2016 Penny Challenge

Have you set a goal to complete the 52 week money challenge every year?

Have you failed miserably?

I certainly have! First, my husband gets paid bi-weekly, so that makes it tough to remember and keep track of, granted, not that tough, but tough enough that I would forget! I get through a few weeks and then forget about it, then need cash a few months later for something dumb (usually lottery tickets, or a snack when I will be out of the house for the day) then think "Eh, I've already screwed it all up anyways!" Then my jar is empty, again.

I am a part of a sounding board group on Facebook for my community. It's mostly just locals complaining about how no one can park and that the streets have too many potholes. Occasionally people post things that they have questions about, since there are thousands of people on the page it's a quick way to get a quick answer. I've seen a few people post about how to cook things, or asking what rules are about certain things (like dogs, fences, etc.). A few days ago a woman posted a picture of a jar that someone had shared on Facebook. On the jar was a note for the year long penny challenge. She was confused and didn't understand how it works, and there were no directions or explanations. I saw it and was thinking "That's genius!!!!" So I explained it to her, and decided since I'm in my fiscal famine this would be a good topic to discuss!

Here's how it works. You start out the first day of the year by adding a penny to your jar (or whatever container your little heart desires). The next day you add 2 cents, then 3 cents, and on and on and on every day. Then, the last day of the year (and since this is a leap year) you will add $3.66. Now, the person on Facebook was confused because it said that the total at the end of the year would be over $600!! She was confused because she was just thinking of adding a penny everyday, instead of adding a penny to the total that you put in the previous day, which would only get you $3.66. So, grand total you would get $648.26! And you never put more than $3.66 in at a time! It's much different from the 52 week challenge, where at one point (and during Christmas even) if you get paid bi-weekly you are putting over $100 each pay, over $200 for that month in the jar. Now what are the odds that you will do that? I say slim, especially since I can't even keep up for more than a month or so!

Here's a chart I created with all your totals!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!! Who said pennies are worthless??

Keep in mind, the great "they" says that it takes 21 days to make a habit! So DON'T, I repeat, DON'T think "Oh, I will just put in for the week/month, etc. You know why? Chances are that you won't go back to it, and if you do, you won't catch it up. You need to do it daily to form the habit of placing the money in the jar daily.

Here's how I got started. I went and got my fancy little jar. Ok, not fancy, it's actually one of those change counting jars you buy at the pharmacy, the people that lived in the house before us left it in a box of stuff that they left behind when they moved, so I kept it! Anyways, I've started by rounding up all the areas of the house where there is spare change. Top of the dresser, bottoms of drawers, bottom of my purse, on top of the washer and dryer, and of course all the areas where my 3 year old likes to stick pennies randomly throughout the house. Who knows, maybe I already have 648 bucks laying around! Wouldn't that be nice? I'm going to continue with that method until all that change runs out, but considering my husband regularly brings change home, it should be a little while. 

I also took a little dollar sign rubber stamp ($) and stamped each day of my day planner and wrote the amount I need to put in my jar. That way I have the reminder, and I can check it off when I put my change in. I love checking things off my list!!

So, print the chart and mark it off, or just write it in your planner like I did! Start saving, every penny counts!

How to Survive a Fiscal Famine

So yesterday I explained what a fiscal famine is, and why it's a good idea for anyone! Today I will go over how to get through it!

First off, I have seen many a blog say "Make sure you stock up!" with the idea that stocking up last month will save you trips to the store and additional spending this month. No. Don't do that. DO NOT STOCK UP! One of the points of the fiscal famine is to use things that are sitting around. Eat from your pantry and your freezer! Use up those little sample packets of shampoo you have sitting around the bathroom! Use up those beauty supplies that you didn't really love but haven't thrown away. You want to prevent waste! If you're stocking up and have everything you need for the month then you might spend less this month, but you spent more last month to be able to do that! 

NO STOCKING UP!

Secondly, if you're like me you have about 1,000 recipes pinned on Pinterest. You also have a pantry full of ingredients that you've purchased with the intention of making those recipes, but it just hasn't happened. For me it's usually because I have this fabulous meal idea and my 3 year old asks for sloppy joes for dinner. This happens all the time, and I always give in because it's one of the only things he will eat. So now is that time! Get out that iPad and use up those ingredients!

Not only are you saving by not buying groceries, but you are saving by not buying all the other little things that you would pickup while at the store that weren't on the list. You're saving the time going to the store and the gas driving there. I make a menu for the entire month consisting of only what we have on hand. If I run out before the month ends then that means it's time to start eating up that cereal that only has one bowl left in the box that everyone keeps overlooking. Or the simplest recipe I can possibly make is a box of mac and cheese with some fried hamburger thrown in! 

You can also explore new recipes and learn to make more things from scratch. We love homemade waffles and pasta! It's a good thing, because I have a bag of flour I need to use up during our famine! The only groceries I will be buying this month are bread, milk, eggs, juice, maybe very few produce items (like peppers for sloppy joes), and chocolate syrup for my little guy. 

I know you have a cupboard, basket, or shelf full of travel shampoos and shower gels, or hotel bottles, or little samples from the salon. Now is the time to use them up! Did you buy some kind of special shampoo or moisturizer that you ended up not really liking? Use it! Don't waste it! 

Now is the time!

You can get through this!!

So when this is all over you need to evaluate what you have saved with your fiscal famine, and then decide what to do with all that money you saved! Add it to your savings maybe? Pay off some debt (probably the best idea)? Pay off that dumb little bill that keeps getting over looked? Or maybe even put it in a separate account to save for Christmas next year, or a summer vacation! Set a goal before you start your famine so you have something to look forward to! And the best thing, this will help get the out of control spending from December back under control!

Good Luck!

So what do you think?

Can you be successful at a Fiscal Famine? Any tips for how to get through it?

If you need to take a step back and read the first post about the fiscal famine here it is:

http://thenormalhousewife.blogspot.com/2016/01/fiscal-famine-what-it-is-and-why-you.html

Fiscal Famine: What it is and why you should do it!

I'm sure there are many out there who have heard of the idea of a fiscal famine. I first heard about it while watching one of those extreme cheapskate reality shows, I think on TLC. The guy who brought it up was a total nut, and he took it very, very seriously. So seriously that he ate goat brains for dinner one night that he bought with money he found in pay phones and on the street. We, however, will definitely not be eating goat brains, and not just because I don't have the slightest clue where to find goat brains, or a pay phone. Gross.

So, what is a fiscal famine, you ask. It's a period of time where you spend no money on anything outside of your bills and absolute necessities. No eating out, no groceries, no extra shopping, and absolutely NO STARBUCKS! Ugh! I know, it sounds really terrible. But I promise, it isn't. 

We have chosen January for our fiscal famine (FF) because we are just coming out of Chrismas, the time of splurging. We ate out too much, we spent too much on gifts, we racked up too much debt, and both of our vehicles broke down, creating more bills! So now is the time to refocus and get it together! This month we will pay all of our bills as usual. We will buy necessary things, like gas, milk, bread, eggs, and chocolate syrup (I have a 3 year old, so chocolate syrup is a necessity. He doesn't care about mommy and her crazy fiscal famine). 

Why should you do a fiscal famine?

LOTS of reasons!

•  It's short term, so it isn't like some sort of crazy New Years resolution that you won't stick to! It's only a month! Of course I recently read an article where a woman did it for an entire year, but I'm not there yet!

• It helps you get financial goals back on track, or create new ones. It stops the out of control December spending, and reminds you to get it together!

• You can see where you have problems in your budget. It's a great time to help setup your budget for the year and see what money you really have. You can take the extra money you have and apply it towards the debts accrued in December, or replace some of your savings, or save for something special you didn't get for Christmas! If you're really money savvy (I'm not) you can use the money to put towards next Christmas! 

• You can help prevent waste! This is my favorite! I don't buy groceries other than maybe a couple produce items, bread, milk, eggs, juice, and chocolate syrup. We eat from only what we have in the pantry and freezer. Ever thought you had something in your pantry, then go to use it, only to find out that it is far past it's expiration date? This will help prevent that! It will force you to think outside the box for meal options, and keep you from throwing things away that everyone keeps over looking, it won't be overlooked if it's all you have! 

So there's the basics for the fiscal famine! I will be posting more on how to get through it! 

In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Do you already do this? Do you think this could be beneficial for your family?

Homemade Manicotti

For my first real post I decided to share one of my family's favorite recipes, homemade manicotti...no big ugly store bought shells required! Even my toddler will eat this, and his daily menu pretty much only consists of cereal, peanut butter sandwiches and shredded cheese.

I found this recipe in a Rachel Ray magazine a few years ago...and changed it a bit. It is easier to make than it looks and is delicious!!!

Noodles:

3 Large Eggs
1 C Water
3/4 C flour

Filling:

2 C Ricotta Cheese
1 C Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 C Shredded Parmesan Cheese (Original recipe calls for Romano, but I prefer Parm or mix of the 2)
1/3 C Parsley
Sprinkle of Garlic Salt
3 T Milk

1 Jar of your favorite pasta sauce
Additional cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl combine the cheeses, parsley, garlic salt and milk.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with the water. Whisk in the flour.

Heat a skillet over medium heat (at least 8-inch, but I use larger) and spray with cooking spray. Scoop out 3 T of batter into skillet, spreading in a circular motion, you want it to look like a pancake. Repeat this until you have used up all of your batter. If you have small prep bowls they are the best for making these (I have small silicone ones that pour very nicely).

After you have finished all of our noodles (or crepes as Rachel calls them...maybe I'll just call her Rach like her and I are BFF...so crepes as Rach says) poor a small amount of your pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish and spread to cover entire bottom of pan...don't try to do smaller...just don't...you'll only regret it later! You will think you can fit them in something smaller, but you can't. Then take each of your noodles, fill them with your cheese mixture, roll them up and place them seam side down in your pan. Then cover with your remaining pasta sauce and additional cheese as you desire.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Eat delicious food.

Here's some tips for you:

If you use brown eggs (organic, fresh from the chicken or otherwise) they make a denser noodle because they are a thicker egg, so you will only get half as many noodles, so double your noodle recipe or half your cheese mixture, depending on how many you need to feed. The typical recipe will feed 3-4.

You may have some extra cheese leftover (I usually have a small amount because I usually burn at least 1 noodle trying to do too many things at once), save it and make lasagna (if your family really loves pasta like mine does).

Make sure you have a good non-stick skillet and use the cooking spray or you will never get these noodles out of your pan.

I hope you enjoy! More delicious recipes and other fun things coming soon!

Did you try this recipe? Let me know how it turned out!

The Normal Housewife...Finding my Place in the Crowd

So if any of you have followed some of my previous blog posts on a previous blog you are well aware of my issue with finding my niche. Some of you are wondering "What the heck does that mean?" Throughout the internet there are millions, if not billions, of pages like this, a woman with a family who is crafty and creative. But what makes me different? Well, honestly I don't know. I just hope that you find something here you enjoy. I kept thinking to myself "I have to do something different! What do I love to do!?!?" There are too many things that I love to do, so I've decided this blog will just be about my life. About my family and our struggles, about my craft projects and recipes...and their struggles, and sometimes just about life in general, maybe what's in the news, I don't know, but either way I hope you find something here that suits you. 

Many of you are probably asking "Who is this person and what is she talking about?!?!" I'm Lynzee, and all I strive to be is normal. Where's my white picket fence!!!! 

I grew up in a large and somewhat crazy family, maybe someday I will get into some of the dynamics, but long story short I am the youngest of 5 children, I was raised by my mother and step-father who treated me like I was his own, all of my siblings are much older than me, and I have more nieces and nephews that I can even count on a whim. We didn't have much, and I dealt with a lot growing up, including being broke and losing my step-father (who from now on will just be called my dad) at the age of 18, 2 weeks before my high school graduation, forcing me to become an adult...fast! So through all the struggles and chaos of life, all I want for my family (which consists so far of me, my husband, my toddler son, a cat and a dog) is to be "normal," or at least what I envision as normal. But mostly, I just want my family to be happy and live comfortably financial wise.

So that's it, that's me in a nutshell. Brace yourself for upcoming craft projects, great recipes (or at least I hope so), home improvement projects, financial posts (I would say tips, but realistically it will probably be me begging for help) and many other things. Wish me luck!

I'm going to put a question out there for everyone: What are some life lessons you've learned through struggles you've had in your past? How have they effected who you are today? That almost makes me sound like a teacher haha! For example, when my dad passed away he had no life insurance, and it was very unexpected. This put quite a burden on my mom and I. I never want my son or future children to go through something like that, so for me life insurance is a must! Ready? Go!