Operation- Live Like No One Else

A few years ago I read the book: Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. And he said: 

“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”

Meaning if you live below your means like few people do, later on you can live like the few that are well off. That's what I want to do this year. When I started my taxes I looked at my W2 and saw how much I made last year. I looked at my bank account and saw how little of it I had. I'm not the best saver yet. I did save like crazy to buy my house. Usually I will have a couple hundred ( in honesty) in my savings and the rest in a checking account. Usually after tithes, bills, and expenses my accounts get low. I know it's good to have 3 to 6 months expenses in a savings account, I just have never been that good at saving. Until now! It's a new year so that means it's time to buckle down and get saving. So comes in Operation Live Like No One Else. What brought this up was from pinterest. I repined a blog about a family of 4 who lives on $14,000 a year. It kinda shocked me. I make a good amount, but I somehow live on close to that amount a year. I want to change, I want to have a huge amount of savings left over at the year end. I also realized, i'm not a family of 4 and I also only have one income, at the moment. So their scenario may not work for me entirely, but I can use their tips and adjust them to fit my needs better. I'm pretty excited to start and even more excited to see my savings account grow! I'm excited to become financially free! So let the journey begin. I will be sharing what i've learned from changes i've made, what works best for me, and some money saving tips. I will include it in my financial friday feature and maybe a few extra posts as well. I can't wait to save!

Hello, Goodnight

Hello! A ways back i've decided to stick with one blog, this one. Well, i'm sticking to it. If I want to write something that isn't crafty, or home related, or whatever, I can. It's my blog :)   So i'm posting on this one and this one alone.. well i'm not entirely being truthful. There is another blog in the works. It's a specific blog. I've been wanting to write about home decor, design, and homes for awhile and that's what i'm going to do. It's going to be my version of an hgtv show but blog (kinda). So that will probably launch mid February. I'm currently working on the design and getting some content written before publishing it. I'm excited for it. And I won't neglect this blog either. I was reading some older post and I came to the conclusion that I miss posting on here. My goal is to post on here atleast once a week. If I post more, great. But i'm ok with once a week for now. I actually have a schedule planned out for this blog to write every other day and write weekends on the home blog. I think it will work, but i'll take baby steps and go for the once a week goal till I make that a habit.
If I get married this week (I'm not, and Im not seeing anyone, so this is all hypothetical) I would totally have navy, pink, and gray as my colors. If i was designing a room I would have navy and pink be the main colors with gray and yellow(?) as accent colors. I'm still crushing on Navy and Pink. It's a pretty color combination. I've noticed a color trend for spring, i'm indifferent about it. Lots of soft mint, blue, and coral. I can't wait to see more color trends.
Well I better get going.
Night Nite-
-J

Navy and Pink

Hello! First I would like to share some news- i'm starting a new blog. More of a personal (but not too personal) journal style blog about my life, thoughts, questions, more of what i'm thinking on a daily basis. I will still post on here of course, this is my creative outlet.

Second- my dilemma: I want to paint a room/wall dark blue in my house, but i'm not sure where. All my rooms, except for 2, are already planned/ painted. The 2 left are my spare bedroom and my craft office. I'm not sure if dark blue would fit in with my house flow color scheme, atleast upstairs where the bedrooms are. The craft office is going to be white with an accent wall of either fushia or dark blue (with pink accents of course). Since i'm not going to actually paint till the spring time, I have time to decided. Here's some inspiration of dark blue and pink i'm thinking of pulling from for somewhere in my house.

Source

Source

Source

I'm thinking of changing my color scheme for the house to make these fit in. I would love to paint a room dark blue. I'll find a way to make it work!

Till next time,
-Jen

Happy New Year!

Hello! I've been away for awhile, but i plan on coming back to blogging soon, like tomorrow actually! I just wanted to wish everyone a very late Merry Christmas. Hope it was fun, and meaningful, and restful, and the best! And Happy New Year! I hope 2013 will be your best year yet! I'm thinking of a few new goals, i hope to share some of them with you tomorrow. That's all for now, good night!

House Love: Flipped

  I love houses. I loved looking for houses when I was buying. I love watching shows about houses- buying, selling, remodeling, etc. I loved finding my perfect for me house. Because of all this, I decided to do a new feature called House Love! It will be where I write about house- listings I find under $100k (appox.) and simple ideas to make it better, dream houses, and home decor ideas. I will share my own house buying story soon, but tonight I wanted to share one of the houses I loved, but didn't get. 

It was on and off the market, the 2nd or 3rd time it came back on the market I jumped at it. I walked through it with my family and love it. Though it needed a lot of work, there was more pros than cons. The yard was probably what I loved the most, huge yard with trees- perfect size (maybe not to mow though- i'm not much  into yard work yet, but mowing is ok). The inside had great potential. I thought about the house a lot as far as what I would change and what I would do to each of the rooms. I was too infatuated with this house (my advice on looking at houses is don't get too emotionally attached, houses come and go, and not all the houses you like are meant to be yours, just keep your head up and the right one will come! I'll write another post with my house hunting advice later). I made an offer after looking through it, and was excited. A few days before I made my second offer (well tried) on a different house, but it had too many offers and weren't accepting any more. I was heart broken, then this house came and I thought this house could be it. Well, it wasn't. I was heart broken again, but it was ok. I always knew the right house would come (and it did, that story will be another time). So appox. 6 months later, this house is back on the market and it's been flipped! And it looks incredible! So here's the before pic (I don't have a source for these pics since it was from the original listing which was removed after it sold.)-

The pics are of the front of the house, the livingroom, the kitchen, and a bathroom.
Now here's the after pics same house and same rooms, except remodeled and $100k more.

Source

It's quite the transformation! I can't believe the kitchen- amazing!

If you are looking for houses, don't over look the lower priced or foreclosed houses. There are some great houses available right now. You may not be a professional, but with a few simple changes you can make a house look way better. Sometimes all it takes even is a fresh coat of paint!
I'll post more budget houses with potential and ideas on how to make them better in the future. I was so excited for this house, I had to share!
Thanks for reading!
-Jen

My New Life

One of my goals this year was to get a dog. I wanted a small/medium size dog, well trained, easy grooming, house broken, and preferably crate trained. I kinda also wanted 2 dogs so they could keep each other company. Well last friday I went to the local animal shelter and I tried out a few dogs. A medium size labrador retriever, she was too big and too much for me, I couldnt really control her. I also got to meet a cute beagle named Buddy, but he wasn't the right dog either. Then I decided to take on the twins (not identical). I took the two over hyper jackabee (jack russel/ beagle mix) into the little room and yep, they were it. I felt a little crazy and impulsive, but I liked them. A lot. So I adopted them. Now my life is a lot different. They sleep in my bed, good thing I have a queen size! They also get up at 6am, and I have to take walks everyday with them, which isn't a bad thing. Pets are awesome, but also take a lot of responsibility, which is totally worth it. The first night as I was trying to sleep, I just couldn't turn my mind off and kept regretting getting them. Mostly I was nervous about the new life I was about to embark on. I was thinking about the things I would have to give up and change. But then came the thoughts that I was able to give these guys a new life and a good change.

Me and the pups

There's me with the pups. Their previous name was Samson and Delilah. Samson is the one with brown fur in the back, Delilah the beagle looking one in the front. I'm not 100% sure about names. The names reminds me too much of the Bible story of Samson and Delilah, and based on the story, I prefer to rename them. The boy's new name is Riley. And the girl i'm having a bit of trouble. She's cute and little, so she needs a cute name. So far i've come up with Penny, Lucy, Lily, and Lilah. And I can't decide. I think i've narrowed it down to Lily or Lilah, i'll make a decision tomorrow, because I have to start teaching them their new names. I may stick with Lilah since it's a part of Delilah, i'm not sure. 

Here's a little more about them:
They are both 4 yrs old, brother and sister, and the classic jack russel and beagle. Loves to sniff everything, can jump really high, and very hyper. It's pretty interesting watching them and seeing their different personalities.
Riley- He's a very lovable, people friendly, sweet dog. He loves to gives kisses. He's a little more chill and likes to be near me constantly. I put them in the crates over night the first 2 nights because I wasn't sure what they would do. He would be good for a few hours, but then whine and bark. He's a very obedient dog. I love him!
Lily or Lilah- She is also lovable, sweet, people friendly, and independent (to an extent) dog. She is more of a leader. She also doesn't like to be without her brother. She is really good in the crate, never whined or barked. She's very smart. She's super sweet. I love her too!

They are the sweetest dogs! I do love them so and would do anything for them. I am so blessed to have them. They are everything I wanted on my dog list. I can't wait to take them for walks, go to the park, and spend the rest of my life with them (or the rest of their lives). They are so cute, I can't get over it!
Well, there's one of my big news. My new roommates lol.
Good night!
-Jen

Catching Up a Bit

Hello! I haven't written in a little while. Just wanted to stop in and let you know of some news about the business. I officially came up with a business name and it's super cute and it has a specially meaning to me and I can't tell you quite yet! I will soon though. I'm hoping to launch my etsy shop in Oct. I'm still working on product development, my brand, a logo, goals, 5 year plan, and everything else. I want to take my time and do it right. Speaking of that, that's kinda been my new motto. Especially with my home makeover. I like doing the work, but it gets tiresome over time. I can see the end result in my head and I want to fast forward to get to that part. So I tend to rush some projects, which I realized isn't right. I came to the realization I need to take my time and do things right. Fill in all the cracks on the wall, tape the edges of doors and windows so they don't get painted, and everything else that goes into painting a room or any other project. Do it right the first time and do it with excellence. If it takes 2 weeks to do one room, so be it! I'd rather have a really good looking room than one that is done but half heartedly. I think that could be applied to everything in life too. Do your best, do it well, and love what you do. I will love my bedroom so much more without settling cracks in the wall and maybe some crown molding on the wall/ceiling. I really can't wait till everything is done with my house, but i'm going to enjoy the process. Along with my business too!
Good Night!
-Jen