Virtual Change

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Have you ever heard the stories about people saving change and then use it to buy something big like a boat?  I recently heard about a guy from Indiana who bought a 2008 Dodge Ram with change he saved for thirteen years, worth $26,670.  These stories always inspire me, I guess because I once saved pennies when I was little to buy my beloved Timey Tell doll.  For some reason the amount of $11.00 sticks in my head.  I don’t know if that was the actual price, or if that’s what I paid towards it.  Like I said, I was saving pennies, which I probably earned by doing little things around the house.  I was probably about 4 or 5 when I bought Timey Tell.  She was great.  I was pretty much a tomboy when I was little, not much into baby dolls.  But Timey Tell was different.  She had this cool watch to set the time, then I pulled the string on her back, and she told me what time it was and what I was supposed to do.  “It’s 8:00, it’s time for bed.”  Come to think of it she was real  bossy, always telling me what to do and reminding me of what time it was.  Maybe that’s why I struggle with schedules and time restraints now.  I have that little voice in my head saying, “It’s 9:00, it’s time to….it’s 10:00, it’s time to…come on, move, move, MOVE!!”  Oh…sorry.  Anniehow.

I did see first hand how saving a little over time can add up.  But when I think about saving change now, it’s nearly impossible since I don’t use cash anymore.  I like the convenience of my debit card.  But then, I saw the commercial for the credit card that rounds your purchase up and deposits change into a savings account.  Where do I get one of those?!?!?  What a great idea!!  But…I don’t use credit cards.  So I came up with a plan.  I could do this using my debit card!!

OK, before I explain this to you, I need to let you know something else about myself.  About 10 years ago, I took some college classes and two of them were accounting.  I’m really not a math/numbers kinda person, but I really caught on to this and I just love the concept of bookkeeping.  Everything balances at the end and if it doesn’t you have to go back and search for that penny, dime or thousands of dollars that’s throwing you off.  Anniehow…my little “virtual change” plan kind of brings out that geeky side of me.  If you don’t like to balance your checkbook, you might want to stop here.  Go check out my blog about how you can get free jewelry. 😉

 

 So here’s what I do.  I use my debit card for everything.  I also then track all my purchases on Microsoft Money.  When I enter in each purchase, I round it up to the next dollar.  I code the actual purchase for what it is, and then code the “change” in a category I call rounded savings.  It’s really good for when I pump gas.  I could never stop the pump right on the dollar, so now every time I pump gas, I’m saving money.  So at the end of the month I run a report of my “rounded savings” category and see how much I need to transfer into my savings account.  The way I actually do this is at the end of the month I credit the rounded savings category and then debit it.  This is then transferred to my savings account and the rounded savings category is back to $0 for the next month, and now I can actually balance the account.  (OK, you’re now thinking you should of checked out that free jewelry) I know, it seems confusing, but I have saved about $25 dollars or more each month doing this, and I don’t miss it.  This was very exciting to me, because it was a way to put money into savings very easily.  Plus I looked forward to the end of the month, just to see how much I actually saved.  Every little bit helps.  I don’t have  specific plans for my virtual change, it’s just nice to have a way to save easily.

 

photo courtesy of morguefile.com – author: cohdra

Dancing With The Stars

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I was looking so forward to the new season.  Last season, I watched almost every show, with the moans and groans of my children every Monday and Tuesday night, as I gained control of the TV and the remote.  I must say, I was very disappointed last night, and I don’t think I will be watching the rest of the season.  I just didn’t find anyone worth watching for the next 10 weeks.  I was a little excited to see Susan Lucci, I was a big All My Children fan back in the day.  But she was not very graceful, she has an excellent body, very petite, but not much of a dancer.  The model, Brooke Burke, seems to have some potential.  I guess I’m not too familiar with most of the cast, maybe that’s why I’m not that excited about it.  But even last season had people I was not familiar with, or even heard of like Cristian de la Fuente, Mario, Marissa Jaret Winokur, or Jason Taylor, but they really added to the show with their personalities.  Of course the main people I watched last season were Kristi Yamaguchi, and Priscilla Presley. Then there was Marlee Matlin, Monica Selles, Shannon Elizabeth who were also names I think most people are familiar with.   I just didn’t see any personality worth watching week after week.  I think last season was just a fluke, because everyone did so well even on the first show.  We also saw that with Sabrina Bryan, and Mel B.  So what does anyone else think?  Will you be watching this season?  Also, who is one star you would like to see compete for the Mirror Ball Trophy? I would like to see Sandra Bullock.  I think it would be interesting if they ever did a show with all A-List stars, but I guess they are all too busy for such a show like this.

Free Jewelry

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Believe it or not, I bought this pendant for $6.99. The website is Silver Jewelry Club (link below). The jewelry is FREE, you only pay shipping. They offer certain items at certain times, but when you order it, everything is $6.99. They do have a whole catalogue where you can actually purchase some of their other things. The things I saw for “Free” were really nice, and they are just as nice once you receive them. You also have the opportunity to buy necklaces to go with the pendants when you order the free jewelry.  I was impressed with the jewelry because it is unique looking, and they have many different colored gems to choose from.  The only thing I didn’t like was how long I had to wait to receive it in the mail. (About 7-10 days).  It could of been because of the holiday that it took so long, but it was worth the wait once I received it.  Any of this jewelry would make a great gift, and the receiver would never know that you only paid $6.99. 

If you want to check out their jewelry, click on the link below, or the link in my helpful links section at the right.

First Day Back

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We had a good first day back to school.  It may take me a couple of days to get my day to day thing going, since I have the twins doing 7th grade, and Elijah is in 2nd.  I need to get the older two working so I can focus with Elijah.  Not to mention, he is just so excited with school, and not very patient when waiting for me.  I made the candy bars for them, and when I gave it to them, Elijah was too excited.  He was like thanks mom, these are the best ever.  Everything to him is the best ever!!  But he is such a grateful kid.  I don’t know how many times he thanked me today for school.  If that doesn’t want to make you keep going, I don’t know what does.  So the 3 “school kids” got the Back to the Books bars, and Benji of course got something special.  He received a Back To Benji Bar, since all he has to do is be Benji.  He was as thrilled as Elijah was to get his.  He is Elijah’s shadow, whatever Elijah says or does, Benji repeats him.  I also made the Oreo Surpise dessert for them, and as I mentioned yesterday, here is the recipe.  Most people probably know this as “Dirt”, but we of course add a little twist to it, and make it Oreo Surprise, (it’s a nicer name too).

1 pkg Double Stuff Oreo Cookies
1 pkg Regular Oreo Cookies
12 oz. tub of Cool Whip
5.1 oz. Jell-O Instant Vanilla Pudding
2 cups milk
Maraschino Cherries
Bananas
Pecans

First, put the Oreos in the freezer for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Then take them out, and crush them in a blender or food processor, until they are fine crumbs (that resemble dirt).  I usually use one whole package of Double Stuff, and about 1 1/2 rows of regular.  Set aside.  Mix the Cool Whip, vanilla pudding and milk with an electric mixer.  Let stand for about 5 minutes.  In an 8 1/2 X 11 cake pan, start off with a thin layer of Cool Whip mixture, then layer Oreo cookies, then you can do a thicker layer of Cool Whip Mixture. and Oreo cookies, keep doing that until you finish with a top layer of Oreos.  Put in the refrigerator uncovered.  It is ready to eat in about 30 minutes.  When serving, add maraschino cherries, sliced bananas, and pecans, or any combination of the three.  Store uncovered in refrigerator if you have any left.  This usually serves about 10 – 12.

When we have described this to people with the cherries, bananas and pecans, most people are a little skeptical about the combination.  But when they try it, they are like, you know you’re right this is good this way.  I personally don’t eat it with the pecans, but the people that do say the pecans just add a little something to it.  Hope you try this and enjoy it as much as we do.

End of Summer

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Well, it’s official.  This was the last day of summer for us.  Tomorrow we go back to school.  Today, we just relaxed, and I prepared my lesson plans for tomorrow.  Yesterday, we had a cook-out with our friends, and we had a really good time.  I Barbequed all afternoon, hamburgers, hot dogs, polish, and chicken.  I also made my signature cole slaw.  I had put all the food out, and forgot the cole slaw in the fridge.  But then our friends started looking for it, and asked my husband if I had made any.  I had gotten the recipe from www.topsecretrecipes.com, it tastes just like Kentucky Fried Chicken’s.  I have tweaked it a little bit, to make it my own.  Cole slaw does seem to be a summer treat, but if you want to impress anyone with a sweet tasting cole slaw, the recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 bag Dole cole slaw mix (or 8 cups finely chopped cabbage 1/4 cup shredded carrots)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced onion.

 

Combine the mayonnaise, sugar, milk, buttermilk, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and beat until smooth.

Add the cole slaw mix (or cabbage and carrots) and onion, and mix well.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

I also made my famous Oreo Surpise Dessert.  I had planned on making some for the first day back to school, so tomorrow I will share that recipe with you, and let you know how our first day went.