I have to introduce you to my new favorite kitchen gadget that helps me save roughly $16 a week. I am a sucker for iced coffees. They are my escape and indulgence. I don't drink coffee hot anymore because iced is just so much better. Making an iced coffee is challenging at home. The idea of brewing a pot of coffee then letting it sit in the freezer to cool is a horrible idea. The coffee shifts flavor, its not dark enough, and it's just plain depressing. Also, I am not one to go out a buy a $200 espresso maker or $80 for a crappy espresso maker. My solution is the Aeropress. It's awesome and only $25. It makes 1-4 espresso shots with regular ground coffee and hot water.
My morning routine is 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk and 1 T Vanilla creamer FYI for those on Weight Watchers this 12 oz. vanilla latte would only be 2 points vs.5-6 points from a coffee shop.
Two scoops of coffee grounds. We are in love with Peet's House blend
Filled with hot water (about 170 degrees) to the number 2 line. Stir for 30 seconds.
Time to press, please excuse my giant looking forearm.
And there you have your 2 shots of espresso. Two tips for you. I add my almond milk and flavor to the cup so the shot drips into it. A shot of espresso can go bad quickly so I find it easiest to do it this way. Mix it together and add your ice AFTER the hot espresso will melt your ice too quickly, no one wants a watered down delicious coffee.
Tada! Pure morning bliss!
After we started doing our budgeting I realized that I was spending way to much on coffee outside of the home. Glad to say that I have purchased two of my own this month, and they were both during my networking groups. I justify those a little since they are both a tax write off. We now buy about 4 pounds of coffee a month at the store vs. our usual 3 pounds but the savings has really added up! I now prefer to make my own at home rather than going out and buying one.
We had a pretty successful weekend. Friday afternoon my neighbor Jen and I took our dogs to McIver dog park and let all the girls run around a play for about an hour. On Saturday I had two appointments then in the afternoon Wayne and I ran our first 6 miles of the year. My time was 1:03 and I am super proud of that time.
Saturday evening we visited our friends Rob and Caitlin at there place in Vancouver. We just hung out, Rob made dinner and we played Mario on Wii all night. Sunday morning Wayne had planned to meet a guy in SE Portland to look at a bike for sale. He sold his Cyclocross bike at the end of December and decided that he wanted a single speed bike instead. I asked him, "Why would you want a single speed bike when it is harder to ride?" The he asked me why I ran hills. The answer was obvious, for a challenge.We took Dakota with us to get her out of the house for the day. We met him at Stumptown Coffee and I think I had the best cranberry orange scone of my entire life and a latte while he took the bike for a spin and finished his transaction
Also, the old '98 Civic hit 180,000 miles. Now shit's going to start breaking.
To give Dakota a little joy in the trip we went to the Mt. Tabor dog park. Wayne had never been to Mt. Tabor so we took some time and explored a little.
Then we got home and Brandon was outside, he let the dogs out (who who who who) And Dakota and Rouge played while Brandon talked to Wayne about running shoes. Then I cleaned the entire car, inside and out.
We also made our March Budget. If you remember, the February Budget was a disaster. We stopped writing stuff down after the 1st week. Wayne wanted to give it another shot this month so here it is!
Fixed Expenses
Mortgage and PT: $959
HOA: $121
Sandy Net/Water: $52
Auto Ins: H: $62 W: $150
Garbage: $17
Union Dues: $36
Life Ins: $38
H Student Loans: $112
H Business CC: $32
Variable Expenses
PGE: $50
NW Natural: $75
Cell Phone: $133
Grocery : $400
Gas: $190
Total monthly living expenses: $2,427
8 month emergency fund should be: $ 19,416
Misc. Expenses
Dog and Cat: $65
Personal Care: $85
Food/Ent: $350
Clothing: $100
Total misc expenses (non living): $600
Wayne found out he is getting a decent tax refund this year. We are using a new CPA and she wants to look at his past returns because she noticed that 2011 didn't have his out of town expenses, like his per Diem added to it. We will be amending 3 additional years worth of taxes and he should be getting another big chunk from that.
I am happy to say that with what we have in savings plus his 2012 tax refund we have well over an 8 month emergency fund! We finally made it! We both have a feeling of accomplishment and I feel a lot better about this month especially since my monthly income has taken a little drop.
We are still working on our goals for March but here are my personal and business goals and some of our combined goals:
Heather
Follow half marathon training schedule of running 4x a week.
finish taxes
drink more water, 70 oz a day. I am really bad at doing this.
foam roll 2x a week
send out client discount vouchers
continue with soap making creations (here's my Etsy shop that I just launched last week)
Together Goals
exercise Dakota 4x a week
start organizing garage overhead
book Zion camp spot
Oh Zion i can't wait to visit you in May!
That concludes our successful March weekend. What were you up to over the weekend?
I am being taught a lesson this month. At first I was terrified, now I am a little more excited and up for a challenge. I have been preparing for this to happen since December but if happened a little sooner than expected.
There are many pros and cons to being a self employed massage therapist. For the past year I have gotten to help a family that was in a car accident find relief in there pain and over the past year get them all to being pain free and back to their healthy, functioning selves. By law they can seek treatment for a year up to the amount allowed on their PIP policy, whichever comes first. Well it came sooner than expected and I am missing out on being paid for 9 outstanding treatment dates and their PIP policy is out of funds.
I knew it would happen in a month when their claim was up so I was stashing money like crazy. To make this more relatable loosing them means I loose about 9 appointments a month, close to $900. Big drop in income!
So needless to say my debt snowballing to pay down those student loans is gone. After reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover I established an emergency fund (a lot more than his $1,000 recommendation because running a business with only $1,000 in savings scares the crap out of me.) I created a budget, but am now realizing the importance of his "self employee" budget that I should have been following instead.
I express my fears to Wayne and he just rolls his eyes at me and tells me everything will be fine. Within a week after I found out the news I was looking for a part time job to have a steady cash flow but he quickly shut that idea off in my head. He is the prepared one, debt free, with a fully funded emergency fund. When I freak out he always brings me back down to remind me that although we aren't married yet, he will help me if I need it. I on the other hand hate it when I have to ask for help especially money. I even hate it when he has to pay for all of the groceries, maybe I am just a control freak.
So there I was, in the middle of my freak out. Thinking off all the things I could do to market my business in new ways. I am pretty awesome at coming up with ideas under stress so I have a few good ones. I thought to myself, what would my Grandma tell me to do? And I knew the answer immediately. I stopped myself, and gave all my stress away to God. I knew He would lead me in the right direction. Maybe not give me the type of client that I wanted but will make sure that I am covered. I'm no longer caring that stress. I had a new client call me for an appointment for Friday, and she ended up scheduling again with me in 2 weeks. I had another client that I haven't seen in months call and make an appointment for Tuesday, and a third to redeem a gift certificate (which could lead to another appointment,) He is giving me options, and helping me see that when I take the stress off myself great things happen, and maybe that I have an emergency fund for a reason.
So here is to hard work in March, creative marketing, and thrifty spending. BTW I haven't bought coffee outside of the house in 11 days, that may be broken today because Wayne is treating me to Mt. Mocha. So maybe it's only broken if I buy my own coffee. : )
