Goals Accomplished in the Last Year (See.... I Told You I'd Be Back Soon :-)

Since we got married (3-13-10.... best day of my life... swoon), we have both wanted to work towards being debt free. I am proud to announce some of our accomplishments in the last year.

• Paid off my student loans
• Sold all of my wedding stuff (and I had A LOT of stuff)
• Paid off credit card debt and a small loan
• Bought a car for my husband (he used to have a company car)... we paid cash for it
• Paid off my car (woo hoo) - Never buying a new car ever again!

We are super excited about the future and what we can accomplish in the next year. Some of the future goals are:

• Finish replenishing savings (from husband's car purchase), which should put us at 6 months of savings.
• Pay off 2nd mortgage on the townhouse
• Pay off one of husband's student loans
• Upgrade appliances in townhouse. This will help us sell the place in the next 2 years.

Until next time....

xoxo

Whew... it's some lofty goals, but we're up for the challenge. :-)

Time Flies when You're Having FUN!!

OK.... a few months later.... and I've totally neglected the blog again. I have been busy with my new job and adjusting to all things that come with a new job (new people, new schedule, NOT working from home (sniff), and using my brain again).....

I promise this time to do better... I mean it this time. :-)

I have just recently celebrated Valentines Day and my 1 year anniversary. That meant GIFTS to buy for my sweet husband. Check out a few of my faves.

Valentine's Gift for the Hubs

Drive Your Dream- Ferrarri. Yes I know..... Best.Wife. Ever. :-) Groupon- $149 (and I had a $10 credit). A small price to pay for a smile like this. :-)

In addition, we just celebrated our first year as a married couple (ahhh). I bought us 2 cooking classes from Central Market and used it for LobsterFest (2 Groupons at $29 each + $30 additional). I paid $88. If I would have just paid for the class through Central Market...... I would have paid $150 for the 2 of us. We learned to make lobster, had some wine, and ate some great food!!! Great gifts don't always have to be about the price.... it's been lots of experiences for us lately. :-)

Jealous???? You should be... it was AWESOME!!!

Can you believe all the great deals lately??

So many deals.... so little time.

xoxo

OMG What happened to the last 4 MONTHS!!!

Sorry it has been so long.... since my last posting, the following have happened (7-29-10):

• Celebrated the hubby's bday in Vegas (SO. MUCH. FUN)
  
• Had knee surgery and rehab (Not so much fun)
  
• Hubby got a new job (mid October)


• And I got a new JOB!!!! (So. Tired. This Week)

So, our lives have changed a lot in a little bit of time, but I hope to at least get better at posting.... man, I'm exhausted!!!

I am LOVING all these new Daily Deal sites out there!! See here for my new additions!!!!

Travel on the Cheap- Vegas, Baby!!

So, my husband's birthday is next week and we have been planning for the last 2 months for his 30th birthday-- in Vegas!!! We LOVE to travel, but don't love to come home broke. Here's how we scored a fun trip, for less moolah and hopefully more money to spend at the tables!!!

• Hotel & Airfare
  We booked through Vegas.com and scored a great package! We actually bought Vegas.com gift cards at Costco.com. Each $100 giftcard was only $79.99 (a 20% savings!), online and shipping included. I did some calculations and figured out how many giftcards I would need. We also scored $50 food and beverage credit and up to $50 baggage reimbursement. Our trip ended up costing us $320 (for hotel and airfare) per person!!! And-- we're on the strip!!!
  
• Meals
  Meals in Vegas aren't cheap, like they used to be. A few of the sites we used included:
  * Restaurant.com- be sure to search promo codes to help lower the cost of coupons
  * Living Social
  * Groupon
  * Visiticket
  
• Shows
  We bought more Vegas.com giftcards for shows. The service fees are pretty steep, but we had a little money left over on a card and a promo code for Vegas.com, so it pretty much took care of the fees.

Now, if we can just get lucky with some good hands, virgin rollers, and loose slots, we can afford to come back soon!!!



Wish us luck!!!

A New Fave Recipe

It's been SO HOT here lately that we haven't felt like grilling... even though it's summer.

So.... I brought the grill indoors tonight- with Turkey Burgers. Even the hubs loved them!! (I think he was a little surprised at how good they were!)
This may be my new go-to food!!! DEFINATELY going in the food rotation around here!!!

What I loved is that I already had everything I needed, except some buns. I used Cibatta buns and toasted them with cheese in the broiler.

Seasoned Turkey Burgers
SO- GOOD!! And pretty healthy, too.

Throw together with a cool fruit salad and you've got a meal!!!

I promise to start adding more pictures...I just keep forgetting!!!!

Plants 2 for 3

OK, so our Rosemary plant and tomato plant are still doing well. Sadly, the basil plant didn't make it. R.I.P. little basil.

We had a leak in our A/C unit last week and had to shut off the A/C for about 24 hours....that did the basil in. Luckily, our A/C unite just needed a good cleaning and now has provided us an opportunity to now clean it ourselves. :-) THANK YOU, GOD, for it being a minor fit and not a whole new unit (those puppies are about $5K- but necessary in Texas in July).

We are going to try the basil again.... wish us luck! I DO NOT want to pay for basil- I want to grow it myself!!! :-)

Gardening....on the Cheap

I'm slowly figuring out that by growing some of my favorite items (like basil) myself, I can save a ton of money at the grocery store (and a trip to the store). Around our place, we love basil, rosemary and tomatoes. Since we don't have a yard, just a patio, we are trying to grow these items in pots or hanging baskets. Hopefully, we'll get some good crops soon and get a garden of our own one day. I'm dreaming of my dad's famous salsa, with tomatoes from his own garden. :-)