Everyday I get dozens upon dozens of emails, from all sorts of companies, those I shopped with, entered a giveaway for, etc. Usually I look over the subject line and then click “delete”.
Though one specific email caught my eye in the past two weeks.
Rue La La sent me an email with the subject line stating “A $25 Credit means one thing. Mandatory shopping spree.” At first I figured it meant $25 off a large value… but when I opened the email, it just told me I had a credit. No stipulations!
At first I was just going to ignore it. After all, if I bought something on their site, wouldn’t I have to pay shipping? I decided to go on anyway and look around, mainly to see if I could purchase something in the $15 range and see if the credit would cover shipping.
It did! Plus it told me that once you pay your 9.95 shipping, you ship free for the next 30 days. I bought a Rockflowerpaper “Cassis” Canvas Beach Bucket Bag at $15.90.
Tax was $0.99 and shipping was $9.95. After my $25 credit, I only owed $1.84.
Strangely enough it happened again… this time, with The Grommet! I had subscribed on a whim, and a week later I received an email titled “We have a welcome gift for you.” – it was a $10 credit. So I went to the site and looked around.
I had been meaning to pick up a new strainer for the kitchen, and right now on the site is a strainer device called a “silpoura” for $9.95. I decided to add it to my cart and see what shipping would run me. It was only a little over $2.00 — making my checkout total only $2.09!
So going forward, I’ll definitely being paying closer attention to my emails! -Immy
Not too long ago, I finished reading Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages by Shaunti Feldhahn and highly recommend it. In fact, if you’ve heard me give my Say Goodbye to Survival Mode presentation, you’ll remember that I read the Fantastic Five for Him — five simple but highly impactful things wives can do to show their husbands they love him.
If you are married or planning to get married, do yourself a favor and get a copy of this well-researched book. It’s filled with encouragement and practical ideas on how to have a happier marriage. And even if you don’t agree with everything in the book, I’m pretty positive it will make you step back and examine how your actions and attitudes toward your spouse
Want a little sneak peek of some of the contents of this book? Watch this short video above that Shaunti recorded for my readers on the little things that make a big difference in a marriage.
I've set aside the month of March to really focus on organization in my home and life. And I'd love for you to join me!
Day 18 Assignment
::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there's something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life!}
::Set the timer for 15 minutes and vacuum the main living areas of your home.
::Vacuum your carpeted closets. Sweep or mop the floor in those closets without carpet. Remove all items from the closet floor and get rid of clutter, trash, and items that don't belong in that closet.
::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.
Note: If you work outside the home or have a really busy week with little time for extra projects, just do the bolded project above.
Get Your Free Ebook + Printable Checklists
I put together an ebook with encouraging articles, all the daily assignments, plus printable checklists so you can know exactly what’s planned for the month and to allow you to work at your own pace, if you’d like.
To grab your free ebook so you can participate in this challenge, just fill out the form below with your name and email address. You’ll need to confirm your email address and then your free ebook will be sent to you instantly.
How do you plan for unexpected expenses (like a broken boiler, car repair, or medical emergency) and stay on your budget? Every month, I feel like we have a $400-$600 chunk of money that we spend and didn’t plan to. -Christa
Christa, thanks for asking this question. It’s one that many people wonder about and struggle with. I thought about your question and talked to my husband to get his input and here are our thoughts:
1) Plan in Advance
While there are some expenses that blindside you, there are many more expenses that you can plan for. For instance, your car will eventually break down or need repairs, you will have medical expenses at some point, and your home will need repairs.
Start expecting these things to happen and begin planning for them ahead of time. Look at your budget from the last year and see what categories were most likely to have those unexpected extra expenses.
2) Pad Your Budget Categories
You won’t know exactly how much you’re going to need in each budget category, but begin thinking ahead to what could possibly be breaking down or needing repairs in the next few months or few years and start preparing for those extra expenses ahead of time. By doing this, you aren’t completely caught off guard or put in a bind when you need to pay those repair bills.
We put extra money aside in a number of our budget categories each month — money for medical expenses that may be coming, money for home repairs that may need to happen, money for car repairs that will likely be needed. Each month, if we don’t need this extra money, we just keep setting it aside and building up a reserve. This way, when the “unexpected” expenses pop up, we’ve already planned ahead for them.
Note: If you don’t have the extra wiggle room in your budget to pad your budget categories, look at your budget as a whole to see if there are any areas you can cut back in to free up money to pad those categories that you’re continually in the red in right now. If there aren’t any areas or things you can cut, it’s probably time to start looking for ways to increase your income.
3) Beef Up Your Emergency Fund
I also highly recommend beefing up your emergency fund. If you end up with extra expenses one month and your pre-budgeted money doesn’t cover it, you have your emergency fund to fall back on. This makes the unexpected expense an inconvenience rather than a true emergency.
It was cupboard cleaning day! And yes, that’s an onion growing in our cupboard.
Ick! We definitely needed the cupboard-clean out!
Lots of crumbs in the lazy susan!
And that looks much cleaner!
And the 7+ things I found to get rid of, including a random plastic water gun I found on the garage floor, an alarm clock that no longer works, and more.
How you do on Assignment #17? I'd love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.
Bald Man’s Workshop is a company owned by Derek Guyer. Derek specializes in taking the pieces of old wood, scrap leather, and other materials that most people throw away and make them useful and beautiful again.
He builds wall decorations, medicine cabinets, tables, holiday decor, benches, frames, and much more. He creates unique and custom pieces that allow people to feel inspired about them when they add them to their home, office, or yard.
One of my favorite items that Derek creates is the Customized Family and Couple displays. Derek handcrafts the displays specifically for your family. (See the one he made for our family above — I love it!)
These would make incredible Mother’s Day gifts or just a special gift for any time of the year.
Derek also makes Couple’s Displays that would be a unique wedding gift, as well.
For more information on Derek’s work, check out his website or his Etsy shop. You can get 10% off any order from his Etsy shop when you use coupon code MSM10 at checkout. This coupon is valid through March 31, 2014.
Would you like to win a free $50 Gift Certificate to Bald Man’s Workshop? Just click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address. 5 winners will be chosen and posted early next week. This giveaway ends Thursday, March 27, at 11:59 pm, CST.
2 Garnier Fructis Hair Cream/Gel – $2.96 each, used 2 $0.75/1 Target printable AND 2 $2/1 coupon from the 3/2 RedPlum insert – $0.21 each after coupons
