He just keeps hanging around. I try to get rid of him, but apparently my magnetic personality just keeps drawing him back to me. Don't you love when a suitor is completely clueless to your blatant attempts to get rid of him? Maybe I should just give up and welcome him in.
What? oh...you want to know his name? ok, but I'm trusting you not to google him, find out all his bad qualities, and then try to point them out to me...trust me...that never works. We all know that once someone's blinded in a bad relationship, there's no reasoning with them.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm meeting Trojan horse BHO.GJK for lunch to discuss possible marriage plans.
That's right...I have a computer virus...we've been on the dating path for almost 2 weeks now.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
financial peace....check!
I just finished reading Dave Ramsey's book, Financial Peace. Ah...my life feels so much more secure already...like wrapping myself in a big warm blanket made out of sewn together $100 bills and then flopping down for a nice nap on my straw tick mattress...but it's not straw, it's $10 bills which are more comfortable than straw. But what isn't, really.
I actually did enjoy the book. And I have to admit, I'm trying out his (and my mom's) "envelope method" of budgeting. So far I've done really well except for those times when I've just pulled out my debit or credit card to make the money in the envelope last longer....which is totally working...I still have $20 in my envelope for this pay period which ends on the 25th!
The last chapter had some good "baby steps" as he calls them for achieving financial peace. So that you don't have to actually read the book yourself, here's what he says:
1. Get $1000 in savings. Until you do that, pay the minimum that you can on everything else.
2. Get mad at debt and kill it with the debt snowball. If you want to know what that is, ask me :)
3. When your house payment is the only debt left, work further on an emergency savings fund. That is 3-6 months worth of your expenses. Keep this money untouched but available...don't invest it.
4. Max out your 401k and other investments as much as possible; check all your insurances to make sure you are getting the best deal.
5. Start a college fund for your kids (whatever...my kids are paying their own way just like I did)
6. Scrape your extra funds together to pay off your house early.
7. Now nothing is left but to build your investments to wealth and give it away.
Notice that the last step wasn't "move into a bigger house and start all over again..." It was to give money away. That's one thing I like about his book. He strongly promotes generosity and especially paying a tithing. Interesting, eh?
I actually did enjoy the book. And I have to admit, I'm trying out his (and my mom's) "envelope method" of budgeting. So far I've done really well except for those times when I've just pulled out my debit or credit card to make the money in the envelope last longer....which is totally working...I still have $20 in my envelope for this pay period which ends on the 25th!
The last chapter had some good "baby steps" as he calls them for achieving financial peace. So that you don't have to actually read the book yourself, here's what he says:
1. Get $1000 in savings. Until you do that, pay the minimum that you can on everything else.
2. Get mad at debt and kill it with the debt snowball. If you want to know what that is, ask me :)
3. When your house payment is the only debt left, work further on an emergency savings fund. That is 3-6 months worth of your expenses. Keep this money untouched but available...don't invest it.
4. Max out your 401k and other investments as much as possible; check all your insurances to make sure you are getting the best deal.
5. Start a college fund for your kids (whatever...my kids are paying their own way just like I did)
6. Scrape your extra funds together to pay off your house early.
7. Now nothing is left but to build your investments to wealth and give it away.
Notice that the last step wasn't "move into a bigger house and start all over again..." It was to give money away. That's one thing I like about his book. He strongly promotes generosity and especially paying a tithing. Interesting, eh?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
retrEAT
Ok, what else is a rs retreat good for but eating? This one did not disappoint, let me tell you. The cabin in Aspen Grove was amazing. It looked so tiny when I walked in but it had beds for 25+ people and 5 bathrooms that each had showers in them. Every bed had sheets, a blanket, a towel, a washrag, a bar of soap, and a bottle of shampoo (I guess they couldn't find any real poo) sitting on top of it. I wasn't planning on showering up there but having all that available just for me to use made me rethink that strategy. There were about 9 different bedrooms so separating myself from the snorers wasn't too hard (bless stacey and anika for being quiet breathers).
Let me just say that I love our bishopric. It was great having them and their wives there with us. The bishop gave a good message about unity and then we did a get-to-know-you activity and had dessert. As we were sitting eating dessert, I looked out the front window to the dark outside and there was a man in a suit unloading some bags from a trunk of a car. The girl next to me said "is that Elder Holland?" and only then did I realize that it was actually Elder Scott. Soon the bishop was out the door to talk to him and a few minutes later here comes Elder Scott walking up to our door to meet us.
He was very patient and kind to us considering how giggly and star-struck everyone was while he was there (insert embarrassed eye-rolling here). We found out that day was his 80th birthday and sang to him and presented him with a brownie with a pretzel stuck in as the candle. He told us a joke and we took some pictures with him and he left. My favorite part of the visit was a conversation he had with a sister right before he left that went something like this:
Sister: "Elder Scott, during this last conference I made a sock puppet that looks like President Monson and my friend says that I shouldn't give it to him, but I think he would actually like it...do you think he would?"
Elder Scott: "I think he would appreciate it"
Just at that moment, you would have seen me disappear from view in the corner of the room as I think my knees gave out from laughing.
Let me just say that I love our bishopric. It was great having them and their wives there with us. The bishop gave a good message about unity and then we did a get-to-know-you activity and had dessert. As we were sitting eating dessert, I looked out the front window to the dark outside and there was a man in a suit unloading some bags from a trunk of a car. The girl next to me said "is that Elder Holland?" and only then did I realize that it was actually Elder Scott. Soon the bishop was out the door to talk to him and a few minutes later here comes Elder Scott walking up to our door to meet us.
He was very patient and kind to us considering how giggly and star-struck everyone was while he was there (insert embarrassed eye-rolling here). We found out that day was his 80th birthday and sang to him and presented him with a brownie with a pretzel stuck in as the candle. He told us a joke and we took some pictures with him and he left. My favorite part of the visit was a conversation he had with a sister right before he left that went something like this:
Sister: "Elder Scott, during this last conference I made a sock puppet that looks like President Monson and my friend says that I shouldn't give it to him, but I think he would actually like it...do you think he would?"
Elder Scott: "I think he would appreciate it"
Just at that moment, you would have seen me disappear from view in the corner of the room as I think my knees gave out from laughing.
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