It takes a true friend to send you a text inquiring about your absence on your own blog. My dear amiga Steph texted me late last week: This is your kick in the butt to get that blog post written and published. It will take you an hour tops I bet! And I can't wait to read it :)
It's encouraging to know there are people out there reading and anticipating updates. Others have asked, too, so here we go.
I've been overwhelmed lately with trying to nail down a wedding venue and it's put me in a daze of sorts over the last 30-ish days. Excuses, excuses, I know. But it's been a big time and mind drain researching online, calling venues, getting pricing, calling caterers, calculating and crunching numbers, considering guest logistics, etc.
In true Chelsea fashion, we've looked at 10 venues in person + double that online and telephone inquiry (did I ever tell you about the time I visited 12 colleges across 4 states). In my defense, it'd be a much easier process if all venues followed a standard pricing method. Anyway, I believe we've found the place! More to come on that in the future.
I sat down tonight to get started and realized I hadn't totaled my efforts toward debt in a while. I'm happy to share I broke the $10,000 mark for the year earlier this month!
April's total toward debt was $750 + $1,283 so far in May to bring my total toward debt since January 1, 2015 to
I've been overwhelmed lately with trying to nail down a wedding venue and it's put me in a daze of sorts over the last 30-ish days. Excuses, excuses, I know. But it's been a big time and mind drain researching online, calling venues, getting pricing, calling caterers, calculating and crunching numbers, considering guest logistics, etc.
In true Chelsea fashion, we've looked at 10 venues in person + double that online and telephone inquiry (did I ever tell you about the time I visited 12 colleges across 4 states). In my defense, it'd be a much easier process if all venues followed a standard pricing method. Anyway, I believe we've found the place! More to come on that in the future.
I sat down tonight to get started and realized I hadn't totaled my efforts toward debt in a while. I'm happy to share I broke the $10,000 mark for the year earlier this month!
April's total toward debt was $750 + $1,283 so far in May to bring my total toward debt since January 1, 2015 to
$10,255.22!!
Seeing that number is validating, and seeing my student loan debt number get smaller gives me more and more hope. The fa$t is working. And the struggle of not spending is worth it.
So what have I been up to since my last post besides venue hunting and not spending money?
So what have I been up to since my last post besides venue hunting and not spending money?
We made our first batch of laundry soap. I searched and searched for a recipe, and finally found one that didn't have too many steps or seem too complicated. I followed the Homemade Powdered Laundry recipe of Stephanie, another personal finance and debt dumping blogger (she writes frequently and has excellent ideas and insight -- read more about her here: Six Figures Under). I tweaked it a bit by using Fels Naptha (similar to Zote...and the only option the store had), and instead of a food processor, I recruited Novio to help me grate the whole bar by hand.
The recipe yields 9 cups of detergent, and the author says to use 1 Tbsp per normal load, or 2 Tbsp per large loads. Which means our detergent was dirt cheap to make ($3.67ish) and will last approximately 144 loads. Which rings in at a pretty 2.5 cents per load! So far we've been pleased with how our laundry has come out of the wash. I'm counting on my coworkers and close friends to let me know otherwise.
I've also been sprucing up the house a little here and there. When I was up in the Metro area a few months ago, I happened to notice a couple of wooden shelves sitting by someone's garbage can. I don't usually 'dumpster dive', however, desperate Spending Fa$t times call for desperate measures, so I grabbed 3 shelves (2 pictured here; I haven't decided what to do with the third yet). I sanded both shelves with the intention of painting them, however, the one has the trendy rustic look and went right on the wall. The other, I'm still deciding on a color and location for.
Other sprucing efforts include a dresser I scored from a friend -- she gave it to me in exchange for babysitting hours for her 3-month-old son who is an absolute gem and is quite possibly the easiest baby to babysit all time. The dresser fits nicely on a crossroads wall at the top of our stairs between our living room, hallway, and kitchen; a location that's convenient for keys, sunglasses, mail, last mirror check, etc.
My mom and stepdad also brought Novio and me a dresser from their house, so now both he and I have real wooden dressers. I decided to paint them a color pulled from our bedspread. Lots of sanding and 2 coats of paint later, we have matching dressers!
Perhaps the most important additional financial effort as of late includes some freelance writing and proofing for Itineraries Midwest, a Minnesota-based magazine specializing in group travel opportunities. The CEO/Publisher is a close family friend and was happy to pass me some work. This has proven to be an excellent and enjoyable way to speed up my fa$t efforts. Travel writing is something I've always been interested in. Plus, in doing the research, I'm imagining the trips and learning new things -- it's almost like I'm actually traveling. Almost.
A little creativity and some light elbow grease has gone a long way in the last month and a half.
The recipe yields 9 cups of detergent, and the author says to use 1 Tbsp per normal load, or 2 Tbsp per large loads. Which means our detergent was dirt cheap to make ($3.67ish) and will last approximately 144 loads. Which rings in at a pretty 2.5 cents per load! So far we've been pleased with how our laundry has come out of the wash. I'm counting on my coworkers and close friends to let me know otherwise.
I've also been sprucing up the house a little here and there. When I was up in the Metro area a few months ago, I happened to notice a couple of wooden shelves sitting by someone's garbage can. I don't usually 'dumpster dive', however, desperate Spending Fa$t times call for desperate measures, so I grabbed 3 shelves (2 pictured here; I haven't decided what to do with the third yet). I sanded both shelves with the intention of painting them, however, the one has the trendy rustic look and went right on the wall. The other, I'm still deciding on a color and location for.
Other sprucing efforts include a dresser I scored from a friend -- she gave it to me in exchange for babysitting hours for her 3-month-old son who is an absolute gem and is quite possibly the easiest baby to babysit all time. The dresser fits nicely on a crossroads wall at the top of our stairs between our living room, hallway, and kitchen; a location that's convenient for keys, sunglasses, mail, last mirror check, etc.
My mom and stepdad also brought Novio and me a dresser from their house, so now both he and I have real wooden dressers. I decided to paint them a color pulled from our bedspread. Lots of sanding and 2 coats of paint later, we have matching dressers!
Perhaps the most important additional financial effort as of late includes some freelance writing and proofing for Itineraries Midwest, a Minnesota-based magazine specializing in group travel opportunities. The CEO/Publisher is a close family friend and was happy to pass me some work. This has proven to be an excellent and enjoyable way to speed up my fa$t efforts. Travel writing is something I've always been interested in. Plus, in doing the research, I'm imagining the trips and learning new things -- it's almost like I'm actually traveling. Almost.
A little creativity and some light elbow grease has gone a long way in the last month and a half.