{Tried & True Tuesdays): Budgeting

I think budgeting is one of the hardest things!

It takes a lot of thought and time and energy trying to organize all your spendings and manage your money in such a way so you're always on the (+). Now that we are living on our own again, Eugene and I have to be a lot smarter with the way we spend and save our money. Eugene is about to start his second year in Pharmacy school, and with three more years of tuition before us - there is a certain amount of financial planning that needs to take place so we don't get stuck having to eat mac n' cheese every day (even though I love mac and cheese!) There are a few things we've tried and a few tricks I've learned in our 1.5 years of marriage so I thought I'd share. :)

When we first started budgeting - two programs that friends/pastors recommended to us were Mint and YNAB - You Need a Budget (FYI - these photos are not mine. They are from the websites)

 

Mint is a free online program that helps you allot money for different categories so you can keep track of how much you're spending on each category. 

 

You link your bank statements to this website and they automatically categorize themselves. It records month to month and will email you monthly statements on how you're doing. The program will also notify you via email when you spend too much on a particular category (i.e. groceries, gas, shopping, etc) 

YNAB is a program we tried when we first got married but we dropped it pretty early so I'm not as familiar with this one. It's an actual computer program that you download onto your computer (FOR $60).  

 
In theory, it basically does the same thing that Mint does but you are required to manually record and categorize the money you are spending yourself. When we had this program, we were saving all our receipts and designating a day or two during the week to input the data into the program. It was fairly time consuming and hard for me to manage with my inconsistent work schedule so we were unable to keep up with it.

With both of these programs we got pretty discouraged.



However,  in January we started an "allowance program" and it has been working great for us! Basically what we do is this -  I get paid every other week on Thursday - so my "pay day" is "allowance" day. On pay day, I would pull out $240 cash for the both of us to spend for the next two weeks. Eugene gets $60 to spend on food/coffee, etc. and I got $180 ($60 to spend for my personal things & $120 for groceries/home needs.) The rule was we were only allowed to use the cash allotted to us every other week. No credit card. No debit card. (unless it was for gas.) This really forced us to watch what we were spending because we physically saw what money we could use/not use. 

This forced me to find creative ways to budget my money and really maximize our money. 
Here are a few tips and tricks I've tried and found to be very helpful in saving money - specifically  in terms of grocery shopping and meal planning.

 1) Make a grocery list: When I first got married I was often overzealous about my cooking adventures that I would just go to the grocery store and wait to be inspired. I usually left the grocery store with enough supplies to make 10 different exotic meals. This often resulted in wasted food and wasted money. Never again! Making a grocery list forces you to go in and out. Try your best not to add things just because they are on sale or because you are temporarily inspired to make something crazy. It can wait. 


 

2) Use a grocery basket: My rule of thumb when I go shopping is to only buy what I can carry. I found that using a basket instead of a cart helps me to stay conscious of how many things I'm buying and it forces me to reconsider if I really need that extra bottle of cooking wine that is on sale or that 50 lb bag of meatballs that they are sampling! It helps!

 

3) Maximize your ingredients: We now live only 3 minutes away from Costco. This is good/bad. Good because Costco is awesome and you really can't beat their price. Bad, because they sell everything in bulk so buying your produce there is probably not the best choice. When I do choose to buy my produce at Costco, I plan my meals in such a way to maximize every ingredient and yet keep the menu versatile.

In this case, I bought romaine lettuce, avocados and cucumber at Costco. I also bought a huge back of sprouts from the Korean Market. I've been using these ingredients for our lunch sandwiches and integrating these same ingredients into our dinners (i.e. California Bowl - yum!)

It also doesn't hurt your wallet to eat $1.50 fish tacos on Taco Tuesday at Rubios!

 

I'm also saving up my pennies for this cast iron I've been eye-ing for the longest time. Nothing wrong with saving up pennies :)

In the end, we know that everything we have is not really ours but the Lord's. Even the money we have to save and spend is ultimately something God has entrusted us to be good stewards of. Our prayer in these next coming years is that we would faithfully manage our finances in such a way that would be honoring to Him! We know that He is the giver of all things - and we trust that He will continue to give us the wisdom to be good stewards of all the things he has entrusted to us!

Hope this helps! If you have any good tips for me - please share! :)

Happy saving!

XOXO

A tribute to all neuro nurses and 5 reasons to be thankful today.

Working as a nurse is hard work. I don't think there is anything else in my life that tests my patience or my ability to be thankful/joyful. Don't get me wrong - I love being a nurse! I've dreamed about being a nurse since I was 7 years old, so some might say that I am living my dream. But, as with any other job, there are always things/people/circumstances that try us, test us and teach us how to work unceasingly, to love unconditionally and to serve wholeheartedly.

This might be biased - but I think working on a "neuro floor" requires a lot more patience than any other field in nursing. (Don't throw the tomatoes - I know I'm probably being biased!) We take care of some really sick people, and whenever the brain is involved - things can get a little cray-cray if you know what I mean.

We deal with things like expressive aphasia  - and spend 12 hours not understanding what in the world our patients are trying to say even though they are jumbling thousands of incomprehensible words at a time. A lot of our patients have dementia or some sort of underlying neurological disorder which is only exacerbated by every little thang (i.e. infection, a small heart attack, etc.) If you are a night shift nurse on a neuro floor - you know that "sundowners" and "hospital psychosis" is FO' REAL.  You run around 80% of your shift yelling "MR SMITH, STAY IN BED!!!!" because the bed alarms are going off constantly because patients forget they are at the hospital and are looking for their glasses, or watch or purse, etc. Sometimes you are medicating patients with narcotics/sedatives/mood stabilizers every 15 minutes, or 30 minutes or 2 hours for the entire shift because they have such a high tolerance.  Sometimes you have THREE of these patients and by the end of the day you feel like you did nothing but give pain medication. Sometimes you get pooped on, spit on, slapped, kicked, peed on - you name it.. and you are usually not all that surprised. Lastly, its a good day when none of your patients fall, stop breathing from oversedation or pull out all their drains/IV's/sutures.

It's no joke, people.

However, amidst the busyness and the frustration of working in a challenging floor like ours - it really takes a little bit of extra effort to step back and realize how many blessings are tucked away in all the chaos. I'm thankful for my commute home from work that forces me to reflect on each and every work day and give thanks to all the little and big things that often go unnoticed during a crazy, overwhelming, emotionally-draining, physically-taxing shift.

During my drive back home today, I was trying to think of reasons to thank God for my job today. I thought of at least 50 but here's 5. (some of them are simple, but it's always important to give praise for even the simple things!)

give thanks:

1) I'm thankful to work at a place where I am constantly learning new things. Every day I learn something new from the patients, doctors, physical/occupational/speech therapists, pharmacists, case managers, etc. It's the best kind of place to work.
2) I'm thankful for co-workers who forgive/tolerate me when I sing the "cups song" all day long. Also, for not judging me for using every possible type of "cup" to practice the song at work - i.e. patient coffee cups, medication cups, sani-wipe containers, etc.
3) I'm thankful for patients who say "I love you" back. and for the occasional "thank you!"
5) I'm thankful that I have officially been de-sensitized to all most body fluids (except saliva/mucus). For some reason, I don't mind the stinky things but anything that comes out of the mouth/nose - yuck!
4) I'm thankful and super honored to be working with one of the best stroke programs in the nation! There is no greater feeling than coming to a place where you feel confident about the care your patients are receiving. I love our stroke program!

The above picture is a really awesome picture that one of my co-workers posted. :) I think it really symbolizes the heart behind our work. We really are a family that works to take care of our patients together.  I am truly blessed!

Give thanks!
:)

Eugene turns 25!

Yesterday was Eugene's 25th birthday!

Because we moved last weekend, it's been pretty chaotic trying to get our little home together so we couldn't really celebrate this year. We've been busy taking trips to Lowes, Costco, Home Goods, Marshalls, Michaels, Target etc! I usually like throwing a little BBQ or get-together at home, but because our place was in shambles - we had to be flexible. Thankfully, Eugene is a simple guy and he was content with just spending time with me!

On Sunday, we celebrated with some of his close friends over all-you-can-eat sushi at Gen Sushi.  On his actual birthday we ate crepes for lunch in long beach at Le Creperie. They found out it was Eugene's birthday and surprised us with a free birthday sundae! (Awesome customer service!) For the rest of the day we took naps, unpacked, took more naps, grabbed pasteries at Porto's (our new favorite and local hotspot - our 2nd day in a row), visited Eugene's parents at the ice cream store and ate hwedupbap for dinner. It was a good day!

This year has been challenging for us - with Eugene starting and finishing his first year of Pharmacy school and adjusting to TWO moves within a 7-month period. I'm thankful that despite my tendency to nag/complain/be dramatic -  he is patient with me and loves me just the same. I am so lucky!

We are more than halfway into our second year of marriage already (!!!) and I'm continuing to learn more and more of what a blessing God has given to me in my marriage to Eugene. God is also continuing to teach me how to better love and serve him as his wife.

Praying for another of year of learning and growing together. :)

- - -

Happy 25th, Eugene!
You are my best friend, the love of my life and my favorite person ever.
Cheers to another victorious year in the Lord!

Sincerely yours,
Sharon

XOXO

We're baaaaack!

.... and we're movvvvving! AGAIN!

Yep, you heard me. We are moving....next week actually! It's been a bit of a crazy process, but we're excited! Last month we found a wee little apartment in Downey - less than 5 minutes away from where Eugene works and 30 minutes closer to work/church for me! Yippee!

These days have been busy with packing, cleaning, organizing/reorganizing, putting our life into boxes, throwing stuff away (per Eugene's request.. contrary to my hoarding/packrat tendencies *tear*), visiting Home Depot/Lowes, researching online for affordable home appliances, etc. I got really overwhelmed this past weekend, I asked Eugene to take me to Target so that I could buy myself a new planner. It did the trick, I feel better already!



As we have less than 2 weeks left in Temple City, we're trying to savor every bit of it before we say goodbye. This city has been good/bad to us - good, because it gave us super easy access to so much good food, all the time, at any hour of the day. bad, because even though we've been going to the gym more than we have gone in our whole lives, we have lost little to no weight. (Dang you, delicious and cheap chinese food/pho restaurants/all you can eat places less than 5 minutes from our house!!) We're excited to eat more at home once we move. I can't wait to shop at Costco again!

Some exciting things that have been going on these past few weeks -

1) Today I bought a fridge from Home Depot. It was exciting (and expensive). We never had to buy home appliances before since most OC apartments come with a pre-installed fridge. Yay!

2) I learned that my husband is a beast. On the night of July 4th, he got ZERO hours of sleep (due to loud fireworks at night, 3 cups of coffee with dinner and a long mid-day nap) and survived his 6AM clinical and worked until 9:30PM that night. Beast, I'm telling you.

3) I got my SCRN (stroke certification license). The coolest part about this was that this was the first year they EVER had this certification, so I was part of the first group of people in the nation to get it. I'm still so humbled and honored, still. Yay, I love stroke!

4) I did a sewing project last month! Well, sorta. I made some simple heart-shaped pillows for my college small group girls. They were simple, but I enjoyed making them! They were all different shapes/sizes because I was too lazy/stubborn to use a stencil. Woopsie! :) Anyway - so thankful for these girls. Cheers to more sewing projects after we move!

5) A few weeks ago, we bought a pack of Chia seeds from Trader Joes and it was a true Godsend! We followed the instructions on the package and mixed some seeds in with coconut milk and honey and it was DELICIOUS! You definitely feel more energy throughout the day after eating it regularly - and it also helps you go #2 (per Eugene). sorry if its TMI - but its awesome!

6) My sister-in-law Heidi moved up to Norcal to join our church plant in the Bay. This little lady has been a tremendous blessing to me these past few years. I remember praying for her salvation before she came to college - and since then God has used her to be a huge source of encouragement to me.  If you're up north and looking for a good, bible-teaching church - check out Berean Missions Church.

Here we are eating a celebratory dinner together after she finished her last final ever!!

7) A few posts ago, I tried making Galbi Jjim in a slow cooker. I had a few ribs left over so I attempted the recipe again with a few tweaks (i.e. A LOT more garlic and sauce, slow cook it over the stove instead of a the crock pot, boil the ribs a few times in water prior to cooking it in the sauce to strip all the excess fat off, etc) and it was SO GOOD. Like, meat fall off the bones and melt in your mouth good. I plan to make this dish over and over again! Recipe soon, hopefully!

As you can see, despite the lack of updates - life has been exciting for us! We are trying to embrace all the good things about summer, living in the SG Valley, living with family, etc before it comes to an end. We know that every season of our lives is carefully orchestrated by God. We know that in His infinite wisdom and love for us, He designs all things in our lives to help us grow in our hope, joy and reliance upon Him! This next transition of moving into a new apartment is an exciting one, but a little scary too! Praying for faith to trust in God and rely on Him daily as we adjust (yet again!) to a new place/city/apartment.

How sweet it is to know that we have a God who is sovereign and always, always good! :)

Anyway - before we leave, here's a recent pic of us at Denny's in our matching blue scrubs! 

Have a great week everyone!

Give Thanks - long hours at starbucks, catching up on errands, late night dates with my husband, mid-day naps, reminders of God's grace to us in every day life!

:)