The Purpose Driven Life

What will you write?

Finished Product

I think I’ve finally gotten it where I like it.  I moved the mixer to the bin in the top shelf and made space for the smaller stuff on the bottom.

The picture (again) from 2016:

And now:

This time I’ve kept the lids with the bins, it will make for faster user and I know I have the right lids with the right bins.

Progress!

Almost There

It’s not the final result yet, as I still need to unbox and wash the Pyrex Snapware that I bought.  I wanted to use more glass and metal and less plastic.  I’ve heard that the plastic can cause problems as wear and tear take their toll.  I’ve heard that glass and metal don’t pose the same health issues.

In 2016:

In 2017 there were no changes.  You couldn’t find too much of anything in this cupboard.

As it stands right now:

Today’s Antics

I’m finally going through and decluttering the kitchen, namely the area just to the right of the stove where the plastics for storing food is at.  And yes, plastics.  I’m decreasing the plastics and starting to get more glass, simply because of the toxic chemicals that can leach into the food from the plastics.  Some of these plastics that are leaving are decades old.  Like, over 20 years old.  I’m not done yet, but I have made progress.

In the large plastic bin is the stuff I’m keeping, everything else was donations except for items that were too old or not any good anymore and those went directly into the recycling bin.

The result?

The going piles:

The staying piles:

The going piles took 1 1/2 garbage bags to fill, the additional one in the back is a filled bag of cans and plastics recycling.  The recycling bag that is in the current canister is filled up as well.  Along with the paper recycling and the two bins for cardboard recycling.  The surgeries have taken a toll.

There are also the bags of additional clothing and other items going for recycling in the hallway next to the washer/dryer combo.

The kitchen looks a mess, but it will be getting straightened out once I get everything run through the dishwasher for proper cleaning.

And, of course, Survivor (one of Mom’s cats) has had to join in on the fun.

Progress!

Dave Ramsey - What Would Happen If Everyone Became Debt Free

Personally, I think that would be a great thing.  Great question.  Personally, I believe there will be a day when everyone will live debt free, I’d rather it happen now, but I do know it will happen during the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ.  The only debt that will exist at that point in time is the one that people cannot repay - the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Link for the video:  Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey

My Updated Planner

I call this my planner and/or brains, others refer to it as a control journal.  Mine isn’t just about cleaning, though, it’s about everything that involves my life.

The first part holds some of the important bills/mail that needs a response and my budget.

 The next part contains my daily schedule pages.

 The next part is fairly new:   Given the amount of stuff getting thrown at me at a particular time, I’ve now started using those page protectors to segregate the paperwork for each of the items.  Right now I have:

Car Accident

Gynecologist 

Dental including oral surgery 

Colonoscopy 

Nuclear Stress Test

Blank

That last one did have print out pages for the new refrigerator but, however now that I have the new refrigerator, it took that out and put it in a reusable file folder and put it in with the rest of the house stuff.  The next thing that comes up will have it’s own spot.

I’ve added updates to the update:  The notepad has been moved to the zippered pockets up front, I’ve purchased and added tabbed dividers and added calendars from a group the HR department subscribes to that produces free templates to help people better manage their lives.

Update:  Ohsolovely blog has free 2018 printable calendars here.

The updated daily planner pages I made are found at this link.

The Visual Baby Steps From The Dave Ramsey Plan

I like this idea!

Setting Up An Emergency Fund

For those of you who have read my blog posts for a while, you know that when my Mother passed away last year, only a small portion of the inheritance was used to pay off the last of my debt.  The remainder took some thought.  It wasn’t a huge amount of money, but what should I do with it to get the most bang for the buck?

I knew I wanted to increase my emergency fund account (lovingly nicknamed Insurance), but I also decided to add additional accounts to the mix to use as sinking funds/emergency funds.  And yes, I’ve already had to use them.

A good chunk of the money went into the Insurance account and sat there.

Another chunk of money went into a sinking fund called home improvement - which was used for the new HVAC system (the existing system was rusting out) and a new hot water heater (the current one at the time was rusted on the bottom, which meant it could spring a major leak at any moment).  

I also have sinking funds for the pets, auto, medical (which I use as a place to hold money before transferring it to my HSA account), I have a “personal” account that is for books, movies, travel, visiting local museums, etc.  I have a few others, but you get my drift.  These are actual separate accounts under the umbrella of my membership account at the credit union I bank at.  I also have the control to move the money around accordingly and have had measured success in making sure everything gets handled as I want it to.

That said, it has helped me with handling the medical stuff I’ve been hit with the last few months.  It turns what could be financial disasters into simply procedures to get through and re-build the money.  

Would you like to know more?  Here is the link to Money Smart Family’s web site  covering emergency funds and how much everyone should actually have in theirs.  It’s been very insightful as it gave a new perspective that will assist me with my financial goals.

  

More information about sinking funds:

web site

The Index Card of Finance

I believe I’ve posted about this before, but it’s worth repeating.  A lot of what people need to be doing financially can fit on an index card.  A professor and an author teamed up and wrote a book about that index card.

The Index Card

How The Broke Millennial Stopped Being Broke

College Without Student Loans? Can It Be Done?

Yes, it can be done.  I worked jobs and paid my way through college.  It took me longer, but I was also able to pick additional humanities classes that have enriched my life.

Does Your Budget Need A Spring Reboot?

Sometimes life happens you need to take another look at how you manage your finances.

A Few Thoughts...

I’m at home recuperating from oral surgery #3.  The surgery was yesterday, but ended up being more extensive than what I was given to believe it would be and I have stitches in two areas of my mouth right now.  Needless to say I awoke this morning with my gums throbbing and the pain meds wearing off.  I pretty much knew I was going to have to have another day of hydrocodone to get me through, which meant no work today.

It’s okay, thankfully I have a really understanding employer.

That said, yes, I do live in Arizona and I do work in public education.  Given that I work in a District Office, I will still be working, but so many of my friends out at the schools will not be.  I wanted to post a few thoughts for them, not about the politics, but about the finances.

There wasn’t much notice about this, roughly a week and for many that’s going to leave a dent in some wallets.

First, for the kids impacted, there is food being handed out by St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix for the families whose kids will not be getting their free or reduced meals at school.

Update:  The City of Tempe has a page now on their web site with information for parents on places where their kids can go during the day given that the schools will be closed.  Click here to go to their web page.

For the staff, the best advice I can give you is to cut out all spending, limit your groceries and get what money you do have gathered and hoard it until this is over.  The only one bright spot I can think of out of this is if the time must be made up during the summer, at least that means a shorter summer and less unpaid time before the 2018-2019 school year begins.

This isn’t the exact same information, but this video from Dave Ramsey might prove helpful:

I’m hoping this walkout will end quickly.

The next piece of advice at this point in time is to take a look at the money you have and create a budget around it.  What bills do you need to pay for during this time that you will need to use your current bank balance on?

Another thought would be to look around for side hustles.  Many of you already have them, can you get more hours in with those to earn some extra money while the schools are closed?  These videos might provide you with some ideas:

Click here to go to their web page.Click here to go to their web page.

Preparing In Advance of The Storm

This Past Week...

This past week wasn’t the greatest of weeks, but I’m still in one piece.

On Tuesday I went to my gynecologist and got a new scan done of the ovarian cyst that was found during my annual check up last month.

Last month the cyst was the size of a grapefruit, they told me it has grown.  I can now tell this because I’m having more bouts of nausea, my pants are fitting tighter and I’m having more trouble reaching my shoelaces to tie them for work each day.

I asked for a digital copy of the ultrasound and posted it to my Facebook page.  I figure if my friends can post pictures of their babies’ ultrasounds, I should at least be able to post this.  I couldn’t get pregnant when Decker was alive, and the surgery involved will be to drain the cyst and make the ovary no longer functioning as far as hormones are concerned.  I’m figuring we will have the conversation after the surgery to determine if I will be needing hormone replacement therapy after the surgery.

Here it is:

I spent the rest of the week making up the 3 hour block I ended up needing off work to take care of this.  Thankfully there was an evening meeting at work on Wednesday, so I wasn’t by myself in the building and I was able to easily make up the time.  Little blessings.

Friday was the day where a lot of things were going wrong at work, my body was feeling wonky and then, in the middle of working, I was munching on a Ritz cracker when I heard a snap in my mouth.  The “flapper” or “partial” that was made for the area for oral surgery #1 snapped apart in my mouth.  No bueno.  I’ve taken it out and am leaving it out until I see the oral surgeon on Tuesday for surgery #3.

At some point things will fall into place, until then I’m just trying to keep moving forward.

Cleaning

If any of you are already familiar of the FlyLady methods of cleaning, this will be old news, but perhaps a new view of how to do them.

While I agree with pretty much everything, I’m going to be changing up which zones I do which week based upon needs, demands on my time, etch.  Not everything is going to plan.

Here is a link to the 31 Days of Baby Steps.

Decluttering With FlyLady Diane:

RIP Harry Anderson

Self Care While Caregiving

If you are like me, as a caregiver you are in a world that evolves around the person you are caregiving for.  Please remember to take some time for yourself to take care of you.  Dr. Gabor Mate’ gives some startling information on how caregiving affects the bodies of those providing the care.

April 14, 2018

So far today:

I’ve fed the cats (twice, morning and evening)

Changed 2 litter boxes

Taken out two bags of trash

Run a load of dishes in the dishwasher

Rode with a friend who was kind and took my old refrigerator out to Mesa HHW (he took another one for a coworker)

Run 3 loads of laundry (load one is done and put away, load 2 is in the dryer, load 3 in the washer)

Taken two bags of recycling out

Made a Container Store haul

Cleaned out the area above the Refrigerator and gathered most of the vases (a few are in use) and put them up there

Pulled out the new refrigerator and cleaned out the walls and floor from the previous refrigerator 

How do I feel at this point?  Tired and nauseous.  My hormones are still wonky.

Still, there is more daylight, so who knows what else might get done today!

Beat The Bush - Getting Out of Debt

Thank You Portillos

Between two oral surgeries, one more in two weeks, the wonky hormones I’ve been experiencing, not to mention the regular stress at work, I finally cried uncle tonight, drove to Portillos and ordered their ravioli.  It’s not on the drive through menu, but it is in the restaurant and they were very kind in allowing me, I was so tired I could hardly move, to order it in drive through.

I’ve never had their ravioli, but honey, it was delicious.  Wow.  Generous portions, the triangle of bread was fantastic, I will definitely be back another time.

The Unexpected Home Improvement

Monday’s are the day I usually go grocery shopping.  The providence of God was with me because of a dental appointment after work and then an evening with the Bishop and his wife, getting to know a few of the other ladies from the Ward.  I got home that evening and found that my refrigerator was no longer keeping things cool anymore.

Four trash bags later, that refrigerator was moved out of the way and a new one bought this evening was plugged into it’s place.    The old one was at least 30 years old.  Many thanks to one of my coworkers for his help.

The old one:

The new one:

If You Are Going To Disney World in Orlando Florida...

More Cleaning...

I’ve partially cleared off and decluttered the bar on the other end of the kitchen counter.  This also means a dusting and arranging of my red, white and blue lanterns.

Kitchen Is Getting Better

In 2016:

In 2017:

As of today:

Beat The Bush - Financial Independence

This was a goal Decker and I had, it was one of the goals.  We had others, but it started with financial independence.  Where are you at on this spectrum?

It’s been 20 years already?

2018 will make 22 years since Matilda came to the silver screen.

For the 20th anniversary, Danny DeVito, who was largely responsible for bringing this story to the silver screen, held an afternoon tea for those who worked on the movie.

Blessed

Saturday, March 31st, after a day of appointments and work, I went to the Gilbert Deseret Bookstore for Ladies Night during the Priesthood Session of General Conference.

While there, I won a prize in a drawing!

Since I get my books and audiobooks electronically, I picked up a few videos for 20% off.  I loved Truman Madsen.