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1.31.2012

Pre-February Challenge: Task 1

The February Challenge will be organizing your finances. Now, I am by no means claiming to be a financial guru. I definitely am not. But we can get our finances in order, together, so that our homes will run more smoothly each month when it comes to paying bills.

Here's the schedule:
  • Week 1: Tracking Everything Down
  • Week 2: Organize the Paper Clutter
  • Week 3: Create a System/Schedule for Bill Paying
  • Week 4: A Look at Some Online Tools That I Use
So, to start you off - if you'd like to begin just before February 1 - I'm giving you a monthly budget worksheet printable. It's one of the best sellers in my etsy store. The version I'm giving you, for free (just for the first week of the challenge - it will disappear on February 8) is blank and not editable, unlike the one in my store. I'll show you mine, with all of the categories I use, tomorrow. This document is 3 pages. Download it below.

download the blank monthly budget worksheet
Before filling in the categories in the left column, you may want to make a list of how/where you spend your money. You can look at receipts, your bank account online, or bank statements. If you have credit cards, look there, too!

I want to keep typing and getting into the challenge...but I won't. More tomorrow. =]

1.27.2012

January Challenge: Report Your Progress & E-Mealz Giveaway - CLOSED!

This month we tackled prioritizing and scheduling our time. How are things going? Has this month's challenged helped you? I'd love to hear about your progress from the challenge!

This giveaway has ended and commenting is closed. 

Chosen by the random integer generator at random.org, the winner is...

Congratulations to #19 JoDell.

(Please check your email and respond within 48 hours to claim your prize!)

Thank you to E-Mealz & everyone who entered! =]


E-Mealz has teamed up with me this month to offer you a wonderful prize! It goes perfectly with this month's time management topic, and will go great with next month's *soon to be revealed* topic.

I have been using E-Mealz service for the last two weeks and it has really been a time saver for me. I used to be really into meal planning and it saved us time and money every week. Now with my lack of time, I've put meal planning and couponing on the back burner. No good. E-Mealz has made meal planning so easy for me. All I need to do is log in to my account and print the menu each week. All of my meals, along with their ingredients and instructions, are on one page with a categorized grocery list on the second page. There's a section on the grocery list for me to add other items I need as well.

I honestly though that a meal planning service wouldn't be of good use to me because Chris and I are picky, and most recipes have too many servings and we end up with a fridge full of leftovers we'd never eat. E-Mealz has meal plans for two, which is genius. There's enough for leftovers for my lunch for the next day, but not enough to feed an army. And the recipes are surprisingly meals that we've both really enjoyed so far. Love it.

There are lots of options to change your meal plans according to your needs: you can specify what grocery store you shop at and they'll base meals off of what's on sale (if they cover your grocery store) or you can specify dietary restrictions (low-fat, gluten free, low-carb, portion control, and more). Something for everyone.

Here's the blurb E-Mealz gave me to share, giving more info about their company:
E-Mealz relies on a team of experienced meal planners, writers and editors to create new dinner menus every week that are designed around grocery store sales, seasonal specials and diet preferences. For $5.00 per month, subscribers download a recipe plan for the week with a matching aisle-by-aisle grocery list. The easy-to-follow recipes usually contain fewer than seven ingredients to allow for prep times of less than 30 minutes. It also helps families stay within a predictable budget by being prepared with a detailed list to use at the grocery store.


The E-Mealz program provides a consistent and reliable approach to food budgeting by factoring the weekly cost of ingredients into each menu plan. Menus are created around a budget of $75 per week for families and $35 per week for couples.


E-Mealz was created by sisters Jane DeLaney, mother of four, and Jenny Cochran, mother of three. The sisters were frustrated by the challenge of coming up with healthy, budget-conscious meals for their own families and inspired by their own mother’s frugal ways, they launched the program in 2003. 
For more information, visit their blog (www.maketimeforfamily.org) or Facebook page.

E-Mealz has kindly offered to give one reader a three month membership to their service ($21 value).

To enter (mandatory entry):
  • Leave a comment on this post (not on Facebook and no email entries) telling me:
  • How did you do with the challenge this month? Did you complete all parts of the challenge, or just some? I'd really love to hear what you learned! If you have a blog and want to write a post about it, leave the link to your post!
Optional entries (leave a comment for each extra entry):
Giveaway rules:
  • You must be a follower (through Twitter, FB, GFC, or RSS/email) of The Nest Effect to win.
  • The winner will be chosen by random.org.
  • Please make sure your email is either linked in your profile or on your blog OR that you include it in your comment. If I can't find your email address, I can't contact you as the winner. 
  • One entry per person - no extra entries for this giveaway.
  • Giveaway ends February 2 @ 9 PM (MT).
Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored. The prize, information, and giveaway have been provided by E-Mealz. Any opinions about products stated in this post are completely honest and purely my own.

1.26.2012

How I... Make My Printables

I often receive emails or comments asking me how I make my printables. It's easier than you think.

Microsoft Word for everything basic, Adobe Acrobat to make them editable.

The secret is out!

I didn't take a class to learn how. I'm self-taught. I've loved technology since I first used a computer when I was a child. Ever since I've been curious about everything, so I explore and play and practice with it all. I love lists and forms, so I started creating my own about 4 years ago.

I love sharing what I create, which is why I have so many free printables available. My husband says I offer too many for free since I have a "talent". Whatever. I like sharing - and it's a lot easier to share on my blog than go through the hassle of listing it on Etsy.

To be honest, I opened the Etsy store to make money when I was unemployed and searching for a teaching job. Now that I've found one, every dollar earned goes into my classroom, which is so helpful since our paychecks go to our student loan debt (yuck). Therefore, if you buy from me, you're supporting my classroom. {My students thank you.}

Questions?

Crazy. Busy. Sick.

I totally spaced time this week. And now, as I sit in bed, typing this on my Kindle Fire, I realized tomorrow is Thursday. The day I'm supposed to have up the final January Challenge post with the giveaway. Forgive me. It will post on Friday morning instead. I was at a seminar all day today on leveled reading groups. I need some sleep so I'm ready to return to my little sponges tomorrow. Hopefully they were on their best behavior for the substitute! Have a great Thursday.

1.24.2012

Have 5 Minutes? Create a 2011 Tax Document File

Tax season has creeped up on us again. Tax documents are now arriving in the mail and inboxes, and I need a place to keep them in order. This year we're going to attempt filing together as a newly married couple. We'll see if we really save any money.

I added my taxes file to my mail station. In the hanging folder I added 3 file folders, labeled: Tiffany, Chris, Deductions.








Yeah, I know - that was a lot of pictures, but my desk looks a bit differently now than it did last time I showed. =]

So go ahead and find a convenient place to store your tax information as it comes in. Organize it in a way that makes sense. File your taxes when you receive everything!

Good luck!

How do you organize your taxes before filing (so you don't lose anything)?

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