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VickiMNE

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Posts posted by VickiMNE

    Healthy Eating - January Challenge

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I'll join.  In theory, I follow NoS principles and the Med Diet.  In reality,  I need to get with the program fully.  (My brain agrees with it; it is the doing that eludes me too often).

    However, we are in holiday mode here until after Jan 7 (live in a nation that celebrates Christmas then).  Add in Dec. 25th Christmas (my tradition), a birthday, NYE, and NY's day) and I'm ready to reset come mid-January!  But being part of this thread now will help keep the non-celebratory days a bit more in check. 🙂

     

    • Like 1

    Bullet Journal 2022

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Mine is the most plain Jane BuJo ever.  I'm not particularly artsy, so thought I would add "color" via stickers instead.  Nope. Even deciding to use one is too stressful for me.  The littlest of our visiting guests have a good time with them, though.

    I cannot re-iterate (for those of you thinking about it) to look at the original intent of the creator and watch the videos/read the info from him.  It is what made "BuJo" click in my head and see how it might work for me with just enough structure combined with just enough freedom to do things the way my brain works. 

     

    • Like 6

    Bullet Journal 2022

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    2 hours ago, marbel said:

    @Slache Tag away! I love this topic even though I have been a failure at it.  

    @happi duck This is brilliant. I mean, you just made it click so perfectly.  

    I have the journal cover, and an A5 journal I started this year that is a bit of a mess but has a lot of space left in it. I'm just going to restart for 2022. Or maybe today.  

    This is what I did.  Started in Nov, in an already partly used lined notebook.  SO GLAD I did.  It has been a big help already!  Go for it!

    • Thanks 1

    Bullet Journal 2022

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I'm keeping a BuJo for the first time this year.   I watched videos by the original creator and *they* are what helped me to understand how/why I think it can be a good fit for me.

    Last year, I used a pre-dated Clever Fox planner which I thought might be a bit BuJo-like but with more structure.  But, turns out that the extra structure was good for the first month but after that, I didn't use it/need it.  SO, this year will be a plain-Jane BuJo for me, very minimalist which I think is going to work well.

    Looking forward to seeing others' tips/collections for using it, maybe I'll glean something good for me!

    • Thanks 1

    Jokes & memes

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    11 hours ago, Katy said:

    FF30F96D-CC4F-41DB-A807-052785ADEAD7.jpeg

    This can come in handy!  About 20 years ago, I was at a picnic type event in a foreign country and in milling around, started chatting with a man who was playing a cool little game on some handheld contraption.  Turned out to be speed math something or other.  He offered me to play it.  I did.  

    I got best score with a rating 5x the second fastest player.  I felt especially bad because he was a VP at World Bank.  I suspect it grated him a long time to know he was beaten by a homeschooling mom....

    • Like 4
    • Haha 8

    Booster shots - how did yours go?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I had a Pfizer booster (after two doses of AZ) on Tuesday morning.  By late Tuesday afternoon, I could feel some pain at the injection site and my arm hurt a bit to move around.  Continued onto Wednesday--nothing unbearable, but noticeable.  By Thursday, I only felt a small bit of pain if my injection site was pressed.  So, pretty mild reaction (which is my norm).

    • Like 5

    Cooking mistakes that ended up okay?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I was once making a tried and true apple cinnamon bread recipe but decided to double it halfway through.  Then realized the reason I originally didn't was because I didn't have enough ingredients.  Oops!  It had double the sugar and apples but not the flour. My kids were thrilled with the result!  (I typically make low-sugar quick breads--but still!  It was oozing caramel...)

    • Haha 3

    YNAB opinions and hints?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    18 minutes ago, Soror said:

    I can't wait to get there.

    You are doing great, considering you are only one year in!  The first year (or two) is all about realizing TRUE expenses.  And for each one that you "bring up to speed", the going forward gets that much easier. 

    • Like 3

    please get your booster if you can (and you probably can)

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    16 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

    The UK is doing one in each arm. I actually paid to have my flu jab early as I won't be eligible for a booster until late November,  at six months. The UK is using Pfizer for everyone - mixing studies have been positive.  So I'll be AZ then Pfizer.

    This is the position we are in. Two jabs of AZ and eligible for a Pfizer booster as of today.  (We are in Montenegro--I think they are following the UKs lead for the most part).  Do you know what the current suggested optimal  interlude is between 2nd dose and booster?  We are just 5 months out from our 2nd dose.  I'm not sure if 5 months is the minimum time or the optimal time and am wondering if we should wait just a little longer.

     

     

    • Like 2

    YNAB opinions and hints?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Soror said:

    Prior to ynab I'd budgeted plenty of times and had a good grasp of regular/fixed expenses. What I didn't have a great grasp of was those irregular expenses. Things like appliances breaking, cars needing repairs, medical bills etc- irregular expenses- like cmas, taxes, insurance etc. Things will break and those irregular bills are coming. Because of the way ynab stresses true expenses we realized that we needed to live on even less  because we had to save some towards these things every month. You can't have your bills to where it eats up all your cash because sooner or later shit will happen and you will be caught without the money to pay for it.

    And, once you DO start accounting for these things, it is amazing how even a little bit set aside adds up.  We've been putting aside $100 for car replacement.  Not very much in the scheme of things, but obviously our 2004 car is going to die someday, so we need to be proactive.  And, bit by bit, that category holds nearly $10,000 smackers now, accumulated rather painlessly.  Thus, an unexpected car failure will be unpleasant but not disastrous.  I *love* the peace of mind (even more than the increased net worth) of using YNAB.

    Because the converse is that now I can enjoy what we *do* spend our money on.  We *can* afford a weekend getaway.  We *can* splurge and get the fancy cheese for a delightful mezze & wine meal.  So, we end up spending less (overall) and having more enjoyment.  Definite win!

    • Like 4

    YNAB opinions and hints?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by VickiMNE
    clarity I hope

    Long-time YNAB user here.  Love it.  Another thing that is different is that, when first setting up your YNAB budget, you mentally count up all your cash money sitting in your checking/savings/piggy bank (but not investments or retirement accounts as those are typically not touchable).  You consider it one big pot of money.

    You make a list of your categories (expenses).  Some are monthly, some weekly, some yearly, some wishful.  You take your big pot of cash and assign dollar amounts (stuff their envelope) into each one.  When you run out of money, you do not assign any more--not the paycheck you are expecting next week, the tax return, the child credit, nothing more. (This initial counting all the moola and assigning all of it is just at the start.)

    This has the advantage of helping you to see clearly your priorities.  Some things must be paid (mortgage, for example).  Others have wiggle room.  Maybe less into groceries and more into clothing as Jimmy needs new rain boots.  No borrowing from the future; we live like our grandparents (great grands?) within the money we actually have.  

    Additionally, we try to be proactive about upcoming expenses.  So, we don't spend ALL our money this month but we save purposely:  for auto maintenance, new tech, job loss fund, Xmas time, summer vacation, concert tickets, whatever you want (the "personal" aspect of "personal finances").  YNAB eschews generic "savings" and encourages you to save within your categories.  Again, this really brings clarity to how we want to use our money.

    When we started with Ynab, we were not in debt, but never getting ahead.  Our net worth has quintupled because we are far more mindful of our money, not because we actually have more money (income.)

    • Like 4

    Please share your vacation rental recipe ideas

    in The Chat Board

    Posted · Edited by VickiMNE

    Not sure if you are driving or flying to your rental.  When we've driven, I make ahead and freeze a few easy meal components and take them in the cooler along with any perishables and drinks for the road.  

    Easy meal components to make ahead/freeze/take that have worked well for us:  

    • Mexican meat (cooked and seasoned) to be used however (burritos, taco salad, bowl-style, nachos)
    • Hearty Spaghetti Sauce (served over pasta or used to make French Bread Pizza)
    • Chili
    • Favorite Stew
    • Yummy Curry Dish
    • Meatloaf
    • Hummus (not readily available where we are)--the perfect dip for carrots sticks and red pepper strips
    • Homemade cookies (so we are not tempted by junk food treats)

    I like the fact that we can come in from being out all day and meals are already half-prepped.   We can nosh on the hummus&veggies while waiting for the pasta to cook and the sauce to heat.

    • Like 2

    Jokes & memes

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Happy Camper said:

    My dh has been known to "choke" during the drive thru. One time he accidentally ordered more milkshakes than planned - and in the largest sizes. The kids were thrilled! 

    Screenshot_20210906-232015_MeWe.jpg

    This reminds me of the time we flew back from Europe to the States, landing late at night, and my husband was starving.  The only thing open was a Drive-Thru Jack-in-the-Box (a place we never went to regularly).  Unfamiliar with the menu, my husband quickly scanned the list, and then proceeded to order the highlighted Supreme Burrito but asked if it could *not* have the beans, steak instead of chicken, extra cheese, no salsa but fresh tomatoes, etc., etc.,  After patiently listening, the drive-thru person gently replied:  "I think, sir, that you'd like the Steak Burrito".  (Which was actually $1.50 cheaper! What a nice guy!) 🙂

    • Like 5
    • Haha 3

    What have you bought lately that you are loving?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    4 hours ago, Alte Veste Academy said:

    I get migraines from strong scents also. I find this almost unscented, slightly citrusy if anything. But now I’m looking at this…

    It’s way cheaper, so I think I will pick some up to compare! Thanks!

    Ooh, if you do, could you remember to tag me and let me know?  We live overseas, so I'm not picking it up anytime soon.  But, maybe in Nov as a Christmas present to be delivered...

    • Like 1

    What have you bought lately that you are loving?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    On 9/13/2021 at 8:55 PM, Alte Veste Academy said:

    I also absolutely adore the product a worker at The Body Shop recommended when I asked for something for callused heels. The Vitamin C Glow Revealing Liquid Peel is for the face, but OMG it does wonders on feet!

    Ooh!  Can you tell me if this has a strong/distinctive odor or scent?  My husband suffers from dry heels and has yet to find something really good.  But he also gets migraines from strong scents.....

    TIA!

    wuhan - coronavirus

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    8 hours ago, lewelma said:

    I feel kind of yucky posting this given what Aus is experiencing, but NZ is down to 11 cases today with 10 already in MIQ because they were household contacts, and only 1 positive person who was in the community. All waste water is clear, and testing numbers are high. We appear to be in the long tail. They are still tracking 38000 contacts who are being contacted daily by the now 1700 contact tracers. Very close contacts are either in MIQ or having all food/supplies delivered by government services so they don't have to leave their home. It looks like they've actually conquered this outbreak. I'm very impressed. We have had 860 cases, and they are down to 1 in the community. Just Wow. 

    No, don't feel yucky!  I'm enjoying rooting for you all!  (No chance here: said from MNE which is amongst the worst in Europe.  😞 )

    • Like 2

    Tell me what I need to know about shingles

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Like a PP, when I was diagnosed with shingles, I initially thought it was bug bites (hot, sticky weather, showed along a belt line). So anti-viral came very (very) late in my case.  I *totally* concur to get as much rest as you can.  It took me several months to get beyond lying around most of the day and an entire year to feel like my old self.  

    In my case, I believe that back-to-back crises and stresses (6 months straight) led to my shingles episode.  To this day, I need to pace myself with how much I pack into a day/week/month/season and actively destress my body (which, as a fairly easy-going personality surprised me as I never thought of myself as "stressed").

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
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