Where where you be in 5 years? (Guest post)

Today we have a guest post from Michelle who's sharing her frugal story and her frugal future. Hit it, Michelle!

 From our Puerto Rico trip

Hi, I'm Michelle and I graduated in May of 2010 with a lot of student loan debt. I currently work full-time in the financial services industry while also attending night classes for my MBA. I own a house with my boyfriend and we have 2 dogs (who are our babies).

I hope that sometime soon we will be able to travel all over the world, but first I need to start saving money. We have never really been too detailed with our 5 year plan, but we do have a somewhat-general idea of our salaries, living situation and life. Me and my boyfriend (together for over 5 years) are always thinking about retiring young and traveling (I have an extensive bucket list), but that seems unattainable right now because of how young we are and the debt we have (mortgage, student loans, car loan).

Today I'm writing about where I think I'll be in 5 years and how I'm getting ready for it now. My 5 year plan is to be out of student loan and car loan debt. I will be done with my car loan next year so that will be a nice relief. I also hope to be in a bigger house. My house right now is fine, but 5 years from now I know I will want something bigger and a bigger yard. I don't plan on having children until I'm around 30. I know children don't always go along with a plan, but I'm definitely not ready right now (and I don't think I will be soon). I also hope to be the Vice-President in my company or at least close to it.

I also hope that I will be able to travel more extensively. I've done a lot of traveling this past year. I've gone to Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami, Puerto Rico, Dallas, Los Angeles, Kansas City, DC, but each was for only around 4 days (and some were mainly work trips) and I would like to go somewhere and spend maybe around 2 weeks and really get to know the place.

I'm preparing myself for all of this by getting a good education, having a good mindset, and being willing to try anything. Having my MBA will help me a lot in my field, as people will stop looking at my age (hopefully) and will take me more seriously. Being open to everything and anything is also helpful. I try to say yes to new things so that I can gain new perspectives.

Saving money and being frugal is a BIG way for me to attain my 5 year plan. Once I graduate, I hope to start aggressively paying off my student loans and my goal is to pay around $1,000 to $1,250 every month. At this rate, I should be able to have my loans paid off in around 3 years since I will owe around $40,000 (including my 2 undergraduate degrees and my MBA). I have made a grocery budget on ourselves of around $300 a month and we are trying to limit our entertainment budget so that when the time comes, we will be ready.

What's your 5 year plan? How are you preparing yourself?

Hope you enjoyed reading this! You can read more about my life at Making Sense of Cents.

That new car (my stupid purchase)

Lindsey wrote an awesome post about stupid things she’s wasted money on, and I was inspired to share my story of my one BIG stupid thing.

It was the winter after 9/11. I was activated for Homeland Security at the ripe old age of 19, but I was making the paycheck of an average school principal. Between my base pay, military bonus money, my per diem and the fact that I didn’t have to spend money on rent, I was making too much money for someone my age. Really, it was too much. I didn’t know what to do with it all. I was already spending money on take out lunch and dinner every day, and shopping at the nearby mall every week. But for some reason, I felt that I needed a car.

Now, since I was taking a trip back home to see my family every weekend, I did need a dependable car. One that would get me through the New Jersey storms and the long rides back and forth. The responsible person in me knew that I could find a dependable used car, but the teenager in me wanted a brand new, top of the line car. I was insane.

Did I mention that this was my very first car? I had used Mom and Dad’s whenever I need it during high school and didn’t see a point of getting my own at the time. But, once I had the funds and the quasi-independence, I spent the money. I had no credit, no savings, and champagne tastes. I ended up with a 2002 Honda Civic EX, and paid quite handsomely for it every month.

Now, the car really was a stupid purchase. But the stupidest part is that even with all the money I was making, I didn’t pay off the car. I could have had it paid in full within 6 months and I didn’t. THAT was the stupid part. I had planned to pay triple payments while I was on orders, but lobster, Macy’s and 4 vacations that year got in the way.

Still to this day I think about not only the ridiculous amount of money wasted on the car, but that whole year. It was my most expensive life lesson, but it was the best one to date.

Ignorance is bliss….until you get the bill….

Crazy, Stupid Things I've bought (Guest Post)

Lindsey from ChicMoneyTalk is blessing the blog with a guest post today! If you haven't checked out her blog, you need to hop over there after reading this post. She shares great information on living frugality and staying fabulous. Thanks Lindsey!

Hello everyone! I’m Lindsey from ChicMoneyTalk; glad to be guest posting here today.  I know I’m not alone when I say that I love shopping; both online and those real stores. And while I’d like to think that I have a pretty good sense of reasoning in what I should or shouldn’t buy…I’ve definitely made some mistakes. I won’t go blaming it all on impulse buys, just crazy, stupid things I’ve bought that I probably shouldn’t.

Brussels Sprouts. Giggle if you want, but I bought them (with only vague childhood memories of disliking them), put them in my fridge, and left them there. For, eh…a few weeks. Anyone else buy groceries with the intent on trying something new only to have to throw it out?

Corner TV Stand. One of my first Craigslist purchases was this corner tv stand that I didn’t really like, but thought I would with a great makeover. I’m still not sure what I saw in it….still. I had grand plans of painting, ripping out the DVD shelf, and somehow, other pieces of furniture had gotten their makeovers, and that one is still sitting there. Waiting to be left when the military moves me again—it’s a great way to get rid of unwanted furniture!

Paper Lanterns. The Dollar Store was having a sale…everything’s a dollar!! Wait? I always try and pop into my local Dollar Tree, and usually I’m pretty good about knowing what I should buy or not buy. But one trip, I came out with about 10 paper lanterns and coordinating colors of fruit candles and plastic plates and bowls. I have yet to use any of them. Years later.

One bookshelf. When my husband and I were living in Germany, IKEA was the place to shop! We made the decision to walk out with a coffee table, two end tables and one bookshelf—all matching. The thought was to go back later and get another shelf. I think that were driving a VW Gulf and didn’t have enough room had something to do with that decision. Here I am, not in Germany, with one bookshelf. Whatever do you do with one bookshelf? Oh, and they discontinue the line.

I could probably go on forever on clothes that I bought thinking “Ooooh! Love it!” Only to get it home, try it on a few days later and ask myself what I was thinking?? I have a dress that would be cute if both of the sleeves were the same length. That’s what I get for ripping tags off as soon as I get home and hanging my purchases in my closet. I’m getting better at not doing that.

Have you made any stupid purchases?! Anything you just roll your eyes and laugh (now) that you actually bought? Please, share! And thanks so much Amiyrah for letting me quest post. 

Thank you, Lindsey, for offering to guest post! So, spill it: have you bought things that you've regretted like Lindsey? Leave some comments for her and let her know your secrets :).

Frugal Beauty: lemons

This is prime time for Lemons, although I never seem to have a problem finding them in my store all year-round. This is a great time to try those elusive Meyer lemons that seem to never pop up in the NorthEast, except in January at Whole Foods or Wegmans. Since this yummy fruit is in season, I wanted to put up a post about how you can use it frugality in your beauty routine. Here are some great and inexpensive ideas:


Acne Mark remover
This mixture does an awesome job of removing those marks left on your face from that time you thought it would be OK to pop "that one little pimple."

2 tablespoons honey
4 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 teaspoons Greek yogurt
1 egg white
yields 8 applications

Mix all ingredients together until the mixture thickens. Apply 1 tablespoon of mixture to your clean, dry face and let sit for 15 minutes. Wash off with warm water and lightly dry face. Follow up with your usual moisturizer.
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Yellow nail remover
If you wear lots of nail polish and see your nails start to turn a bit yellow after a while, this rinse will help.

1 lemon, cut in half

Rub finger tips into the insides of the lemon and repeat for 3 to 5 days or until the yellow tint is gone. You can store the lemon halves in the fridge between treatments and just get rid of them once you are done. Easy!

Beauty routine or not, what are your favorite ways to use lemons? Do you use them in cleaning? Do you have a favorite recipe that uses lemons?

Our New Obsession....

When you're deployed, you tend to get attached to very weird things. Whether it's your favorite meal at the chow hall, a type of sock they only sell at the BX/PX or a type of pen that your roommate's mom sent and they decided to share with you, it becomes your little obsession. Well, my shop now has one of those weird obsessions: old bay popcorn.

I don't know why, but this buttery concoction of spice, sweet and fat makes us giggle. The specific brand we've been chowing on is from Fisher's popcorn in Ocean City, Maryland, but I bet any brand would do at this moment. We are officially obsessed.

I wonder what we'll be into next week.

And Gabrielle Union shall play moi...

I often wonder how my life would play out in a movie. The characters, the drama, the laughs, and what parts the screenplay writer would chose to highlight...and remove. The funny part is, I really do think my life would be pretty interesting as a feature film. That is, if Gabrielle Union was in the starring role.

My Journey to Frugalista- Part II (Guest post)

Today, we're continuing Beth's Story on how she came into the frugal lifestyle. She left us with a cliffhanger yesterday, so let's see how it all turns out: 

I started cutting coupons that Sunday.  I had a small coupon organizer and I needed a way to organize all these coupons.  With this small organizer, you put your coupons in, but you can't see them, and I wanted a way to keep track of them.  So I went onto Word and typed in all my coupons alphabetically with expiration dates, etc.  After awhile, it was getting to be too much of a chore, not to mention wasting a lot of paper each week when I would print out my master list of coupons to plan my shopping trips.  I noticed a lot of the 'hounds' were talking about coupon binders, and one posted a link to her blog on how she organizes her coupons.  Since I'm a visual person by nature, this spoke to me, so I got a binder, some dividers and baseball card inserts and started organizing. This way was so much easier for me.  I can just peruse my coupons in my binder and I'll always remember what coupons I have.  Even now, someone can ask me if I have a coupon for a product, and I'll know from memory if I had it. 

After awhile, I was doing really well with the coupons and kept hearing about people's blogs.  My co-workers were always so impressed with all my savings, and I wanted my friends and family to see how to also score some good deals at our local stores.  A lot of the blogs were from blogger.com so I started playing around with it and made my own blog.