Time for February’s ten things! I started this ten things series a few months ago to catch you up on my personal life. Basically, it’s just ten things on my mind this past month, some personal finance related, some not. You can catch last month’s ten things post here.
(1) Most of the time, I cut M and Danny’s hair and bleach my own. When I need a trim (4 or less times per year) I’ll go to Supercuts or Great Clips or somewhere cheap since I have a pretty basic hair cut. Every now and then, Danny will go get a nice haircut from a fancyish place which helps me keep the style of his cut up. This has saved us SO much money. Bleaching my hair on my own was super super super scary at first and honestly I don’t recommend it haha because of how badly it can go wrong! But if you are up with educating yourself (I used hours and hours of youtube) it can be a seriously great way to save some money. I bought these scissors to cut M’s hair and have loved them to give him his long shaggy locks.
(2) We are moving next month! We are crazy excited for so many reasons but at the same time we are really going to miss Tulsa. We love our friends and family here. Our time in Tulsa has been one of growth and figuring out how to balance a lot of the things we want to accomplish. We’ve had some tough times but in a way that has helped us to become better people I think. So, Tulsa will always hold a dear place in our hearts. But very excited for new things. I know I’ve been unfairly withholding lots of the details (like WHERE we are moving for example) I promise to share soon! In the mean time, any guesses??
(3) The other night we went to Olive Garden on a gift card we’d been hoarding for a while. I ordered pepperoni pizza off the kids menu, which I know sounds SO lame, but it was AMAZING. It also came with two sides, I chose fruit and steamed broccoli. A few days later and I’m STILL thinking about how good it was! I got to eat all the delicious salad and bread sticks, only paid $5.99 for my meal, AND it was on a gift card. And seriously oh so good. Eating from the kids menu is one of my favorite frugal living hacks. Almost without exception, kids meals are portions that are more appropriate for adults (although I’ll warn you– kids meals at Chickfila probably wouldn’t fill up an adult, just as a heads up;) ).
(4) About a month ago, I quit drinking so much diet soda. I have IBS (tmi? Well I share everything else with you so, there it is haha) and caffeine supposedly makes it worse. Plus, given that we’ve been trying to grow our little fam bam, and not to mention the fact that we are on a debt free journey and diet soda is 100% a non essential item (OK I know it’s debatable, I was on the other side of this argument just a few short weeks ago) but I figured it was high time to start cutting back. I la la la love diet coke in particular, so anyone who knows me knows this is a very very big deal. Happy to report that after a raging headache the first day and exactly zero energy for the first three days, I FEEL SO GOOD. I’m saving money every day (anywhere from like $0.30 – $2) and I just feel way less gross. I didn’t even realize I was feeling gross! I am still drinking 1 or 2 small servings a week because I mean I still like to live you know? Anyway, I’m proud of myself and if you’re on the fence about cutting back on diet soda or any other thing you don’t need in your life, let me just testify that it’s so worth it!
(5) I’ve been decluttering to get ready for our move. I started listing things for sale on Facebook Marketplace and I can’t believe the things we’ve been able to sell! An old fence was by far the most impressive thing to me, haha. Basically anything that I would ordinarily just donate (other than clothes– those are just getting donated) I’ve been listing online and we’ve had some pretty great luck. So, if you’ve caught the Konmarie bug, try to sell some of your things before you donate them.
(6) Speaking of moving, we’ve also been trying to get our house ready to sell. It hasn’t need a ton of work but one thing I think made a really big difference was to paint a lot of the rooms, especially the bathroom. A house just looks so much brighter and cleaner with fresh walls.
(7) We are having the hardest time finding a place to rent where we are moving! The rental market is apparently super hot there. We’ve applied to 3 different houses (each one was $100 per application!) and keep getting beat out. We’ll find a house that goes up for rent and within a few hours it has 20-30 applications and we’re never the first. So we’re feeling a titchy stressed to be moving in a couple of weeks with nowhere to go yet ha. We have an application out right now so please cross your fingers that we get it!
(8) I bought Danny this bike trainer this past Christmas. He has loved it and used it a ton, and I’m super jealous of it. His parents gave me an Amazon gift card for Christmas and I’ve been saving it so I can buy one after we move. I just think it would be so dreamy to ride our bikes together in the evenings while watching our shows rather than sitting on the couch eating all the bad things.
(9) Does anyone else feel like this winter has lasted 5000 years? I am dying!! I’m so ready for sunny warm pool days. I feel like its been extra cold and windy this year here in Tulsa. To both of which I’d take a hard pass.
(10) I had a plant in my office at work that hasn’t grown in over a year. I moved that plant home when my employment abruptly ended last week (I was hoping to keep working up until we moved). Not even a week after being home, it sprouted three new tiny little growths, which felt oddly like a metaphor for my life. There are some situations that we just stay in because they are comfortable. But it doesn’t mean they’re right for us. I want to be constantly growing and putting myself in environments that challenge me in happy ways and help me to grow– whether that’s with my business, being a mom, how I work out, or just generally being a person. So, don’t be afraid to do something different so you can grow.
That’s it for February’s ten things! For the comments: what’s been on your mind this month? Drop a comment below!
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Hi there! I’m Amber! And welcome to the Deeply in Debt blog where we’re offering simple solutions for big debt.
What?! I didn’t realize you were moving out of tulsa! I can’t wait to hear where you’re going. Please say you’re coming to the Carolinas! 😁 I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, but mostly I am trying to love everyone. And allow room for disagreement and respect. So excited for your next chapter.