our budget outline

with today's post we begin the nitty gritty. i am trying to keep each day's post as short as possible, so today i will only post our budget outline. in the days to come i will go into more specifics about each category. as always, feel free to ask any questions :) you are welcome to set up your budget exactly like we have ours, but of course you can alter it to fit your family's needs.

jake's income:

• tithe 10% of gross pay
• mortgage
• water/trash (fluctuates, but we do have a specific amount set of the approximate average)
• electricity (we have recently signed up for duke power's equal payment plan - no charge to us, and much easier for planning the amount to allocate here!)
• cell phones ($83 total for us both! i'm proud of that one :) )
• groceries (includes couponing, household items, personal care, etc.)
• car payment
• car insurance (we pay this once a year, but still put back money for it every month)
• life insurance
• taylor's health insurance (thank you, state of nc, for making it basically impossible for us to add me onto jake's plan)
• cable/internet (we cancelled our cable yesterday, but i wanted you to see where this used to go)
• netflix
• savings 5% of net pay ("net" as we consider it is after tithe has been taken out of his paycheck, too)
• investments 5% of net pay
• home improvement - anything over $x (his pay fluctuates month to month, so x = the lowest amount he's gotten paid in the last 6 months)
• gas - jake
• gas - taylor
• car maintenance
• gifts
• christmas (this includes christmas gifts and decor or other celebratory enhancements)
• eat out
• activities
• vacation (we put back as much as we can afford - not much - so hopefully we'll be able to get away occasionally. this category's new for us)
• routine medical care (co-pays, prescriptions, etc)
• clothing NEEDS (we really have all we need. anything we want comes out of any play money we have. so this is literally for when all of our underwear has holes in it and we HAVE to have new ones.)
• beauty (my hair cuts, birchbox, makeup, etc)
• weightlifting (idk what he does with this. gets protein powder and barbells and stuff i guess)
• dolly (vet, grooming, food, etc. we're hoping to keep this as low as possible)

my income:

• tithe 10% of gross pay
• savings 10% of net pay (see "net" definition above)
• jake play money (he uses it to eat lunch out during the week)
• taylor play money (for my manis, obviously)
• student loans: minimums
• extra payment (a specific dollar amount) to the smallest loan

savings (where the money goes when we transfer it to the savings account):

• emergency home repair (air conditioning breaks, water line bursts - i don't even know what that means, whatever. this is for true "we-have-to-do-this-now stuff)
• emergency medical
• car replacement (the goal is to never finance a car again)
• unemployment

wow, this was a lot longer than anticipated. i wanted you to see every single line item. will explain more later. hope it's helped!

our financial goals/philosophy

in order to maintain motivation, i'm going to suggest you create some sort of goal list or mission statement asap. today i will share with you our outlook on it all.

our overall end goal is related to the well-being of our family. we desire to have kind of a lot of kids (compared to the U.S. average; not compared to my ESL students!), and we want me to be able to stay home with them and homeschool, until a certain point anyway. we believe God's command to us is to be fruitful and multiply (obviously, not every Christian in the world feels this way, and we certainly don't pass judgment on others whose beliefs are different from our own). not only that, but we feel that my role as a wife and a mother is to serve my husband, my children, and our home. this is not something my husband is forcing down my throat, to make me subservient to him. it also not something i am forcing on him so i can sit at home all day and do "nothing". we believe this picture is one that can work beautifully, and does for many families, even today.

right now i only work part-time. that is by choice. although we have no children, i do have a husband and a home. i desire to throw myself and my heart into nurturing these things. we think it's beneficial for me to learn how to efficiently manage our family while there are only two of us, so as that number grows it is almost second nature to me. also, i have student loans. my income right now goes solely to pay off my student loans, and to any "extras" we feel the freedom to indulge in right now. for now, we each get roughly equal amounts of "play" money, in addition to paying off my student loans at a little over twice the speed intended by the lenders.

so to sum it all up: we want a million kids. we feel strongly that i should stay home with them, and teach them. we have to be debt-free to do that. we have structured our whole budget so that we live off jake's pay, and mine goes to debt reduction and a little "free" money for us both. it's hard. it's not always fun. but we believe it will all have been more than worth it in the end.

why a budget?

so you only buy stuff on sale and you never overdraft your bank account and you pay off your credit card every month. why in the world would you need a budget? too restricting, and obviously, you're doing fine.

well, are you satisfied with "fine"? or do you want to be in control of your own money? we chose the latter. making a budget is pretty sobering. you write down $50/month for eating out, then look back at your checkbook and see what you actually spent last month was over $150. WHAT!? how?? your family only eats at mcdonald's. for a family of four to eat at mcdonald's it costs at least $15 or so (i'm totally guessing. jake kinda counts as two people, so for our family of "three" it's like $10). if you go through the drive-thru once a week, that's already $60 for the month. and of course you have to go out to eat after church on sunday, and you usually choose mexican or italian. for your family it's about $30 every time. so that's $120 a month. for your family of four to utilize the drive-thru once a week, and eat out after church on sundays, you've already spent $180 on eating out. and you think $50 is enough to budget for that?

the above is just one example. i'm trying to show you that having it all down on paper really makes you see clearly how much you are currently spend on everything. when it's all out there, you can then see where you need to cut back, or even (rarely) where you need to allow for more.

with a budget written down, you can also determine your financial goals and dreams, and plan for those accordingly.

a budget is not restricting; it's freeing. for someone who loves structure - like me - it really helps me to know that yes, we can go to the movies, but we don't have enough in the entertainment category to do popcorn at said movie. and usually i'll choose my own (homemade, better-for-you, more delicious) popcorn and a redbox movie. so just go ahead and determine that you're going to make you a budget. it'll be fun :)

finance-ish blogs i follow

today's post will be easy. i do want to encourage you to begin following every single one of the blogs i am about to mention. i'll try to list them in what i think is the order of importance/applicability (is that a word? we'll say it is).

1. our freaking budget. seriously, their blog is great. they have a little (a lot) more discretionary income than we do, but they are even more determined than we are to live on less while saving saving saving. i would say 100% you have to follow them.

2. loving simple living. this is more about the mindset. go back and read some of the older posts.  lately her posts have been about her life as a minimalist now, but occasionally she issues a "simple living" challenge of some sort. definitely worth following.

3. blissful and domestic. this is the blog of the woman whose family lives on $14,000/year. again, i prefer her older stuff, but she still posts some gems. she also has free, downloadable meal plans and grocery lists. she has posted about how her family lives well and enjoys their life on a minimal income.

side note to everyone reading this who lives near me now: if these people can do what they do, living near much more urban areas, imagine how much better we can do! we are so fortunate, and do not need to take that for granted. i don't know if you all even realize it, but as a "foreigner", i see it so clearly: when i can get my hair cut and colored and eyebrows waxed here for the same price i paid for a dry trim in burlington (not even big compared to other, real cities), where we live is CHEAP. yay for budgeting when it's made so easy for us!

so follow these blogs and get ready to be challenged the next few days. you can do it!

easy homemade dish soap

i am so excited to announce that i've made my first ever homemade cleaning supply!

you can do a google search and come up with a bazillion recipes for homemade dish soap.  i found a super simple, super easy recipe, and wanted to share it here. this recipe was on a couple different sites, but the one i used was this one.

here is what i used:
-1 c liquid castile soap*
-3 tbsp water

*i ordered from dr. bronner's website and got tea tree oil for the antibacterial properties. you can use unscented and add essential oils for the scent.

mix ingredients together in a container. i made one batch to put in my soap pump by the sink, and went ahead and mixed up a double batch that i'm storing in a mason jar for when i need to refill my soap pump.

next time i make some, i will actually probably use a citrusy essential oil for the scent and also to cut grease a little. tea tree oil is fine; it doesn't smell bad, but it doesn't smell amazing either.

and that's it! i dare you to try it.

our real-life minimalist cottage. (just the idea, no pictures yet)

we are currently working on streamlining and simplifying...well, our lives. entonces, i think from now on i will just write short(er) snippets. (sometimes my brain switches back and forth between english and spanish.)

in defining our "style" for our home, and personally for my wardrobe and all, i've become addicted to reading blogs. right now i'm fascinated by the concept of minimalism; however, i LOVE the whole cottage-y shabby farmhouse-y look too. so i am trying to redefine what all of those terms mean for me, because the idea of minimalism and the look of a cottage are usually pretty opposite.

i want nothing in my home that is not useful. if there is something i absolutely adore and can't live without, then sure, i'll keep it. but i'll also use it. take my grandmother's china: i drink my coffee out of those pretty, delicate tea cups every single day. and the antique setee i also inherited from my grandmother?  i love it. and we need enough seating for entertaining. and i do not mind one bit that it gets used.

i love the minimalist idea of paring down your possessions from the 20% you use 80% of the time and the other 80% you use 20% of the time, to just that 20% you love. so we've done that. and are still doing that. i love the cottage-y farmhouse-y look of old things collected over time. so we have some of those things. and we USE them. because that's a little more like real life, don't ya think? of course i'll copy ideas from blogs because there are about 14 million people who are way better at decorating than me. but what i want to do in my home is LIVE...not present a magazine-worthy picture for all who walk through my door. and focus on RELATIONSHIPS...not acquiring so much stuff that i feel more attached to it than people.

so don't judge me when you see bare cabinets in my house. or when you see me actually using vintage and antique pieces. and don't feel uncomfortable using those things with me. people are what make life full and vibrant. and it's so freeing to embrace that truth :)

what's been going on around here...

so, right now i am taking a couple classes at the local community college, i have started working there as an adult esl teacher, i still work part-time at a vineyard as well, i have started teaching sunday school, i volunteer, and i have recently decided to become a minimalist-ish (decluttering galore is happening every day!)... therefore, i have no time. but i wanted to update you on a few things i have gotten a chance to make/buy/rearrange. again, excuse the photography. maybe i should turn off flash? can someone teach me how to turn off flash? eek :/

found this super cute table runner on an etsy shop called shop 24. i have been wanting one, and vowed not to pay $30 and that i would make one instead, but then one day i said ah who cares, i'll spend the $30. 

got this 31 organizing thingy! sort of wish i had gotten a "g" monogrammed on it (i just slapped a sticker up there, which you can almost see sticking out from behind the junk) but oh well. made the little to do lists the other night at a pinterest party - so much fun! the blue one with green letters is for jake, the other is for me. he totally loves it, i'm sure.

moved around the chalkboard clingies today. i've been loving the "family rules" things i've seen all over blogs and pinterest and such, so i decided to write some out. only i called it "house rules" because the fact that we have chalkboard clingies, coupled with the fact that i actually write on them, already seems little kid-ish. and we have no little kids. so this made it look more...grown up?

a few things in this picture. first, i decided i wanted a coat hanger, but cutie (have i mentioned that's what i call my 6'1", 225 lb husband?) sure doesn't like to spend money (yes, i know, the table runner. i bought it without telling him, with some money i saved by going to a cheaper nail place). so i came up with a plan to use some extra wood and an old stick we had - which used to be part of a wind chime - to make it. only cutie wanted the wood stained instead of left plain, and he wanted to put the stick pieces into the wood part instead of nailing them on. so it looks way better than it did in my head! now, the thing hanging on the rightmost hook. i took a can, washed it, wrapped it in this jute ribbon, hot glued it on, hot glued a ribbon around it, and put chalk inside. i had wanted someone to build me a little thing to hold my chalk. but this is a lot cuter and was way quicker and we already had the stuff. also, no new holes in the wall. cutie ABHORS holes in the wall. too bad he married me :/ oh, and i moved one of the chalkboard clingies here.

got this printable from the pinterest party, slapped it in a frame i had, and hung it up (there was already a hole there from where we had something else hung, then i decided i wanted it moved, so i had covered it up with a chalkboard clingy). the grey letters tie in with the silver "mail" part. it just makes me smile :)

ugh stupid flash. this is a set of coasters sitting on my glass coffee table. if you squint and look real close you can see a pale blue/seaglass/minty color damask on white background. this was the project we made at the pinterest party: 4x4 white tiles + scrapbook paper. cute!

found this basket at the habitat store for like $0.02 or however much they cost there. it now holds my dish towels and dishrags.

now that i see the picture, this looks a bit cluttered. my minimalism is supposed to mean less stuff, not more. i guess i will have to part with the too-cute anthropologie mugs that are broken. must.streamline! i want nothing in my house that is not functional. back to the picture. this is our little "bar cart". the "yum" is on a slate cheese board (why oh why did i buy that? it's so adorb though). there's another one of those baskets holding some pretty (and non-functional - the way they are right now anyway) silverware and mini-cupcake liner flowers, and our cloth napkins. and there's our fruit bowl. the theme is supposed to be food. ok, so it could use some work.

bought some canvases the other day on sale at michael's (going into "the city" sure is expensive! too many temptations...), along with the jute ribbon and the cute ribbon. was bored at home and came up with these. cutie has yet to hang them (they will require new holes).

another habitat store find. (also, plungers are really ugly, you know?)

we now officially hang everything to dry except sheets and towels. mainly because we only have these two drying racks. i've been asking for a clothesline, so maybe one day i'll get one. not looking forward to the crunchy towels, but our wallets and our world are going to love the energy savings!

our guest room officially looks like a guest room now (minus the drying clothes)! no more having stuff just sitting there for whenever we use it as a nursery. the breaking point was when my parents stayed with us and draped a beach towel over the curtain rod because there was no curtain. can you say tack-AY! so i had to do something. made the bed pretty, added a throw at the foot, moved the living room rug in here, added a lamp, and made a pillow from a beautiful kitchen towel our wedding photographer gave us (it was too pretty to use and potentially mess up!). in the picture of the drying clothes you can see that we put a pillow cover on the pillow in the chair, to tie it in to the brown and cream/white of the rest of the room. i also added a little pillow from the habitat store. (ignore the junk in the corner of this picture.)

so that's about it! not that i think my life so exciting that you've missed updates. but maybe something i say sometime will encourage you to change or refresh something in your life or home. 

and i sure can't wait until school is out. maybe then i'll have some time to breathe and write about something you actually care about :)