Sneak Peek & a Pre-Release Giveaway!

I just finished putting the final touches on this new kit and I can't wait to show you! Here she is:



If you'd like to win this brand-spankin'-new kit for FREE, leave a comment on this post telling me one thing you're super proud of!

[Entries close Tuesday at Midnight - Winner will be selected on Wednesday.]

Chewlry Sidewalk Sale!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am for this weekend. Remember this adorable bracelet? I thought I was in love with it until C surprised me with it for graduation.

Then, I was obsessed.

It was even more stunning in person! [Not to mention C also got me the earrings...deadly combination.] Very well made, classy, affordable jewelry. Chewlry has definitely got it going on.

So what's the big deal about this weekend?

CHEWLRY IS HAVING A SIDEWALK SALE.

That means you'll get to see these beauties:

and even these:

up close and personal!

and

to sweeten the deal even further, anyone who drops a comment here to RSVP to the sidewalk sale gets $3.00 off your favorite Chewlry piece. They're going to have jewelry starting at $5, so a new custom designed, gorgeous necklace for $2?! I'm sold!

Here are the details:

This Saturday, June 12th from 8am to 6pm at 310 North 900 West in Provo.

This is the same day as C's marathon, so you know where I'll be while C's getting a massage after running 26.2 miles. sheesh.

Let me know if you're coming and I'll let the Chewlry girls know to put your name on a gift certificate!

Money Management Week: Day 5

#5 Get out of Debt

Money is a heck of a lot easier to manage when you minimize your debt. Plan, plan, plan ahead to get ready for those hefty expenses without going into debt, like buying a car, or having a child. You might not be able to pay for it all at once, but if you can manage to put some money down, your interest payments will be lower and you will not be constantly making monthly payments. Do NOT go into debt for things that you really can't afford. Yes. At the moment, I really want an entire bedroom set in this beautiful mahogany wood. Unfortunately, it's not in the cards as of the checkbook this morning. I've contented myself with the dresser-which is a need...we refurbished ours to give to the baby and two nightstands-which is a want. My savings can handle that. Be smart...that's the best advice I can give. Let your money work for you!

If you haven't had the chance to enter our Dave Ramsey Giveaway, you can enter here!

Lindsay graduated from Brigham Young University with her Bachelor’s in English. She has lived in Colorado for a little over a year. Her husband loves her because she makes him laugh. Her daughter loves her because she makes the best food in the world. :) Lindsay loves her book club, quilting, her family, and going places-the library, the zoo, hiking, sporting events. She loves to GO!

Money Management Week: Day 4

#4 Save

Save money for a rainy day. Save for a speeding ticket. Save for those emergencies, getaways, things that are unexpected. I'm all about planning ahead...but sometimes you need a little extra cash in the bank for that spontaneous part of life. Trust me on the value of saving. Your car might break down, or you really might need a "getaway weekend" with your spouse. Either way, you'll be darn pleased you've got a couple extra hundred in the bank. If I'm being really good, I will put any extra money left over from our budget into savings. Save, save, save. Even if it's just $20. You'll be glad that you did.

One thing that always confused me is that we're told to save, but at the same time we're told to invest. I never knew what the magic amount in the bank account was that made it alright to invest. Dave Ramsey has a great, clearly outlined 7-step approach to this dilemma. It's completely changed my approach to saving! Have you entered the giveaway for his new book: The Money Answer Book? Check it out here!

Lindsay graduated from Brigham Young University with her Bachelor’s in English. She has lived in Colorado for a little over a year. Her husband loves her because she makes him laugh. Her daughter loves her because she makes the best food in the world. :) Lindsay loves her book club, quilting, her family, and going places-the library, the zoo, hiking, sporting events. She loves to GO!

Money Management Week: Day 3 {& A DAVE RAMSEY GIVEAWAY!}

Welcome to halfway through Money Management Week! To celebrate we're kicking off our Dave Ramsey giveaway. One lucky reader will receive a fresh off the press, newly revised edition of Dave Ramsey's Money Answer Book: Quick Answers for Your Everyday Financial Questions.

Dave Ramsey has got our new little family off to a great start financially. Because of him, we have a PLAN. We have realistic {and slightly weird} goals and we know how to achieve them. I immediately fell in love with Dave's financial philosophies when C & I took Financial Peace University right after we got married. His personality and motivational nature is addicting. He breaks things into little bite sized pieces to make them easier to understand and undertake. This book is no different than watching the man speak to a live audience. His charismatic, encouraging, and logical voice is prevalent on every page and you feel energized and ready to DO something as soon as you put it down.

What I most appreciate about Dave's outlook, is his understanding of marriage and how money affects it. He is a huge advocate for balance. Most of all, his recommendations just make sense! If I can logically put together and understand what he's teaching, I can move forward in confidence.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a little bit more direction in their financial life. So what are you waiting for?!

To enter the giveaway, tell me 1 thing you want to be/do/have/etc. in the next 5 years.

I'll pick a winner after there are 50 entries. You can get additional entries by mentioning this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or your own personal blog. Just be sure to come back here and leave a comment telling me what you did & a link to where you mentioned it!

Now, back to Money Management Week.

#3 Track your Expenses

Hi! It's Lindsay again. How did your budget turn out? Today we're talking about the grunt work of actually using your budget.

When we moved into the real world, we found out a very important lesson.

LIFE IS EXPENSIVE.

Bummer. Rent, food, gas, entertainment...it seemed like everything cost more than it did when we were in college.  It was so frustrating to see our happy paycheck come into the bank and then a couple days later, we wouldn't have any money. Where was it going? I mean, really.

A lot of people use Quicken to figure out the question, where is my money going? Quicken frustrated me-so I rely on Excel instead. Either one works. Basically, I just type in the amounts from each transaction into their category...and add them all together.  Excel lets me split receipts and put those diapers in their rightful place. So $30 goes in the diaper budget and 100.54 goes in the grocery budget. Here's an example of ours.  I made up the numbers, but you get the idea.

In truth, I don't track my expenses as often as I should. But it's useful when I feel like our money is disappearing.

Lindsay graduated from Brigham Young University with her Bachelor’s in English. She has lived in Colorado for a little over a year. Her husband loves her because she makes him laugh. Her daughter loves her because she makes the best food in the world. :) Lindsay loves her book club, quilting, her family, and going places-the library, the zoo, hiking, sporting events. She loves to GO!

Note: I received a free copy of Dave Ramsey's book, but the opinions and recommendations expressed in this post are my own. I intend to keep all reviews completely honest.

Money Management Week: Day 1

Greetings. :)  To start off with, let's pretend that I am a close enough friend to even ask this question...So. How are your finances? Do you know where your money goes? Kristin allowed me to guest blog and offer up my two cents on being financially savvy. So here we go. This week, you'll get 5 easy ideas for realistically managing your money and staying on top of your finances. On top of that, Call Me Kristin will be giving away a copy of Dave Ramsey's Money Answer Book: Quick Answers for Your Everyday Financial Questions!

image via anh-minh

#1 Keep a Checkbook

In this day and age, thanks to your handy-dandy debit card, every transaction you make shows up on your bank statement. So why bother keeping a checkbook? Because there is a constant flow of money in your checking account-well, at least there is at my house. Money comes in. I write checks for rent, utilities, cable, tithing (church offering) and various other bills. I go grocery shopping, pick up the photos, and buy a new book, etc. A couple days later, my husband wants to pay for two airline tickets because there's a great deal. He asks how are the finances? If I'm not keeping up my checkbook, my only answer is the online bank statement amount.  I check online, and hey-we've got $800 in our account. He buys the tickets...and a couple of days later, we are in the red. What happened? The  online bank statement doesn't show those checks you wrote but haven't cleared. Keeping a checkbook is CRUCIAL. I highly recommend reconciling your checkbook every week/two weeks. That means writing down every transaction in the check register. Yes. I know. Make sure that your online balance (minus the un-cleared checks) matches the balance in your checkbook. It takes some time, but it is worth it. I have never had an overdraft charge. And I can answer confidently when the husband says, how are the finances? I got my Bachelor's degree in English...which translates into I AM TERRIBLE AT ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION.  More than once I've "lost" over $50.00 Not kidding. Balancing the checkbook on a regular basis keeps you in the black. Trust me. Some weeks it takes me forever, but I know where every penny goes, and eventually everything balances. If I can do it with my HORRIFIC math skills-you can do it.

Keeping a checkbook doesn't have to be outdated. There are so many C.U.T.E checkbook covers out there. Pick up one for a pretty little reminder to stay up-to-date on your finances!

• Apples & Pears by Cafe Boulet


• Daisy Row by Nancy Gamon


• Aqua Floral Clutch by J. Carter Handmade


• Cherry Wallflower by Hot Pink Lemonade


• Floral Gold by JB Accessories

Join us tomorrow for Day 2: Conquering the Dreaded Budget!

Lindsay graduated from Brigham Young University with her Bachelor's in English. She has lived in Colorado for a little over a year. Her husband loves her because she makes him laugh. Her daughter loves her because she makes the best food in the world. :) Lindsay loves her book club, quilting, her family, and going places-the library, the zoo, hiking, sporting events. She loves to GO!

Giveaway Winners!

So, the time really got away from me this weekend. It was graduation, my family was in town, lots of fun to be had but not a whole lot of time for this here blog. Winners that were supposed to be picked on Friday weren't posted in time.

To make up for it, I've decided to give everyone that entered the giveaway a free set of lowercase monograms!

Check your e-mail!

New Releases: 4.21.10 [A GIVEAWAY!]

I've recently finished a super cute set of jumbo monogram templates for my trend-letters series. The lower case ones are about 6-8" big and can be layered with your favorite papers.



Note: The papers in this preview are from a brand spankin' new kit called "Hello Rain." Inspired by a most unfortunate dance number from when I was a 4-year-old. Miss Alice Ann, my instructor, really upset me when she stuffed my sash that had fallen to the ground mid-chasee [<--looked that one up. It's pronounced Shah-Say], right up my leotard through the leg hole. We danced to the song "Hello Rain." It's a favorite family video. [Stop laughing Lindsay. Really.]

Anyway, these letter templates are available here.

But if you'd like to add these to your stash for FREE, leave a comment with your letter of the day and why! I'll pick 3 winners on Friday.


Example: My letter of the day today is P. for "Phew" because C finished his last final today and this semester has been beasty!

It's also for "Proud" because I married a genius.

and "Port, Air" because my mom is coming in 2 hours and I can hardly wait! [<--yes, I realize that's a stretch. Bear with me. Deal: First person to figure out a better "P" word for my mom coming into town gets these free too.]

O, and if you decide to spread the love via twitter or FB, leave a comment telling me so and you can have an extra entry.