Saving For Maternity Leave?

Something that I read the other day in American Baby absolutely shocked me.  42% of new moms will be taking unpaid maternity leave.

As you may already know by reading previous posts, I recently lost my job and will be collecting unemployment through the end of my maternity leave.  Before that I would have received 4 weeks at full pay followed by another 8 weeks at 60% of my pay.  Even that was going to cause us to do some scaling back and saving for the baby’s arrival.

If you are like me, with a huge loving family ~ you will get a lot of the things you need for your new bundle of joy at your baby showers and from people wanting to help you get started on the right foot.  But I’m learning quickly that it’s not the case for all mom’s.  Heck, some first time mom’s get no baby shower and hardly any support at all.  They are then forced to burden the entire $8-15k that baby’s first year entails.  OUCH.

Again as you have learned by now, I am all about helping my readers find true financial freedom.  So this was something that just could not be ignored.  And thus, here are some tips for saving big so that you can have that time at home with your little one guilt free, without adding any additional debt to your home.

1. Find free, or next to free items.  Whether you need maternity clothes, a bassinet, a crib, clothes for baby, blankets, toys ~ there are tons of ways to find these items as hand me downs.  Check with the women at your church, Craigslist, Freecycle.org, StorkBrokers.com, neighbors etc.  Then, when you no longer need the items, pay it forward.  Find another mom in need and send the items her way.  A huge hint: don’t be too proud.  I’ve learned that by driving to some of the nicer parts of the city and checking out their Goodwill or thrift stores, I can find some MAJOR SCORES with the price tags still on them.
2. If your nesting is anything like mine, you’re going through every day and cleaning up different things trying to make room for your LO.  Get rid of that crap!  Have a community yard sale coming up?  Use it to your advantage.  Throw it up on Craigslist.  Donate it for a tax write off.  Find a way to profit from the “stuff” you simply won’t have room for once the crib, dresser, changing table, bassinet, toy box, rocking chair (see where I’m going with this?) arrive!
3. Coupons!  If you are anything like my DH, this idea mortifies you.  I will say it again.  Don’t be too proud.  I’ve included a link to a Facebook page that I have found very helpful for finding freebies. 
• I am by no means an extreme couponer.  Honestly, most of my money savings comes from reading my weekly flyer and planning my meals around what’s on sale.  My grocery bill for two weeks (for two people) is approximately $100 but I almost always have $40 or more that I saved…  So $140 in product, for $100 for taking five minutes of my day read a flyer before doing my grocery shopping.
• Take a chill on the eating out.  If you’re like most people I know, you’re eating out 2-4 times a week.  And honestly, this doesn’t include you or your DH going out to lunch with the coworkers!  Let’s say you both go out to lunch twice a week, and have dinner together at a restaurant twice a week…  $9 per lunch = $36 per week, $45 (yes, I used a conservative number) per dinner = $90 per week.  That’s $126 per week in eating out.  More than two times my grocery budget for two people.  If you really can’t give this up ~ there are so many chain restaurants that have deals like “2 for $20” or “kids eat free” on X night of the week.  Again, this is where coupons come in.  Join the mailing list (especially for Ruby Tuesdays) and get great coupons often resulting in 50% off one meal with the purchase of two entrees, sometimes even BOGO.  This can save you huge!
• Sign up for mailing lists for your favorite clothing stores as well.  Motherhood maternity has great deals constantly so find your favorite maternity and baby clothing stores and get signed up.
4. Co-Op.  I have strongly been considering starting a baby sitting co-op in my neighborhood to save on the expense of a sitter once it’s time for Mommy & Daddy to start having date nights.  Find options like this and check your local city’s calendar for free things to do in your area.  Your life doesn’t have to end, it’s just an adjustment.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got for now.  Time to get back to my crocheting.  Hope you all have a great day.

Sincerely,

~Nikki

Just Half of One? Please?

For the most part, I have been very lucky in that I haven’t been struggling too much with food cravings.  However ~ every once in a while I will get the worst craving in the WORLD for something that I know that I can’t have.  And usually when I want one thing I can’t have?  I want them all.  So yes, I would like a spicy tuna roll, with a wood chuck, and some hot dogs stuffed with cheese and wrapped up in a crescent roll with a side of ramen noodles.  PLEASE?!

I don’t know about the rest of you pregnant ladies out there, but my husband is an absolute stickler when it comes to these things.  That being said, in the beginning, when he felt I wasn’t gaining enough weight (who made him the doctor?) he was all about loading me up with potato chips, ice cream and the like.

At our last visit, I was very proud that I had only gained 3 pounds ~ putting me at a total of 13 lbs. gained thus far.  This was right at 22 weeks and it had been a month in between visits.  Go me.  Here’s to hoping I can keep that trend and only gain the other 12 lbs. I’m shooting for because let’s be honest, nobody wants to hit that 200 lb. mark for the first time in their life……….

On another note, now that baby shower invitations have started pouring into homes, Maggie and I are receiving our first wave of gifts.  Do you have any idea how exciting that is?  You know it’s bad when you’re jumping for joy after receiving a $40 Wal Mart gift card.  Hey, I hear we will go through a LOT of diapers this winter.

I’m going to hop in the shower and pick up my groceries but when I come back: expect another blog with a bit more substance.  Hope that you all had a fantastic week and have some great things coming up for the first week of May.

Sincerely,

~Nikki

Nesting ~ A Planner’s Wet Dream

For those of you who know me, you’ll be inclined to agree that I take planning to a whole new level.  For those of you who don’t?  Well you’re about to find out.  Have I thanked you all for reading this lately?  Thanks a bunch!

So let’s dive in.  I seriously can think of a dozen women that I know off the top of my head that are pregnant right now.  I don’t know if you always know everybody who is pregnant, and you just don’t notice it when you’re not pregnant…  But one thing that I have definitely noticed is I am truly a planner.

My registry was started at 14 weeks.  My nursery theme has been picked out since before then.  My baby girl’s name has been picked out for…  years.  My baby shower dates have been set for months, heck ~ I’ve already sent a Facebook invite to my friends for my July shower.  Yes, I realize that it’s still April ~ however I’m missing your point completely.  I like to plan my life well in advance, and therefore give everyone else the opportunity to do the same.  Where was I…  Ahh, yes.

So in my dealings with these other pregnant women in my life, I’m always getting the “isn’t it a bit early to be doing that?” look.  When I’m like…  What do you MEAN you haven’t started preparing the nursery yet?  Interviewing daycares?  Pediatricians?  *SCOFF*

The fact of the matter is, I just want to be as ready as I physically can be because I’m a crazy stressed out monkey on a daily basis.  I don’t need any surprises to make things even worse!  Let’s not even get started on the fact that I am going to do all I can to ensure that my LO’s OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is no where near as serious as mine!

But I wanted to share with you a few things that I am doing to make things a bit more… streamlined.

A.) Yes, I know that somebody else throws the baby shower.  But why does that mean I can’t get involved?  For just 50 cents an invitation I created invitations and mailed them to my mother to send out.  I love my mother, but I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t one of two things would have happened.

1.) She would have spent $3 an invitation to have someone else do them.

2.) I would have wound up with those hand written fill in the blank invitations.

B.) I am creating a packet of information for the people that I am allowing to come visit us in the hospital AFTER the baby is born.  It’s got some simple instructions along with the times that we will be allowing visitors as the hospital stated that they don’t really enforce visiting hours on the L&D floor.  EFF THAT NONSENSE!  It also has directions, parking information, what they’ll need to bring with them, etc.

C.) We have primed the nursery and will be putting the base coat on early next month.  Then we will be having a friend come in to add some hand painted jungle animals to the theme so that we can get all of the furniture in as it arrives.  I truly hope to have the nursery 90% complete no later than a week after my third and final baby shower.  This will give me a month and a half to prepare the rest of the house.

Some of the other things I’m doing include crocheting ~ not just for Grandma’s anymore, reading all those baby books graciously piling up, and trying to keep scary thoughts of the big day out of my head.  That’s all for now.  Again, I told you there would be some ranting.  Hope you all have a great week!

Sincerely,

~Nikki

Pregnancy Dreams… Murder Preps Me for Motherhood?

I don’t know about the rest of you millions of women who have gone through pregnancy, but I am having the craziest dreams!  Last night, when I woke up believing that a friend had passed away, I decided that it was the final straw.  I needed to read some articles.

What I found was that these dreams are not only normal, but they are in fact our subconscious trying to prepare us for the trials ahead in our journey towards motherhood…  What?  I kept coming across all of these posts where it talks about women having dreams about their cravings, or animals that get bigger as your pregnancy progresses…  So why am I only having the mind numbingly terrifying dreams?

You know, the ones where I’m not myself and getting shot at from a patio while I’m completely clothed in a swimming pool?  And where my friends die, and my DH is with another woman and doesn’t recognize me at all when in passing?  How is this supposed to help me prep for motherhood?  Isn’t is bad enough that I can’t stay comfortable long enough to truly get a good night’s sleep to begin with?

So anyway, if you were wondering ~ there is your answer.  Those crazy pickle chasing dreams are completely normal.  Try not to let it get to you.

Hoping you’re able to get a good night’s sleep before the baby comes!

Sincerely,

~Nikki

Chicken Lo Mein–Without the Delivery Driver

Alright, so I promised some simple recipes.  Are you ready to learn how to make a delicious version of chicken lo mein in the comfort of your own home, in under 30 minutes, with no delivery driver?  Good.  So let’s dive in.  Keep in mind that right now it’s just me and the DH so most of my recipes feed two heavy eaters.  You may need to adjust accordingly.

Ingredients:

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast ~ diced

1/2 an onion, then cut into 8 sections

2 servings of fettuccini noodles

1/2 cup chicken broth (I always use bouillon cubes)

6 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 cups assorted chopped vegetables (I typically use carrots, zucchini, red bell pepper)

In a sauce pan, get the water boiling for your fettuccini noodles.  The rest of the dish will take no longer than the 12 minutes it takes to cook the noodles, providing you’ve done the prep work.  Add the noodles, set a timer for 12 minutes, and get to work on the rest of the dish.

Mix the chicken broth, brown sugar, and soy sauce together.  Set aside.

In a hot skillet pan with 2-3 tbsp of olive oil add the chicken and the onions.  Cook the chicken for two minutes to ensure that the pink is gone from the outside of the chicken.  Now add the vegetables.  At this point you can add salt and pepper to the pan if you’d like.  Cook vegetables for five minutes in the chicken mixture (remember, 7 minutes of your 12 minutes have now passed).  Then add the chicken broth & soy sauce mixture to the skillet.  Simmer for the remaining five minutes.

At this point, drain your pasta and add it to your skillet mixture, coating the noodles in the sauce.  It’s ready to serve.  Enjoy!

Sincerely,

~Nikki

Dave Ramsey & His Baby Steps to Financial Freedom (1-3)

Now that you’re working on that budget, (please read my post on budgeting 101 before proceeding) let’s go ahead and touch briefly on a great man who helps millions reach their financial goals via radio, books, live events and his online website.  For those of you who have no idea who Dave Ramsey is and care to find out you can learn about him here.

Here’s what I love about Dave Ramsey’s 7 baby steps to financial freedom and why most of my advice to you will be based off of his ~ he doesn’t just give you a solution for getting out of debt.  He is giving you a solution to a new way of life that allows you to save for emergencies, your future, and have NO monthly payments.  I mean it.  The last step includes getting all that extra money you saved because you’ve paid off all your debts and turning it into your dissolving that mortgage payment.  But I am clearly getting ahead of myself.

So now that you have a budget, and it includes socking money aside every month, let’s get started:

Baby Step #1:

Some of you may already have this accomplished.  The first goal whether it will take you 3 months or 12 based on your budget, is to sock $1,000 away into a savings account that is to be used as an emergency fund.  Let me be clear.  Unless an emergency occurs, this is money that should not be touched while you’re working on the other steps.  It should not be used for non emergency home improvements, tinting your windows because you “have the funds” or anything of the sort.  It should go into an account not to be thought of again until that dreaded emergency hits.  And we all know that Murphy’s Law says that emergency will hit.  This sounds simple enough, right?  Great.  Let’s move on to step #2.

Baby Step #2:

Pay off ALL debt.  What?  All of it.  Yes, all of it.  Dave Ramsey refers to this method as using a snowball to eliminate all of your debt so that you can have true financial freedom.  Yes, this sounds a bit more complicated.  So I’m copying, pasting AND citing!  LOL.

“List your debts, excluding the house, in order. The smallest balance should be your number one priority. Don’t worry about interest rates unless two debts have similar payoffs. If that’s the case, then list the higher interest rate debt first.

The point of the debt snowball is simply this: You need some quick wins in order to stay pumped up about getting out of debt! Paying off debt is not always about math. It’s about motivation. Personal finance is 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior. When you start knocking off the easier debts, you will see results and you will stay motivated to dump your debt.” ~http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-step-2/

Are you wondering how to do this?  In my opinion I really feel like this is why it’s step 2 and not step 3.  You’ve got your emergency fund, so as I stated before you’ll LEAVE THAT MONEY ALONE but if you don’t have other ways to bring in the income, or adjust your budget?  I would suggest using what you’ve been allocating towards savings, and allocate it towards your snowball.  If you’ve been putting $300 a month into your savings, and you have a couple of small $300 bills?  You’re paying off a new bill each month!  Wouldn’t that be great?  And think about how it will impact your credit if that is an issue.  I promise from personal experience, it feels amazing.  On to #3.

Baby Step #3:

The next step is all about truly building an emergency fund.  What would happen if you or your spouse lost your income?  At today’s date (April 27, 2012) it takes 6-10 weeks just to be deemed eligible for unemployment in the state of North Carolina.  You’re already planning on living on a tighter budget, and the money isn’t going to be retroactively paid.  Now that you’ve got your debts paid off, it’s about saving 3 to 6 months of your operating expenses.

What does that look like?  Well, fortunately by now you have a budget that’s pretty accurate.  So you really just need to bust that out and decide whether you want to save 3x that amount or 6x that amount.  And in my opinion, because you’re out of debt, what’s the harm in socking 6x that amount?  I didn’t see anything wrong with it either.

Here’s the fun part, if you’ve paid off monthly payments that were included in your budget while you were doing step #1, now you’ve got the money (let’s say the $300) you were socking into savings, AND the money on any of those payments you were still making on time to go towards this.  It makes it a quick and painless process because you’ve already been allocating that money, so you don’t miss it.  And that’s why it’s so important to allocate every dollar you receive on a monthly basis.

I’m going to take a break from the steps for now and leave you with some personal advice.  As I stated in my budget post ~ while you’re working through this process you need to be able to reward yourself.  If you have to cut back on your cable and only keep the Netflix and the internet?  Don’t cut out your entertainment budget completely.  Go out (within your means) and celebrate with dinner when you get a ticket item knocked off your list.  It really does help.

Also, one thing that I always recommend that I haven’t seen touched on in the 7 baby steps is a separate savings account for those “not if but when” automobile expenses.  I sock aside money every month and put it into a separate savings account that is only for my vehicle.  This way when I need to pay my car tax, or replace the tires, change the breaks or register my vehicle?  I’m not looking for the money.  They’re yearly or bi-yearly expenses that we know are coming.  Why not have something a little extra set aside in case the radiator breaks?

Another thing to add to this ~ I like having newer vehicles.  So when I don’t have a car payment?  I continue to pay that savings account the car payment I was making so that when it’s time to upgrade, I have a nice chunk of down payment that comes from no other savings funds to purchase the new vehicle that I need.  This is what makes me less of a person than Dave…  haha, it most likely will be more of a want than a need.

Please let me know if you guys have any questions or if there is anything I can help clarify for you.  Also, if you’re still struggling with that budget?  Drop me a comment and let me know to get in touch with you.  I’m here to help.

Sincerely,

~Nikki

Cooking Made Easy ~ Grilling Lesson

I remember what life was like when we first got married.  Hamburger Helper, Banquet Chicken, Mashed Potatoes out of a box.  This was our life.  The fanciest I ever got was tuna noodle casserole or the occasional meatloaf ~ again, with instant potatoes.  So imagine how frustrating it is now, knowing that I can make better quality, better tasting meals in half the time?

I believe it takes somewhere around 50 minutes to an hour to cook banquet chicken in the oven.  I don’t know about you, but I will take a boneless skinless breaded chicken breast pan fried to crispy deliciousness over frozen dry chicken any day of the week.  This is where I come in.  To provide you with great ways to try things that are quick and easy.

Since it’s the end of April and in most cases grilling season is already upon us, let’s start with an all on the grill, limited dishes, everything is finished at the same time approach.

Let’s say you want to cook some chicken, steak, or burgers on the grill.  Throw some olive oil, garlic salt, pepper, parsley and Italian seasoning in a bowl.  None of these have to be fresh, they can all come from McCormick, Mrs. Dash, whoever you so choose.  You’ve just made a marinade.  I know, a marinade in 30 seconds that tastes way better than dressing?

Now let’s put that marinade to work…  Get some potatoes.  Chop up 1 1/2 potatoes for each person you’re serving.  You can cube them, slice them, cut them into long steak fry types, whatever your fancy.  Now toss those in your olive oil mixture.  What?  Yes.  Just do it.

Now break out your aluminum foil.  Make a packet, placing your potatoes in and wrapping them up.  I always double wrap them so that you don’t get any olive oil leaking into your grill for a big mess.  Now those are ready to be thrown on the grill.  Now throw your steaks or chicken in the same bowl and let those marinate while you’re doing something for a vegetable.

I love my vegetables two ways, steamed or grilled.  If you don’t already have these amazing products, I highly suggest you check them out.  Yes, I’ve even provided links.  I am a Pampered Chef junky, but I’m sure you can find different versions of either item on line or in your local store.

If you would like some steamed broccoli to go with this meal, get your chicken/steak and potatoes on the grill.  Come back in, chop up your broccoli, and throw it in your vegetable steamer (The best $11 I ever spent) with some water.  The broccoli will take 12 minutes in the microwave.  When it’s done, you can just drain it and eat it plan or throw some dried garlic and butter in the container and shake it up.  Again, no need for fresh herbs here.  Garlic stored in your fridge pre cut or dried and in your pantry will work just fine.

If you want to cut up some squash, zucchini and onions and throw them in your grill basket (found here) after tossing them in some Italian dressing, or that marinade that you made?  They can go on the grill at the same time as everything else.  Just make sure you’re stirring them so they’re cooked evenly.

LIMIT YOUR FLIPPING.  Half way through cooking your steak/chicken flip your meat AND your potatoes.  They’ll be done at the same time and you’ll have nothing to do but throw away the aluminum foil.

So hopefully that sounded as easy as it is.  You’re really prepped, cooked and eating in 30 minutes.  Just don’t forget to warm up your grill while you’re prepping your potatoes.

Stay tuned for more easy recipes including my almost homemade chicken alfredo, chicken lo mein and parmesan…  Hmmm…  Maybe I cook too much chicken?  Happy Friday all.

Sincerely,

~Nikki

Dear Mom, Why Didn’t You Warn Me?!

Why the hell did nobody tell me that pregnancy was not just sunshine and rainbows?  I demand to know where I got THAT silly notion.  I’m here to tell you ladies, it’s not the case.  I tell people all the time “I’m not a very good advocate for pregnancy right now”…  LOL so true.

I was just expecting to have great nails and hair from the prenatal vitamins, to have a great glow, you know… the things women apparently REMEMBER from pregnancy.  How come nobody told me about the acne?  Or the fact that this baby would suck the life out of me from beginning to end?  Or that throwing up really can be the only solution to making your nausea go away?  That the smell of raw meat would send me olympic vaulting out of my kitchen?  MOM!  Why didn’t you tell me all of this?

Whether you are TTC, or newly pregnant, or just looking for some serious laughs I’m going to provide to you my first book recommendation.  Belly Laughs, by Jenny McCarthy.  You can pick it up at Wal Mart for $11 by clicking here.  A vendor I was working with mailed me a copy.  Best gift I have received thus far.  I could not put it down.

I had no idea pregnancy was going to be this scary.  Mind you, I have had it a bit rough ~ morning sickness through week 18, pain in places I didn’t know were supposed to hurt, food aversions, whatever.  But Jenny McCarthy in her “tell it like it is” “straight forward” attitude gives it to you with a dose of humor.  A much more exciting read than “What to Expect…”.  Both of my thumbs up for this one.  Five stars, and all that jazz.

This book literally covers everything from the not so comfortable aspects (both physically and emotionally) of getting bigger, being concerned that you’re doing all you can for your baby both in and out of the womb, constipation, body regions doing things you definitely don’t think they’re supposed to do…  Again, I picked it up, and didn’t put it down until I had finished it.  Some of the crazy quotes of course just had to be shared with my husband.  Anyway, again ~ a must read for all women whether you’re thinking about having a baby, have a bun in the oven, or have done it all and seen it all before.

Thanks for reading!  I told you there would be useless rants, didn’t I?

Sincerely,

~Nikki

Financials ~ Budgeting 101

Welcome back.  Excited to see that you are still reading this. 

Like any expecting parent, or heck, anybody who was raised by human beings, I’ve always said that “I want more” for my child.  Does this mean that I grew up wanting for anything?  That I was ever hungry, or didn’t get the prom dress that I wanted?  Absolutely not.  It simply means that I want to provide my LO (little one) with even more in life than was provided for me.

In my case, that simply means starting now to save for her college education.  Why, do you ask?  Because while college isn’t for everyone, it can definitely give her a head start in a life that I feel she deserves.  I’m not going to sit here and argue with you about it, we can do that privately if you’d like, but yes ~ I plan on fully funding my daughter’s college tuition.  And here is our reason why:

You spend four years at a state school, and if you’re lucky you walk away with a degree and let’s say $50,000 in debt.  You take that four year degree, and with no experience you’re able to land a $40,000 a year job.  You didn’t have a car in school, so now you’ve got to find transportation, you’re paying for new insurance, a home, groceries, utilities, and you’re trying to have a life as well.  Sound like any 22 year olds that you know?  I simply want my baby girl to be able to pay for all of those things without having to pick up a second job to cover that $500 a month student loan bill…  Again $500 is a conservative number, assuming she’s lucky.

That is just my reason for ensuring that we maintain financial stability.  Whatever yours is, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to achieve it.  This is one of the things that I strongly hope to help you with.  This is also one of those matters that I ENCOURAGE you to contact me about if you should have any questions.  So let’s dive in.

First things first.  YOU NEED A BUDGET.  I don’t care if you are living paycheck to paycheck, always have the funds to do whatever you want, or are sacking 50% of your income away every month into a savings or retirement account.  If you don’t know where your money is going, you don’t know what you have available, what it’s for, or even how to use it.

If you are one of the millions of people living paycheck to paycheck, I’m going to tell you that it’s not necessary.  At this point you’re wondering how I can say that.  I don’t know you, I have no idea how much money you make, or what your bills are.  I do know however that I have spent some serious time in forums helping women just like you with their budgets, and I promise you we have been able to make some amazing headway.  You just have to be prepared to either change your lifestyle, or make some uncomfortable calls to the people you’re currently writing checks to every month.  Both is obviously the best option.

Let’s get personal:  For those of you who don’t know me, I recently got let go from my job where I was bringing home over $800 a week.  I had SO MUCH CUSHION in my budget it was ridiculous.  $100 clothing allowance, $250 social, $50 in online video games, almost $400 in gasoline…  I did whatever I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to do it, and I still put money aside for an automobile repair fund, and an emergency savings fund.  Well, I haven’t worked in six weeks now, and I can honestly say that I can survive another month if my unemployment happens to not kick in before then.  Wouldn’t it be great to be in that situation?  Am I shopping at Express every other week and going out to dinner all the time?  No, of course not ~ but my bills are paid AND I’m even still putting money back into my savings, so as not to deplete it entirely.

So what do you need to sit down and do your budget?  If you’re not good with excel, bust out a paper and pen.  Pull your bank records for the last three months if you can.  Create a list of categories and get to budgeting.  We’ll get to a payment schedule later on.  Your sample budget should look something like this:

Mortgage $ 1,000.00

Utility #1 $ 50.00

Utility #2 $ 50.00

Utility #3 $ 100.00

Savings $ 250.00

Auto Payment $ 250.00

Auto Insurance $ 100.00

Auto Savings $ 100.00

Gasoline $ 200.00

Groceries $ 300.00

Clothes/Hair $ 100.00

Entertainment $ 100.00

 

Total Operating $ 2,600.00

Monthly Pay $ 2,600.00

 

Break things out into categories.  Do you see how I have everything listed for the house?  Then your emergency fund savings?  Then auto?  Then misc.?  This way if you need to, you can see how much you’re spending in each category.  Utilities can include anything from gas & electric to cell phone to internet and cable.  See how monthly pay matches total operating?  Because every dollar is allocated including your entertainment, groceries, and gasoline.  This is why it may take a few months to get your budget right.

Tune in later for a blog about why it’s important to have multiple savings accounts, how to create your payment schedule, and why allowing yourself some $$$ to yourself while you’re trying to get on track is your safest bet!

Sincerely,

~Nikki

Welcome to From The Mommy… My newest adventure

I am starting this blog at 22 weeks and 4 days pregnant, officially 4 months from our estimated due date.  For those of you who don’t know me, I’m 25 and have been married to my DH (Dear Husband, aka Jayson) for almost four years.  After many attempts, we are so blessed and very ready to welcome our beautiful little girl into this world.

While I still believe DH was a little bit disappointed at first (that I wasn’t growing a future NFL Linebacker in my womb) we are both ecstatic and can’t wait for the rollercoaster that is to come.

This blog is for women in all walks of life.  Whether you are TTC (trying to conceive) and wondering what to expect, interested in learning how to cook amazing meals in 30 minutes, need financial advice, or are just looking to read about the trials and tribulations of another woman going through the same exact things ~ this blog is for you.

Some of these blogs will consist of fact, and some of them will consist of me getting up on my soap box for important information that I want to share with you ~ whether you want to hear it or not.  For those of you who DO know me, this will come as no surprise.  For those of you who don’t?  I have a huge heart and wear it on my sleeve.  Please don’t take offense, it’s not meant to come across as brash or any other type of thing.  I feel strongly about the things I feel strongly about, and am otherwise a very non-political type of person.  Use this blog for the things you want to know, and take or leave the rest.

I truly look forward to sharing my journey with you.  Take the time to view the next couple of posts and search through anything that you might be looking for.  I will do my best to categorize as I see fit.  For right now – if you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment box provided.  Once I get up and moving, if you all like me enough, there will be a domain name with e-mail address and all of that your thoughts/questions.

Sincerely,

~Nikki