how we work our budget/ramsey envelope system

 For a bit now me and the hubby have been working on a budget.  We tried about 3 years ago to do the Dave Ramsey envelope system and we fell off the wagon.  Now I have buckled down and I have set up things in a very organized way and it is going much better.  I thought I would share with you guys how I am making this work.  ( I will link to everything I mention so you can get your hands on what I used)

1.  The first step I took was make a list of all our monthly bills and when they are due.  I then went through my agenda and put stickers on the date with the amount on the date they are due.  I also put a green dot on paydays and I have a tally in the margin of the bill total due until next pay day.  (the amount we have due in bills until the next time we get paid)  My agenda is from walmart.  I was thinking about ordering a expensive one but I made this one work for what I need and I have it set up in a way that it is working great.  :)

 2.  I did daves monthly cash flow plan.  It helps me decide what we are paying and how much we have to work with.  It also suggests the proper percent you should be using for certain things.  You fill this out and when you get done you should have a 0 balance no money left. It should all be some where either savings spend where ever it should all have a place. For your non bill money you will have envelopes (for things like grocerys, car, clothes, savings, vacation, ect.)

3. I then down loaded simple budget app.  It lets you set up envelopes to keep track of how much you have and track spending so you know what the money went to.  It looks like this I set this up as a example.

 4. Then every pay day I pull out the amount of cash I need for my envelopes.  I have been using this for most of my money.  My sister who is a sewing rock start made me this for my birthday to go along with my diaper bag.(which I also love btw).  She has a great little shop with purses, bags, wallets, and jewelry.(she is a huge sci-fi fan so if you love dr who, star wars ect you will be in heaven but she does now sci-fi stuff like mine too.) She sent me a coupon code for 10% off for my readers :)  It is SWEETAIMEESKNITPICK.

 It is a great wallet with a  magnetic snap  closure.  It has six "envelope/pockets" inside.

 It looks like this there is a zipper for change.  My first envelope is grocery.( I labeled them with washi tape)

 Then clothing,

 Then restaurant (our eating out money.)

 entertainment, (movies, renting movies,ect)

 car (for gas repairs tabs ect.)

Cosmetic (this is for getting hair colored or cut, and of coarse make up lol)

 Behind that their is 6 card slots.  I don't typically use this at my wallet wallet just for my envelope system.  So allot of my stuff is in the other wallet.

Here is one of her awesome Dr who ones :)

 And for my vacation and emergency envelopes I keep those at home in actually envelopes out of sight out of mind right. ;)

So I use cash for everything we spend.  One envelope I don't have pictured is presents for holidays and birthdays.  I hope this was helpful for some of you.  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Gwynnie bee ootd/ review

I mentioned last week a outfit from gwynnie bee that I was in love with and told you I would do a ootd then i got busy.  Will here it is.  It's a igigI true wrap dress.  It's soo comfortable and flattering.  I will be purchasing this one because since it is a wrap dress it will adjust to fit me no matter my size and be flattering. I have worn this quiet a few times and I still love it.  If you want to see a more in depth review of gwynnie bee, I have one here, as well as another ootd here. Hope this was helpful.  I am going on three months with gwynnie bee and I still love it. This isn't something I got to review. I pay for my subscription with my own hard earned dollars.  I hope you guys give it a chance.  If you do leave me a comment and let me know how you like it.  Or if you have any questions leave them in the comments.  Have a great day guys.  

july beauty favorites.

I have been trying some new things lately and I have definitely got some favorites that are used daily, so I figured now would be a good time to post some favorites for you guys :)

1. covergirl + olay tone rehab 2 in 1 foundation.  This foundation claims to reduce looks of discoloration and hydrate skin over time.  It is a foundation and serum mixed.  It leaves my skin with a satin to dewy finish and It has medium build-able coverage.  I really have been enjoying it.
2. covergirl ready, set gorgeous foundation I don't usually go for foundations that claim to reduce shine since I have combo dry skin but I really like this foundation.  I have been going between this and the other covergirl one all summer.  I think covergirl has been knocking it out of the ball park with their foundations lately!.  
3. maybelline fit me concealer.  I use this for my under eyes to brighten and highlight.  It has decent coverage doesn't crease.  I love this and reach for it daily
4. Tints and Sass cheek and lip stain.  I love this soo much it lasts well and has a natural flush I put two dots high on cheek bones and blend in with my elf small stippling brush. I also put a tiny dot on the hairline by each temple.
5. The elf small stippling brush.  This brush gets soo much use.  I use this every day for my cream bronzer to contour and to blend check stains.  It has just the right about of softness to not disturb your other makeup
6. my coastals scents s08 brushes I love these for blending color in the crease.  They are perfect and dirt cheap ;)
7. anastasia brow wiz in medium ash.  I know every one raves about this but it is because it truely is the best brow pencil out there.  I love mine and use it daily
8. sonia kashuk cream bronzer. I go back and forth between this and my elf cream bronzer but I good cream bronzer is a must have.  I contour with one every day.  I have hit pan on this one but I have had it a year!
9. maybelline color tattoo in tough as taupe.  I don't so much use this on my eyelid but I use it all the time with a angled brow brush as a brow cream (like anastasia brow dip) it is pretty sweat and water proof and it lasts all day.  This color is perfect too not too red.  I love it!
10. My real techniques make up sponge.  I have a beauty blender too but this is 5$ a quarter of what a beauty blender costs and Is the exacts same thing just a better shape.  It gives your foundation on concealer a beautiful finish.  You have to try one they can be found at ulta.  Wet them and use them slightly damp.  I swear you won't regret it.

There you have it my holy grail used daily products for the month of july.  I hope you give some of these a shot and let me know how you like them.;)  What were your favorites this month?

 

gwynniebee ootd

I have been such a bum lately with being sick and surgery and all but today I had some office hours I needed to put in and I got a cute new top from Gwynniebee yesterday so I HAD to do a outfit of the day. For those of you who aren't familiar gwynniebee is a clothing service that specializes in high end clothing for sizes 10 and up.  You fill your online closet with as many outfits as you can (Tip: the more you have the quicker they can ship) and you can do anywhere from one to 3 outfits at a time (tip: go in and click sent back and they will mail your next outfit out so you don't have to wait;).  I have been doing it for two months now and love it.  My weight is up a bit and I don't want to purchase clothes in a bigger size again but I need some cute stuff to wear to work and what not.  So it works perfect!  Best part you can try it for a month for free so no harm no foul ;) The shirt from gwynniebee was the coldwater creek floral rain shell top and I paired it with my mossimo ankle pants from target and a necklace from shoplately. 

I have a dress that I LOVE from gwynnie bee and I have had it for a while and worn it numerous times and I may just have to purchase it but I will for sure do a ootd with it tomorrow.  Be sure to check out my original review. 

I totally recommend swinging over and trying it at least for a month for free.   I have had great luck with outfits and the customer service at the company has been great.  If I have to wait more then 3 or 4 days for something to be mailed they add extra outfits to my account (so I get 2 at a time instead of one for a example) and they extended my free trial by a week because it took them a couple days to mail out my first order!!! They have no clue I am a blogger or that I would share this info they just have great customer service :)  Let me know how you like it is you try it. Have a good day guys.
ps everytime I wear something from gwynnie bee I get tons of complements :)

update. (life house surgery ect)

It has been a blur of a summer!  I have been running my butt off.  I also had surgery and a couple weeks ago I got cRaZy sick...like temp of 103.4 sick!!!  I woke up and my temp got that high I called Benji home and he took me to the e.r. They said I had strep and Anaplasmosis (a tick born illness that makes you run crazy high fevers and your hole body hurt so bad you can hardly stand it)  It was more painful then childbirth I kid you not!  It took me a bit to get past that but I am feeling mostly back to normal.  I had calmister all last week and so four kids was too much to get much done.  :)  Besides being sick here is the updates on what is going on. 

I finally found fire monster a dresser.  It was from a little place 30 miles away they carry antiques and refurbished furniture.  I love all the little drawers on top the more I can break down the organizing of furniture the more likely she will keep it clean.

 I also grabbed this one for max james.  I Love this dresser.  It is super thick real wood.  This is a lifetime piece.

 We got new flooring (which happened in the middle of my strep/anaplamosis ) My old floors looked like this.

 New laminate flooring looked like this.

 Here is the dining room area.

 This is it now.

  The kitchen.

 This was the before long view of the kitchen

 This is the after.  I also moved the drafting table to the livingroom because my I got the rolling cart.

 The drafting table is where the sofa table was and the sofa table moved to the wall under the photo gallery.

There was lots of snuggles esp since someone finally fell in love with her little brother.  They have bonded and are thick as thieves.

 This guy has kept me busy being naughty as all get out.  I love him to pieces and can't believe he is almost 1!!!  Where does the time go.

 My flowers have gone insane and I have to show them off a bit because I killed everything I ever had before these.  Look at those petunias!

 My pansies and violets haven't faired as well as the weather got too hot so next year I will plant differently

 My begonias are insane!!!!   That is a bench they are on.  My impatients are doing great too

 Ben and Fire monster planted a hummingbird garden from seed.  This corner had chicken wire and the people who lived here before had it full of moldy leaves and dog crap! Gross!!!  So benji cleaned it out and they planted this.  It is coming along nicely.

 There is zineas, cosmos, batchler buttons,

 I also started knitting again.  I am currently working on show off stranded socks.  I am using pagewood farms yarn in peaceful.  I knit a pair of show off stranded socks for calvin and loved the pattern so much I had to make myself a pair.

That is mostly it.  I am going to try to get back to posting more regularly now that school will be starting in a few weeks.  I hopefully can stay healthy and get back into a routine :)

My comments are up and working again so please feel free to comment I would love to hear from you!

comments!!!!

So when google+ merged their stuff with blogger it made it so I couldn't see my comments it wouldn't notify  me when people would comment and I finally after probably a few years figured out how to change it and I Have all kinds of sweet comments from all kinds of people and I just now got to read them!!!  Thank you so much  I wasn't ignoring you it was google+ fault lol,.  < 3 you all aimee

how to tell if you got a bad haircut!

I have done hair since monkey butt was just little so she really has only had her hair cut by anyone but me only once!  About a week ago she asked to have her hair cut in a salon.  She had gone with her grandma for her haircut and thought it looked fun and wanted to try.  I totally get it and had been debating having there school haircuts in a salon because I feel like they might be missing out on the experience.  So we had a minute I called the salon I normally go to and my stylist was full but someone I didn't know had a opening and I have seen the other stylists work and I felt like it would be fine...then this happened.

eek Not what she asked for.  First off shelby brought a picture we explained what she would like.  The stylist didn't listen at all.  She didn't talk to shelby the entire cut and with the wash she was done in less then 15 minutes!!!  We got home and we were so disappointed.  I felt like this experience was ruined for her.  I was soo bummed.  So I recut her hair but first I took some pics and figured I would make this a learning experience for you guys.   

So here are some things to look for if you think you got a bad haircut.

1. First there shouldn't be big gouges out of your hair like this..

It should be a smooth transition like this..

2.  If you take a comb and grab a vertical or horizontal section it should be in some sort of a line weither curved or straight diagonal....not zipzag not like this...(ps not naughty looking at this ..his caption should be "oh no she didn't")

I like chevron but not in a haircut lol.  So this was shelbys before. 

 The picture she brought along was this..

Not so much.  Wasn't anything like what she wanted.  So I went in straightened out the bottom recut the layers and angled it around her face and touched up her swoop bang and this is the end result.

 about as close as a 11 year old should be to that cut :)  She is much happier.  

Here is a before and after with out her hair flipped.

 This is the unflipped cut.

 See the even bottom and smooth layers.  I also cut her layers quiet a bit because that is what the cut she asked for had. 

In ending I thought I would leave you with some tips on how to ensure you will have the best odds of getting the cut you want.  

1. Bring a picture of the cut or color you want to the stylist with you.
2. If you can find a cut with differnt angles the sides and back that is the best
3. If you are talking color make sure you point out which tone you like in the picture.  There is always lots of differnt colors and tones make sure you guys are clear on exactly what part you are talking.
4. pay attention when you stylist is styling your hair and ask for explanations as you go if they aren't explaining because you will want to recreate it.
5. If there is a certain product you need to style the do (pomaid or wax or what not) make sure you have something to do it because you will want to achieve the look.  I am not saying you have to buy the exact thing that they use.  If it is in your budget that is great and it is best bet but if not go to the drug store and find something the same texture as what they used.
6. Have realistic exceptions if you want a cut but that person has curly hair and you have straight or if you are low maintenance and that is a style that will need curled or straightened every day it probably won't work for you. If you have black hair and want blond expect to have fried hair or some brassiness.  You aren't going to look like a natural blond and have perfect hair. Or the exact color you showed but they will do their best to get you close to what you want.  If your not sure ask your stylist.  If they are worth their salt they can tell you. 

Those are my tips for helping you and your stylist the best color or cut you can.  I hope it was helpful. 

Have a great day guys.