I'm no financial expert and I don't spend time couponing yet. For now I'm just learning everyday how to be more frugal. Here's a list of things that, in my opinion, you shouldn't spend money on.
1. Hair cuts. Get a good pair of scissors and someone to help you make sure it's even where it needs to be, and you're on your way. I used to watch the lady that cut my hair to see how she did the layers and bangs. Then I practiced on my sister and now I always do my own. There are plenty of YouTube videos out there that can show you as well. Men who keep their hair fairly short need a haircut ever 6 weeks or so. Buy one of those men's haircutting buzzers and read the little instruction booklet and there you go. That could save you $64 per year. If you normally get your hair cut every three months as a woman, then that's $200 saved (on average, according to me).
2. Regular movie theater (unless it's opening night for Hunger Games) but nothing else. It varies depending on the theater and where you live but an the average cost for a movie ticket in 2011 (according to an article in the LA Times) was $7.93. That's $15.86 for a date and way more if you have kids. Compare that to our $2 theater where we spend a grand total of $4. Or, better yet, run to the $5 bin at Walmart and now you OWN a new movie. OR go to Redbox.
3. Cable - Hulu, ESPN.com, etc. Actually, why not just do something active
instead??
4. New furniture (besides a mattress. I don't think I'd ever go used on that. The bed bug drama in my student apartment was enough for a lifetime). For couches, tables, chairs, vanities, and everything else, check the following: garage sales, Craigslist, thrift stores, Facebook community garage sales.
5. Laundry soap. My mom gave me this amazing recipe for homemade laundry soap that everyone should try. It's actually on this blog here . Something like $11 upfront (including a $4 10-gallon container, which is a one-time purchase) and you get over 600 loads out of it! I'm never purchasing laundry soap again. Oh, and it smells great too!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
15 Fun (Different) Date Ideas!
I always see lists online for fun date ideas. (And I always read them!) They are usually great lists but often they're the same: Go to a movie, watch the stars, take a dance class, go on a hike. All really fun and enjoyable, but I keep noticing that most of me and Brad's all-time favorite dates are not on those lists. So I decided to come up with my own. Here are some of our favorite dates we've done:
1. Play Hide N' Seek in the Dark (turn off all lights - obviously - and cover all windows so the moonlight doesn't shine through). Then set the timer. If you don't find the other person in your allotted time, they jump out and scare you. Super fun, especially for a dark-a-phobic like me!
2. Make treats for friends and then go doorbell ditching. Service and running a fast dash equals an adrenaline rush!
3. Go to the local animal shelter, pick two dogs and take them on a walk!
4. Go to a thrift store and pick something you can fix up for your house - maybe a vase, an old chair, a coat rack, etc. Pinterest has some great ideas.
5. Have a sleepover! Bring your mattress into the family room, make popcorn and watch a movie. Sleep out in the family room.
6. Make homemade pizza. Put whatever toppings you want on your own half!
7. Go to the gym and take turns being the personal trainer and deciding what sets to do.
8. Have an "un-birthday" party. Go to an arcade, play games and use the tickets you earned to "buy" each other birthday trinkets. Bring wrapping paper and birthday hats. Then exchange your gifts as you eat cake and ice cream.
9. Host a carnival for two. Games could include obstacle courses, sword fighting, egg races, etc. Keep track of who wins each game and the ultimate winner gets a prize. (In my case this was a huge inflatable whale for the pool. Haha Brad's funny!)
10. Carve your names in a tree but don't get caught!
11. Watch funny YouTube videos and then make your own versions of them. My personal favorites: this, this and this
12. Design an annual photobook online for each year you've been together.
13. Do some family history research. Talk to grandparents, or research online to find out information on your ancestors. Family Search is a good place to start.
14. Run a race together - a mud run, midnight 5K or maybe even a half marathon!
15. Play Battleship but sit in different rooms on on different stories of the house. Use Walkie-Talkies to communicate.
There you have it! If anyone has any other fun date ideas, I'd love to hear them.
1. Play Hide N' Seek in the Dark (turn off all lights - obviously - and cover all windows so the moonlight doesn't shine through). Then set the timer. If you don't find the other person in your allotted time, they jump out and scare you. Super fun, especially for a dark-a-phobic like me!
2. Make treats for friends and then go doorbell ditching. Service and running a fast dash equals an adrenaline rush!
3. Go to the local animal shelter, pick two dogs and take them on a walk!
4. Go to a thrift store and pick something you can fix up for your house - maybe a vase, an old chair, a coat rack, etc. Pinterest has some great ideas.
5. Have a sleepover! Bring your mattress into the family room, make popcorn and watch a movie. Sleep out in the family room.
6. Make homemade pizza. Put whatever toppings you want on your own half!
7. Go to the gym and take turns being the personal trainer and deciding what sets to do.
8. Have an "un-birthday" party. Go to an arcade, play games and use the tickets you earned to "buy" each other birthday trinkets. Bring wrapping paper and birthday hats. Then exchange your gifts as you eat cake and ice cream.
9. Host a carnival for two. Games could include obstacle courses, sword fighting, egg races, etc. Keep track of who wins each game and the ultimate winner gets a prize. (In my case this was a huge inflatable whale for the pool. Haha Brad's funny!)
10. Carve your names in a tree but don't get caught!
11. Watch funny YouTube videos and then make your own versions of them. My personal favorites: this, this and this
12. Design an annual photobook online for each year you've been together.
13. Do some family history research. Talk to grandparents, or research online to find out information on your ancestors. Family Search is a good place to start.
14. Run a race together - a mud run, midnight 5K or maybe even a half marathon!
15. Play Battleship but sit in different rooms on on different stories of the house. Use Walkie-Talkies to communicate.
There you have it! If anyone has any other fun date ideas, I'd love to hear them.
Friday, March 30, 2012
How Sweet it is to be Loved by You
I love this Michael Buble song! Really all of his music. And I love my husband, family, friends, Heavenly Father, and Savior (and being loved by them.)
(And this is my way of avoiding cleaning the house, and leaving a message for Brad.)
Birthday FUN!
I turned 24. (Yes, it was almost two months ago. But when you're a busy, working mom, you don't have time to blog about your birthday ON your actual birthday.) Here are some pictures!
This was the gift I wanted the most! A way to organize my shoe fetish. (Plus two new pairs to add to the rack)
It was a pretty chill day, as you can see from our attire :)
I also celebrated by skyping, texting and talking to family and friends, and parading around work in a Hello Kitty badge and eating scrumptious cake from Hello Kitty plates (thanks to one of my good friends and coworkers!) Here's to 24!
This was the gift I wanted the most! A way to organize my shoe fetish. (Plus two new pairs to add to the rack)
It was a pretty chill day, as you can see from our attire :)
I also celebrated by skyping, texting and talking to family and friends, and parading around work in a Hello Kitty badge and eating scrumptious cake from Hello Kitty plates (thanks to one of my good friends and coworkers!) Here's to 24!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
A visit from PBB
A couple weekends ago Britt, Pat and Bentley (sister, bro-in-law, and nephew) came up to visit us!
We ate our hearts out at Olive Garden (thanks guys!), took our little ones to the park, went to church, the movies and sledding, and mostly enjoyed each others' company.
We ate our hearts out at Olive Garden (thanks guys!), took our little ones to the park, went to church, the movies and sledding, and mostly enjoyed each others' company.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Happy Hump Day
I hope you all had a happy hump day! I did. To celebrate, I ran into a wall and got a baby carrot-sized hump on my elbow. 
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Couples PIG
Brad and I played a fun game with some friends this week. If you're looking for something entertaining to do with other couples, try Couples Pig! It's a hilarious spin on the traditional hoop-shooting game. Each couple must make a shot together. (This could be anything from piggy-backing on each other as you try to dunk, to one person passing the ball and the other punching it in to one person doing a backbend and the other sliding under on their belly while shooting.)It's hilarious.
And here's some more of week's happenings in the Terry home:
Brad took his blood in his Physiology class and found out that he's O-Negative. Oh yea!
My Grandpa had a birthday!
We got a key holder at DI for a buck. It has slots for mail and hooks for keys. We'll try to remember to do before and after pictures for those who want to see our updates to it.
We found out that Britt and Pat are coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks! Bentley and Roxy will have a weekend full of play dates and we'll get to make them jealous they don't live in Idaho as we show them all the fun attractions around here.
Roxy is being crate trained at night and barking up a storm. (I've held off doing it because I feel so bad for keeping our neighbors up, but it had to be done sometime.) She learned to roll over! Sometimes (all on her own) she'll randomly do her tricks and then look at us like she's waiting for her treat.
And to finish this post, a hilarious picture of our pup:
And here's some more of week's happenings in the Terry home:
Brad took his blood in his Physiology class and found out that he's O-Negative. Oh yea!
My Grandpa had a birthday!
We got a key holder at DI for a buck. It has slots for mail and hooks for keys. We'll try to remember to do before and after pictures for those who want to see our updates to it.
We found out that Britt and Pat are coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks! Bentley and Roxy will have a weekend full of play dates and we'll get to make them jealous they don't live in Idaho as we show them all the fun attractions around here.
Roxy is being crate trained at night and barking up a storm. (I've held off doing it because I feel so bad for keeping our neighbors up, but it had to be done sometime.) She learned to roll over! Sometimes (all on her own) she'll randomly do her tricks and then look at us like she's waiting for her treat.
And to finish this post, a hilarious picture of our pup:
Monday, January 23, 2012
First Snow!
Today was the first "real" snow we've had in Idaho this year! Weird because when we moved here a year ago, there was a constant 5 inches all throughout January. And here we are on the 23rd just getting it to stick. Here's us before our family trip to the park to play hide n' seek!!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Santa Baby
This Christmas was full of BABIES!
All of Brad's siblings came out so we all got to be together. There are five Terry kids and they're all married now so it was a party! The reunion was a little different this time though. Up until recently, only one of Brad's siblings had kids. So after playing with our niece and nephew, the adults would stay up late playing games and watching adult movies. (That sounded wrong....Adult meaning non-Dora The Explorer or Mario movies.)
Anyway, this time EVERYONE had a baby! Crystal and Marty have two-year-old Christina; April and John just had baby Debbie this August; Jeff & Sam got a baby kitty; and as you all know, Brad and I had Roxy.
Not to mention that we also spent time with Britt & Pat (+ their baby puppy Bentley), and Aaron's sister who also just had a baby. And we met up with all of my extended family who were in Utah for a couple days and my cousins Matt and Cortney are having TWINS!
So basically, it went from two kids to a million human and animal babies. So our games were shorter and frequently interrupted by kisses, diaper changes, dog walks, and passing cute babies around! Very fun :)
Here's some pictures of the babies. First is Jeff and Sam with all the nieces and nephew (Lexi, Connor, Debbie and Christina)Then Brad and I on his birthday holding baby Debbers.
Finally, Britt and I holding our puppies.
More Christmas posts to follow...
All of Brad's siblings came out so we all got to be together. There are five Terry kids and they're all married now so it was a party! The reunion was a little different this time though. Up until recently, only one of Brad's siblings had kids. So after playing with our niece and nephew, the adults would stay up late playing games and watching adult movies. (That sounded wrong....Adult meaning non-Dora The Explorer or Mario movies.)
Anyway, this time EVERYONE had a baby! Crystal and Marty have two-year-old Christina; April and John just had baby Debbie this August; Jeff & Sam got a baby kitty; and as you all know, Brad and I had Roxy.
Not to mention that we also spent time with Britt & Pat (+ their baby puppy Bentley), and Aaron's sister who also just had a baby. And we met up with all of my extended family who were in Utah for a couple days and my cousins Matt and Cortney are having TWINS!
So basically, it went from two kids to a million human and animal babies. So our games were shorter and frequently interrupted by kisses, diaper changes, dog walks, and passing cute babies around! Very fun :)
Here's some pictures of the babies. First is Jeff and Sam with all the nieces and nephew (Lexi, Connor, Debbie and Christina)Then Brad and I on his birthday holding baby Debbers.
Finally, Britt and I holding our puppies.
More Christmas posts to follow...
Friday, January 20, 2012
Why I fell asleep at my computer today...
Brad is overloaded with his pre-dental classes right now. He's had two exams and tons of quizzes this week and has been up until 2 a.m. studying, so I've had Roxy duty every morning this week. Here's my average day:
5:45 AM - take Roxy potty and feed her breakfast
6:30 AM - leash Roxy up and drag my furry boots for a 1-mile jog. (and hope I remembered the plastic poop bag)
7:00 AM - do everything possible to prevent barking so as not to wake up our neighbors while getting ready for work/school.
7:30 AM - drop Brad off at school and leave for work
8-11 AM - work
11-12 AM - Come home (I love that I only live 8 minutes from my job) feed Roxy lunch, take her on a quick walk around the block, practice her commands and grab a pack of crackers for my lunch
12-5 PM - work
5-6:30 PM - make dinner, try to spend time with Brad while Roxy bites our heels and demands our attention, play with her together, take her potty (every 45 minutes), and eat dinner
6:30 - 7 PM - Another walk with Roxy (usually a run because she loves to sprint)
7 - 11 PM - Alternate between Roxy play time, dishes, internet, potty breaks, distracting Brad (if he's studying at home) and taking advantage of relaxing when Roxy takes her nap.
11 PM - say goodnight to Brad and try to go to sleep.
12:30 AM - Brad takes Roxy potty and plays with her (I'm a light sleeper so I still wake up)
2 AM - Brad comes to sleep. We pray together (or he prays and I subconsciously say "amen")
3:30 AM - I take Roxy poop and she wants to play fetch or eat our bed. So we play.
5:45 AM - Start over.
It may sound like I'm complaining (OK, maybe I am!) but I really really do love our puppy! She's a big time commitment, but everything good requires some sacrifice, right? I've got some fun pictures and videos with her that I'll post another day when I'm not so tired.
It's hard to tell in the photos, but there's a 15 pound difference. She was a 10-pound baby when we got her and now she's in the mid-20s!
5:45 AM - take Roxy potty and feed her breakfast
6:30 AM - leash Roxy up and drag my furry boots for a 1-mile jog. (and hope I remembered the plastic poop bag)
7:00 AM - do everything possible to prevent barking so as not to wake up our neighbors while getting ready for work/school.
7:30 AM - drop Brad off at school and leave for work
8-11 AM - work
11-12 AM - Come home (I love that I only live 8 minutes from my job) feed Roxy lunch, take her on a quick walk around the block, practice her commands and grab a pack of crackers for my lunch
12-5 PM - work
5-6:30 PM - make dinner, try to spend time with Brad while Roxy bites our heels and demands our attention, play with her together, take her potty (every 45 minutes), and eat dinner
6:30 - 7 PM - Another walk with Roxy (usually a run because she loves to sprint)
7 - 11 PM - Alternate between Roxy play time, dishes, internet, potty breaks, distracting Brad (if he's studying at home) and taking advantage of relaxing when Roxy takes her nap.
11 PM - say goodnight to Brad and try to go to sleep.
12:30 AM - Brad takes Roxy potty and plays with her (I'm a light sleeper so I still wake up)
2 AM - Brad comes to sleep. We pray together (or he prays and I subconsciously say "amen")
3:30 AM - I take Roxy poop and she wants to play fetch or eat our bed. So we play.
5:45 AM - Start over.
It may sound like I'm complaining (OK, maybe I am!) but I really really do love our puppy! She's a big time commitment, but everything good requires some sacrifice, right? I've got some fun pictures and videos with her that I'll post another day when I'm not so tired.
It's hard to tell in the photos, but there's a 15 pound difference. She was a 10-pound baby when we got her and now she's in the mid-20s!
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