Have you voted yet?

The poll ends in 23 hours to determine which tally bars I keep. Right now the old ones are pushing ahead towards a win. I must say that I am pretty surprised by it!

Dog Tired

I am so tired today but the weather is nice. Sorry guys but I'm off to lounge in my freshly groomed yard.

Ahhhhh

Got Bananas?

Yesterday I stopped by the grocery store with my mother and I noticed there were no bananas. Instead some watermellon occupied the space along with a sad sign. The sign stated that there was an indefinite stop on banana shipments because of a strike happening with the packers. WTF?!

Good thing I don't like bananas but my BF does. I feel bad for my best friend who's baby adores a squished banana every morning. :(

What's Cooking Wednesdays - Brie Cheese Lovers Unite!

Brie Cheese with Sundried Tomato and Green Onion

1 Brie Round
5 Sun Dried Tomato (in oil)
5 Green Onions
1 Fresh Baguette

Preheat Oven to 375*

Slice Brie round in half diagonally and open like a sandwich.

Place one half of the Brie cut side up into a small baking dish. ( I have a small glass circular one that fits perfectly :))

Chop up sun dried tomatoes and sprinkle evenly onto the Brie.

Chop up green onion and sprinkle evenly onto Brie as well.

Place top half of Brie back on top of tomatoes and green onions cut side facing down.

Let Bake for 15 minutes.

While cheese is baking in the oven slice baguette on an angle to create small discs.

Serve cheese in baking dish to company with sliced bread and butter knifes. Use knives to scoop and spread the melted cheesey goodness on to the bread and then pop it in your mouth and Enjoy!!



TO DIE FOR - Next time I make this I will be sure to take a photo for you all!

This is SOOO easy to do when you have guests over and they will LOVE it, I promise! You can get different sized Brie rounds and don't be shy to add more or less tomato or onion!

Thanks to my guy for teaching me this one! XOXOX

Darn You Government!

Don't you love how the government likes to grab every penny they can from you? UGH!!

This year when I received my interest relief form for 2007 from my Federal loan there was another letter attached with an amendment for 2006. So when I filed my taxes last month I filed them both.

A few weeks later I find out that because of the amendment I had been over paid and now they wanted their money back and they'd already tacked on a year's interest ($5) on the overdue amount!

How rude! First of all, it was their error not mine. Second of all I filed it as soon as I received the amendment. Then you charge me interest!! How is any of this my fault at all?

On top of everything I had to pay my own postage too! Grrr

Finding Money Mondays - 8

Last weekend I found money in the strangest place. Digging rocks out of the garden bed I stumbled across a small circle that looked interesting but was caked in dirt. I brought it inside and asked my BF to clean it up. He did and it turned out to be a 1903 Canadian nickel. This coin is smaller than a dime and doesn't have the queen on it. We looked it up online and discovered we could get $10 for it and depending on the markings coins like this could be worth over $110.

The town I live in is an old mining town. I am very pleased to have found this coin and have decided to keep it as a memento. It just goes to show that you never know what you can find if you keep your eyes open and take a look around!

I started to wonder how much a nickel would have gotten somebody back on the day it was lost and how sorry the person may have felt to misplace it. You never know when a piece of history will show up.

*** Edit*** I can't seem to add pictures today so if you would like to see the coin I am referring to please click here.

Goal Met!!

I met one of my May TCOB goals!!!

I just initiated a payment to my Federal Student loan in the amount of $280 dollars. This brings me below my goal of paying my debt down to $2500 this month. I had alloted more money towards this but some expected things came up. No worries though because there is another pay day this month and I plan to put some more on my loan as well as meet my savings goal this month!

Happy MoM Day Everyone

Well its our Mother's favorite time of the year! LoL. I don't have any kids but there are an increasing number of my friends and family having them. Today we have a BBQ planned. Only some of my family will be able to attend but thats just fine by me. Once some people dropped out I bumped us up to steaks all around at a great price so I'm more than happy! Stress less is one of my goals this year so I'm trying to turn every negative into a positive.

Whether you are a mom or celebrating with a great mom in your life have a great day everyone!

Becoming Debt Free

Over the past few weeks many people have been clearing out the last of their debt. As I near the end of my marathon of debt pay down I start to think about what it would be like to be debt free.

I wonder if it will be as fun to save as it is to pay down debt. While watching your money grow is fun it's not quite as satisfying as beating down the debt. Who knows? Maybe my feelings on this will change when I finally get there. After all its been quite awhile since I haven't been in the red. There are so many things I want to do with money.

1)Australia Fund. I put $5000 on the tally bar but its not an exact figure. Its my starter goal for that fund. BF and I haven't really broken down the costs yet. Since we plan to work while we are there he thinks about $5000 would be good but I would like to have more so that I can be flexible when I'm there with what I want to do.

2)EFund goal. I think I will do it in portions. I don't like to set huge goals for myself because then I feel discouraged. Once I hit the $2000 mark I will probably reset it for something like $5000.

3)Entrepreneurial Fund. One day I would like to have my own business. My mind is always racing with ideas and I want to have the money to put one of them into action one day.

4)Wedding Fund. I would like to get married in the next 5 years. I have some ideas on what I want to do but the groom has other ideas for our wedding day so we'll see.

5)House Fund. The market on Vancouver Island is the pits right now. Its so high that nobody who grew up here can afford a home. I have no idea how the upcoming Olympics will affect us. :(

Then there are all the other things to consider as well such as retirement savings and I will probably learn how to drive one day and want a car. There is always a place to spend money and with that comes the need to increase my income.. so does that mean I need an education fund as well?

Yeesh! Well, I'm just going to focus on my current goals right now and be happy that I am financially aware of all the things coming my way.


Big shout out to Canadian Saver and Debt Hater to paying off their debt! I can't wait to join you ladies!!!

CUTE ALERT!!

I was checking in on my girl at So Sick of Debt and she has added these cute little tickers to her blog that are so adorable. I think I'm going to switch mine over too. Props to her for finding them!

I've set up a poll on the side for you guys to let me know which you prefer but I'm pretty sure you're gonna like these guys!