THE B WORD.

This past weekend M and I sat down and had a conversation I'd never had before.
It wast he Budget conversation. Big fat capital B.

M and I have never been wild spenders, but we've also had the luxury of not really having to track what we spend too closely. We've been able to pay our bills, save, and have fun while we're at it. I understand how incredibly fortunate we've been.

Last year right before our wedding I had signed up for Income Based Repayment for my student loans. My payment was calculated based on my 2012 income- the bulk of which I was working only half time, while studying for the bar exam. My income was pretty itty bitty, and since M and I were not yet married, my payments were itty bitty as well.

I've had a reminder set that by the end of this month I needed to recalculate my IBR payments and resubmit them. I had been avoiding it in part because I knew it was going to skyrocket. I now made significantly more than when I first reported..and unfortunately (fortunately?) I got married to a man who is doing well in his career so I knew that number was going to go up. I plugged in some simple numbers for an "estimation" and was reduced to hysterics when I saw the number go up by approximately 500%.

This prompted a very serious conversation about our spending.
Like I said, we're not bad by any means, and both decently frugal all around.. but when it comes to dining out, there's significant room for improvement. I won't hesitate to order out lunch, even if I have a perfectly fine lunch in the fridge. M does the same. We both grab drinks, dinners, and happy hours with our friends without even a second thought and some nights will eat out just ourselves when we don't feel like cooking. Food is a huge part of my life, I LOVE trying new restaurants and have a list a mile long of must-visits. Unfortunately for the time being we've made a deal to rope that in and be way more intentional when we DO decide to dine out. We've set a budget for that, as well as reduced our "personal spending" fund that we had been pulling from our joint account.

We put everything into Mint.com and set estimated allowances for things like utilities, gas, groceries, etc., to see how we do month over month on that.

We also decided to cut cable.

Yep, we went there. Really I don't think it'll be too terribly hard for us since we have access to a LOT of "live streaming" accounts (Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon, Comcast streaming/Xfinity..whatever that one is-- and most are family that have let us use their log ins). We'll have basic TV, so really the only struggle for M will be sports. My cable watching basically consists of throwing on episodes of Big Bang Theory, or any of the Law & Orders in the background or to veg out to. I do love me some food network, but I can always get my fix at the gym if I need to (worst case scenario we can beg M's mom to come over and just lay on her couch and watch crap..haha).

I don't want to give the impression we're super hard up as a result of this increase in my loan payments. We will still have a good sized surplus left over every month (or we SHOULD, we'll see how our budget works!) but we wanted it to STAY that way for the foreseeable future.

We're also fortunate enough in that our only really "bad" debt is my student loans. M has a very small amount left, but mine induces hives. Ohhh law school, the gift that keeps on giving. I won't ever get into numbers on here.. because, well, this isn't a personal finance blog and it's personal to our family. We have 1 car lease and 1 car loan, but that will only last a few more years (knock on wood). We do have a mortgage but know our house has appreciated in value since we bought it so we don't look at that as "bad debt" in the same way we do my loan. We have zero credit card debt- although we both have credit cards- we treat them like debit cards and pay them down every month.. basically just using them to build credit and earn rewards points (we earn travel miles and hope to use them to take vacations in the future more economically).

We're definitely looking at this as a challenge and this is something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I struggle with balance though- I don't want to venture to either extreme and deprive myself of some of life's smaller indulgences. I realize it may come to that if we were ever that hard up but honestly, we could die tomorrow and I don't want to miss out on my 20s because I wanted to save literally every.single.penny. That's not living.

I feel like I should add as a footnote:
yes, we're still going to Italy in a few weeks and yes that's costing us some $$$ but that will be our last "exception" for a little while.

Basically what I'm wondering is, do any of you have any tips, tricks, good blogs, resources, on personal finance, budgeting, creative ways to save/make some money?

LATELY

 

Life lately: a snuggly cat who soaks up all the "open door weather" he can get, early morning kayak trips through the channels on the Minneapolis city lakes, relaxing summer nights reading in bed (and a clean house- rare!), and of course a visit from Scruff McGruff on National Night Out- in which we crash our neighbor's block party every year because our block is boring. 

Just some little snaps from every day life. 

I'm currently plowing through some blogs looking for nuggets for Italy. Not that I've planned a ton of "big" trips in my day but it appears my preferred method of doing so is, Step 1: jot down the must-see-attractions (you know, Pike Place Market in Seattle... The Colosseum in Rome), Step 2: find some maybe lesser known but just as magical attractions (scored a tip on the "key of Malta" church in Rome from my aunt and the Boboli Gardens from a blogger living in Malta); Step 3: very specific recommendations for food and "local" type stuff (stumbled on a blog of a woman who lived in Florence and had tons of recommendations).

Other than that I have quite the depressing post in the queue about budgets and debt...sooo stay tuned for that! 

SEATTLE

Once upon a time I went to Seattle. 

I think I mentioned in my Tacoma post, I'm ashamed to say Seattle didn't rank too high on my "must see" list until fairly recently, and I regret that immensely. It was such a beautiful city, and reminded me at times of MN. The waterfront felt like Duluth, Bainbridge Island felt like the north shore, with all the pine trees. I felt like we really squeezed a lot in to our roughly 30 hours there, but would love to go back and explore more like a local. 

We started off the morning heading to the iconic Pike Place Market. 

My only regret here, and it's difficult to do with a group as large as we had, is that we didn't wander around more and just take it in. There was a slight mentality of "okay, this is the market, now what?" and I felt silly saying, "well, that's it. and I just want to wander around like I'm at home at a farmer's market." We actually ended up eating breakfast in the market at Lowell's- highly recommended if for no other reason than the spectacular waterfront views! Go to the 2nd floor, where you can actually sit at a table. The other 2 floors are more cafeteria style and you can only stay for 15 minutes once you get your food. 

After breakfast we wandered down to the waterfront.

I still wanted to see the gum wall but rather than hiking all the way back up to the market we decided to take a ferry to Bainbridge Island. (Another shout out to Sar who basically planned this trip for me!) Sar gave us the heads up that the ferry was only $7, and a good way to see the city from the water. If nothing else, how often do you get to ride a giant ferry!? 

I'd done some research and realized Bainbridge Island has a TON of little wineries/wine tasting rooms. 

We hopped off the ferry and strolled up through town, which was exactly as Sar described it as a "little hippy downtown." We were "rushing" back to the ferry at one point so as not to miss the next departure when I had everyone stop and check in and asked why we were rushing back. 

We'd only been on the island for about 35 minutes at that point and everybody agreed we didn't know why we were doing that. 

Thankfully we all realized this as we were standing in front of an adorable tasting room, so we popped in for some cheese (do you even know me) and wine flights. 

After heading back to Seattle we just had one last place I wanted to stop, the infamous gum wall. 

I'm really not easily grossed out so to me it was nothing but a colorful neat spontaneous piece of art in a tiny alley in the Pike Place Market.

After the gum wall we headed back to the hotel for some cat-naps, and to rest for a bit. We'd done a TON of walking by this point! 

After recharging we headed to Serious Pie for dinner... this was a Sar recommendation and OMG did it deliver. I am a pizza fanatic and I also fancy myself a bit of a foodie..this place was the perfect marriage of both pizza and foodie. If you want a gourmet but no fuss meal, and you're in Seattle, head to Serious Pie. 

We decided to squeeze in the 3 "need the car" items all on Sunday before our later flights. 

Not before heading to breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe, though. I got the tip on this place from Iowa Girl Eats.  (also a GREAT source for Seattle tips- and doubled up on a ton of what Sar gave me!) 

After breakfast we grabbed the car and drove up to Kerry Park in Queen Anne for, as promised, SPECTACULAR views of the city.  It's literally only a boulevard of grass along the bluff but it's so worth it. 

Next stop was the Fremont Troll. This is a quirky art installation under a bridge.. the troll is clutching a real Volkswagon, too. To give you a scale for size (well, us sitting on it helps, too). 

From there, we made the long walk (and should have drove, woops) to Gas Works Park. 

Familiar with the paintball scene in 10 Things I Hate About You? (RIP Heath.) This is where it was filmed. 

It's a cool old plant of some sort that was turned into a modern park. 

The views also didn't suck. 

I wish we would've driven over here, or left more time for this, as it was beautiful and breezy and amazing. (the cover pic up top with "Seattle" on it was also a view from Gas Works Park). 

If you're ever heading to the PNW and have any questions- ask Sar.
No but seriously, haha.
Thank you so much for all the tips, Sar, it was fantastic!

Until next time. :)

THE OTHER SIDE

Exactly two years ago I was sitting in the afternoon session of Day 1 of the Minnesota Bar Exam. I distinctly remember wanting to kill the guy sitting next to me (he was twitchy, a heavy breather, and just all around a spaz) and simultaneously vomit as I prayed to sweet baby Jesus my computer wouldn't die.

As the next few months dragged on, I put the bar exam out of mind and applied for jobs.. feeling like nobody would EVER hire me, and that I'd wasted a significant chunk of change on a useless degree and tortured myself with that test for nothing.

As I see the posts on Facebook from the few 3Ls I still know, expressing their fear and nerves about walking into Day 1 of the bar exam today.. I can't help but feel really, really grateful to have made it out on the other side: happy, healthy, and with a job I truly enjoy (most days). As I sit here hammering out motions in anticipation of our motion deadline for a trial I'm second chairing in October... I'm really grateful for how the last few years have played out- above all else that I'm employed in my field and in an area of law I find incredibly interesting.

It hasn't always felt like this here.. of course I don't write about it all because- duh. In fact, I'm sure if my husband is reading this post (I think he's abandoned the blog, but if not- Hi honey!) he's probably wondering if this is an invasion-of-the-body-snatchers moment and what I've done with his wife.. because there were several days of tear filled car rides home, and (embarrassing) histrionics about my job, life, future, and self-worth.  Hi, my name is Kelly, I can be a spaz. In what I may call a turning point though I can gladly say the good outweighs the bad usually and I'm feeling very content.

So this is my  message to you bar exam takers: there's hope at the end of the tunnel.

Just wanted to pop in and get this out. Apologies for the delay in Seattle recapping but M and I spent this past weekend at a friend's cabin with approximately 25 other people and it was a BLAST, from which, I am still recovering. :)

TACOMA

Howdy! 

We're back from our excursion to the pacific northwest and slowly adjusting to our routines. 

I am slightly ashamed to admit that this area of the country didn't make it onto my list of "must-see" places until fairly recently, but I'm happy that it did! 

The purpose of the trip was a 100th birthday party and thus, a mini family reunion on M's dad's side. If you can't celebrate 100 in a big way, when can you!? M, his sister Natalie, his dad, and his dad's gf drove out west starting last Wednesday. They bumped into a teeny issue when the transmission in his dad's 2013 Mazda blew somewhere west of Butte, Montana. (Yeehaw, right?) So, they were towed back to Butte, got a rental, towed the car to Missoula.. the location of the only Mazda dealership within 100 miles.. and somehow made it 2 hours past their original destination for the day, to Moses Lake, Washington. It only took them a 9 hour detour to do it. Woof. I, generally speaking, am NOT a fan of road trips. Granted, the longest I've ever sat in a car is approximately 3.5 hours but any longer and I fear I'd lose my mind. So, I was sad for M -who was really looking forward to the road trip aspect- when he was texting me with these updates. 

I flew in Friday morning and they picked me up on their way to town and we settled into Tacoma for our first 2 days. Tacoma is about 35 minutes south of Seattle and gives you a nice flavor of the region with a little less commotion. 

Sarah gave us some nice tips of things to do in Tacoma (as well as Seattle, which comprised most of my itinerary!), but first, I wanted to see Titlow Park. 

Titlow Park is the scene of one of our cases going on at work that I've been somewhat involved in. I'm aware how weird this will sound, but I felt like I was seeing a major landmark or a celebrity. You hear these names and places over and over and over again at work and there's this wonder and hype about them. To see this place we've discussed so frequently as a real (and BEAUTIFUL) park was very cool for me! 

Next up was downtown Tacoma, a cute little downtown nestled by the water that reminded me a TON of Duluth, MN- where I went to college. Hills, lots of industries and factories by the water.. it was a pretty place to explore. 

We walked along the Chihuly Glass Bridge- which spans the freeway and leads to the Tacoma Glass Museum- thanks to Sarah's tip, we got to experience some Chihuly glass exhibits fo FREE (the best kind) and skipped admission to the museum itself. After that, we walked back to Harmon Brewery for some local brews and split some apps. (Sorry Sar, the fish and chips will have to wait.. ;-) ). We walked off the calories along the water and sat down to enjoy the view for a while.

 

Saturday morning I got up early and snuck out of the hotel room to walk the block to Starbucks by myself. I struggle being around lots of people for prolonged periods so I needed some "me" time to recharge (hello, textbook introvert). I grabbed a chi tea latte and walked back to the hotel just in time for M's sleepy "I'm up now" text. We lounged around and then got ready for the big birthday bash, which was in a prep school down the road. 

I had met M's dad's side of the family only twice before this trip, since they're pretty spread out, and I'd never met the extended family (and sad to say I probably won't see many of them for a long, long time) but it was such a fun day. There's something about knowing you're all related that takes off the awkward social aspect, and I enjoyed chatting with a ton of people. 

That's "Roy the Birthday Boy" (so said his nametag) in the middle. He's 100 years old. Talk about a milestone. We found ourselves saying the phrase, "gosh, can you IMAGINE what he's seen?" quite often. He was born in 1914, lived through 2 world wars, saw the advent of the Model-T, all the way through smart phones. Talk about wild. He was soft spoken, and unfortunately due to a very recent fall, spent most the day in a chair. 

These are 2 of his only 3 remaining siblings, and Arlene there in the white was the sweetest woman I've ever met. She gave me a big hug when I met her and I honestly wanted to take her home with me. She's 92! Looking pretty fabulous for 92 if I do say so myself. 

Just a few short months ago, prior to his fall, Roy loved to go dancing. He had a bunch of friends from his dance hall there, and easily the highlight of the day was when one of the ladies got him up to dance to "All My Ex's Live in Texas." It was absolutely adorable and amazing. 

After a great rendition of "happy birthday" the birthday boy let out a little "woop!" and threw his hands up. The blue lips are from sneaking frosting after they set down the cake. :) 

It was so cool to be a part of and I couldn't help but look at the big group photos (those are just his kids and their kids) and think of what an incredible legacy he's made for himself. It was really a memorable day and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. 

Saturday was chock-full of more family, and Sunday we woke up bright and early to hit the road to Seattle- stay tuned!

#QUISTYSDIRTYTHIRTY

I heard on the radio not too long ago that the way to make a weekend feel longer is to actually DO more things over the course of the weekend. 

Not necessarily run yourself ragged, but having some plans can stretch those 2 and a half days. Not that I'm ever ready for Monday to roll around but I didn't dread it as much as some weeks. This weekend was SO great: full of tons of fun events and yet relaxing at the same time. This weekend was all about that guy I married, M! 

On Sunday, M turned 30, so I planned us a whole weekend of surprises. 

Friday night (not pictured) we went to dinner with his mom and step dad to kick off the festivities. 

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to hit the road to Surprise #1. I was concerned about the weather but thankfully the forecast proved true: overcast, but no morning rain, which was perfect for a morning of hiking at Taylors Falls. Taylors Falls is about 40 minutes straight north of Minneapolis/St. Paul, followed by another 20 minute straight east, until you hit the Minnesota/Wisconsin border. 

The only thing I was disappointed with was that the trails weren't LONGER. This was seriously the most beautiful trail I've ever seen (not that I've done a TON of hiking), but wow. I honestly felt like I was in Montana or somewhere significantly more rugged than a typically farm-area of Minnesota. 

After hiking we devoured lunch at Romayne's in town.. all that exercise worked up quite the appetite. 

We hopped in the car and made the long, rainy drive home to shower up and get ready for Surprises 3, 4, and 5. 

Surprises 3 and 4 were stops at 2 local breweries in town: 612 and Indeed (for you locals). M loves beer, and finding new beers, so I knew this was right up his alley. A selfless date-idea indeed for the girl who doesn't drink beer (and poo on 612 for having nothing besides water from a Culligan stand for us non-beer drinkers.. womp). Thankfully Indeed had flavored San Pellegrino. 

After encouraging him to nurse the second beer a bit longer (he slammed his beer at 612 in about 20 minutes.. I had allotted about an hour for each brewery.. haha.. I think he was just excited to keep the day rolling :)) we drove over to Surprise 5: Dinner at Hola Arepa. Ho-ly SNOT that was a fabulous dinner. For locals- Hola Arepa was (still is) a food truck during the week in downtown Minneapolis and they recently opened a restaurant on 35th and Nicollet. It was out of this world tasty. 

Surprise 5.5 was going to be dessert after a walk around Lake of the Isles, but we took home dessert from Friday night's dinner so we went home and scarfed that and watched The Wire instead. 

It's quite possible I was more excited about Sunday's surprise than Christmas morning, but first, Sunday morning. We woke up early and walked to the Caribou that's about 8 blocks from our house, where we sipped coffee on the patio and split a lemon poppyseed bread. 

By the time we got home and showered I knew Surprise 6 was close. M's dad lives in Moorhead, MN (about 3 hours northwest of where we live) but emailed me and told me he was going to be at a motorcycle rally in Iowa and would be passing through on Sunday on his way home. It worked out perfectly to surprise M with a birthday lunch with his dad. He had NO idea, I was very casual about everything... right up until I saw the motorcycle drive by the front of our house to head out back and park. M wasn't expecting anything so he didn't glance twice at it but I hopped up and began pacing as M's dad took FOREVER (it was probably 7 minutes but OMG I was jacked up) taking off all his cycle gear and coming inside. I honestly thought I was going to pass out I was so excited because I know how much M loves spending time with his dad. 

I opened the back door and motioned him in, but put my finger over my lips to tell him to not say anything.. and as we walked into the living room I said "Surprise #6 is here!" and the look on his face was PRICELESS. It was similar reaction to the surprise trip to Florida reveal. 

I had arranged for M's sister who lives in the cities to come to lunch, too and realized I never told M's dad about it, so that was a fun surprise for both of them when she showed up. His dad had told me he wanted to be "in and out" since he had a long drive in front of him so I picked a place nearby with fast service typically (Rojo at West End, for locals- again!). We got back home around 1:45 with plans to visit for a little bit when the guys realized the World Cup final was on at 2:00. Well, "in and out" slowly devolved into all 4 of us watching the final together (and when I say I watched I mean I watched the entire first half then napped through the second. woops). So, he hit the road later than expected but I know how much M loves watching sports with his dad, too.. so that was extra special. 

By the time his dad left we only had about 45 minutes until the 7th and final surprise of the weekend, which was going to be a casual surprise get together with some of his friends. Nothing huge, just about 12-14 of us in a back room at a local restaurant. Except, unfortunately 6 people bailed shortly before so it was a smaller group of 8 of us.. but it was almost preferable that way.. it was a small enough group that we all had one big conversation and it was an eclectic mix of his friends so it was nice to chat with people I sometimes wouldn't. We also got to hear some big news from 2 of his friends- they're 12 weeks along and expecting a baby in January! This is the first baby in a while, and they just got married in April 2013, so I'm excited to see the wave of kids start, now that almost everyone is married in the group! 

That was the last surprise of the day- after which we head home and watched more of The Wire- duh. 

I'd be remiss to not mention that it was also TJ's honorary birthday. We got him in late August and he was about 8 weeks old so we estimated his birthday back to be around early July. Since I was a bad cat-mom and spaced it until this past weekend, we celebrated tootie's birthday too. He's 3! So he was treated to some sloppy smelly wet food and just wolfed it down, squealing and purring the whole time- hilarious. 

It may have been M's birthday weekend but I had SO MUCH FUN planning it and enjoying all of it with him. I love doing things like this and I think he had a fantastic weekend. Make me want to plan weekends like this "just because" more often! 

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

Hi, bad blogger here. Just stopping in to tell you as much.

Got soaked to the bone, despite the umbrella, walking from the car to work today. Just some casual hurricane strength rain. Barf.

Actually I'm dedicating an entire blog post to tell you that you NEED to click this link and make these burgers that Jess posted or should you die tomorrow your life will have been truly unfulfilled having not eaten these. SERIOUSLY.

mkay, have a good weekend! It's M's dirty-30 Sunday, so I've got a whole weekend of shenanigans planned. :)