Thursday, May 24, 2012

Just Shelve It

We needed something on the walls of the dining room. I have pictures on one side, and the other wall had this fabulous mirror that I bought at an estate sale. I decided that mirror would look great in the downstairs bathroom, but then I had an empty wall.

I perused a few DIY sites when I came across these plans. Simple, Sleek, and Easy! Hit up Home Depot, bought the lumber (I think I spent a little over $20 on Poplar) and spray paint, Black. Took me about 20 minutes to cut (Unlike the plans, I cut my shelves at 4 feet not 3 feet) and sand the pieces, then I spray painted everything black. Easy Peasy.

Well as I was measuring out the wall space in the dining room with the old man, we came to the conclusion that this was not the right space for these shelves. They jutted out to far to walk by comfortably. Booo Hisss Boooooooooo! Dayum you narrow spaces!

We brainstormed where to put these fabulous black shelves....Aha, the Gabanators room, but wait, Black shelves in a yellow room? I don't think so! Off to Lowe's  I went and bought cream colored spray paint and primer. After many many MANY coats of cream paint, I was done. Ehh you can kinda see the black on the ends..but it gives them character.

Welp I thought I had the hanging part figured out, uhm yeah Not.So.Much. My first idea went horribly wrong. Not Pretty. But the second idea (which is the correct way, screwing them into the studs, duh) worked like a charm. So into the wee hours of the A.M. I hung these suckers, and SUCCESS! These babies are up and they ain't never coming down cuz that was the biggest P.I.T.A. EVAH! 

Don't mind the holes, I patched them in after I took the pictures, and sorry for the poor picture quality, it was very late and I was exhausted!




Monday, May 21, 2012

Let's All Go To The Movies!

A great way to have a Date Night with your spouse and spend the least amount of money possible, is stalking free movie screening websites. I am a big movie lover, nothing like going to a theater, sitting back and watching a movie.


courtesy: battleship.com 

Last week I had 4 free passes for a sneak preview of Battleship. We kept a pair for ourselves and we gave a pair to friends of ours. Now the only downside of these screenings, is that you have to get there early, especially if it is a highly anticipated flick! My husband arrived about 1.5 hours ahead of time and he was about 50th in line. I arrived about 45 minutes prior, and the line was outrageous.

I really liked the movie, suspense, action and a little bit of love thrown in. The acting was so so, but if it has aliens in the story line, it's for me! I love fantasy/sci-fi/horror in any combination!

People brought in their own food (fast food, popcorn, etc), we however, did not. I am not a big fan of eating during a movie, then I would have to use the bathroom, and I hate having to use public restrooms. I shudder at the thought!

Google the websites in your area. Nothing like getting to see a free movie, before it even opens to the general public!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

My New OBSESSION!

DAVE RAMSEY! I am a compulsive spender, I admit it! I like the feeling of buying things that I think I need. As I near the 35 year mark of this life of mine, my husband has finally gotten through my thick skull "Do we want to go into our 40's with DEBT?"

Times are tough for everyone around us. These could be seen as first world problems. I get it, my debt does not hold a torch to those who are losing their homes, can't feed their families,and just recently, not being able to achieve the basic civil rights any human being should have.

I have read Financial Peace and I am totally on board with the Debt Snowball. It's interesting how much happiness this book has brought me, in the short time that it took me to read it. I find myself giddy, instead of overwhelmed, when I look at our financial spreadsheet. Odd.

Lets talk about our DEBT. Getting back to the obsession, I have been listening to all things Dave Ramsey, and compared to a whole hell of a lot of his listeners, our DEBT is miniscule! We have about $25k of Debt (not including our mortgage). $10K is a line of credit we opened to pay off old debt, yeah, what good that did us. Whatever, it is what it is.

Let's talk the Shaytards. I have been watching them on YouTube for about 2 years now. And I had no idea they went through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, until last year. Here is their Debt Free Story. They paid off about $95K of debt in the span of 4 years! AMAZING!

Our Debt free journey has begun, and Gary's mantra is "All Money In, No Money Out" he's a N.E.R.D.! 



I will try and update here as our Debt dwindles, we were hoping to have it gone within 18-24 months.