Highlights

I'm taking a page from my friend Rachel's book and listing out "the good" or highlights of my week.

I've been trying lately to be more thankful the good things God has blessed me with, so why not incorporate that into the ole blog.

Highlights of my week...

• Last weekend my church had a conference about the Holy Spirit that was really good. I've been listening to and singing this song all week. Love it.
  
• I met with my boss for my mid-year performance review and she had really nice things to say about my work.
• I found out all the season of How I Met Your Mother are now available for streaming on Netflix. Yay!
  
• I got to come home from my business trip early and when the Mr. picked me up at the airport on Wednesday night he had JUDAH in the car! He said he thought the cat could use a little adventure because, "he never gets to go anywhere." So I got to snuggle with my sweet cat on the ride home. Love my husband.
  
• I got my hair cut/highlighted by the wonderful and talented Carey Bear.
  
• We finished our taxes. I did them myself using Turbo Tax which made me feel super smart and self-sufficient. Even though we owe some serious $$ to the feds I'm glad they are done.
• Tomorrow morning the Mr. and I are heading up to Central CA wine country (Los Olivos, Santa Ynez, etc.) for the weekend. So excited for some yummy wine and quality time with my honey.
  

Source: flickr.com via socalnewlywed on Pinterest

Stream of Consciousness x10

1. On Saturday the Bear Triplets went to be with Jesus. I'm so heartbroken for Carey and Jeremy. Please pray for peace and comfort for them. They both wrote beautiful and heartbreaking stories about their three boys (Rudyard, Desmond, and Oscar) on their blogs: Carey's Blog and Jeremy's Blog (warning, do not read these at work like I did).

2. I'm finally getting a DSLR camera! A Canon Rebel. It's my birthday present from my Mom! Thanks Mom! Now I'll need to learn to use it. I am EXCITED!


3. I didn't win Kelly's Korner's $600 gift card. But Kelly did like my 6 ingredient recipe! Woo hoo!

4. I finally finished our Europe Trip 2010 photo album on Blurb. That only took me a year, ha!

I still need to edit the book. But if you want to preview it here, you can!

5. I really want to go to Napa this summer, but the Mr. says it's not in the budget because apparently if we go to Napa we're gonna have to buy several cases of wine. Le sigh.

6. Speaking of budgets, our Pastor wants to talk to use about leading a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Course at Church. (I wonder what Dave would say about a Napa Trip? Le sigh again.) Exciting but kind of intimidating too.


7. We started watching Season 4 of Mad men on Netflix. Good stuff so far!

8. I think I'm gonna have the Mr. take me to Glen Ivy Day Spa for my birthday present. I think that's what I want.


9. I have several weddings coming up this Summer and my company semi-formal party this weekend. I going to hit up Nordstrom Rack and try to find some fun dresses. I'll let you know what I find.

10. I love summer because that means it's gazpacho season! I need to post my gazpacho recipe.

Financial Peace!

Last fall I blogged a bit about Dave Ramsey and wanting to complete several of the baby steps this year.

For those who don't know, the Seven Baby Steps are:
Baby Step 1- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
Baby Step 2 - Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
Baby Step 3 - 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
Baby Step 4 - Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
Baby Step 5 - College funding for children
Baby Step 6 - Pay off home early
Baby Step 7 - Build wealth and give!


All year we've been putting money toward Baby Step #2. And this month we got a HUGE and unexpected blessing and we were able to complete Baby Step #2!

I cannot even tell you the amount of peace this has brought -- even though our debt was not high interest. It's a giant weight lifted.

We've also put aside a chunk of change to buy a second car, which we will likely need very soon (we've been living with one car for over two years since the Mr. has a company car).

Now we're on to Baby Step #3, and well on our way to building up that emergency fund.



I know a bunch of you are on Baby Step #2 -- it's HARD -- but worth it. Even if you're just making one or two extra payments a month on that car loan or student loan, keep at it! Little payments can add up big.

Is anyone else out the making progress on the Baby Steps?

Newlywed Survival Kit

My brother-in-law is getting married in three weeks! So excited for him!

So I had the idea, to make him and his fiance a Newlywed Survival Kit, as wedding present. Basically a kit of things to get you through the first year of marriage.

So far I have...

A Dave Ramsey Book, because money is a major source of newlywed and marital conflict.


My two favorite cleaning products, Bar Keeper's Friend and Castile Soap, becauase we fought a lot about chores in the first year and these products make chores a lot easier!





And some dishtowels off their registry to go along with the cleaning products.





A couples' devotional book, Night Light, because reading and praying together can do wonders.


A Cookbook, because cooking together and cooking for each other is such a fun part of being a newlywed.



And I'm going to put it all in a cleaning bucket, because that's a great way to store cleaning supplies.



I want to add a couple more $5-$15 items, but I can't think of what else to add! What else would you add to a Newlywed Survival Kit?*

*Nothing to racy, ok? This is my husband's brother we're talking about here.

More on Money

Work has been crazy, so I don't have too much to blog about. So, I thought I'd talk more about one of my favorite topics that I know everyone loves... money and savings.

First of all, thank you so much for all of your awesome comments on our "Year of Money Tracking and Budgeting" post. And thank you to the fantastic money-saving blog, "Lean with Green" for the praise as well! You guys all rock.

Many of you asked about the spreadsheet I use to track our money. So I "scrubbed" our money tracking and budgeting spreadsheet of all of the real numbers and made every number equal $100 and posted it to google documents here.

Note: You must have basic knowledge of MS Excel and Excel formulas to use this multi-tabbed spreadsheet. But if you do know how to use Excel, you'll see that the formulas are already in there for you. You just need to download the document and plug in your own numbers. You'll need to add more tabs for each month of the year.

Our big financial goal this year is to do steps 1-4 of Dave Ramsey's Seven Baby Steps. We've already completed step 1! And step 2 shouldn't be that hard because we don't have any credit card debt.


Have any of you done Dave Ramsey?

A Year of Money Tracking and Budgeting

Today is September 1st, which means it's the first day of our "fiscal year." That's right, the Mr. and I, as a "family", have a fiscal year. Yup, we're crazy like that.

This all started on our first wedding anniversary where we decided that every year we'd set goals for the following year. One of our goals for last year was to start tracking our money spent and start managing to a budget.

So for the last year I've been tracking all of the money that come in, goes out, and is saved in a giant excel spreadsheet with formulas. Every. Single. Dollar. Yes, it was tough, but so worth it!

Now today marks one year of finance tracking and budget management! To celebrate I ran some "analytics" of our year of spending to share with the Mr.



I always think it's interesting and helpful to understand how people spend their money, so I wanted to share some "fun facts" from my personal financial analysis with you all:

• We spent 45% of our take home income* on our mortgage, HOA dues, insurance, property tax, utilities such as lights, internet, etc. (Yup, home ownership in California is expensive!)
• We spent 12% of our take home income on food and drinks (including eating out and groceries/wine)
  
• We spent 10% of take home income on traveling (much of that was the Europe Trip)
  
• We only saved 5% of our take home income this year (one of this year's goals is to improve that next year!)
• The biggest single purchases of the year were plane tickets to Europe, the kitchen backsplash, the new Stearns and Foster mattress, the Mr's snowboard, USC Football Season Tickets, the iPad, and the new kitchen lighting.
• In a year we made 13 trips to Costco, averaging $217.52 per trip.
• In a year we made 35 trips to Fresh & Easy, averaging $20.63 per trip.
• The restaurant that I most frequented this year was Speciality's. I went 20 times this year! That's because it's right by my client's office in Northern California.
  
• Other restaurants that we frequent are Subway, Starbucks, Pinkberry, and Buonos (a little pizza place near our home).
  
• The clothing stores I shop at the most at are DSW (all of my work shoes!) and Nordstrom.
  

The best part about tracking spending for a whole year is that now I have great data to plan this year's budget. I'll drink to that. Cheers!


Another item is crossed off the Baby Bucket List!

*Take home income = money after taxes, 401Ks, medical insurance, and tithing

Euro Trip Tips: Budgeting for your Europe Trip

A trip to Europe is not a cheap undertaking! But if you do a bit of planning you can save money and be prepared for the inevitable costs of your vacation.

Here are a few of my tips for budgeting for and paying for a trip to Europe.



1. Decide when you're going, where you're going, and book travel early.

I don't recommend trying to squeeze in too many countries in your trip, because you'll spend a lot of money (and time) traveling and not enjoying yourself. We settled on two countries in two weeks, which was great.

We quickly realized when pricing our flights that flying to Europe from the USA between Memorial Day and Labor Day would cost between $300-$800 dollars more per ticket than flying during "shoulder season", so we did our entire trip right before Memorial Day.

We booked our flights 5 months in advance and booked our hotels in advance as well - which helped to save money.

I also "bought" some great travel books on PaperBackSwap.com (I like Eyewitness Travel and Rick Steves the best) before our trip and read through them early to plan our itinerary.



2. Budget, save, and spend!

We created an ING Savings Account for our trip and dedicated a portion of our savings each month to our Europe Fund. (For more information on how I create and manage multiple savings accounts see here) We put money into that account for 9 months!

Note: If you're interested in how much we saved vs. what we spent because you're trying to plan your own Europe trip you can email me at newlywedsnextdoor@gmail.com. I don't feel comfortable posting how much we spent for all to see.

A large portion of your budget will go to plane tickets (our tickets from LAX to Munich and back to LAX from Rome cost about $1000 round trip for each of us).

Another large portion of your budget will go to food. Food is more expensive in Europe and you have to factor in the exchange rate. My friend who honeymooned in Italy said that I should estimate about double for food in Europe as I'd estimate for a trip in the US. That worked well.

Exchange rates in Europe hurt! 1 euro is typically equal to $1.30-$1.40 dollars. That means that if a gelato costs 1 euro that really means it cost about $1.30. Be sure to factor that into your budget.

My best advice is to figure the total amount of money you will need, put yourself on a monthly savings plan, and stick to it! Then you can enjoy yourself on your trip without worrying about money!

Note: I can't speak to hotel cost, because we paid for most of our hotels with Starwood points that I earned traveling for work (yes, I'm really lucky), but hotels will definitely set you back a pretty penny as well.




3. Leave room in your budget for "contingency money."

Despite careful planning we had several unplanned expenses.

My power converter caused my flat iron to short out -- which meant that I purchased a flat iron in Munich for 22 euros so I could flat iron my hair for the rest of the trip.

The ballet flats I wore on day one gave me crazy blisters -- I ended up buying about 18 euros worth of band aids and blister pads over several days.

The Mr. left a bunch of clothes in our hotel room in Munich by accident -- so we had to purchase about 30 euros worth of socks, undies, and t-shirts. And getting the clothes back cost us about 35 euros in shipping.

I didn't pack quite enough warm weather clothing -- so I ended up spending 22 euros to buy two dresses in Rome.

All and all we spent about 127 euros (or $165) on unplanned expenses. Yikes!

When you're traveling, especially in a foreign country, unplanned expenses will arise. Just budget for it and take it in stride when it happens.



4. There are lots of ways to save money while you're in Europe.

I'm sure that there are many more, but here are just a few ways to save money while you're actually on your trip:

• Don't buy food or drinks near the major tourist attractions. Eateries with "We speak English" signs or waiters beckoning you in should be avoided at all costs. If you're in Italy you can use the "gelato index."
  
• Find local markets. For several dinners and lunches in Italy we ate delicious fresh meats, cheeses, and fruit from adorable corner markets. Much cheaper than a restaurant.
  
• Don't over-tip. Only Americans tip 20 percent in Europe. Often times tips are already included or not expected. Ask other customers what's expected.
  
• Avoid Taxis. Taxis are pricey and most cities have really easy-to-use buses and metro rails. Even from the airport to your hotel.
  
• Likewise cars are worthless and expensive headaches in big cities. We only had a car for the Tuscany pat of our trip.
• Comparison shop for souvenirs and buy your souvenirs in cheaper cities you visit (for us that was Tuscany).
• ATMs give the best exchange rates, they do come with transaction fees. Minimize these by making fewer and larger withdrawals. Use your debit card exclusively for ATM withdrawals and your credit card for purchases. Note: American Express doesn't have any foreign transaction fees, Chase had a small fee per purchase.
• Throughout Italy, drinks (espresso and wine) are cheaper at the bar rather than at a table. Standing at the bar will save you up to 40%.
  

While a trip to Europe will set you back quite a few bucks, you can still have an amazing time without breaking the bank. Happy traveling!

And in case you missed them... our Europe trip recaps:
Europe Trip 2010, Part 10: Tuscany
Europe Trip 2010, Part 9: The Vatican
Europe Trip 2010, Part 8: When In Rome
Europe Trip 2010, Part 7: Ancient Rome
Europe Trip 2010, Part 6: Florence
Europe Trip 2010, Part 5: More Venice
Europe Trip 2010, Part 4: Venice (the first half)
Europe Trip 2010, Part 3: Bavarian Alps & Castles
Europe Trip 2010, Part 2: Munich
Europe Trip 2010, Part 1: The Brief Recap (our trip at a glance)



Also, I'm linking up with Saving Money Living Life on this post! Check out the Friday Linky Party there!

Money Talks

This week Kelly's Korner is talking about saving money.

I'm sure you've heard that money is one of the main things that married couples fight about and Newlyweds are no exception. So I wanted to give you a couple of my Newlywed money management tips.


Tip #1: Savings Account Management

I shared this savings tactic via a guest post on my favorite money-saving blog, Lean with Green.

My best "saving" tip is to divide your savings account into multiple sub-accounts.

That's right, break that one big savings account into several smaller sub-accounts for the key things you save money for. For example your sub-accounts could be: Emergency Fund, Home Improvement Account, Travel Account, and General Savings Account.

This can be done really easily through Bank of American or ING. Here is what our ING Savings Accounts look like:


What this is great is that is makes you realize how little money you actually have in savings once you divvy it up into those piles and can see it split that way.

For example, say you have $10,000 in general savings. That seems like a huge chunk of change. But once you break it into $5000 for emergency fund, $2000 for house fund, $2000 for Travel Fund, then you only have like $1000 of misc savings you realize that you should be saving more.

Now that we've divided up the accounts, we've set goals for each one to $x in Emergency, $x in Travel, etc.

Creating sub-accounts helps us realize our financial goals faster and it even makes saving a little more fun!


Tip #2: Budgeting and Tracking

Start tracking all of the money that goes out and all of the money that comes in - this will help you set a realistic budget. I track it all our income, spending, saving via a giant excel spreadsheet with formulas. I've been doing this since September 2009 and it's revolutionized our finances. Is it tough? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes.

Once you have 6 months to a year of financial spending data you can set a realistic budget and really manage against that. Don’t worry if you don’t do well the first few months; it can take a while to get adjusted to the budget.

One tracking tip I have is to use credit cards to track your spending, because they can easily show you exactly what you've spent money on where... but that brings me to tip #3...


Tip #3: Credit Card Management

Credit cards can provide a lot of benefits if you use them properly. We get hotel points, cash back, airline miles, and much much more as result of our credit cards. But they can come with hefty fees if you don't pay them on time or let them revolve. When we got married we suddenly had five credit cards and we were always getting confused as to which ones we had/had not paid. We had to argue with Chase and Amex a couple of times when we accidentally paid late.

So to avoid this I went online and figured out the date that all of our credit cards closed each month and the date they were due each month and put it an excel table in date order like this:


Also, we never let our credit cards revolve. The interest rates on credit cards are just ridiculous so we pay the full amount each month. Budgeting and tracking helps to make sure we don't spend beyond our means on a credit card.


Tip #4: Be a homebody sometimes

As lame as it is to admit, the Mr. and I try to get our entertainment at home.

We joined Netflix and get 2 movies at a time (unlimited monthly rentals) as well as Netflix on demand. Our monthly Netflix bill is less than seeing one movie in the Theater for two - so we rarely go to the Theater to see movies. So what if we have to wait a few more months to see new releases?

Reading is great source of in-home entertainment, so I joined Paperback Swap to share and swap books for free.

We try to eat at home and drink wine at home some weekend nights. You can get a $15 bottle of wine at Trader Joe's and see the same bottle of restaurant menu for $50.

When getting together with friends, love to have people over to BBQ and swim in our pool rather than always going out to eat.


(Entertaining at home a couple of weeks ago)


Are there any other Newlyweds out there that have tips from merging finances, creating a budget together, or just dealing with dollars in general? I'd love to hear your comments!

Tax Refund: Dreams & Reality

This year instead of owing money to the IRS, the Mr. and I actually going to get a pretty decent tax refund. Woo hoo!

If I was a single, non-home-owning, spendthrift, 20-something gal this is what I'd buying with my tax refund...

Top row:
White Dress from Nordstrom, Yellow Dress from Nordstrom, Work Outfit from Banana Republic, Coral Dress from J. Crew, Juicy Swimsuit,
Second row: Marc Jacobs Wallet, Joan and David Shoe, Betsy Johnson Sunglasses, Tori Burch Sandals

That's right, I'd be going on a huge shopping spree for me!


But instead I'm a married, home-owning, decently-frugal, 20-something gal.

So this is what we're doing with our refund...

Donating the "first fruits" to our local Church


Installing a tile backsplash in our kitchen

(I'm hoping this is actually an "investment" and ends up paying us back when we sell our condo.)

And paying down some higher interested school loans we have.

Pretty boring and practical, huh?

But don't worry there are a couple of fun things that we're going to buy...

Like an Apple iPad!

(I'm so excited to bring this to Europe with us!)

This swimsuit from Victoria's Secret


This dress (or a similar one) from Nordstrom to wear to my friend's wedding



This is our first tax refund we've ever gotten as a couple, so it's kind of fun discussing how we'll spend the money together -- balancing priorities, etc.

Are you getting a tax refund this year? If so, how are you going to spend it? Or will you save it? If married, are you and your hubby on the same page as to what to do with your refund?

10 Ways To Beat the Post-Wedding Blues

Recently, I was talking to a co-worker of mine who got married last month. I asked her how she was doing. And she replied that she felt “odd” now that her big day was over. Finally not in constant “wedding planning mode”. Not unhappy, but almost a feeling of “now what?”

I know that some people fell right into wedding bliss and were so-freakin'-glad to have all of the wedding planning behind him. But I think for many of us it’s natural to feel a little let down after all the hours, money, and passion you’d put into planning your wedding.

My co-worker got me thinking about the "post-wedding blues" and the ways that I beat them.

Therefore, I now present to you, dear readers, 10 Ways To Beat the Post-Wedding Blues.

1. Get organized
Through the magic of a wedding registry, you now have two sets of china, a Panini maker, guest linens, and more kitchen spoons than you know what to do with. Now is the time to get that house or apartment organized!

Use some of you wedding cash and head to the Container Store, Bed Bath & Beyond, or Target to buy some organizing gear. Think about adding shelving in your living room, kitchen, and spare rooms. Buy kitchen cabinet organizers, closet organizers, under the bed boxes, and bathroom organizers. Trust me, a little bit of organization early on goes a long when you’re adding a deluge of new stuff to your newlywed home.




2. Write thank you notes!
In this technological era, a hand-written note is so meaningful, so be sure to write those thank you notes. Set aside a fun night to bake some treats and have some wine with the hubby while writing thank you notes. Use the time to reminise about the sweet things family members said to you at the wedding or how funny his fraterity brothers danced at the wedding.

I ordered some really cool photo-collage thank you cards and through the magic of wine and cookies we finished writing almost all of them in one night!




3. Create Wedding a Wedding Shadow Box and Mementos Box
After your wedding you end up with a lot of wedding crap memorabilia left sitting around or stored in your house/apartment. And if you're like me, you may have worked really hard on some Wedding DIY Projects, so you don't want to just toss all of the stuff or shove it in your Mom's attic. So display your favorite wedding memories in a Shadow Box. Such as the invitation, program, ribbons, a favor, and some pictures.

Then save some other key mementos (like place cards, RSVPs, some flowers, or some of your favorite cards in a beautiful box)

Then toss the rest. I'm talking about business cards from vendors you never use, scribbled notes of ideas, or the 50 leftover programs you might have. Yes, it’s painful, but remember, you’re saving the stuff you care about most.

Here is the Shadow Box that I created:



4. Share the Love
As a former bride, you’re in a unique position to share your wisdom and experience with others. Have a wedding planning binder? Have a wedding “workplan” in excel like I did? Have really cool word doc templates for programs or placecards? Package it all up and give it to the next bride-to-be you know.

I “scrubbed” all of the documents that I used to plan our wedding – like our budget template, guest list template, day-of agenda, wedding workplan, and program template and put it all in a .zip file. I now have sent the package to at least 10 brides-to-be who are friends, or friends-of-friends. It’s a cool feeling to know that your hard work lives on!




5. Get Your Wedding Pictures in Order

Plan out your wedding album and order it (I'll admit, I have not yet done this! Yikes!). Get some great 5x7 and 8x10 wedding pictures made and frame them. The longer you wait, the harder it is, so just get it done. Also get pictures framed for your family and friends who were in the wedding as part of your order. They make great birthday or Christmas gifts.




6. Throw a Party!
You have great newly-acquired party planning skills and I’m betting that you have all kinds of new serving platters and pitchers to hostess with.

Throw a fun theme party or you could invite family and close friends who were at your wedding and use this opportunity to share your wedding video and/or pictures.



7. Join a group
While you’re planning your wedding, you’re part of solid community of vendors, bridal party, family, and guests. Plus if you chat on Wedding Bee, Style Me Pretty, or the Knot then you’re part of a “bride-to-be club”

After you’re married, you could end up feeling like you’ve lost that exclusive community.

Start a Newlywed blog and/or chat with other newlywed women on The Nest, Elizabeth Anne Designs Living, She Just Got Married, or another online community.

Also look for opportunities to connect with other newlyweds in your community through church or philanthropy. If you can’t find other newlyweds to connect with, then join a young women’s book club, cooking class, alumnae organization, or running group. You’ll feel part of “the club” again in no time.




8. Do the Name Change (if you’re changing it)
(Ok, on this one, I’m definitely giving “do as I say, not as I do” advice since it took me a looong time to change my time and I still have credit cars and frequent flier accounts with my maiden name. Regardless…)

List out all the places where you need to change your name and begin the arduous process of changing it.

Hint: Start at Social Security and the DMV and branch out from there.




9. Get your Finances in Order
Money is major cause of marital discontent. So set a realistic budget with your husband and start managing your money wisely. Don’t worry if you don’t do well the first few months; it can take a while to get adjusted to the budget.

Tips: Join Mint.com and/or manage your budget in Excel (I have a great template). Some fun advice can be found on Lean with Green.

To make it more fun to save, set some fun savings goals like “Europe Trip” or “New Flatscreen TV” and watch the money grow!




10. Find some Décor Inspiration and do some Nesting

We’ll all admit it, one of my favorite things about planning a wedding was the “Wedding Porn” – you know, beautiful photography of garden ceremony sites, rows upon rows of escort cards, lavish table settings, 6-tier cakes. Spend an hour at Style Me Pretty and you’ll know what I mean. I still swoon looking at this stuff.

Why not add some entertaining and home décor blogs to your internet “ohhing and ahhing” and start capturing ideas for your current or future home?

Some home décor blogs/websites that I love are:
Apartment Therapy
Elizabeth Anne Designs
Young House Love
Hostess with the Mostess
Urban Nest
Decor8
Design Sponge
Brooklyn Limestone
Rate my Space

Apply your wedding planning skills - like bugeting, theming, shopping, and priortizing - to nesting. You can do a lot of fun decorating with a not-so-big budget!




I'm sure there are many many other great ways to beat the post-wedding blues, and I'd love to hear those from you! Leave a comment to let me know how you beat the post-wedding blues.

PS- I'm you're interested in any of my wedding planning template, budget worksheet, or any other details that I posted above, feel free to email me at newlywedsnextdoor@gmail.com

Frugality is the New Black

I'm sure you have hear that money is the number one thing that Married couples fight about, and I'm sure Newlyweds are no exception.

In these "uncertain economic times" people everywhere are looking for new ways to cut back and save.

That is why one of my daily reads is a fun blog started by a couple of 20-something gals called Lean with Green.

So you can imagine that I was very excited when I had emailed them a couple of my money management tips and they asked me to a guest post for them!

You can check out my post on Lean with Green here.

Are there any other Newlyweds or just couples in general out there that have tips from merging finances, creating a budget together, or just dealing with dollars? I'd love to hear your comments! Leave one for me on Lean with Green or leave it here!

Oh Costco

Dear Costco,

I love you so much, but why can't I visit you without spending over $100?

Yesterday I went to you for a:


and some:


And a couple of gallons of:


Yet somehow spent $130??!

I'm torn because I feel like I'm saving money shopping at you, but I also feel like spend MORE money when I shop at you. I even made a list this time to avoid the $200 boondoggle from a couple of weeks ago. But alas the siren call of your amazing/gigantic products sucked me again. This needs to end.

Yours truly,
The Newlywed Next Door

A Few Follow Ups

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend!

I realized that I owe you a couple of follow ups from prior posts...

1. Taxes. In my prior post on taxes I was stressing about owing the IRS a lot of money. Well, when all was said and done we ended up owing the IRS, but not near what I feared! Thank goodness for all of those deductions! Thank you for your prayers for us.

2. Blogging safety. I really appreciate all the kind comments about our wedding. I'm glad to see so many of you taking steps to ensure your safety. Also, I wanted to let you know that I emailed with Mrs. Stilettos. She wanted you to all to know that she misses you and that leaving her blog has been hard but she had to prioritize her family. She is starting a new private blog and you can email her at newlywedstilettos@gmail.com if you want an invitation to it!

3. Easter. I wanted to do whole post about Easter. But it's been a week now and I lost motivation to post a ton about it. So here are some pics from Easter weekend to give you the highlights:


Padre game dugout seats!


Sunrise Easter Service on Mt. Helix.


At Easter Dinner!


Giant chocolate Easter sculpture. We then smashed it and ate it. Awesome!

The Taxman Cometh... and I am afraid

This weekend The Mr. and I got around to preparing our taxes and submitting them to the H&R Block accountant that my company hooked me up with (my company pays for me to have my taxes done since my constant traveling has all kinds of crazy tax implications).

I think we may owe some money. And by some money, I mean a LOT of money.



We saved up a bunch of $$$ this year in case we owe, but I didn't think it could be this much. I've always gotten money back from the IRS and not owed. I'm praying my H&R block dude gives me some good news. So stay tuned for part 2 of our tax saga.

How are everyone else's taxes going? Is anyone "married filing jointly" for the first time? :-)


PS- Don't know if anyone follows California news, but it looks like a budget was finally approved, which means the state can actually give refunds to those who overpaid. Too bad sales tax just went through the roof.