2011: A Year In Review

I love to take this time of year to look back and evaluate the past year as well as make new goals for the coming year. Here is a list, in no particular order, of some of the events that have happened in 2011: (I might share some of my goals later, we'll see.)

-Miss Fifi has learned lots of words. She now says: Hi, Mom, ruff (sometimes it's "oof"), moo (all animals, according to her, say ruff or moo), Da, "ot" (hot), out, and "ut-ut" (uh-oh).

-Rory worked really hard in school. He received and associate's degree in Pre Electrical Engineering. Now he is looking forward to attending the University of Utah to finish his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.

-Miss Fifi has also learned a lot of signs. She knows: all done, milk, I love you (it looks like something else...), change (for diaper change), book, and please (she rubs her belly for that. So funny.) She also started folding her arms for prayers and pointing at her mouth when she's hungry, I didn't teach her that one but I'll take it.

-In true Jones form: We're moving again. (Oh, the stress to be had.)

-Miss Fifi turned one.

-Rory quit his job so we can move.

-I learned to enjoy homemaking more. I always knew that I wanted to stay home when I had kids, but I didn't know it would be as rewarding. I know it isn't for everyone, but it's for me.

-I knit a bunch with my spare time. Here are photos of some more things I knit and crochet. (I did the red blanket, headband with the crochet red flower, diaper cover, and the crochet booties. Isn't Piper adorable!?)

Another thing I like to do is look back at our finances from the past year. This year was... well... Let's say: this year was modest. (That's a nice spin.) Between me staying home to be with Miss Fifi and Rory working part time to go to school, we had to make some sacrifices. And, I wouldn't have changed a thing. I consider us very blessed that we were in the financial position we were in when this year began. One thing that I am proud of is that at one point during the year we had a fully funded emergency fund! It lasted about a month before we had an emergency and had to dip into it, but still, I feel like we did a pretty good job this year.

Call it luck, call it blessings, call us the recipients of wonderfully charitable acts; all in all, I'd say we had a pretty good year. This year had it's stresses and un-fun days. But looking back I'm so grateful for how 2011 turned out. I'm also looking forward to bigger and better things that 2012 may have to offer.

I wish everyone a happy new year!

Miss Fifi is Big in Japan

This post has the potential for being very long. You'll get over it.

Miss Fifi's birthday party was last week and I promised that I'd do a party post. As for the theme, I figured that adults would outnumber kids at this party, so I thought that I might as well make it fun for me to plan. I also just wanted to have an excuse to make fun rice crispy treat sushi. I settled on Big in Japan. Many people asked me about what it means. According to Wikipedia it is, "a phrase to describe Western celebrities failed in the Western world, but more successful in Japan." Funny, right? Just go with it.

If you follow my boards on Pintrest, you may have seen a number of photos that inspired this party. I worked within a budget and pinterest is a great resource for cost saving ideas.

So imagine that the stack of mini chairs and the chalk board aren't in the back ground and it's at a park on a warm fall day. That's what I had in mind when I planned this but you've got to roll with the punches sometimes.

We had fortune cookies I found in bulk at Winco for $.06 each. I dipped them in chocolate a couple days before. They were yummy.

White cake pops dipped in milk chocolate, topped with coconut. I made them with my trusty cake pop maker I got a few months ago. It's a time saver. I recommend getting one if you are in the habit of making cake pops.

"Swedish Nigiri" Rice crispy treats topped with swedish fish and wrapped in green apple fruit roll up.

Wontons filled with cream cheese. Rory also made his famous Thai dipping sauce. I'll try to post that recipe soon.

"Twinkie Roll" Twinkies cut and topped with cut gummy bears.

"Zinger Roll" Zinger's cut and topped with gummy bears.

Funfetti Cake with cream cheese frosting. 'Cause that's how we roll.

We also served Miso Soup, Samurai peanut mix (a Winco find), and the "Miss Fifi Roll."

The Miss Fifi Roll didn't photograph well. It was mango, strawberries, and kiwi with rice cooked in coconut milk and wrapped in a chocolate dough. To save myself from stress I made it the week before and froze it. If I could do it again, I'd make it fresh. Recipe is here. I cut back on the salt in the chocolate dough, and if I made this again, I'd also cut back quite a bit on the sugar. It was awfully sweet.

My tips for saving money while planning a party:

-Spend money on things you can reuse. The cake plater that Miss Fifi's cake was on is a great example because I will always be able to use it. If I bought a green and yellow one to match the theme, I'd be very limited on how I'd be able to use it in the future.

-Plan far in advance. Some people thought I was crazy to start talking about her party in august. Starting that early gave me time to brainstorm and think outside the box. I had time to shop around and not feel pressure to buy because I knew I had time on my side if the price wasn't right. I also had time to make things that I wouldn't have time for if I'd started two weeks before.

-Shop around. I ended up buying much of the food in Winco's bulk section. (If you've never been there, I implore you to go. I've had bad luck with their produce, but their bulk section is marvelous.)

-Make your own food. You might think this would add more stress in the end and might not be worth it, but I was able to spread out what I needed to make over a few days. It turned out to be pretty easy. (The cake I made three weeks before, I wrapped it up really well and froze it. I pulled it out of the freezer the day before and it was just as moist as the day I made it.)

-Borrow. I borrowed the tablecloths, a drink dispenser, a cake pan and the platter that the big cake was on.

-Repurpose. The bamboo that was on the table was actually meant to be a blind. I found it at Big Lots on clearance. It was the exact length of the table, so I used it as a table runner. It added a lot to the over-all affect, yet it only cost me $3.

-Craft. The serving platter the little cake was on I made myself using thrifted plates, dollar store candle stick holder, and some epoxy. Here is the tutorial. It cost me a whopping total of $6.75. I also spent $4 on cardstock and had my sister show me how to fold paper cranes. (*I don't recommend using cardstock for origami. You live, you learn.) I also made the "lanterns" for decorating the cakes. They cost me about $3 to make.

(Craft cont.) With the help of my mom, I also made Miss Fifi's Kimono. I found fabric on sale at Jo-Ann fabrics. It actually inspired the color scheme, too. Cost $10. I plan on using this for her Halloween costume too. Two birds. One stone. Holla! (I'm sorry, I'll never use that word again.)

Another photo of Miss Fifi just for kicks:

The budget was about $80. I went over by a few dollars, but I think it was worth it.

Food: $28

Serving plates: $16

Paper goods: $15

Decor: $15

Fabric: $10

Invites: $2

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GRAND TOTAL $86

I think $86 dollars isn't too shabby for a fun party. Am I right?

If there is anything else you'd like to know about Miss Fifi's party or any other ideas on saving money on parties, let me know.

Things

Please note: Some of the contents of this blog post sways into complaining, on the verge of pity-party territory. I apologize.

I would like to be a better blogger, but I feel like things are so up in the air right now that I don't have much to blog about. Here is an update... Well, it's not even an update because there is much yet to be decided. So, here is my non-update:

Rory is finishing his Associate's degree in Pre-Electrical Engineering in December. After that, he has to transfer to a different school to finish his Bachelor's since UVU doesn't offer a EE Bachelor's degree. So, we'll probably be moving in a few months. Where to? We still don't know. We've thought about BYU. It would be nice because we wouldn't have to move, but between the classes he'd have to repeat (since they don't accept some credits from UVU) and religion classes it would tack on possibly an extra year to his degree. No thanks. We've narrowed it down to a couple of state schools. USU and U of U. Logan or Salt Lake City. Right now we are leaning towards U of U. That could change tomorrow. I don't know.

We are also coming to the realization that as Rory finishes his degree, we just might have to go into debt. The thought of debt makes me cringe.

The thought of moving farther away from family doesn't bother me. I think it will be good for us to not rely on family for babysitting and entertainment when we are bored and don't want to make dinner. Anyone else know how that is? Moving a little farther away will be an adventure. It's just not knowing where we need to look that I'm having the hardest time with. I'm a planner. I need time to work things out in my head and... well, plan. Not knowing where we'll be in five months scares me.

Part of me just wants to get the next couple years over with. I don't like thinking that way because A) That would mean I'm one of those people who live thinking; 'life will start as soon as...' (they graduate, they buy a house, they lose the extra 5 lbs. etc.) As cheesy as the old cliche is, it's true; "Happiness is a journey, not a destination." (If you know who first said or wrote it please, help a sister out.) And B) Could you imagine Miss Fifi skipping from 10 months old to almost 3 years. She's already growing way faster than I believe is fair. Skipping two years of her life is unimaginable.

Speaking of Miss Fifi; isn't she cute?

Because I am unable to solidify moving plans and such, I've focused my efforts on planning Miss Fifi's birthday party and knitting her a blanket. Her party will be awesome, trust me on that one. Would you like a sneak-peak of her blanket? Shhh... I need to trust that you won't tell her about it.

That's all you're getting for now. I didn't go with any of the patterns I listed in my previous post. (Found HERE.) I found this one soon after I published my last post and really liked it. I'll probably do the Escher one some day, but I decided that it wasn't baby enough for Miss Fifi.

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What I'm Listening to:

Artist: Snow Patrol
Album: Eyes Open

It's just some good stuff I haven't heard in a while. You Could Be Happy is probably my favorite song on the album. Unfortunately, I never really paid attention to Snow Patrol until this album was released. It was their fourth album, did you know that? I didn't realize that. They are about to release their sixth album, actually. Crazy. I had no idea. I'm not sure if there is a release date for that, but they've got an EP due September 4th.

Rory and I were just talking and we realized that we both bought this album and Death Cab for Cutie's Plans at the same time before we met. (Are we soul-mates or what? haha)

Money: A Follow-up

After reading my last post about money, you've probably realized how conservative I am about personal finance. Maybe if I explain my background with money, my opinion might make more sense. I don't care to change anyone else's mind, but if you know where I'm coming from, I won't seem crazy.

Money as a youth: When I was 12 I wanted to be a photographer when I grew up, so I saved everything I could for what seemed like an eternity to buy a digital camera (Which is now quite obsolete, I might add. 3.4 megapixels was unheard of at the time.). From that experience I learned a lot about self discipline, but only if I had a goal. It did not however make sense to me to save money unless it was to buy something specific.

19 and Single: I had a job where I was making decent money, and I had very few expenses. I felt like I was pretty rich, but I very easily found places to spend my money. (Isn't that always the case?) Each time a paycheck would come in, it would pretty much be gone by the time my next check came. One thing I thought I needed was a car. I thought that would make me more of an adult or something. So, with a co-signer, I took out a loan and bought a pretty nice car, especially considering I was only 19. Did I need THAT car? No. Did I need ANY car? Probably not. But, I had a lot of fun.

Enter Marriage: By this point (I am embarrassed to admit this) I think the only savings about I ever had was the one my parents started for me for college. Rory had a little bit better grasp on things. It was because of him that we started saving money. It was until that point that I didn't understand saving money unless it was to buy something specific. First it was a small emergency fund. Then he agreed that we could save for me to buy another camera (An SLR. It shouldn't go obsolete any time soon.). After we bought the camera, I was hooked on saving. I would get a little natural high every time we deposited into our savings account or saw it earn interest. It was then that my mother first introduced me to Mr. Dave Ramsey.

I'd heard my mom talk about Dave Ramsey and The Total Money Makeover before, but being SO knowledgable, I kind of brushed it off. She lent me the book, and that is when everything really changed. I learned about the Baby Steps to Financial Freedom and it all seemed so simple. (Much like what you'd find in One For The Money) I told Rory about it, and after some convincing, he agreed to give it a go. The first step is $1,000 emergency fund. I think by this point we already had that or were very close, I'm not sure. The second step is the debt snowball; pay off all of your debts accept for the house. This one took more time. We both bought cars with loans before we were married and we decided to put everything extra penny we could on them to get them paid off. It was difficult, I'm not going to lie. But once they were both paid off, oh my goodness, what a relief. We weren't having a hard time making those payments, but thinking about how much money we were paying every month just on interest made me sick. It was so nice not to have any payments.

Around the time we were about to finish paying off the last of our debt, the office where Rory worked closed and he was out of a job. I really don't know what we would have done if we hadn't started when we did to pay off our debt. Soon Rory found a different, lower paying job. We were able to pay all of our monthly expenses since we were out of debt by that point, but things were tight for a few months until Rory found the job he currently has. This was 2009 when the entire financial world fell on its face. We consider ourselves very lucky and very blessed that Rory was able to find a job so quickly and that we were in the position we were. This situation however was just enough of a scare that we both decided that we would do everything in our power to be prepared for whatever comes our way and we'd never go in debt for anything like a car or use credit cards.

Since first being introduced to Dave, I have read a number of books on personal finances. The Richest Man in Babylon, The Millionaire Next Door, Rich Dad Poor Dad; these are all fascinating books to me. I've become a big budgeting nerd. I love to figure out exactly how much I am paying for each diaper. I am fascinated with compound interest. I love talking about money too. I don't care to talk specifics (how much one makes or how much they paid for big ticket items), but I think that it is good to talk about financial goals and ideals. I know that I bore Rory half of the time when I show him things I've learned, but he can talk my ear off too about physics stuff and I think he appreciates the effort.

And a photo of Miss Fifi:

Any thoughts?

Buying A House

I've been thinking about money a lot lately. Many people I know are either buying houses or trying to sell them. A small part of me is jealous that we aren't buying a house now. But a bigger part of me realizes that I'm SO not ready to put myself under that kind of stress.

I know that the First Time Home Buyers tax credit is a big incentive to buy a house now. Many people are taking advantage of that. For me, its like buying something only because you have a coupon. Does it save you money? No, because you weren't going to buy the item before you had the coupon.

Around the time I got married, someone gave me some advice. He said: "I would recommend buying a house as soon as you can. You'll never be able to have a lot of money at once, so you might as well get into a house so you can at least start putting your money into something." Basically: 'No one can ever beat the rat race, so don't even try.' Really? Really?! I thought it was dumb advice when I first heard it, and now I think that is possibly the worst financial advice I've heard.

I have also learned something about myself recently. I just read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." In it, Robert Kiyosaki says that people emotionally relate to money in two different ways. Either they look at money as a means to get what they desire; fancy car, big house, nice clothes. Or they look at money as a way to protect themselves from emergencies; job lay-off, major medical emergency. I definitely fall into the later category. Just as an example; if someone were to hand me $10,000 I would much rather put it in they bank for just in case, than spend $10,000 on a new car, clothes, or furniture.

With that being said, I will share with you our goals to reach before we get under a mortgage, because I believe that goals should be shared.

*Please Note: I understand that these are lofty goals and I have no illusions that we will reach them any time soon. If Rory and I are good about our budget, I think we should be able to do this in a reasonable amount of time.

1- Have a fully funded Emergency Fund.

Defined as six months expenses in a savings account.

2- Have a downpayment of 40-50%

3- Have $10,000 cash.

This is for replacing heater, water heater, A/C, and other appliances IF needed. Rory said the rest is mine to furnish and decorate.

4- The maximum mortgage length we will take out will be 15 years.

*Another Note: I really want to hear other people's opinions on this, so comment away.

And because I firmly believe that a post is always better with a photo: