of girls go and some times a few girls go.  As it hits about 10 ladies to choose from it goes down to multiple people leaving to only one person leaving.  Around when he has 4 people to choose from they go to exotic lands, with 3 people to go to they meet the familes, and with 2 people to go they spend a lot of time together before the last rose ceremony. 

So with that being said there is a lot of build up to the last rose ceremony.  Here are some highlights of past rose ceremonies….

probably the most infamous bachelor he picked one girl and then on the final rose special {all the ladies come back and the bachelor with his new fiance come on the show to explain when wedding plans will happen, how they are, etc).  Well he dumped the girl he chose because he was really in love with the last girl he sent home!! OMG what drama! What a season!

left is the girl he dumped on national TV. right is the girl he ended up marrying.

The girl on the right was on the The Bachelor and she was a finalist for The Bachelor’s heart but she didn’t get chosen.  But America LOVED her and so she was the first Bachelorette (spin off show of The Bachelor) and she met her love on the show and actually has two children! They are one of the sucess stories!

This was the first bachelor (2002) and he was the one who did not pick Trista.  He actually didn’t propose to his girl and said lets see where things take us in the last rose ceremony.  It took them NO WHERE and they broke up.

This was my favorite bachelor Andrew Firestone (2003) and my hubs is big into wine and to me was a celebrity as he has an amazing vineyard and amazing wine.  He chose the girl I wanted him to but in a big breakup they didn’t end up together! I was devastated (fo reals!) but it all ended great for both parties as he is married and has a baby and Jenn the person he picked his married and just had a baby girl!

Okay so there are more in between that I loved to watch but to get to this year’s season a little faster I will fast forward to 2007.

At the end of his season (one of the most shocking rose ceremonies) he didn’t pick ANYONE!!! No fo reals girls were ready to give them everything and he didn’t choose anyone.  Oh my gawd. people hated him!!! I didn’t hate him as I was like well you are being honest and you didn’t find love–but he did kinda play/act like he did throughout the season which is why it was sooo shocking!

Both these ladies REJECTED. OUCH!!!!

More bachelors have come and gone since 2007 until this year…HE IS BACK!!

He is back and ready to find love…again. He has done a lot of work on himself and is really trying to be open and honest with the girls.  Although at times there can be a ton of cheese in the show I still am sucked into it!

Here are my top 3 as of right now:

Sweet as Pie Emily. She is a southern belle if I ever saw one and so cute and tiny and just has a genuine heart.  She is so nice you wonder if people can actually be THIS nice but time and time again she has been one classy lady.  I think Brad sees that in her too although she has a trauma filled past as her fianced died on an airplane and then 4 days later she found out she was pregnant. super sad but she is super sweet and I am in her corner to find love!

Ashley S. had a great first impression with him and there was a ton of chemistry and I do believe in going on those first reactions to a person to be real.  They haven’t had a ton of alone time to see more of the chemistry of what they felt at the beginning but he still looks at her in that special way and I think he really cares for her and I am in her corner too!

Chantal I really love because she is the firecraker! Puts her heart on her sleeve, emotional, but true to herself.  She reminds me a bit of my personality and I could totally see us being friends–I think she is pretty awesome and so does Brad.  She isn’t has dainty as the other ladies and has a fire and confidence in her that I really like but also can be vulnerable. 

OH and it wouldn’t be a Bachelor recap without talking about the TRAIN WRECK!!! Normally the train wreck looks like a train wreck but she doesn’t actually!! She looks exotic and pretty but she is PSYCHO!!! Brad I know you already made your choice but for the love of anything let it please not be MICHELLE! Anyone with me on this? She is crazy bananas and thinks Brad is her own and no one elses and has these psycho eyes and I could see getting violent with the ladies if they tried to take her man.  I can’t wait for the day he rejects her because there is going to be a battle for sure!!  Yea she looks sweet and innocent…but she is not!!! She sure does make watching it that much more entertaining!!! Oh and speaking of entertaining she is actually an actress so you know she is there trying to get famous and not really there for loveeeee.

and if you don’t want to watch the Bachelor but want to see some of her antics…here is a little youtube clip

 

Oh and there was someone on The Bachelor this season who was from Boston {Woot!} Nice to see Mass represented until you meet her and you are like classsyyyyyy….way to represent us Stacey from Boston! Who wears chains to a rose ceremony???? The exact dress she wore from the ceremony….

 

Did I convince you?? If so you can find all of the first 3 episodes on hulu! And if you are just laughing at me and being like PUHLLEASEEE I would rather eat dirt then watch The Bachelor that is okay too because I am totally okay with being one of those girls since 2002…HAHAHAHA!!!

{this is the type of post you are bound to get when a girl has too much free time from half a snow day!}

Dance Class: Zumba

#45 Take a Dance Class

Over winter break there were Zumba dance classes being held at my gym {which is right across the street from my apartment} and so I really had no excuse and so I decided to try it out. 

If people are wondering if they would like Zumba and what is this Zumba dance class I speak of check out this youtube video of the type of class it would be:

So my review of Zumba class: Even though I never did a Zumba class I was able to pick up the moves pretty quickly because even though the moves can sometimes be quick they are also repetitve.  Just as there is a chorus that repeats in a song there are dance moves that are repeated througout the entire song.  Also I really loved that a song lasts about 3-4 minutes and so you get this burst of energy and working out and moving your body but then you get about a 30sec-1 minute break before you go into the next song.  As someone who loves to dance and just let loose this dance class is AWESOME for me.  It keeps me entertained during the entire hour I am doing the class and I never feel bored.  There are all shapes and sizes that come to workout to Zumba so if you don’t think you can keep up you can moderate the dance moves or not do them as “strong” or “full out” when you need a break–the point is to keep moving! I also like that my instructor starts out with some medium intensity songs then half way through the class gives us about 2-3 hard songs to get through and then brings it back down to medium intensity.  I love that I can sometimes sing to the songs and really get into the dance moves! I am in love with this workout and if you get the chance to try it out you will really be surprised by the type of workout you get from this class. 

Now I have gone twice (last week it was canceled due to snow).  The first time I was a bit awkward but kept with it and felt a lot of it in my arms and a bit in my legs and definately in my core I felt stronger.  The second time I went I had the same instructor and she had a couple of the same songs and a few new ones to the mix.  Since I was more comfortable with what she was asking of me and my body I felt like I could do the moves a lot better and stronger and really push it.  What a difference! The second class was by far harder as now I was not only learning the moves but really putting my all into the steps! My abs were sore, my quads were burning, and OMG my arms were burning like crazy all night long and I woke up with really sore arms and legs.  Not the “I can’t get out of bed” feeling I sometimes get when I do something new–but more of my arms and legs and core had a great workout.  I think as I keep going to these dance classes my body will get stronger and respond to this type of exercise. 

Overall, if you get the change to take a Zumba class–DO IT! SO FUN!!! You will not regret it!!! Anyone else love Zumba? Other classes you love to take at your gym?

Books Review!

Gosh, what a slump 2010 was for book reading for me! YIKES! I didn’t want to start off 2011 with a book reading slump and I was trying to get through Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and it was moving fast…slow…fast…slow… and I was really looking for something to really get me back into reading because I vaguely remembered from 2009 I loved doing it…

SO when I got back from vacation I had two emails from my local library sent to me back to back telling me the two books I had on reserve were mine!! I was completely excited as I thought these two books might be the turning point of my reading!

AND I WAS RIGHT!!

2 books in 1 week.

Since it has been forever since I reviewed a book here are ratings:

 0-4 star rating.  {0} = oh gosh I didn’t finish the book it was THAT bad. {1} I finished the book, but not before it took a piece of my soul! HA! {2} average book and it was somewhat enjoyable. plot, characters, or ending could have been better. {3} really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to someone looking for a new book to read {4} blew my socks off! Couldn’t put the book down and probably didn’t speak to my husband or go to bed until it was finished! fabulous!

I gave it a 4 because I gave all the others in this series a rating of 4.  All 4 books were fantastic and although I am not sure blew my socks off is the best words for this book as it wasn’t mind blowing.  It did have the qualities of a 4 because I read this book in ONE DAY.  After a year slump like I had this is amazing feat and I am so thankful for Nora Roberts for giving me the love of books back into my life.  It felt so good to be swept away with characters and staying up late to read and going to my happy reading place that I missed so much.  If you love weddings, romance, and a quick read this quartet is for you!! This is the last book so I would recommend the Vision in White book to start off with.  This book ended the quartet well and I was really pleased with the ending.  SO GOOD!!

To keep up with my reading I went directly into another book…Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi

I gave this a 4 star and it really did knock my socks off.  I have always been interested in body image articles, movies, books, etc. and so I was really interested to see her struggle and her recovery.  She didn’t dissapoint! It was one of the first times I really understood what bulemia and anorexia and really how it impacts a person, a family, etc.  She was very graphic and as a person who struggles with dieting, weight gain, calorie counting I could really relate (but in a different way) about the struggles with weight.  I also was amazed by the book because I watched Ally McBeal and remember one episode where she is standing in the bathroom with just lingerie on and remember thinking “gosh if I could only look like THAT she is so beautiful” and in the book she talks about this episode and how she really felt in that moment.  It really blew my mind and gave me the AHA moment! The book was mostly based around that era of her being on Ally McBeal which I could really relate to since I watched the show.  It was a really great book and I stayed up to read the book and to me that is a sign of a really really great book. 

As for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo…I love the premise of the book and thought I would fly by it because whenever this is a mystery of sorts to a book I JUST NEED TO KNOWWWWW but this book is kinda strange to me. I can’t get as swept up as I normally do and when I am really I am totally into the book and I feel it is a page turner BUT as soon as put it down to do something or go somewhere I don’t have the desire to pick the book back up.  SO it is going fast when I read, slow when I put it down…I am never like this with a book so it will be interesting to rate this book once completed.  I haven’t given up on it but it is slow going…

If…

If 32 degrees = freezing

then what does this mean?

really really REALLY freezing???

I know I live in New England and this shouldn’t be a shocker…but really??? -9 degrees??? It is a little ridiculous even for New England weather! Especially when you have a friend that tells you it is 70 degrees where she is, and a sister who is in 55 degrees where she is.

SUV Shopping

Shoe Shopping? Purse Shopping? Accessory Shopping? yes please. i love it all and in any season I am willing to head out to the malls.

Car shopping? In the winter? Wait, what is a cylinder and why do I care about this?

This is not my expertise and I am certainly not gung-ho in regards to finding the “perfect SUV.” For me these are the questions I have does it run? Is it new? Is it shiny? Does it smell like new car? Can I plug my Ipod into the car? Oh, and most important what color is this car going to be?

Little did I know there is MORE than this to purchasing any car.  Personally I have never bought a car as the first one I got as my 16th birthday present, then my second car was a gift for my college graduation {thank you thank you}.  The cars I have now were purchased by my husband after he traded in his lovely sports car and our second car was a hand me down from his grandmother. 

So needless to say I have a lot to learn about buying a car and what to look out for, but thankfully I have my husband who in his other life was a car salesman. I do not kid. He was terrible at it, well I can say this because he would say this too if he were writing this post, as he never pushed anyone to buy a car and he was actually very nice.

So after all the conversations and basically going to “what I need to know in girly language about buying a SUV for our family” school by my husband we narrowed down what we are looking for and the price range we are looking for as well. 

Here area  few of the lessons I have learned this month when it comes to buying a SUV…

{first lesson in school} Buying a car can be very emotional. I looked at him like he was bananas! Emotional about a car? HAHAHAHA. Emotional about a limited edition coach purse, yes.  Car, um no.  But he swears that if I test drive a car out of our range that I can become attached and start to love the car and desperately want it and so basically cash out our entire savings or make up unrealistic plans {i.e. ill never go to the salan for 3 years if I can get this car}. It sounds good in theory but I can’t see myself crying in a carlot wanting a specific SUV–but hey I agreed and we attached a price point we wont go over.

{second lesson of school} We drive. ALOT. We travel. ALOT. and so this car needs to have miles on it that are low because we know that we are going to rack up those miles.  We want to be able to have this car for about a year or two (maybe 3 if we are luckyyy) after our payments are done and so this will be achievable if start off with a car that has low miles. 

{third lesson of school} Year counts but not as much as miles.  We decided we would rather have a 2008 car with less miles on it then a 2009 car with more miles on it.   With one little exception to this statement.  Unless the 2009 safety is worse then on a 2008 car, which in my mind I can’t see that happening because aren’t newer cars suppose to be better???–but apparently this can happen and better doesn’t always mean safer.

{fourth lesson of school} I can be a bit superficial and so I don’t want a red car.  Anything but a red car because I had a red car and I hated how flashy it could be and just felt like I was driving a tomatoe around.  So if I could not have a red car I would truly appreciate it!!

{fifth lesson of school} Take advice from others.  A good friend of ours said that having a bigger trunk is key and so my husband took note of this little piece of advice and put it on our  look out for list.  I remember her saying this but when it comes to cars my husband is on top of all conversations having to do with cars. 

{sixth lesson of school} It is great to have a “would be nice” list going just so that we are staring at the car looking clueless you have a couple things to be looking out for.  Mine would be a AV Jack (i think that is what they are called) for my Ipod to plug in so I play my music in the car, cup holders (yes this stereotype is true for me) but I hate being in the back with a coffee and nowhere to put it (who is with me on this one!!), can the seats fold down, what the controls for the heat/AC look like and do (i.e. dual control, digital temp etc).  This will keep me occupied while my husband talks about cylinders, safety, mileage, warranty, certified, and the list goes on and goes.

{seventh lesson of school} SAFETY.  I know it is low on lessons but it is high on our book since we want to have a family in the future and one of the main reasons for finding a safety and newer car.  This has been on the job of my husband who has been reading up on safety ratings/features on cars for the past month.  He actually took out a couple cars because they did so poorly in the safety ratings.  A car got added to our list BECAUSE of the safety rating, and some years were actually better in ratings in safety so we kept the years in mind for specific cars.  Safety is so important and need to have research so we don’t go into buying something blind.

{eighth lesson of school} Research, crunch the numbers, and find the important numbers.  Research the ratings and features.  But also research how much yours will be in trade in.  Also something my husband did that I didn’t know we should do is find out how much we ACTUALLY should be paying on the car and what the dealers ACTUALLY paid on the cars so you know where your negotiation limits are! GENIOUS!!

So with all these lessons being taught over the past month we have narrowed down our scope to a few cars we are going to test drive and look at for our future SUV, but before I share the goods here is the check list we are looking at

So to break it down:

-High Safety ratings (lots of red stars in the book)

-Automatic Car

-AWD OR four wheel drive

-Looking for a mid size SUV

-One with 30-40k miles

-Will not go over 50k on a car no matter the emotional attachment (hehe)

-Big ole’ trunk

-Prefer a 2008 or 2009

-Certified would be fabulous, but don’t think necessary (need to check with the hubs on this point)

-No red color car

-A/V jack preferred but not necessary

And here are our front runners before we go to test drive them {not all of them hit these points BUT maybe worth upgrading or not having it for having a great car}…

2008/2009 Jeep Cherokee Laredo {2008 shown in picture}

2008/2009 Nissan Xterra X {2008 shown and yes in red}

2008/2009 Ford Edge {2008 shown}

2008/2009 Hyundai Sante Fei {2008 shown here}

2007 Jeep Liberty

Anyone have thoughts on these cars? Drive/Driven in these cars? Are you a researcher when it comes to buying a car or a in the moment kinda buyer for a car? Any other cars you would suggest out of this list?

Who knew finding the right car for your family would be WORK???!!! I am sure it will all be worth in the end but all I keep thinking is…I can purchase a lot of purses for what we are dropping for a car!!!

Cut the Spice!

{source}

So last night I was in a cooking mood and so I made not one meal BUT two! One of them was a mexican chicken soup {recipe to come} and it required green chile peppers.  I didn’t have this in my cabinet, but I had red chile peppers instead.  I figured well green peppers taste like red peppers I will just use these instead.

which would be great except I didn’t know that red peppers are HOTTER than green peppers and so when I put in the same amount needed from the recipe it was a big mistake as I took a sip of the soup and my mouth was on FIIREEEEEE!! No fo’ reals fire.  Need a piece a bread kinda fire. or milk. or SOMETHING.  SO I added water thinking this was dilute the firey hotness.

nope.

SO I was thankful to have our second meal that I was preparing {recipe to come} as I tried to figure out the firey hotness.  This morning my co-worker stated that tomatoes would cut the spice in the soup and there are already diced tomatoes in the recipe so this could definately be the trick.  I am all for hotness but we also have to be able to eat the meal too! HAHA!

I am going to add some tonight and try it and let you know if this is the solution to cutting out the spice!

Anyone else add too much of an ingredient and try to back track a recipe? My good dear friend and I still talk about the salty mashed potatoe incident of 2006 for Easter weekend. HAHA!

Other solutions to cutting something that is too spicey?

Budget: 1 year later

If you have followed my blog this year you know that budget has been on my mind throughout the entire year seen here, here, here, here, here. oh and here.

I was talking to one of my co-workers regarding finances and budgeting and her response after the conversation is “you should teach other people how to budget!” I could only laugh at the remark because I just thought that sentence was the craziest thing I had heard all year. Me? Teach someone something about finances? BAHAHAHA. I couldn’t really say much about our budget because in 2010 I was in the midst of trying out a budget for the first time and so I knew that I wouldn’t have any perspective on budgeting until I had gone through a full year and was able to reflect on the experience. Now, after a year has passed and I have done some research on budgeting and did a budget of my own I can now look back on what my co-worker said and perhaps add some insight to the budgeting world.   I do not have all the answers and as someone who is new to the world of budgeting I am still learning new ideas and concepts every day–but I thought I would share what I have learned throughout this year.    Disclaimer: I am not an expert on budgeting I am just an average person trying to get finances in order and sharing what worked/what didn’t work for the budget.

First off something I had no clue about–budgeting is not the same thing as saving. Wait, what?   When people would talk about ways of saving your money (i.e using credit card points for xmas gifts, or having a no spend month, or cut coupons) I thought all of this meant that I was budgeting my money. This is false.  Budgeting your money is about tracking expenses, finding trends in your spending, budgeting for seen and unforeseen expenses, and the overall goal is to stick to your budget on a consistent basis.  Saving money can be about finding a bargain, finding ways to lower your expenses for the month or year, which can at times lead to having a savings account (other times not so much).   Budgeting your money can help with having a savings or increasing your savings–but budgeting does not equal saving and saving does not mean you have a budget.

 Here is how our budget works:

We both get paid bi-weekly and they are on off weeks and so essentially we get paid every single week.  Our budget isn’t on a weekly budget though it is on a monthly basis.  Approximately 1/4 of our budget are numbers that are fixed and come directly out of our bank account: {loans, insurance, phone bill, Tivo, Netflix}. The other 3/4 of our budget is completely by choice of what we choose to use our money with {clothes, groceries, eating out, entertainment, car needs, home decor, health, education, travel, savings, etc}.

*we do not have rent, cable, utilities bills and so most people it is more 50% fixed budget and 50% choice in budget. 

What we wanted out of doing a budget for the first year is seeing where we spend our money, try to stick to a budget for each month, and to start having a plan for saving.

How we kept track of our budget:

Both my husband and I have a google doc account that we set up specifically for this purpose and so the budgeting excel spreadsheet is on google docs so that we both can look at it.  We can both make changes to it and see the changes immediately.  For the very first time I am going to share the google account doc with the formulas although items have been altered as to not share our finaces with the blogging world.** None of the numbers are accurate.**    You can alter this budget as you need all you need to do is make a copy of this file under “file-make a copy” and once you make a copy you will want to rename it for your family, and lastly but MOST importantly you will want to go to “Share” and then make your document private.  You can add collaborators (like your husband) so that both of you can view it but make sure you don’t make it public as then the entire internet can view your budget.  You can alter this document for your own personal use–it has been altered from That Wife  website to fit our financial needs. 

Here is a breakdown of the google document: 

Budget Tab: This tab shows all our line items in our budget, our monthly budget amount for each line item, how much we would spend yearly on the budget item, what we spent on the line item, and how much money we had left on each line item.  Also had bottom the total for monthly, yearly, spent, and left over.

Summary Tab: This tab shows for each line item how much was spent each month so that we could see how the line items fluxuated by each month.  We were also able to get the average spent each month on the line item to make sure we were close to the budgeted amount each month.  It also had our monthly income and then the total we spent each month and then the difference between the months.  For people who do not have fixed incomes you can start to see trends on months you make more or less and you can see the average you make each month.   For this tab each month you just have to go to every single tab and add up (using the sum button in excel) for the month and puttin that total on the summary page.

Breakdown Tab: This tab I didn’t make up until the very end of the year so that I could break down our expenses.  For instance in the Food section I wanted to know how much I spent on dunkin donuts in a year, how much my husband spent on his cafe in the building, how much we spent on take out, how much we spent on fancy meals, etc.  For clothes I wanted to know how much we spent on clothes for myself and how much for my husband.   

Line Item Tabs: These tabs are for every line item we have in our budget {groceries, car needs, health, photography, savings, credit cards, etc}.  On these tabs I categorize every purchase we make and put it in a tab {you can’t put an item in more than one line item-you have to choose one}.  It had the date of purchase, how much the purchase was, and where or what we bought.   The budget tab has a formula on it that as I put expenses into the line item tabs it calculates the sum for me automatically.

What worked for us:

• The summary page was very revealing to us as we were able to find out months that we spent a great deal on entertainment, clothes, groceries, eating out so that next year we can learn from those mistakes and work hard to change our habits.  For instance we learned that in the summer (especially june/july) we ate out a great deal, and in the winter our gas/transportation line item went down, but in the summer it went up significantly.  These trends will help us out when looking at our 2011 budget and being able to adjust our finances or our lifestyle to fit these budgeting needs. 

 

• Tracking each and every budget item was very helpful during the month because I saw we were spending more than we should while tracking, and at the end of the year I was able to do breakdowns because I tracked each and every item. 

 

• When we put a value to each line item (example: 100 dollars for groceries) it was a number out of the air because we really didn’t track the numbers prior to 2010 and so when we would go over our budget line item we didn’t take it too personally because the budget number we were trying to strive for might not have been realistic for our budget needs (i.e we spent closer to $150 for groceries instead of $100).  Our goal was to save X amount and to not to spend more than our income each month.  The first year we tried not to dwell too much on where our money was going (i.e. more one month for laundry, or less one month for health as long as in the end it equaled out to our income for the month).  Now that we have a year to review and look at the average each month and where we can improve we will now focus not only on the overall budget and not extending over our income, but making sure we come close to each line item budget.

 

• Having our family finacial meeting.  This will be an annual meeting from now on because we were able to talk about our personal flaws with budgeting (mine with beauty and gift giving expenses, my husband spending money on food).  We were able to talk about strategies to bring these numbers down, hold each other accountable, and find a compromise in the budget for these expenses.  We were able to talk about line items that aren’t relevant anymore (i.e unknown and other and finding new line items that are important for the upcoming year).  It was over 3 hours and it was one of the best conversations that we have had regarding the budget as there were numbers to look at (NUMBERS DO NOT LIE), and a place and time to talk only about finances and not let other issues get in the way. 

What didnt work for us:

• I was in charge of every part of the budget and so I took on a lot of the burden.  It was stressful, time consuming, and really hard if I were to be honest.  Even though I will still take the lead on the budget and our finances–the hubs will have more of a role in our budget.  We have decided to do a quick run down half way through the month to make sure we were staying on target and areas we can improve on a monthly basis rather than just facing the music at the end of the year.  He will have the passwords/ids to all accounts so he can be more in the know as he really had no clue about any transcations happening for our household.

 

• There were expenses that we just didn’t think about when making our budget and so when we went to purchase items we had to squeeze them into a budget line rather than having the money already in place.  For instance we have wanted a larger TV for a very long time and we talked about getting it in 2010–but we never budgeted for this TV so when we had the itch to get the TV we put it under birthday gift for husband.  And really who are we kidding that gift was for me just as much as it was for him.  This year we talked more about irregular items that could come up and how we will budget for them (i.e. attending out of state wedding, valentines day, anniversary present amounts, my 30th birthday, etc).  This helped us make more of a realistic budget rather than a dream budget for the year–but last year we had more of a dream budget. 

 

• Numbers do not lie.  I will let you in on a little secret–i spendt a little over $500 dollars on mani/pedis last year.  I cringed when I had to write that number down in the breakdown but I had to be honest with myself, the budget, and of course my husband.  I couold have fudged the numbers but in the end they just don’t lie.  After the initial shock factor we had a good discussion on did I feel I was going rarely, regularly, or a ton because then that helped us either keep that number the same, lower, or perhaps higher if I felt I was going rarely. Plus it gave some perspective if I want to save X amount of dollars perhaps I need to bring that number down to help out the family budget.  Taking the time to realize that if I spend X amount of this then it has to come out of some line budget and normally what is first to decrease is the savings line item–and really thinking is it worth the expense never really crossed our minds last year.  This year will be much more reflective.   

 

• Although we didn’t spend more than what we made we also didn’t hit our financial goals that we wanted. And to take this one step further we didn’t really know what financial goals were–and how to achieve them throughout the year.  There are a few factors involved with this statement, but the biggest part was that we put more emphasis on our overall budget for the month rather than trying to hit our budget for each line items for each month.   When you try to hit each line item for each month you start to become more of a consistent consumer rather than a frenzy spender.  You start saying no to purchases more often because it doesn’t fit in the line item for the month even though it would fit in your income for the month.   

 

• We have 3 credit cards we use plus our bank account that we use for expenses.  It was really difficult each month to check all of these places on where we spent our money.  We are hoping to cut this down to 1 credit card and our bank account in the future (we are down to 2 credit cards and our bank account at the moment).  Simplfying where you use money will help with figuring out your budget and budget needs. 

*In regards to how to track credit cards–this is difficult.  For people who have debt (aka expenses not paid for prior to right now) when you pay for these expenses you will put that in your budget line item “credit cards.” So if you make a $500 dollar payment on a credit card this month and you didn’t use your card in January all those purchases were made in dec 2010 or beyond you would put that $500 dollars under the credit card line item.  BUT if you spent $500 dollars on your credit card in January 2011 you will want to break down what you spent your $500 dollars on (say $250 for clothes, $100 groceries, $50 gas, $100 car needs) and put them under those categories.  This is important because you will want to have an accurate account for your January month of what you spent on clothes, groceries, gas and car needs and if you just put it under credit card you don’t have an accurate picture of your budget.  My suggestion is until your credit cards are at zero you do not use the card so any payments made to your credit cards you can just put under the line item credit card.  Or if you can’t go without a credit card get it down to 1 that you use so there isn’t confusion with where to track your budget.  I told you a difficult answer but tracking with credit card debt is possible.   

Overall Thoughts:

Some people don’t believe in needing a budget and all I can say to that is that I understand, but a budget is truly and completely necessary.  I use to be one of those people who said, oh I want those boots for 50 bucks and the only thing I asked myself at the time was “do I have it in my bank account.”  This does work for people and for families, but in the end it is really hard to have financial goals for your family, plan for untimely expenses, plan out your year, and plan for your future.  Now when I see those $50 dollar boots I say “do I have it in my budget” and “Are those $50 dollars work 1/2 of my budgeted amount for clothes” It puts money into a different perspective of not about do you have it, but where you want to spend it (or not spend it). 

If I could give any piece of advice for someone just starting off with trying to have a budget is don’t get fustrated because there will be a lot of ups and downs trying to make a budget. Get everyone on board in the family on having a budget. Be honest with your budget and track every single expense (even those pesky bank ATM fees–as we found out we spent 100 bucks on ATM fees last year–WHATTT???).  At first the budgeted numbers will seem eroneous and have little meaning to your family, but as your budget starts to take shape during the year and you start to realize where you are spending it will make all the difference in the world.  Seeing is believing and believing is seeing.  When you see the numbers on paper it will definately be a AHA! moment.   We did change a few monthly budget numbers after the first month as we were way off on some expense line items but we didn’t touch it after–we let the numbers at the end of the year tell us where we need to be.  I would recommend taking a look at your budget at the half way mark and making changes 6 months into the budget rather than wait until a full year is over.  Ask for help! If you know someone who skilled at budgeting and financing ask for help to try to form a budget. It never hurts to ask for help!

Random Thoughts

Gosh January has been the most bizarro month EVER and so my blog posts are there {and not there} to prove it! The first 7 days were spent in California and anyone who takes a vacation for an extended period of times knows it just throws off your entire system.  So I spent the next 5 days of January trying to get back into my sleep mode.  I never ever ever have jet lag, but this trip I just couldn’t shake it and I was off at work, sleeping in the afternoon and going to sleep around 3am every night.  So then I get back into my sleep mode around day 12 of January when low and behold we have another blizzard and end up having the day off.  Having a random Wednesday off with my husband out of nowhere was just plain weird and random-but hey I am not complaining!  Then I work for about a day and a halfish only to have a three day weekend fall into my lap because of a holiday.  {which I want to say for the record was one of the best weekends I have had with my family in a really long time}.  So I whine a bit on Monday night wishing that the weekend wasn’t over only to wake up with snow falling at a rapid pace.  We end up getting out of work early today and it is suppose to snow more tomorrow and a large storm is suppose to occur on Friday.

Let me recap January for all of you who barely got through that paragraph above…

7 days on vacation

1 1/2 snow days

4 weekend days off

1 holiday off

3 days not in my office but at a work retreat

out early on a Friday

= 1 day of an actual work day in January 18 days into the month.

and if we are really counting… 1 day of actual work in 26 days.  yup. almost a month.

No wonder my mind and body has no idea what is going on, what day it is, what time it is, and seriously what month is it again?? Part of me is loving this as it has been the easiest month EVER…but part of me is really really scared for what is about to come.  The students are about to be back, we have opening on Sunday, and spring semester is always our busiest time of the year.  I know I just be full steam ahead, but with 26 days of out of my routine + the hoopla of December being holiday extravaganza month I am seriously going to be jolted into actual work.  I have a to-do list the size of my arm tomorrow and I am deathly afraid I have forgotten how to actually work, be productive, and stay on task.

I have a lot to blog about–my holiday, my vacation, my sister’s 21st bday bash, a great book I just finished and another one just started, dance central, my photobook that I just made for 2010, and everything in between.  I completely apologize for my lack of blog worthy posts and although I miss my blog it has been such a strange month I am only now realizing how strange it REALLY was now that I am almost on the cusp of an actual routine. almost.

I am going to do a little mini recap of a picture from each event I want to share with all of you…

Our Christmas Tree {December 2010}

 

Christmas Eve 2010

Christmas Day 2010

Blizzard of 2010

Our California Adventure 2010 & 2011

29th birthday in San Fran watching the Uconn game {they obvi just scored}

Wait? Snow in Napa? On my birthday?

Blizzard of 2011

 

Sista’s 21st birthday bash! January 2011

 

Well a lot can happen when you aren’t paying attention and I have one heck of a holiday/vacation/january!  It almost seems too good to be true!  I can only hope that 2011 is going to just keep getting better and better!  I am so behind, but I hope everyone is well in the blogging world!! So glad to be back, again.