Spring Has Sprung & the Beans Have Begun

Yep, it's here!  The cold weather, bare branches, and brown landscapes are all a thing of the past!  For us it means not only do we (in saying "we" I mean "I") have to start spring cleaning (which of course I'm going to write about since projects are at a minimum...and because I have a rhyme to my spring cleaning reason this year) but also that we get to spend time outside primping, pruning, and planting! 

That's exactly what we did this past Saturday.  We finally had a weekend home (the past three weekends have been spent in hotel rooms) so we took advantage of the gorgeous, 74 degree weather, and went on a date in our very own backyard. 

Here's what we accomplished:

Herbs planted - cilantro, basil, and oregano.  Amazingly enough, the chives we planted last year survived our quite chilly winter, whereas the other three were dead by November.  Not wanting to waste (or spend more moolah), I used the rest of the seeds left over from last year even though on the package it says they're only to be used for the 2010 planting season and expired in November 2010.  Well, using my maybe crazy reasoning, I thought "Well, they're only five months past expiration so I'm gonna give it a whirl."  I let you know how, and if, they grow.  :)  Anyone else have luck with expired seeds? 

We also got on the tomato train again this year and planted tomatoes.  The tomato plants we planted last year turned out so great that we couldn't not do it again!  Except, this year we went with cherry tomatoes.  Not sure why we didn't do that last year but we use those the most and find them more flavorful than the big ones.  One change from last year - I spray painted the pots to add more color to our backyard.  I felt like the gray color they were blended in too much with the gray-green paint on our house.  I contemplated painting them a bright color but then went a safer route and with navy blue to match our chair cushions, thinking I'd add color with flowers.

 Notice the little table between the two chairs in the background?  :)  Well, you see, we have a pile of bricks left to us by the previous owner that just sit near the side of our house and so I had this bright, maybe a little cheesy, but FREE idea to stack some up, place a round stepping stone I found behind our shed on top, and create a little place to host a pot of flowers...just don't have the flowers yet.  :)

So far, our little backyard oasis is coming along.  A big thanks to our hand-me-down patio set (hailing from the houseful of college boys Anthony used to live with), the $5 cushions on the patio chairs I found a few years ago at our old grocery store at the end of summer, the hand-me-down pair of white chairs, the hand-me-down charcoal grill, and various pots soon to be filled with tomatoes, herbs, and flowers.  All we need is some Beller Beef and we'll have our own vacation spot at home!  It's going to be a great summer!

P.S.  That's not all we did in our backyard last weekend.  Find out later this week what other project we finally finished!

I've Come A Long Way

My side 'job' recently has been sorting, organizing, and hunting down clearance photo albums to make sense of my life and Anthony's life in pictures.  As of two weeks ago, all of our pictures were piled in complete chaos in a plastic bin and stuffed inside our guestroom closet.  At the present moment, the plastic bin is now being used to hold recyclables and the organized piles of pictures are cheerfully awaiting their new homes in albums I have yet to find.

So anyway, as I was organizing I came across some pictures I thought I'd share that show just how far I've come in DIY.

 

I think these were both taken at Grandma's house and I'm pretty sure Grandma and Grandpa were laughing pretty hard at my diligent effort to lessen their work load.  :)  Thankfully, I've come a long way in the mowing area...and the decorating area for that matter considering lipstick was my (and my accomplice's) first choice of wall paint as a child...but that's another story...

Stack 'Em

Whew!  I feel like I've been on a blogging sabbatical!  I've been reminiscing lately about the very day I started this blog - Anthony had his nose in a book for grad school and I was as bored as a fly in a jar.  Man has life changed!  These days I barely have time to dry my hair much less relax and "journal" on my blog.  It's bittersweet though, you see, because I love being busy but I also love being able to relax and pour out my thoughts, ambitions, and recent projects here.  Which is why I've set a goal for myself to get out one post per week until this summer, at which point our lives will slow down and you may even see Anthony starting to post.  :)

But anyway, on to my recent concoction.

We registered for and received these water glasses for our wedding... 

 except we only have 11 left (out of 20).  How did we get here?  Well, this one's all Anthony.  Most (if not all) of them were lost while doing dishes...he's a very passionate person and he always talks with his hands and when you combine those two things with doing dishes, well, let's just say we've cleaned our fair share of broken glass out of our sinks.

The remaining, unbroken (for now anyway) glasses have been taking up space in a top shelf and I've been going back and forth about just donating them to free up cabinet space.

In come the flowers and the light bulb inside my crazy head.  For my early birthday present, my Aunt sent me a beautiful bouquet (thank you again Auntie Angie) which went immediately to the center of our kitchen table.  A few nights later we held a Saint Valentine's dinner for our youth group and I was graciously given a leftover centerpiece to take home - which ironically had in it the same exact bunch of flowers I had received in my Aunt's bouquet.  So, to make a long, overly drawn out thought process in my head shorter (because believe me, I could go on), I took out those glasses, stacked a few, and made my own colorful additions to the already existing, but lonely birthday bouquet.

I even stuck a candle in one for good measure, just to show how old glasses can turn into vases or candle holders or even to showcase something small if you turn them upside down.  My point, as always, is that there are endless ways to use what you have to create something new...for free.

Well, so long, can't stay.  It's 3 o'clock and I have to finish folding laundry, rush out the door and make a quick we-are-almost-completely-out-of-food grocery run (which won't be quick, really), make a drop-off to the Goodwill on my way to picking up my God daughter's birthday present, which is on the way to Studium - an hour-long presentation held at our church once a month by our priest, after which I'm sitting in on our parish's RCIA class with Anthony, only to run to Kohl's on our way home and use the $20 in Kohl's cash we have before our 30% coupon runs out tomorrow (because we can't not save more money), then come home, make dinner (or late-night munchies, which by that time it will be), and then fall into bed wiped out ready to start all over tomorrow.  :)

Does anyone else know how I feel?  You do?  Maybe we should start a support group...Hi, my name is Sheena and I just can't stop... 

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P.S.  I know I mentioned I'd be posting about my blinds project and I will. That one's just going to require a little more time of which I'm lacking presently.  Stay tuned!

Shhh...It's a Secret

We cover up a lot of stuff in this house...stuff that we don't want anyone to see...stuff that we might be a little embarrassed of or aren't exactly fond of.

For example, every single bed in this house has atop it a duvet cover over a slightly less appealing comforter.

This is what hides under our guest room/office duvet:

It's my comforter from college.  It's cute however we're trying to act a little more 'grown-up' now and it's not exactly eye candy with the clorox stains my sister accidentally stuck it with (cough, cough...Farrah...cough).

And lurking under our other guest room's duvet (purchased at TJ Maxx on sale for $20):

I need to choose my words wisely with this one.  We got this one in a care package from my Grandma...and knowing her, I'm pretty sure it was handed-down to her first...which is totally cool, don't get me wrong.  We LOVE my Grandma, but let's just say this shiny, over-patterned, scratchy-to-the-touch comforter isn't exactly our style.  (But Grandma, if you ever read this post, we are so very grateful that we even have a comforter to cover up...thanks to you!)  By the way, since the picture doesn't do the thing justice, I would just like to point out that the main colors in this thing are red, burnt orange, gold, black...and purple.

Then in our master we have the tan, down comforter we got during a huge sale at Kohl's for 30 beans right after we got married.  It's covered by a clean, white duvet that was a wedding present.  We were a little worried the tan would peep through the white duvet, making it look ivory, but it's as white as white can be.  :)

Moving on and prefacing our next cover up, let me just say we have lots of decorative pillows.  The only thing is that they're not all meshing in with the color schemes we have going on in this house so...

they get 'cased'.  This one is actually the first of many to come...now that I finally have a sewing machine!  More on her later.

Now to pull out the biggest skeleton in our closet...

We bought this chair at our fave thrift store for FIVE dollars...

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and this is why it was only 5 dollars...

In the picture it actually doesn't look all that bad...it compliments the wall color and the little side table but if you look closely you'll see the torn/chewed/worn arms.  Using our sale-seeking skills though we sought out and found the soft slip-cover that now adorns it on ebay for $20.  It's served us well but will soon go as I have plans to rev up my beloved sewing machine and whip up a new one...even though once I get there being a first-time slip-cover maker, I'm sure the last word I'll be using is "whip up".

~Moral of this story:  Don't throw out the ugly just cause it's ugly, cover it up!~   

So that's pretty much it...we can't fool you anymore.  There is, however, one more cover-up I didn't mention and it involves our window blinds.  That's for another post but to increase the suspense, I'll throw in a little pre-picture to tide you over:

Trust me when I say you won't want to miss this one.  I came up with the idea all by my lonesome and I'm pretty darn proud of it and can't wait to put the "blinds behind" in our next house.  :)

How Our Pennies Add Up

Well, since it's a new year and all...and because projects are stalled in this house...I thought I'd write about saving money - the way we do it.  Whether you're sporting a really strict budget or are lucky to be a little more loose with your spending, we think having a guideline to follow every month is smart.  Spending without discipline can be really destructive, regardless of how much cash you have on hand.  Besides, a little dosage of self-control and some patience has never hurt anyone, right?  You can build character while budgeting.  :)

Anyway, on to the meat and potatoes of this post.  Here are some of the ways we save money:

• We rarely (and I mean RARELY) buy anything for full price.  Everything goes on sale at some point.  Whether it's a new washer and dryer or a new suit for Anthony, we see it, keep an eye on it, and snatch it up at the first sign of a sale (or a really good coupon).  Of course this isn't the easy way to do things and requires a little bit of research and patience but in the end we have more money to spend on something else.
• Eating out is a we-have-a-gift-card experience or limited to a once-per-week-or-two luxury...and unless it's the gift card route, it's only fast food.  That means that, usually, whatever we eat for dinner one night is Anthony's brown bag lunch the next day.
• Which brings us to lunches.  I always eat lunch at home but Anthony doesn't have that luxury...yet.  Eating out for lunch everyday could eat a chunk out of our balance so he either brings leftovers to work or eats at the cafeteria ($3/meal).  I know it takes a little more effort to prepare a to-go lunch from home but we think of it this way...if Anthony ate lunch out everyday - spending $5 per meal - we'd be spending $100 a month.  Suddenly to us, pb&j sandwiches and brown bag lunches sound gourmet!  :)
• Starbucks and coffee drinks not made in our trusty 'ole pot is very rare...sad but true.  :(  (Caramel frappacino's, I have a solely platonic love for you but we just can't see eachother that often...sorry.) 
• I am the hairstylist in the fam...meaning I cut Anthony's hair and my own (unless I'm visiting my sister in which case she cuts mine).  My mom was my family's stylist growing up and I've learned how to trim, layer, cut bangs, you name it.  It's a great skill to have...professional degree or not.  :)
• We're not big coupon users (even though we promote them 100% and really should start using them) but we do use price-matching a lot so we get the good sales without having to go to 5 stores to stock up.
• We have the BEST credit card in the whole world (US Bank's FlexPerks) that we use on EVERYTHING, pay off at the end of each month, and by doing so, get at least one free airline ticket each year.
• As regards utilities, we're really conscious about turning lights off in rooms we're not using, unplugging things that aren't being used (Anthony's pet peave), and not blasting our heating or air conditioning - turning them down or up during a day neither of us is home or if we're on vacation.  It might sound like a hassle but really only takes a couple of seconds and can save you a hundred or more dollars a year.
• Thrift stores are incredible places to find unique furniture, decor, fabric, and more for CHEAP...enough said.
• This doesn't work for everyone, but if you don't watch a ton of t.v. like us, don't pay for full cable.  We pay $13 for 15 channels and are as happy as chipmunks in a pile of acorns.  :)  (Plus, tons of shows are available to watch online too.)
• We've had super-fast internet (when we first moved here) and we've had 'basic' internet (presently).  The only difference...besides the $30 price...is a few more seconds of wait-time for a picture to upload.  We can still watch online show episodes, youtube videos, and everything else exactly how we did when we had 'lighting speed'.  (a.k.a. Comcast's highest-speed internet is seriously overrated).
• As regards decorating, we do it in stages.  For example, I really, really, really want a pair of matching chairs to dress up our living room but it's pretty low on the priority list right now.  Besides, if you're going to put money into your house, we think it's smarter to put it into things that will raise it's value, like tiling a bathroom, updating kitchen appliances, or getting new windows.  Then, if you have a little extra money one day you can go for those curtains you're dying to have or that comforter that's calling your name...when they're on sale of course.  :)
• We don't carry credit card balances.  The only interest we have to choice but to pay is that from student loans and our mortgage.  Watch out for those 'pay no interest until 2014' gimmicks too.  Most of the time, if you don't pay them off by the interest deadline, you start paying interest every month on top of all the interest they tack on for the past 3 years you've haven't had to make payments.  Lovely... 
• We pay all of our bills online, cutting out the need for stamps.  We pay about 8 monthly bills so we're saving (8 bills x .44 stamps x 12 months) a little under $43 a year.
• Anthony changes the oil and oil filter in our car himself.  Sure he gets a little dirty but he saves us at least $90 a year.  :)
• Last summer we tried our hand at planting our own tomatoes and a few herbs - basil, oregano, chives (the only ones still living), and cilantro.  We eat tomatoes like it's our job so not having to buy them in the store all summer saved us tons.  The herbs turned out great too so having them fresh to cook with was great and helped us pinch pennies. 
• The only phones we have are our cell phones.  Until we have teenagers, a landline won't be much use to us.  One phone bill is much better than two in our book (and we don't have to worry about those pesky telemarketers.)

We know that the way we cut back wouldn't work for everyone, nor is there a 'right way' to do it, but it's still fun to give ideas.  :)  After all, we are two beans in love, on a budget, and most importantly, just trying to get to heaven, and it's why we started this blog in the first place.  Some day, when we're debt free, sipping lemonades on the front porch of our paid-for house, student loans a distant memory, and our grandkids running through the yard...we'll probably still be budgeting.  :) 

Anyone else have ideas on how to save?  We're all ears keyboards...