Making Some Quick Cash (and Tax Refund Plans!)

As most of us parents know, kids grow like weeds. It seems like we buy them clothes and two weeks later, the clothes are too small. Right?!

This past year, my kids have shot up like rockets. This first picture is from May 2017. The second picture is from January 2018. A nine month difference!

Noah needed some new shoes a couple weeks ago, and we went to the running store. You know what size shoe he wears now? ELEVEN. (The running store had their 2017 models on clearance, so he got a pair of Brooks for $58! They were normally $120. I was pretty excited about that.)

Anyway, Eli has grown just as quickly. The boys wear the same size clothes, which is convenient, except they each have completely different styles. Last summer, I went through their closets and pulled out all of the stuff that was too small for them, and bagged it up to take to Goodwill.

Except it just sat in my garage, because I am terrible at remembering to do stuff like that.

This month, I realized that I haven't saved much of my allowance at all lately. I have been treating Jerry and/or the kids to things here and there, and when I looked in my envelope, I had less than $100. I was used to having at least $300 or so.

I started thinking of ways I could make some cash, and I remembered the Buy & Sell page on Facebook that I belong to. It's basically a page where people who live locally can list items to sell, and then people can make arrangements to buy it. Unlike E-bay, there is no fee.

The first thing I thought of was the bag of clothes in the garage. I decided to go through them and pick out the nicer things to group into lots (based on size) and list them on the Facebook page. It took a couple of hours, but I washed and sorted the clothes and took pictures of everything. I listed two lots--one for boys' size medium (10/12) and another for boys' size large (14/16).

I wasn't looking to make a ton of money on them--I figured anything at all would be better than just giving them to Goodwill. I listed the larger lot (the size medium clothes) for $65, and the lot of large clothes for $35.

I sold them both within 24 hours! I arranged to meet the buyers in a public parking lot--one the following day, and one the day after that. And just like that, I had $100 cash.

A lot of people sell clothing items individually, but that just seems like much more work than it's worth. I prefer to group a bunch of things together and just deal with one buyer for the whole lot.

Now, I've been looking through my stuff to find other things to try and sell. I wish I had starting doing this a long time ago--we've donated or thrown out a ton of stuff over the years! Anyway, if you have things lying around that you don't want, you may want to check into a local Buy & Sell page. There are tons of them on Facebook.

---

My friend Andrea (the Andrea from the film From Fat to Finish Line, not my local friend Andrea) invited me, Caitlin (from Boston), and Bonnie (from Virginia) to visit her for a girls weekend in Kansas City in May. We had such a fun girls weekend at my house in 2016 that I thought it was a great idea to get together again!

Andrea, Bonnie, and me (Caitlin had to leave early, before we got a pic of all of us.)

I looked at flights, and found one for 21,000 SkyMiles... and lo and behold, I happened to have 22,000 SkyMiles in my account. So, I booked a ticket, which only cost me $11.20 (for taxes)--I love getting tickets using my SkyMiles! And now I have a fun trip to look forward to. I haven't seen Bonnie or Andrea in a long time, and I can't wait to catch up.

If you are interested in learning about the Delta SkyMiles American Express card, you can read this post. I LOVE my card! (I am not affiliated with them in any way... I just happen to use the card and fly for free frequently. If you are interested in applying for one, I would be thrilled if you would use this referral link! I believe we both get bonus SkyMiles if you do.)

---

For Valentine's Day yesterday, Jerry and I had a hot date with our tax guy. (If you're local to the Monroe area, his name is Bobby Zimmerman, at Mathewson's Tax Service in Carleton, and he's amazing! He's been doing our taxes for three years now, and has been super helpful. He also does financial planning, so I think Jerry and I will go see him when we get our debt paid off.)

We're getting a large tax return again this year, which is always exciting--$4800! We usually like to use this money for a family vacation and/or home improvements. On our list this year:

Our Boston family vacation:

- Flights (I used SkyMiles, so the flights cost a total of $44.80--the taxes--for all four of us)
- Hotels (for six nights, it'll be a total of $936 including taxes and fees)
- GoBoston cards (cards that cover the entrance fees for a ton of different things to do--$424--these are already paid for)
- Rental car ($95) and gas (roughly $100)
- Spending money (Undetermined, but we'll just need money for food; the GoBoston cards cover the activities that we plan on doing)
Total is about $1600 (but a little under $500 is already paid for) + spending money

Home improvements/repairs:

- A new front porch. The one we have is very old and warped, and needs to go. So while we're at it, we'd like to make a bigger one so we can put chairs on it. The scenery is so pretty, and it would be nice to enjoy it more often. I usually just sit on the steps. This will be roughly $1000 for the materials (Jerry and my brothers can do the labor).

- A new gas range (if you remember, our oven died in the summer). We've been using this countertop oven, and I actually really like it! It preheats in about two minutes, and we can fit almost everything in there that we could put in the regular oven. I've made everything from casseroles to toasted sandwiches to pies in it. But, it's probably time we replace the range. We don't need or want anything fancy, and the gas ranges I priced out were roughly $400-500.

- The rest will either go into savings or we may knock another thing or two off of our list of home improvement projects.

I like deciding where all the money is going before we even get the return. It's nice to remember exactly what we spent the money on, instead of spending a little here and there and having nothing to show for it.

We've got some exciting stuff coming up! :)

Continue Reading...

RECIPE: Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

I never thought I would like whole wheat pizza crust, but in 2010, I gave up white flour for 40 days, and I was forced to try new things. This pizza crust is amazing! As a fan of white flour, I never thought I'd like this, but I still use this recipe when I make pizza.

Click here for the recipe's printer-friendly PDF

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup hot water
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. yeast (one packet)

Directions:

Combine in a bowl until a ball forms and cover with plastic wrap. (Or you could use a bread machine, which is what I usually do). Let the dough rise for 15-20 minutes.

Spread out dough on a pizza pan (you may need to add a little more flour to keep it from being too sticky) and bake at 475 F for about 5-8 minutes.

Then add your toppings, and bake again until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. Makes 4 servings.

Notes: I like to divide the dough into four small balls, and then we each get to make our own mini pizzas with the toppings we like. My favorite is green pepper and feta cheese! Below is a margherita pizza with fresh mozzarella and basil.

Continue Reading...

Weekly Wrap-Up: Week 4 of Half Marathon Training

Wow, it's been a while since I've written! Jerry was off work Friday-Sunday, so I spent very little time on the computer. I've also been doing a lot of sewing in my spare time--not making anything in particular, but doing clothing alterations (my latest "hobby", I guess! ha).

Anyway, I'm not even going to try to catch up on everything, but I'd still like to post my training wrap-up for the week.

Week 4 was a step-back week, meaning the mileage was cut down instead of increased. For this plan, I've included three step-back weeks--one every fourth week. This was the schedule for my Week 4:

Tuesday - 30 minutes easy (this is usually a speed work day)
Wednesday - 3 miles easy
Friday - 2 miles easy
Sunday - 4 miles easy (this is usually a long run day)

I wish I could say that this week was fantastic, but I cannot. We have gotten SO much snow, and then a bunch of freezing rain on top of it yesterday; I surely would have broken a hip if I tried to run outside. Actually, I almost fell when I stepped out the door yesterday.

I don't hate the treadmill. I like it, in fact, most of the time. But I do feel the need to run outside here and there (ideally, at least for my long runs).  I'm very glad that my long run was only four miles this week, but because of the weather, I had to do all four runs on the 'mill.

The schedule doesn't look like a lot of running, and it's actually not much at all in the grand scheme of things. But my mindset just wasn't where it needed to be. I need to get outside! I'm hoping that the snow will melt this week (at least enough to where I can get in a couple of outdoor runs.

Anyway, this weekly recap is going to sound whiny and annoying, but half-marathon training isn't all sunshine and flowers, so I'm just going to be honest about my thoughts each week.

Tuesday - 30 minutes easy

This run felt like forever! I think I was anticipating it to fly by because it was only 30 minutes (now that I've been running so slowly, 30 minutes would only be about 2.5 miles). I set the treadmill at 5.0 mph (12:00/mile) and left it there the whole time.

Again, the Garmin's pace was completely off throughout the run because I wasn't using the foot pod. (I could make the pace very fast or very slow just by swinging my arms fast or slow). So, I got out my foot pod and decided to try it for Wednesday's run and see if it would make a difference.

Wednesday - 3 miles easy

Used the foot pod for this run, and experimenting with that actually made the run go by quickly. This was my best run of the week, because I was in a good mood. I couldn't believe the difference in accuracy when using the foot pod!

For the first two miles, I kept the speed at a steady 5.5 mph (11:00/mi). The first mile ended up at 11:08, which made sense because I started the Garmin when the treadmill was at a stop, so it had to come up to speed. The second mile was 11:02--so, pretty much spot on where I would expect (11:00).

During the third mile, I tried speeding up and slowing down a few times to experiment with the foot pod. I wanted to see if the pace changes registered as they should when I changed speeds. Again, it was nearly perfect. I was excited to have found a solution--I really wanted my Garmin to match what the treadmill was reading.

Friday - 2 miles easy

Two miles easy... is there anything at all to complain about? Well, I surely found enough. I just did not feel like doing another treadmill run, and I was really resentful of it. Jerry and I had plans with my friend Andrea for appetizers and Keno at the bar and I really needed to dye my hair because my roots had gotten bad--my random gray hairs were no longer subtle.

I didn't want to get sweaty and then dye it, but I also didn't want to dye it, shower, and then have to run. So I basically just procrastinated until I couldn't any longer, haha. I decided that I'd run, then dry my sweaty hair, and then dye my roots and hope for the best.

I was feeling so resentful of having to run at all that I just angrily got on the treadmill and ignored that I was supposed to run "easy". I didn't watch anything on my iPad or listen to music--I just stared at the screen and increased my speed to get it over with.

I got notifications that both my heart rate monitor and my foot pod had low batteries, which just added to my great mood. Surprisingly, the two miles went by pretty fast despite not having anything to distract me.

When I was done, I tried to replace the battery in my heart rate monitor, and I accidentally stripped two of the screws. Ugh! The screws are SO SO SO tiny and very easy to strip. I used a size 000 screwdriver, which is the correct size, but after stripping the screws, and therefor not being able to remove them, I wasn't able to get the back casing open. And now I have no way to replace the battery.

(From what I remember, there is an accelerometer in the heart rate monitor, so maybe that is why the pace was so incorrect without using the foot pod. Just a thought.)

Sunday - 4 miles easy

A "long" run of four miles? Again, what could I possibly complain about?

I procrastinated all day long. Jerry did his run in the morning, and I was even annoyed at his good attitude about it. He said he likes to get it done early because it puts him in a good mood for the day. Sometime last year, I became a night owl and definitely NOT a morning person. Which is so odd, because I've always been a morning person!

So, I've been doing my runs in the afternoons or evenings. Seeing Jerry do his in the morning made me feel like I should have done it then, too. A little before 4:00, I finally made myself get ready to run. I was cold, and even though I knew that I would warm up quickly when I started running, I dressed in long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. I also didn't turn on the fan before I started running.

Out of spite (for what, I don't know) I didn't distract myself with TV or music or anything. I covered the console of the treadmill with a towel, and just ran. I knew I was running too fast for an easy run, but I didn't care. And again, the time seemed like it went by so much faster than it does when I watch a show on my iPad, which is so odd.

When I finished, I was SO hot; I went outside and sat on the porch steps, which were coated in ice. Jerry had been cleaning the garage, and he came in just then. So I talked to him, and after a few minutes, I was in a much better mood. I finished up with one of my physical therapy stretches for my back.

So, I got my runs in this week. While my attitude sucked, I did feel much better after each run. I wish I could bottle that sort of enthusiasm to open when I really need it.

---

Just to add a little positivity to this whiny post, the kids had a snow day on Friday, and we got even more on Saturday. With the temps being fairly decent (in the 20's), Jerry, the kids, and I played outside in the snow. I hadn't really played in the snow like a kid in years! We had so much fun.

Joey LOVED having the kids chase him. And it was impossible to catch him!

Jerry and I always joke about that scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest and Bubba sit like this while it's raining, and Bubba says, "I'll lean against you and you just lean right back against me... this way we don't have to sleep with our heads in the mud." We were reenacting that scene here, haha. 

Continue Reading...

Actual Weight Talk

Sometime over the holidays, I stopped doing many Weight Loss Wednesdays. It's hard to come up with new weight loss topics, especially when I feel like I've said it all before. But now that I started running again, I think it would be helpful for me to at least keep tabs on my weight (again).

It's been about a year since I stopped counting calories, Points, or anything else to lose/maintain my weight. It actually wasn't even really a conscious decision--I just sort of fell away from those things, and when I saw my weight was dropping the pounds I'd packed on through my depression, I just kept doing what I was doing.

I wrote recently a timeline of my weight ups and downs, and while I was doing that, I noticed that my weight frequently parallels my bipolar phases--I gain weight when depressed, and lose weight when hypomanic. I tend to maintain for a little bit when I'm not in either extreme.

...Which is where I am now. I was feeling a little depressed through the holidays--nothing like my past depressive episodes, but definitely not my happy self. I didn't want to do much, I lost interest in the things I usually enjoy, and my emotions were very sensitive. During that time, my weight started climbing up after having been very level for months.

A few weeks ago, I had an appointment with my psychiatrist, and I told him what was going on. He made a slight medication adjustment, and within a week, I was feeling better. Not hypomanic, either--just happier, with a nicer outlook on things, and more interest in the things I enjoy.

And now, my weight has been very stable ever since. I wish that I was back at my goal weight before leveling off, but I'm still within my "happy range" (I want to stay under 144, which is the highest weight in my "normal" BMI range). I had been staying between 131 and 134 for a long time until I started feeling a little depressed, and gained a little each week.

Today, my weight was at 142.6--so I'm up roughly 10 pounds (I've been hovering in the low 140's for about four weeks now).

Thank God it's not the usual 30-ish pounds I gain when I have a depressive episode! And I feel pretty confident that this is the "peak" for me this time--I'll probably either stay at this weight for a while, or I'll start losing again.

I noticed that when I was feeling kind of depressed over the holidays, my appetite went up a lot. My hunger level was also up, and I felt legitimately hungry all the time. And once my mood leveled off, my appetite and hunger did, too. I find it so interesting that I never saw the pattern before!

It really helps me to know what's happening and why. I used to just beat myself up for "losing control" and gaining so much weight. But now that I see the patterns, I don't feel like it's completely my fault. Also, I now know a little of what I might expect to see happening in the near future. I also realize the importance of keeping my mood as stable as possible.

In addition, I started running again three and a half weeks ago, so that may play a part as well. One of the biggest things I've noticed since I got back to running regularly is that my body composition is changing. My clothes fit better and I can see a difference in the mirror (nothing major, but definitely noticeable) compared to a couple of months ago, even when I was at a lower weight.

The best part is that I feel good about my body again. Remember when I wrote about how I was feeling fat at goal weight? Now, I'm 10 pounds over my goal, but I feel much better about my body because I'm running. Running regularly makes me feel more confident and happy that I'm doing something good for myself!

---

Speaking of weight patterns, I completely forgot to post the winners of the Happy Scale code giveaway! I meant to post it last Wednesday--I'm so sorry. Anyway, I used Random.org to choose four winners, and these were the winning commenters:

Congrats! Please send me an email at Katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, and I will send you a code for the premium version of Happy Scale! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)

Continue Reading...

Weekly Wrap-Up: Week 3 of Half-Marathon Training

Three weeks down, 10 more to go!

This week's schedule:

Tuesday - Speed work (intervals)
Wednesday - 3 mile easy run
Friday - 3 mile easy run
Sunday - 6 mile long run

---

Tuesday - Intervals

10 minute warm-up jog
6 x (1 min hard; 2 min walk)
5 minute cool down jog

I was kind of dreading doing this, because the first workout I did for this training schedule was this exact same workout, except I just did five intervals instead of six. It was really tough when I did it a couple of weeks ago, so I was hoping it would be better on Tuesday. Thankfully, it was.

I did the warm-up jog at 5.0 mph (12:00/mile). Then I did my hard intervals at 7.6 mph (a 7:54/mile pace). Walked at 3.0 mph (20:00/mile). I think I probably should have done 7.8 mph, or maybe even 8.0, because my heart rate didn't get very high like I would have expected. That could be because the intervals were so short, though. Next time I do intervals, I'll be doing 2 minutes at a time, so I'll see if I can do 7.6 again.

It's kind of interesting that my hard intervals were 7.6 mph--when I ran my goal 10K in 2016, I ran that same speed (7:54/mi) for the whole 10K! It's so hard to imagine that there was a time when that was my race pace. It seems SO far off now. But I worked super hard to get to that point, and right now, I'm a beginner again. Being a beginner is fun! I'm actually seeing the progress from run to run.

Wednesday - 3 miles easy

I was able to run at 5.1 mph for a little bit while keeping my heart rate low, but then I dropped it back down to 5.0 once my heart rate increased. I'm still not strictly following heart rate training, but I've been paying more attention to it and adjusting my pace a little as needed.

My hamstrings were SUPER tight the first couple of weeks I was running, and I decided to start stretching after my runs. It's made a huge difference! The first day, I tried to bend over and touch my toes, and I was probably six inches away. After a little stretching, I was able to bend over and actually touch my toes.

I was really sore for a few days after I started stretching, but now it feels really good to do it after my runs. I usually do it on the treadmill as I cool off; and the treadmill is still warm from my run, so I love to sit down on the belt as I start to feel cold.

Friday - 3 miles easy

This was a pretty plain, boring run. I just set the treadmill at 5.0 mph (12:00/mi) and watched The Shield while I ran. My heart rate stayed in the 140's, which I was happy with.

I forgot to take a picture--I've been trying to take a photo after each run.

Sunday - 6 miles long

I was really dreading this one, because I had hoped to do it outside. We got a ton of snow today, though, and it was the heavy, wet snow that I didn't even want to attempt to run in.

I've also realized that running so slowly takes up a lot of time. I know it seems obvious--slower equals longer. But I had gotten so used to using 10:00/mi as a rough estimate of time spent running (6 mile run will take about 60 minutes, 4 mile run about 40, etc. Simple math.)

So, when I think about my runs, I still tend to think that way. "Oh, I have a 3 mile run today, so I have to get on the treadmill by this time so that I'm ready to leave by that time." But to plan for today's 6 miler, it wasn't a 60 minute guesstimate. It was 12:00 x 6 miles... 72 minutes. That's a big difference! So, I need to get used to planning for a longer running time.

I felt really good during the whole run, so I was grateful for that. I covered the treadmill screen with a towel so that I wouldn't have to watch the mileage/time slowly ticking by.

I did notice that when I changed speeds (I moved between 5.0 and 5.5 several times), my Garmin didn't register the change by more than a few seconds per mile. I was trying to figure out why that was, and after some experimenting, I saw that when I would move my arm really fast, my Garmin showed I was running a 6:00-something pace, and then when I moved it very slow or held it very still, it showed a 20:00-something pace.

So, the Garmin is definitely not accurate on the treadmill. If I want the Garmin to be accurate, I'll have to use the foot pod again (which isn't calibrated). As my runs get longer, I will probably want to do this, because that little indiscretion will make a bigger and bigger difference.

---

Anyway, I'm psyched to be done with three weeks of training! I haven't missed any workouts, and I feel really good about that. On to week four...

Continue Reading...

Flashback Friday: The Day I Hit 60 Pounds Lost

As I mentioned last week, I'd like to start doing a "Flashback Friday"--where I post an old (probably embarrassing) journal entry. I cringe when I look through my old journaling, because the writing was terrible and I said things that I completely disagree with now; but it is what it is, and it's kind of interesting to see what I was thinking/feeling way back when.

I will not edit any of these journals, as tempting as it may be. I'm not posting them in any specific order, either. I just pick a random place in my journal and read a few posts before deciding what to share. (And one day, maybe I'll be cringing at my current blog posts! haha)

This post was kind of fun to come across... it was the day I reached 60 pounds lost! Interestingly, it was on February 3, 2010--so it'll be 8 years ago tomorrow. Where has the time gone?!

(This was the quilt I made out of all of my too-big-for-me jeans when I was losing weight)

---

February 3, 2010

Finally... the big 60-pounds mark!!  

I was SO SURE that I would only lose about 1/2 pound this week, simply because I lost 3 last week, 3 the week before, and 2 the week before that. I'm overdue for a "bad" week :) My average weight loss to date is 2.56 pounds per week... pretty good, right? 

But anyway, I'm psyched about it. I'm thisclose to being in the 180's, can you believe it?! My lowest post-pregnancy weight was 184, so getting to 183 will be a huge milestone for me. Then I'll finally feel like it's all downhill from there. Right now, I'm still losing what I gained back a couple years ago. 

I finished my second Weight Watchers 3-month food journal. (Each 3-month journal is 12 weeks). I remember thinking how it'd be impossible to actually finish ONE journal without having a page with "BINGE" written across it in bold letters, followed by lots of blank pages because I "gave up" again.  

Now I have TWO complete journals without a single binge. I've gone 24 weeks without a single gain. This has become sheer habit for me now, and the urges to binge are few and far between. I recognize the mindset now, and I take care of it before it turns into a binge. 

Accomplishments this week: I went on a 3-day vacation with my family and managed to stay on track. I counted points the whole time, brought food to the hotel to eat instead of going out to eat, and for the first time, made my vacation about the actual activities rather than food. I used to look forward to vacation because of the food and dining out all the time... seriously. That's disgusting. 

Goals for next week: I want to start writing daily entries in my OD again... so my goals is do write at least 5 daily entries with food journals. I have a few new recipes to post too, so maybe I'll get around to doing that.

Starting weight: 253
Last weeks weight: 193.5
This weeks weight: 191.5
This weeks loss: 2 pounds
Total weight lost: 61.5 pounds
Total percentage of weight lost: 24.3% 

---

I love that I was so excited to get to the 180's. As I'm at around 142 right now, it makes me not feel so bad for being up 10 pounds over the last couple of months. (My appetite is finally decreasing to what it was a few months ago, though, and I think it's because I completely quit drinking.)

I remember how exciting it was to weigh in every Wednesday, because I knew I had followed my plan all week and that I was getting closer and closer to an ideal weight. My original goal weight was 185. I never dreamed I'd one day be in the 140's, 130's, and certainly not the 120's.

Looking back at posts like these is actually really nice--I am so hard on myself sometimes, and seeing how happy I was for these milestones makes me stop and realize just how far I've come. I haven't weighed in the 190's in EIGHT YEARS now. I never would have guessed that when I started losing weight, I'd get to a "normal" BMI or maintain the majority of my weight loss for a year, let alone eight years!

I bought this shirt to wear as a joke for Jerry, because I despise football--but I'd promised him that I would learn the rules of football one time, and I'd read a couple of books about it ("Football for Dummies" kinds of books). Then, I was ready with this shirt for Super Bowl Sunday. Even after learning the rules, I hate it! The curse of being born on Super Bowl Sunday I guess ;)

I'm looking forward to this Sunday because of This Is Us, though!!! Can't wait.

Continue Reading...

January Budget Update

I really should have been updating on our get-out-of-debt progress each month, but it doesn't really seem like there is much to say--everything is going very well! So, this will likely be a short post (although, I say that all the time and it ends up being way too long--so we'll see.)

To recap in a nutshell, back in June 2017, we had about $14,500 in credit card debt. The story of how that came to be is on this post: Budgeting to Pay Off Debt (on a Varied Income).

Since our income varies SO much week to week and even month to month, budgeting has always been difficult for us. Whenever we got a paycheck, we just spent it wherever it was needed at the moment. It always felt like we were broke--but now that we've been budgeting for eight months, I see that we have quite a bit of extra money we never knew we had.

So, we started a "zero-sum" budget, something I read about when I was trying to find a good budgeting solution for us (such a varied income). And it has worked wonders. Truly. (I went into a lot more detail on this post: Zero Sum Budgeting)

After writing up the budget, I couldn't believe that it actually works! My stress level dropped immediately, because we were actually ahead on our bills for the first time in our lives. I didn't have to worry about paying bills when when they came in, because the money was in our account already.

I had my own spending money (we call it "allowance", even though that sounds juvenile), so I could buy whatever I wanted and not feel guilty for it. Jerry and the kids found it very easy to stick to as well (thanks to allowance).

In the post I linked to above, Zero Sum Budgeting, I explained exactly how it works, but basically, we have a "bare bones" budget each month that will cover all of our bills, food, gas, medical co-pays, and allowances. Whatever we earn on top of that bare bones budget gets paid toward our credit card debt.

There are always things that come up where we need to spend extra (this month was Joey's vet bill--updating all of his vaccines--$188!; also, Eli's birthday was this month, so we spent some extra for that).

Anyway, after all was said and done, I was thrilled to pay over $1000 this month onto the card:

This brings our debt down to $3,150.89... almost under the $3,000 mark! 

When we started this budget in June, I was super overwhelmed looking at $14,500 of debt. I thought there was no possible way we could pay it off with the amount of money we make (we later realized that we have more than we thought; we just didn't realize it because we never saw exactly where it was going). 

I have to say, a HUGE part of sticking to this budget is that we each get our own allowance. This way, the kids pay for their own things and I don't get suckered into buying them stuff whenever they ask. And it keeps control over how much Jerry and I spend on things we don't really "need". 

I got an email recently asking me to write more specifically about our allowances--how much we get, what we use it for, etc. So, here goes...

Jerry and I each get $100 per month. And the kids each get $40 per month. We budget everything by the month rather than the week, so on the first of each month, I withdraw $280 for allowance (this money comes from our "bare bones" budget). This amount may seem like a lot or it may seem like a little, depending on what is deemed necessary to people.

As for the kids, they have to use their allowance for any non-necessity they want. We obviously pay for their food, clothes they need, field trips or other school-related stuff, gifts for other kids' birthday parties, etc. I don't think our kids should have to use their allowances on that stuff. 

But when Noah goes to the movies with his friends, for example, he has to use his own money. After his first time, he came home a little shocked at just how expensive movie theater popcorn is, haha. He had no idea the value of a dollar before this; but now that he has to use his own money for things, he is much choosier about what he really wants. 

The kids use their allowances on anything that Jerry and I don't deem necessary. And $40 seems to be a good amount for kids their age. Usually, they don't spend it all, and it's nice that they have been saving up a little. They have a little extra set aside for when we go to Boston next month.

As for Jerry and me, our allowance goes toward anything we want that doesn't fit into the budget. When it comes to food/drink items, if it's something that only one of us eats/drinks, then we have to use our allowances for it. Jerry's craft beer, for example, comes from his allowance rather than our grocery budget, because he is the only one that drinks it. And likewise, I buy tea with mine, and the fruit snacks I was eating so much of all year (I just recently got out of that phase).

We have joint bank accounts, and have always shared our money. It seemed so odd, then, when we started doing allowances, because we each have our own spending money. So, if we decide to go out to dinner (a rarity), one of us typically "treats" the other to dinner (usually, I treat--Jerry has always let money burn a hole in his pocket until it's gone, haha).

Other than food items, we use our allowances for clothes, travel (when we went to Portland, for example, we used our own allowances for spending money), going out with friends, and other things like that. Again, I think $100 is a good amount for what we use it for. We don't feel deprived of things we really enjoy, but we definitely think carefully about what we choose to spend our money on.

It has helped us so much in sticking to the budget! And by sticking with our budget, we've paid off well over $11,000 in eight months. I'm super excited to make the final payment--hopefully in March, if all goes well, but likely in April. I can't remember what it feels like to not have any debt ;)

Continue Reading...

RECIPE: Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I've been making this soup for years when I don't have a clue what to make for dinner, and everyone is starving. I always have a bag of diced potatoes in the freezer, and we have gotten creative with toppings for this--from the usual things like bacon and chives to things like diced ham, cheddar cheese, and broccoli. This recipe is for the potato soup base, and then you can add what you like to it.

Click here for the printer-friendly PDF

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil
1 (32 oz) bag frozen diced potatoes
4 cups of chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup of milk
8 oz of sour cream
Toppings: shredded cheese, bacon, chives, green onion, etc.

Directions:

Heat soup pot over medium heat and add oil. Add the onion and cook until onion is soft.

Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a colander and run under hot water to thaw a little.

When onions are soft (not brown) add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer until potatoes are soft. Add the milk and let it heat through on medium heat (don’t boil the milk, to avoid curdling it).

Sometimes I puree the soup with a stick blender at this point, but you don't have to—it just depends on the texture you’d like.

Stir in the sour cream and warm through on medium-low heat (again, don’t boil it).

Ladle into bowls and add your toppings.

Notes:

After adding milk or sour cream, just make sure you don't boil the soup--boiling it will make it curdle.

You can use a stick blender to make it completely smooth, or just leave it with small chunks of potatoes.

I've used skim milk and fat free sour cream in this, but I much prefer the high fat stuff! Besides, if it's richer, you'll be satisfied with less of it anyway ;)

Wait until the end to salt it, because I find that the broth adds enough salt. And then adding bacon and cheese on top of that will make it even saltier.

Continue Reading...

How Running Helps My Mental Health

As if I haven't said it enough over the last nine months or so, I have bipolar disorder. I'm 36, but I've had it as long as I can remember (I was misdiagnosed with depression as a kid). Through the years, my moods have always been either very "up" (hypomanic) or very "down" (depressed). I didn't even know that there was a such thing as feeling anything other than those two moods.

Sometimes the moods were mild, but sometimes they were pretty severe. I noticed that as I've gotten older, the two extremes have been more and more pronounced. And until this year, when I started the correct medication, I had a very hard time dealing with the shifts, which can last for months at a time.

I've started to notice some parallels with my moods. One of them is my weight--when I'm depressed, my weight goes up; and when I'm hypomanic, my weight goes down. The most extreme was from fall 2015 to spring 2016, where I got down to my lowest weight (121 pounds) during hypomania; and then in the few months after that, I shot up to 160 pounds during a long depressive episode.

Something else that has occurred to me recently is the effect that running has on my moods. This past year has been fantastic in that I'm no longer depressed (I've had a few short, mild episodes, but nothing like before). I took ten months off of running, because I needed the break--and the break was great.

Until it wasn't. I started feeling a little lazy and as my body got softer from not running, my body image started to go south. And my mood wasn't as good as it had been in the beginning of my break. So, I decided to start running again.

With each run, I feel genuinely proud of myself. It doesn't matter what my pace is or what my distance is, I just feel proud for doing it.

My goal is to run a half-marathon in April, and I'm following my own 13-week training plan. I'm two weeks in, and it has made a huge difference in my mood.

I haven't skipped any runs, although it was tempting for the first few days. It's been an adjustment on my routine, that's for sure. And even though I love all of the benefits of running, I don't necessarily love the physical act of running.

However, when I started heart rate training while preparing for my 10K, I really did start to enjoy running more. I learned the importance of the easy run, and I started doing my easy runs REALLY easy. Running at a slow pace is actually very enjoyable! (It made my weight drop very easily, too.)

Once I let go of the mentality that I had to push myself during all of my runs, I found the joy in it. As I'm getting readjusted to running regularly, this is something I'm working on again--slow and easy!

Having run for about 8 years (minus the last year when I took a hiatus), when I go more than two days without running, my mood starts to get worse. Nothing extreme, but I suddenly start lacking the motivation to do anything. I feel lazy and disappointed that I didn't just take 30 minutes to keep my mood elevated for a couple more days. And worse, I dread the next run terribly, even if I had been looking forward to it after a great previous run.

When my eating habits aren't so good, or my weight is up, going for a run always makes me feel like I can turn things around--that it's never too late. I feel like if I'm eating badly, AND I'm skipping runs, I'm just turning back into the 253-pound Katie that didn't eat well or exercise. That thought gives me horrible anxiety.

So, in that sense, running also relieves anxiety. I know that even if I have other things going on that make me feel uneasy and anxious, at least I did something right by going for a run. It makes me feel like I accomplished something, so it's one less thing to feel bad about when I'm beating myself up.

Goal setting is always something that has helped me mentally, too. And running is perfect for setting goals! When I was a beginner, I just wanted to be able to increase my distance. I started at just under a tenth of a mile, and then worked my way up with a goal of being able to run 5K (3.1 miles).

This was my first "sweaty selfie"

Next, I wanted to run a mile under 13 minutes. Then, under 12 minutes. And so on. I increased my distance more and more until I ran a full marathon (26.2 miles). Then I worked on speed, and got faster and faster until I ran my fastest mile at 7:31.

There are so many goals that I could set. And since my brain thrives on goal setting/achieving, running has played a huge part in fulfilling that need. Those goals can change based on where my current physical fitness level is, too.

When I was at my peak shape in 2016 and had finished my goal 10K at 49:03, I could have then chosen a more difficult goal--say, a 47-minute 10K. But I was burnt out, and didn't want to set another lofty goal.

Now, I'm out of shape after having not run in so long, so my goals are tailored to my current level of fitness. My easy pace is 12:00+ per mile to keep my heart rate where it needs to be! I'd like to build up my distance again, no matter how slow, so that I can run a half-marathon.

A good friend of mine had gotten super fast a couple of years ago; and now, she is not in the same tip-top shape as she was at her peak (even elite runners don't stay in peak shape year-round). She has been beating herself up about it every time she goes for a run, and she says she feels like she's a failure.

I used to think like that, too. When I saw my speed getting slower and slower, I was ashamed and embarrassed and I felt like I had failed. At what? Who knows. But I did learn that beating myself up about it didn't make me any faster, nor did it make me feel any better. So, I took a long break from running, and now I'm starting over (almost) from scratch.

And this time, I am not the slightest bit embarrassed of my pace. I'm showing what happens when you go almost a year without running ;)  I'm also showing just how hard it was for me to get in that 10K shape--I worked my ass off for that PR! I deserved it. And I'm super proud of that achievement.

But training like that was tough, and I didn't want to continue to train that hard forever. So, of course I'm not going to be in that kind of shape unless I'm training that way again.

It's interesting--if I went outside right now and magically ran a 49-minute 10K again, I wouldn't feel that great about it--because I didn't earn it. I haven't been training for it. The good feelings come from working hard to achieve a goal. Without the hard work, the achievement doesn't really feel like an achievement.

Overall, I'd say running gives me a sense of accomplishment that feeds my need for purpose. I want to feel like I'm constantly working at something to better myself, and nothing has done that for me quite like running has. The physical effects of running are great in that it keeps me in shape, helps maintain my weight loss, has lots of health benefits, etc.

But I'm starting to see that the mental benefits of running, along with my medication and therapy, are a great combination for treating my bipolar disorder:

Running helps with my depressive episodes because I feel like I got something done, even if it was just a short, easy run. And it gets me outside--or on the treadmill at the very least. It's a huge struggle to force myself to do it, but I have never regretted it.

Running helps with anxiety because I feel like I can turn around habits that may lead me back to obesity. It's also a distraction from the negative feelings that anxiety brings.

Running helps with my hypomania because it releases a lot of my excess energy. Most importantly, it calms my heightened senses that can be very irritating to my body--my senses all go into overdrive when I'm hypomanic, and it is so annoying that it almost makes me wish for depression again. Running makes me calmer, and soothes my nerves, at least temporarily.

Anyone else find mental benefits from exercise?

Continue Reading...

Weekly Wrap Up: Week 2 of Half Marathon Training

Well, I now have two weeks of training under my belt!

This week was much better than the first. Now that I'm getting back in the habit of running, I have this "no excuses" attitude, just like I used to have back in the good ol' running days. I enjoy running just four days a week instead of five or six, because with the exception of Tuesday, I know that I don't have to run the next day.

This week on the schedule:

Tuesday (speed work):
     10 minutes easy
     10 minutes at tempo pace (hard enough where I want to stop, but where I know I could keep going)
     10 minutes easy

Wednesday: 3 miles easy

Friday: 2.5 miles easy

Sunday (long run): 5 miles easy

---

Tuesday - 10 min easy, 10 minutes tempo, 10 minutes easy

Treadmill run - This was the hardest run (which it should have been, because it's the only speed work I had). I decided to reduce the pace I was doing last week in order to make my easy running truly easy (and more enjoyable). So, my easy pace this week was at 5.0 on the treadmill (a 12:00/mi pace).

I have to say, it was so much nicer! I ran for 10 minutes at that pace and felt great. I wasn't sure what pace to do for my tempo, and I thought maybe 6.0. But when I increased the speed to 6.0, I felt like it might not be enough, so I bumped it up to 6.2.

I was definitely watching the clock for the full 10 minutes, because it was tough and I wanted that segment to be over. Finally, I dropped the speed back down to 5.0, and I desperately wanted to quit the workout at that point. But I continued, relieved that I didn't have to do another interval.

When I was at around 28:30 minutes in, I started to feel really nauseous. Like, "ohmygod, I hope I don't throw up right now" kind of nauseous. I didn't want to quit with just 90 seconds to go, so I struggled through it. The second I turned off the treadmill, I made a beeline to the bathroom and stood over the toilet on the verge of throwing up for probably about four minutes.

I never did throw up, and the nausea passed. Shows how out of shape I am! I've seen people on The Biggest Loser throw up from working out, but that's never happened to me before. Strangely, I felt satisfied after that workout. I felt like I worked hard!

Something to note (basically to myself) about the Garmin vs. treadmill: The timer on the treadmill is off. I believe the speed is correct, but the timer is set to match the distance + speed. My Garmin isn't calibrated to the treadmill, so, my stats are a little wonky. The Garmin showed that my 6.2 mph tempo mile was only a 10:42/mile. There is NO WAY that I was running 10:42. So, I'm not sure what to think. Basically, I just run until I hit my distance on both the Garmin and treadmill.

Wednesday - 3 miles easy

Treadmill run - This time, I set the treadmill at 5.0 mph and didn't touch it the whole time. I was curious what the Garmin would read. A speed of 5.0 mph is a pace of 12:00/mile. My Garmin read 12:02, 12:07, and then 12:13 for my three miles. Pretty close, but you would think that they'd all be the same.

I felt great during this run, though. My heart rate was 148, which is only a couple of beats per minute faster than ideal for an easy run.

This was just a screenshot from a video--I thought it was funnier than a typical selfie ;)

Friday - 2.5 miles easy 5 miles easy

Outdoor run - Jerry was off work, and asked if I wanted to do our three mile run together outside. The weather was really nice, so I said sure. Once we got outside and started running, I said we should just do our long run--it was so nice outside and I thought it would be awesome to get it done on Friday instead of Sunday.

So, we just kept going. We circled all the neighborhoods, which is my usual five-mile route. I didn't even feel tired when we were done! We were both so happy to have gotten our long run done. And we knew Sunday was going to be a busy day, so it would be easier to fit in our 2.5 miler instead of 5 miler on Sunday.

Sunday - 5 miles easy 2.5 miles easy

Outdoor run - Today was the first morning run I've done since I started running again. I've turned into an afternoon/evening runner; and today, it was really hard to get motivated to go out for a run in the morning. But, Jerry was off, and we decided to run outside together again.

It was colder than Friday, but it still felt amazing. I don't know that I'd ever done a 2.5 mile route before, so we just modified a three-miler in the hope that it was about 2.5. We did pretty good--we only had to go past our house for about a tenth of a mile at the end. And I found a penny on the ground just past our house, so it was worth it ;) (I still collect change when I run--between yesterday and today, I found five cents.)

It's so easy for me to speed up unintentionally while I'm talking during a run, and that happened a lot. I kept noticing that my breathing was getting harder, and then I would slow back down. In a couple more weeks, I'm might start utilizing my heart rate monitor alarm, so that I'm reminded to keep my heart rate low.

---

I can't believe I've done eight runs of my training so far. My five-miler this week was the longest run I've done since February 5th of last year! Each new long run will feel like a fresh new milestone (literally), and I'm excited about that.

I really enjoy running with Jerry, and I hope that we can at least continue to do our long runs together. Preferably outside. Sometimes it will be hard because of his work schedule, but we may be able to switch up days here and there to make it work. Training with a partner is so much more enjoyable!

---

I have a cute story about Eli. Eli is THE most compassionate, sweet, caring kid I've ever met. He's an anomaly, and I'm not just saying that because he's my kid.

My birthday was on Thursday, and when I woke up, Eli gave me this picture that he'd made for me. Sweet! But what made it even sweeter was the story behind it.

"Dear Mama: I hope you have a great birthday and I wanted you to know how much I love you and how much I appreciate the things you do for us!"

Whenever I tuck the boys into bed, I ask if they want their doors open or closed. Noah always says closed, Eli always says open. But on Wednesday, he said he wanted it closed. I thought it was odd, but I closed it. Then I went to my room for a while, probably 45 minutes or so. Then I went back to the boys rooms to turn off Eli's laser light thing (he likes to fall asleep with it on) and to open their doors.

So, I walked into Eli's room, turned off his light, then went back to my room and got ready for bed.

After Eli gave me the picture, he told me the story. He waited until I tucked him in and closed his door, and then he got up and turned on his desk light. He worked on making this picture for me for a long time. Then he heard me walking toward his bedroom, so he hurriedly shut off his light and dove into bed. When I walked in there, I had no idea!! Usually, I'm in tune with these things ;)

After I left his room, he snuck back out of bed and finished his drawing.

Later, I found a pile of about 15 papers where he'd drawn the heart part, but discarded it because it wasn't the way he wanted it. So he finally drew one that he liked. *sigh* He is so sweet.

---

Look who is getting SO so big!! I went to visit him today, because it had been a few weeks since I saw him last. Love this little man.

Continue Reading...