52 Week Money Challenge

While browsing Pinterest a few weeks ago I saw this and after looking it over i thought it was a really great idea. I, like many other people, have a hard time saving money and usually only put money into my savings account if i feel like i have a little extra that month. 

I decided i was going to do this challenge and so far it has been really easy. It works well for me because i get paid every week. Every week on payday i log into my online banking (which i highly recommend would be the easiest way to do this) and transfer however much money i need to that week. I printed off a copy of the picture and pinned it right next to my computer at work so i can't accidentally forget to transfer the money. It has been 4 weeks so far and well my savings account has only gone up $10, but that is better then nothing. I still plan on adding in money when i have extra. But I am looking forward to the end of the year when i will have saved up the full $1,378.00 

There are different ways you could do it. You could try saving cash every week. That doesn't work for me cause i would end up spending it. By putting it directly into my savings account i can't access it as easily as if i just had a wad of cash sitting in a drawer (plus i never have cash on me). The plus side of putting it in my savings is that i will earn interest on it. If you are really dedicated you could double the amount you put in weekly which would give you an end result of $2,756.00

One of my new years resolutions was to stop spending so much money on meaningless things that i wanted but didn't really need (like nail polish) so i could save up more money. When i saw this i new it would be perfect for me. When i started i didn't really have a specific goal in mind for what i want the money for other then for savings. I would rather have money saved up for a rainy day or unexpected expenses then worry about where i am going to get money from if i ever get into a bind. 

This is really helping me and I hope by passing it a long it will be able to help other people as well. 

PS: I just got back from sunny CA and it was in the high 70's. Today i am sitting at my desk bundled up in a blanket with the heater on freezing my butt off.

I've been busy

So I know it has been a while, but i decided it was time to update The Ol' Blog. What can I say, I have been super busy with the holidays and work (its our busy season). These photos are not even close to being in order but i just want to give an update :)

She got to spend lots of time playing with friends.

4th times a charm. After pink eye, a staph infection and the flu she FINALLY had her eye surgery. Her daycare closes for the holidays and i pulled her out a week early to keep her home away from the germs so she wouldn't get sick. She looked like a baby toddler zombie for a couple weeks cause the whites of her eyes were completely bloodshot red. It was a little nerve racking but she handled it really well. The anesthesia did make her sick but that is normal and she was back to her stubborn self the day after surgery.

It snowed a lot and has been really cold, but we braved the weather and she got her first sledding experience and she loved it.

Second sledding experience with dad she did not enjoy so much. I don't blame her, we went up to the sledding hill and it was only about 10 degrees outside plus she didn't have a nap and was crabby.

Christmas lasted 3 days and she got an insane amount of presents for Christmas. We spend Christmas Eve with Jason's family, Christmas at home. It took her all day to open presents because she was so over stimulated and just wanted to play. The day after Christmas we got some presents late in the mail and she was excited she had more paper to tear up. She still randomly asks me to open presents.

Daddy (Jason) had to go out of town for a week for work and she missed him a lot and wanted to take lots of pictures for him but would never sit still long enough. She is actually in this picture saying "miss you daddy"

(this picture should be at the top, oops) Auntie CoCo came and visited us for a month. She was able to go with us to her surgery and since I pulled Kendall out of daycare for a couple weeks they got to spend a lot of time together so i could still work. We enjoyed having her here. It has been a long time since she got to stay and relax with us for that long. 

This weekend we are going on a little mini vacation to visit family in California and we can't wait to get out of the single digit temps and into a sunny 70 degrees. 

I am hoping i might be able to get back into the swing of blogging once things at work slow back down a little. Or i might just have to stay up late every night so i get a chance to blog :)