Showing posts with label adulting 101. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adulting 101. Show all posts
Happy Friday Friends! How was your week? Tell me everything. This week was one of those weeks that make being an adult a pain in the butt. We had a great weekend last weekend and then the week hit hard.
My in-laws come in town tonight and are our saving grace after a long week. Ya know those weeks where you set out Sunday night with the best, most well planned intentions, and before Monday at noon hits, all your plans have gone down the tube? Welcome to our week.
Henry had to go to the vet last minute to get more heart-worm pills. Lola peed on our bed (!!!!), duvet to the dry cleaner, I double-booked plans, I left files at the office when I was at court. I dropped a glass vase. I forgot to pay our HOA bill. Life happens. Being an adult is tough and even the most well thought our plans don't go as planned.
Happy Weekend Friends!
My in-laws come in town tonight and are our saving grace after a long week. Ya know those weeks where you set out Sunday night with the best, most well planned intentions, and before Monday at noon hits, all your plans have gone down the tube? Welcome to our week.
Henry had to go to the vet last minute to get more heart-worm pills. Lola peed on our bed (!!!!), duvet to the dry cleaner, I double-booked plans, I left files at the office when I was at court. I dropped a glass vase. I forgot to pay our HOA bill. Life happens. Being an adult is tough and even the most well thought our plans don't go as planned.
Saving Money Made Simple
Being the one in charge of the needs of your family can be a headache and a half. If you are not always on top of all of the different household tasks that have to be accomplished each day, it can throw off your entire system. One of the easiest ways to feel like you are not doing your best is when you notice that your budget is off. This can become particularly difficult during times when you are trying to work on some especially important moves for your life.
It can be impossible to find the right local insurance plan, for example, if you do not have any funds in your budget. Luckily, all hope is not lost. It is entirely possible for you to rise to the challenge and find all of the funds you need to take care of your insurance goals. All you have to do is take a moment to consider how you can do better with planning for your financial future. Follow a few of these simple steps and see if you can get off on the right foot.
Stop Paying For Simple Services
There are some jobs that will come up in life that you are going to need to turn to the help of the professionals for. If a pipe bursts in your house in the middle of winter, you’ll definitely want to spring for a plumber. Of course, there are hundreds of services that people wind up paying for on a regular basis that are a waste of money. If you are trying to save for your future, the best thing to do is cut back on the services that you have to pay for yourself.
The services that you should stop paying for are the ones that you can easily handle without professional assistance. If you tear a hole in your favorite pants, for example, you might want to rush out to the local dry cleaner and have the hole repaired. This might not seem like a big expense but the costs add up. Grab a needle and some thread and get to sewing your clothing for yourself. It might take some extra time but the money that you save can be used towards much more important moves for your future.
Give Up the Coffee
Putting an end to paying for services that you can take care of yourself is just the beginning of your journey. There are tons of helpful ways to cut back on your daily expenses and see impressive results. If you are someone who drinks a lot of coffee, it stands to reasons that you grab a cup or two of java each day while you’re out in the world. Coffee does not seem like a big expense due to the inexpensive nature of the drink but each small purchase of a coffee will wind up costing you over time.
Instead of buying coffee while on the go, you are going to be doing yourself a big favor by learning to make it at home. Start your day by brewing a big pot of coffee and filling a travel mug that is designed to keep drinks the desired temperature. If you have a big enough travel mug, you could be sipping on a hot cup of coffee throughout your entire day. All it takes is an investment in the right mug and you will start seeing the savings add up in your account.
Find the Best Methods
There are hundreds of ways to cut back on your spending so that you can balance your budget a bit better. If you are trying to find the perfect insurance plan, then it is important to discover ways to save. Find the best methods that work for your lifestyle and get started on this plan as soon as possible.
Happy Weekend Friends!
Sometimes being an adult sucks. Bills, not sleeping until noon, working, bills.
Sometimes being an adult rocks. Your own house, time, money, life.
For example: adulting is fun when you buy your first house. Adulting is fun when you get to pick the vacations you go on, how you decorate your house and what time you go to bed. And, if you're like me, you go to bed at 8pm, so being an adult didn't change much there.
But sometimes being an adult sucks. Gone are the careless days of your dad doing your taxes, being carpooled to the 6th grade, complete with a lunch packed by your mom or your mom handing you $20 whole dollars to spend at the movies on Friday.
It's amazing what I took for granted in the 7th grade when my mom was ironing my clothes and making me pb&js.
Do you remember coming home from school and feeling stressed because you didn't read a book that was due. Now, here I am dying to have time to go home and read a book. Or when your biggest problem was when your mom forgot to wash your favorite skirt for school and you couldn't convince her that even though you wore a school uniform, that one, was different and you had to have it.
The good things about being an adult:
The bad things:
Sometimes being an adult rocks. Your own house, time, money, life.
For example: adulting is fun when you buy your first house. Adulting is fun when you get to pick the vacations you go on, how you decorate your house and what time you go to bed. And, if you're like me, you go to bed at 8pm, so being an adult didn't change much there.
But sometimes being an adult sucks. Gone are the careless days of your dad doing your taxes, being carpooled to the 6th grade, complete with a lunch packed by your mom or your mom handing you $20 whole dollars to spend at the movies on Friday.
It's amazing what I took for granted in the 7th grade when my mom was ironing my clothes and making me pb&js.
Do you remember coming home from school and feeling stressed because you didn't read a book that was due. Now, here I am dying to have time to go home and read a book. Or when your biggest problem was when your mom forgot to wash your favorite skirt for school and you couldn't convince her that even though you wore a school uniform, that one, was different and you had to have it.
The good things about being an adult:
- Last night I drank wine because I wanted too. And it wasn't illegal.
- I went shopping this weekend and didn't have to ask my mom for money.
- I stayed up late and no-one told me to go to bed, expect my inner voice, but I shushed him.
- I'm married.
- I have a great job.
- Today I created a spreadsheet outlining our monthly bills. That is like the least fun thing I've ever had to do. It's hard balancing 10 different bills, 10 different due dates and 10 different log ins to pay them. Sure auto-bill pay is cool, but bills in general are not. Hence a spreadsheet.
- Taking out the garbage. This stinks....
- Grocery shopping. Sometimes this is fun. But I usually do this on Sundays after church when I'm starving and the rest of the Denver-metro area is trying to get the same tomato I'm trying to get.
- Shoveling snow. Guys, Denver got 12 inches of snow this weekend. While it makes staying in a watching movies perfect, it requires a lot of shoveling so your dog can go to the bathroom.
- Getting gas. Yuck. My dad used to do this for me.
- Paying bills. What is worse than having to send money to people you don't even know. See #1 above.
- Ironing your clothes. My mom used to iron all my clothes, even my underwear. Let that sink in. She used to iron my sheets! What was I thinking moving out? Now ironing is my job. Thank goodness for the invention of the steamer.
- Getting out of bed. Is this hard for everyone? I'm literally dead in the morning. I just cannot be bothered with getting ready for work some days.
- Doing the dishes. even though I have a new dishwasher (whoo hoo adulting!) I hate putting dishes in it. It's the pits.
How to deal:
- I blog. There is no better release for me then talking to you guys. It revives me, inspires me and motivates me to be a better adult. Thanks for letting me ramble.
- I vent to my husband/Henry/friends/family. They might not enjoy my adulting release of energy, but I appreciate them more then they know.
- I pray. This is huge.
- I drink wine. This probably isn't the best coping method but guys, it works.
- I read other blogs. Seeing how other people cope is awesome.
- I go to Pure Barre. Working out, just getting out helps clear my mind and remind me how cool being an adult is.
So I guess adulting isn't that bad. While I really miss mid-day naps, I really love all the other cool things.
Plus, I have a cool hookup for you that will help you be an adult. Trust me, dealing with credit and bills suck. I mean, I'm a bankruptcy attorney, I know these things. But there is a cool website called Credit Card Insider. It's an educational resource regarding credit and credit cards. Their mission is to help people make solid decisions about credit.
I know when I first moved out I wasn’t thrilled about having all my bills due in the same week; I had no idea how paying them on time could affect my credit. It hasn’t been an easy transition, but its been totally worth it.
While you go check out Credit Card Insider, I'll be over here drinking wine and watching Friends. Because I can, because I'm adult.
While you go check out Credit Card Insider, I'll be over here drinking wine and watching Friends. Because I can, because I'm adult.
Happy Wednesday people, good luck adulting today! Ps. How do you adult?
Adam and I recently bought out first house together! So recent that we close this week! It's so exciting because it's our first home. We lived together for about two years and we've shared an apartment, a duplex, but never a home.
This will be the first house we really decorate together. The first house we fix up together. The house we bring our future children home too. In this house we will celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations and all the day-to-day events. We will do life together in this house.
I'm so excited.
House hunting was cool, but boy oh boy, it was hard, frustrating and time consuming.
This whole adulting thing is not always what it's cracked up to be. There is so much stuff people don't tell you. Buy a house, they said. It'll be fun, they said. No-one told us about hidden fees, pre-qual letters or back-up offers. No-one told me I would actually come to hate house hunting before we found the one.
9 Tips for Buying a House:
This will be the first house we really decorate together. The first house we fix up together. The house we bring our future children home too. In this house we will celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations and all the day-to-day events. We will do life together in this house.
I'm so excited.
House hunting was cool, but boy oh boy, it was hard, frustrating and time consuming.
This whole adulting thing is not always what it's cracked up to be. There is so much stuff people don't tell you. Buy a house, they said. It'll be fun, they said. No-one told us about hidden fees, pre-qual letters or back-up offers. No-one told me I would actually come to hate house hunting before we found the one.
9 Tips for Buying a House:
- Get your financials in order. This is huge people. (a) Start saving. (b) Run a credit check. See what's going on and correct anything that might be going on. You never know really whats on your credit until you pull it. (c) get your money in your bank account.
- Talk to your spouse or yourself about what you want. Make a checklist. Talk about what you really want. It's time to get honest with yourself. Set a budget. It's super easy when you're looking to say, oh it's just a little more expensive. No. Set a budget and stick to it.
- Be realistic. When we started looking I thought we were going to buy this big ole house in the best neighborhood in Denver, walking distance to the best schools, next to our church and down the street from Trader Joes. Well, it turns out only Peyton Manning and Vonn Miller can afford those types of houses. Be realistic with your goals. This goes along with #2 in setting your budget.
- Pick a realtor who makes you feel comfortable. We picked a realtor based on some familial and friendly connections and boy am I glad we did. Our first meeting was over cocktails and appetizers. She made us feel relaxed, excited and laid it all out on the table. A big part of this relationship is honesty. There were times we hated a house and we were comfortable to tell her that. She walked us through disappointment, disgust and a multitude of other feelings during this process. She also had our best interest at heart. She helped us with a back up offer that actually secured us getting our dream house.
- Find a great lender. The lending process is the biggest part of this process. (a) Shop around. Some lenders can offer you certain rates and benefits that are different from others. Once you find a lender, (b) talk money. (d) ask about all the fees that go into a loan. origination fees, inspection fees, taxes, appraisal fees. There's more than just the loan amount, make sure you know the entire picture (e) get pre-qualified. this way you know exactly what you can and cannot afford.
- Be open minded. I had my mind set on exactly what I thought I wanted. I wanted a 5 mile by 5 mile radius and I HAD to have certain things. Welp, the house I fell in love with was outside that radius, totally different than I pictured and everything I never knew I wanted. Be open minded. Look at houses. Explore.
- Always be ready. We had this timeline set out. December 1 we will start looking. Well due to Thanksgiving we met with our realtor right before and she set us up with an MLS portal. Two days later we found a dream home, we looked at and the next day we put an offer in. Sometimes the perfect house comes along at the perfect time and you have to be ready. Wanna know the irony? Our dream house offer fell through. Our great realtor suggested a back up offer which we did. A month later, our backup offer was accepted and in a matter of 3 seconds we were under contract. Be ready.
- Do all the inspections. Luckily for us we had friends purchase a house a few months before us and they gave us great suggestions. Do all the inspections. (a) whole house inspection (b) sewer inspection and if you live in Colorado (c) radon. I've even heard people do (d) pest inspections. Spend the money upfront.
- Close the deal. Pay the money, read the documents, sign the documents and take your picture with the sale sign. Now go and enjoy your house!
Have you bought a house? What tips do you have?
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