Friday, November 29, 2013

Financial Advice from Thomas S. Monson

“I urge you to live within your means. One cannot spend more than one earns and remain solvent. I promise you that you will then be happier than you would be if you were constantly worrying about how to make the next payment on nonessential debt.” 
                                                                        —Thomas S. Monson                                                                             "True to the Faith"

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Update on 'Quilts or No?' Post

So, a couple months back I posted this: Quilts or No?. It was a genuine question, and I was really appreciative of the feedback from Melissa. She's great like that, she's one of my regulars when I ask questions about business-y things like that.

I got to thinking, and settling in to the new apartment and finally got around to going through what made it across the country with me. Unfortunately, my quilting frames did not make the journey. I had a quilt, ready to be tied tucked away in the box of.... quilty stuff. And I remember Melissa's comment.

I decided to go for it and posted it on Etsy.
Quilt Kit on Etsy


While I'm still getting the hang of this Etsy thing, all the tags and pricing and stuff just makes my eyes cross and my brain ooze out of my ears. I'm glad I got it up. It's a start right?

As always, your feedback and ideas are welcome! I love them and really enjoy the creativity that comes from all of you!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.

Leonardo daVinci

Friday, November 22, 2013

Dave Ramsey Talking in an Understanable Way

Okay. I had the good intentions to do a regular post each Friday and Sunday, but life (aka Grad School) got in the way there. But I'm back (hopefully)!

Since my last post, I think it was Oddly Enough about selling Box Tops for Education on Ebay. (It really works, at least it did for me), I've been trying to squeeze in some financially based reading. I've seen Dave Ramsey mentioned over and over, and I found a decent deal on one of his books, so the next few Finance Friday posts may be a little Ramsey heavy.

I will admit I don't watch his tv show, because, well.... it's annoying. But the book I'm currently reading is very user friendly and easy to understand.

Today's Financial Gem:
" (Make) a decision about looking good versus being good. Looking good is when your broke friends are impressed by what you drive, and being good is having more money than they have."

Thank you, Dave Ramsey!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Well Said...

So, one of my favorite Bloggers, Middle Aged Mormon Man, wrote a post this weekend and it said pretty much everything that I think about during the month of November.

Why? Because, as Pinterest said:



You should go read his post: Can We Stop Talking About Gratitude?

Friday, November 8, 2013

Oddly Enough....

So, over a year ago, I was looking for ways to make some extra money online. I found a guy who claimed that you could save your Box Tops for Education, and caps with codes from Coca-Cola, and sell them on Ebay.

I was a bit skeptical, but also a bit desperate. So I decided to give it a try and started to save all the Box Tops for Education I could find. Once I got about 100, I took a deep breath, and posted it on Ebay.

And it sold. Generally they sell for the same amount they would be worth to a school. So, 100 box tops = $10.

Ten bucks back on my regular groceries. By selling a piece of cardboard/paper on Ebay. I'm yet to try the Coke rewards, but am saving up the caps from my bottles to try that one too.

So, if you need a few extra bucks, don't have children or have children who go to a school that doesn't use Box Tops for Education. Start saving them up and get selling!


Monday, November 4, 2013

Thanks on Facebook

So, I know some people will post an "I am grateful for..." post on Facebook each day during November as a Thanksgiving type deal.

I personally don't like this. I won't do it. I refuse to jump on the bandwagon.

HOWEVER, I recently had some experiences that I felt needed to be put out there as an "I am grateful" post, but I didn't want to bore Facebook. We all know not many people read this blog, so thanks for putting up with me my few readers.

I am in grad school. Grad school is not fun. There is a stereotype of the 'poor grad student', and let me tell ya, I had no idea how true this can be. I end each month worried out of my mind about making all the bills and not starving. It's kind of scary at moments.

But, I was raised to pay tithing. I know you get blessed for paying tithing. Along with that, people in my church also pay a 'fast offering' where once a month you fast and pay the same amount of money that you would have paid for the meals you fast into a fast offering fund. This fund is then used to help people in the church who are struggling enough to really need assistance for buying groceries. I've paid this for the past few years as well.

The cool thing about tithing, and fast offerings in my opinion, is that Heavenly Father tells us that if we pay them He will "...open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blssing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." (Malachi 3:10)

Lately it's been tough for me to pay these things, because it's a big chunk of money. But I also trust that I will be looked after for paying it. In order to motivate myself to keep paying tithing, I've been praying lately that I will recognize the blessings that are coming to me as a direct result of my paying my tithing.

And well, I feel like this has happened several times over.

I needed new shoes, because one pair of mine had somehow lost the right shoe. I was ready to buy a replacement pair of  them off of eBay. Last time I saw it was when I wore it to the zoo. Almost 3 months ago. This morning  I felt like I should look for this shoe in a particular box, that I have been through a couple times since then. I opened the box, which I needed something out of anyway, and the missing shoe literally fell into my hand.

I sold an item on my Etsy site. The first sale I've had in over a year. Not only that, but they requested a custom change to the item. I went to the store to buy some buttons in a color I don't have on hand. The buttons I wanted were missing one, 3 on the card instead of 4, and the manager at the store just let me have them. No charge.

Yeah, it's a $1.25, but that's enough for me to eat dinner on. And I usually have leftovers, so that's a dinner and lunch the next day.(And yes, I really can have dinner on a $1.25, I'm crediting a good mother who taught me how to cook along with the fast offerings.)

You can bet I'm grateful. And you can sure bet that I will continue to pay my tithing and fast offerings, even when I worry about my bills getting paid.