As we all know, healthy finances and a healthy diet seem to operate on startlingly similar principles.  Over my six months of debt reduction, I have learned that all the fundamentals of a diet apply to my budget too.  For example:

• You must track your money as diligently as you track your calories.
• Planning ahead is key.  Never peruse a menu without a healthy idea in mind and never walk into a store without a list!
• Just as there’s a balance between exercise and reducing calories, there’s a balance between spending money and earning/saving money.
• You need little tricks or rewards to keep yourself motivated, because proper weight- or debt-reduction is a major waiting game.
• One splurge won’t kill you, but get right back on track the next day!

Right now, I’m struggling with that last item.  My wedding seemed like Christmas on steroids, both food-wise and spending-wise.  The wedding cake was the most amazing cheesecake ever; I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it on Sunday and more bites on Monday.  I had a blast running into Hobby Lobby and swooping up wedding trinkets and satin ribbon with out totaling anything in my head.  I just plunked down the credit card and signed with barely a glance at the total. 

While one or two pieces of cake and an extra trip to Hobby Lobby won’t ruin me, a month of such activity certainly will.  We now have an immense amount of cheesecake in the fridge.  And I slipped oh so easily into my charging persona while running errands before the wedding.  For the next month, I could easily swipe a bite or two of cheesecake every time I open the fridge or run to the store for more of the little gourmet treats we enjoyed during the wedding.

So, time to get back to healthy mode!  What will I do?  Well, today, I plan to freeze the rest of the cheesecake and return about $100 worth of Hobby Lobby materials that we didn’t use.  I’m also not going to the grocery store before we leave for the honeymoon on Saturday.  Finally, I have $20 in cash.  That’s all I get to spend until the honeymoon.  When we get back, it’ll be time for serious budgeting and paying off my credit cards.  Come August, the healthy me will re-emerge!

Hi everyone!  I’m back and married!  Whew!  Sorry for the MIA-ness there in July.  The wedding planning took over.  We had a beautiful, fabulous wedding yesterday.  I kept telling myself, “it doesn’t have to be the best day ever, just a happy day.”  Well, I’m happy to report it WAS the best day ever, thanks to the groom, my lovely family, and my fabulous friends.  I’ll offer up some more reports and pictures soon.  I’ll be gone next week for the honeymoon, but otherwise, regular posting will resume!  I’m have some fun, frugal plans for the upcoming school year that I will also start sharing.

Oh, yes, I also promise to post all the wedding financial details once the dust settles.  I think we came in over budget, but under $5,000.  I also have a very extravagant wedding-related confession that I have to post!

And, after all that dust settling, I think (cross your fingers everyone) that I’ll be free of credit-card debt August 1!!!  Stay tuned because that will be a happy, happy post from a happy, happy bride!

On the edge of town, we have a community fishing pond. It’s been great fun going there this summer because it’s like we have a little vacation only five minutes away. We pack up all the fishing gear, chairs, a blanket, and a picnic. Five or six hours later we come home relaxed, refreshed, and feeling like we went on a grand adventure.

For me, the most exciting part of the trip is picking mulberries. The first time we went, the future husband told me that he thought he saw some blackberries. I quickly went off to investigate because I love warm, fresh blackberry cobbler. My parents had some bushes on their property in Missouri, and it was always great fun to pick and eat them. I’m no horticulturist, but when I saw that the berries were growing on trees rather than bushes, I knew that they couldn’t be blackberries. We went ahead and picked a bunch anyway, but I wouldn’t let anyone eat them until I did some research.

After a sound google search and a consultation with Alice Water’s Chez Panisse Fruit, I knew that I had mulberries. Apparently, our trees may be native red mulberry trees, but a white mulberry has made its way from China; many trees are hybrids. The trees will be ripe throughout early summer, so I’m planning on at least one more round of picking. Most of what I’ve read says that you can substitute mulberries for any berry recipes, like cobblers and muffins. The first morning we ate them with crepes and strawberries, absolutely delicious! I’ve been stirring them into yogurt and oatmeal, also. This morning I froze a big batch after finding out that mulberries have a lower acidity than other fruits. I think freezing will be wiser than canning.

All in all, they’re a delicious little treat, and I feel quite sensible and frugal picking them for free! It’s been a great summertime activity. If you’re out and about in the Midwest or Great Plains, keep your eyes open for my new favorite thing.

I participated in two carnivals this week. The first was the Festival of Frugality at Out of Debt Again. This one was a great read; I found some good tips myself. Be sure to look over CVS Extra Care Bucks at To Be Debt Free. I think I’m finally ready to start raking in the ECBs myself.

I was also in the Carnival of Snowflaking at Paying Off My Future this week. Alas, I was the only entry!! This carnival is going to a monthly format for the summer, so be sure to participate next month. I know lots more people have great snowflaking ideas. . . look how huge the blogroll is over at the Snowflake Revolution!

Earned: $20 Spent: $407 Saved: $0
Snowflaked: $103.33

Yikes! Where did the week go? Between spending time with the kids and working, suddenly another week in June flew by! We had great fun, fishing, going to the zoo, even getting lots of chores done around the house. I earned $20 at the garage sale and spent it paying the kids for extra chores. It was so nice to have a clean house, especially because I had to work the next day. At work, I’m trying a new approach where I don’t check my e-mail until noon. It really does boost productivity. I’m comfortably on-track for our first target Monday.

I certainly spent a lot this week! Because I’ve been at work, I’ve been eating out more. I also did the “grocery game” all on my own. It was much more satisfying because I found better bargains for my family and didn’t waste time looking for coupons that were mistakes on the list. My best buys were spaghetti sauce for $1 a jar and Advil for $2.50 (regularly $6.69). The biggest purchase happened at Hobby Lobby. Last week, all wedding stuff, ribbon, and silk flowers were on sale 50% off. So, I loaded up two carts full of great stuff. I spent $200, but everything I bought was half-off. I plan to resell the wedding arch, vases, and a few small things on craigslist. The rest, we’ll actually use again. It was a very fun trip and now I feel in great shape for the wedding.

Finally, I got a reimbursement check for my trip to San Francisco. I STILL haven’t gotten the other check from March! Crazy!! When I finally do, you’ll be the first to know. The check I did receive was for $103 more than I budgeted (I was planning on the safe side), so I sent $503 off to the credit cards. Now, I’m under $5,000!!! Hooray!!!