Budgets, definitely hot. Because being stressed out about finances, having a worried look at the end of the month, getting your credit card rejected because it's over the limit ... that's not hot at all.
After 19+ years of marriage I wish I could get my wife to see what a help a budget would be. I guess I just mentally budget and adjust to compensate. I would not say budgeting would attract me to someone. She grew up with nothing and I was fortunate, now she feels that if she earned it she should get to spend what she wants. It's gotten worse over the years as our incomes have increased. It's a scary thought if they decrease, we don't have cc debt but do owe about 12k on two cars (7k and 5k) once they are paid off I will feel much better.
Budgets are definitely hot. I am thrilled that my husband has a good head on his shoulders when it comes to finances. We've been very focused on our financial goals, and are well on our way to paying off our auto & college loans.
Budgets are definitely hot. My boyfriend and I both outline our expenses for the month, each month. We can't afford not to. I'm in the process of paying off a ridiculous amount of credit card debt and he is going to school full-time on the GI Bill. We have modest financial goals for the future and we understand that only patience and avoiding frivolous spending will get us there.
When we started dating, getting ahead financially was not even close to being a reason for spending time together. I've been raised to know the importance of supporting myself. And there's no way in hell my boyfriend would pay for my gym membership; why the heck should he?
And although neither of us have the financial freedom to do all of the things we really want to do (yet!), we're still incredibly happy. Until we're able to do things like buy a home and travel, we're perfectly content being frugal homebodies.
I paid full price ($60!) for our bread machine and use it religiously! It has an awesome program feature that allows you to dump all of the ingredients in and set it to start later on.
As far as cleanup goes - it really needs to be a team effort. If you're the only one spending time on this process, it's inevitable that you'd get burned out and not want to do it.
We've dropped our grocery bill by half (seriously!) just by cooking from scratch.
The more I gain control over my finances and how much I'm spending, the less I actually reference my budget. I use it as a guideline, something flexible. And it is it useful for paying myself first AND last - the budgeted savings amount plus anything that's left at the end of the month.
- Remember all text isn't the same. Text made with Microsoft products use a carriage return (CR) and line feed (LF) as the "end of line" marker (called "newline"). Text made on Unix/Linux/BSD systems use only the line feed (LF) as the "end of line" marker. All text isn't the same.
- As a rule of thumb, the more sophisticated operating systems (Unix/Linux/BSD) can handle the Microsoft aberration, as well as their own standard.
- So, if you have a choice, specify the CR/LF as the end of line marker.
- I know this annoys the Unix/Linux/BSD people (I'm one). I (grudgingly) accept that getting a resume read is more important that a small victory in the OS wars. The exception being, when I want a Linux related position, of course.
- In my experience, most HR people are not highly skilled computer users. They rarely know that Wordpad can open a Unix/Linux/BSD text document correctly. (Notepad can't) Unfortunately, if HR can't open the text document and see it correctly, they assume the sender is wrong (not their own lack of education or computer skills).
I would say getting in the mood to cook is what takes me the most time! That’s probably because first I have to wash a big pile of dishes from when my boyfriend cooked (we have a deal). By hand, because we have no dishwasher. By then, I’m usually out of steam. Then a couple of days later, there’s yet another pile of dishes.
Washing my own dishes afterwards usually isn’t a problem, though--I keep my dishes to a minimum, rinse or soak them right away, and wash them as soon as I’m done.
I admit that most things I cook don’t take a long time. Either I boil some pasta while making the sauce, cook a one-dish meal, or bake something. The thing that takes me the longest is pancakes because they have to be made one by one. I used to use two skillets at once, but my roommate has an electric griddle, so I can do eight pancakes at once. (Hmm, I could use an electric griddle AND two skillets to really speed things up.) I get through this tough period by eating a pancake every time I put 8 more on to cook.
Cookies and meatballs and matzoh balls can take a long time for similar reasons. I found that getting one of those scoops where you push a lever and a bar scrapes across the bottom has made this process much quicker.
As a work-at-home mom of 3 I cook from scratch a lot but frankly hate it. To me the most onerous part is the cleanup -- a scratch meal is likely gonna have several different pots to scrub, and if I make dough in the stand mixer it's gonna get all up in some of the mixer's crevices (at least if i put too much dough in the bowl at once).
Even tho I have an expensive KitchenAid mixer (Xmas gift one year), I make my bread in a $4 bread machine I got at Salvation Army. I like dumping the ingredients in and forgetting about it, and there is a lot less cleanup.
I'm not a Facebook/MySpace type at all, but Twitter struck me as less of a time-suck than those. I was right - it's as much or as little as you want it to be.
I started Twittering as a way of connecting a little more with my fellow PF bloggers because I love their writing and personalities in general. I also work from home, alone, and need a little interaction from time to time. I've met a few of my "Tweeple" and been on both the giving and receiving end of really useful help in several areas of my life - all of this totally unexpected.
...and Thanks for explaining Tweetdeck. I've been wondering what its purpose was and it sounds like a great tool!
HEY MAN DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT CREDIT CARDS AKA ..MAGIC PLASTIC..
ALL I KNOW U WAVE IT OR SWIPE IT AND YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT. UNTIL THE MAGIC RUNS OUT ITS JUST PLASTIC. ITS LIKE DRACULA WHEN THE SUN RISES
Budgets are hot but rare. The fact that my guy would shop around or wait for a sale was hot. And having large consumer debt is a turn-off, but he had none.
He doesn't do budgets, though. He has an automatic withdrawal for retirement and another one for other investments and otherwise lives paycheck to paycheck.
Mostly I am attracted to people with big brains and in my generation, that means computer programmers. Programming is boring but at least most of those guys don't blow a lot of money preening and buying stupid cars. (At least, by the time they start buying stupid cars, they have so much money that it's just a small dent.)
It was hot, only because I'm more of a have-fun-at-home type guy, and always have been. Girls that wanted to go to clubs or parties weren't that interesting to me.
That didn't mean I was guaranteed to get a thrifty wife, but I think there is less overlap in the ven diagram of spenders and have-fun-at-home types.
budgeting. It's something that has evolved over the 17 years and involves give and take on both our parts. He has a tendency to be a spender, while I am more of a saver. He is more of a big ticket item person, whereas I have a tendency when I spend to nickel and dime our budget to death. We take turns at getting our goals accomplished. After he gets his hunting rifle I will get some new cabinetry in the kitchen.
During the first 5 years of our marriage we didn't even have a joint account. He would pay some bills and I would be responsible for others. I needed the separation though because I watched my mother and saw what being financially dependant on my father did to her. It took me a while to realize I'm not her and he's not him and that our problems would be uniquely ours.
Personal finance is important for my generation (college age). I often think that we're financially coming of age as "Depression lite." While we may not be reusing ziploc bags and stealing ketchup packets into our 80s as our Depression-era grandparents do, we're combining environmental consciousness with a desire to spend less and use less.
I can't say that savings goals are "hot" among students at my college, however. Most simply desire to leave here with as little debt as possible, so I guess budgets matter more.
I've found that the bread hook can make a major difference in how fast I can make doughs. It's harder to find a hook for used mixers, but if you do a search online for the make and model of your mixer, you might be surprised.
I cook from scratch all the time. Food just tastes better and you control what goes into it. For instance, I have a sensitivity to MSG and most 'convenience" items have some form of msg or msg derivatives. I make my own alfredo sauce while the water is boiling/pasta is cooking. only takes 7 minutes from start to finish and has better flavor. I also make my own bread because I don't purchase anything with HFCS. again, very simple to do, tastes better and my family says that when I make them grilled cheese - it's 10x better than with store bought bread. BTW: I do work full time and still cook from scratch every night. The trick is to find what you like to make and the time to do it will fall into place. not everyone is cut out for cooking everything from scratch, but if they choose just a few things, they'll find it easier to make the time.
Brownies from scratch are soooo much better and really not that much extra work...........Bakers chocolate has a recipe right on the box you make in one bowl.........every baker has sugar, flour, eggs, dash of vanilla.........the only ingredient you might have to purchase is the unsweetened baking chocolate. I cook mine at 345 instead of 350 for about 28-29 minutes so they are nice & fudgey-Yum!!
These are some great ideas. I am getting married next year and we originally weren't going to get the standup mixer, but I think we might now...
And the planning is what kills me. I just started to meal plan and it is saving me time time and money because I am going to the grocery store less often and therefore spending less money.
I've always cooked for my family but tended to make things "semi-homemade". Then after reading about all the preservatives and "bad stuff" in these boxed mixes I'm switching over to making from scratch. There are so many blogs out there nowadays with tried-and-true scratch recipes so why not try it? I can't wait to get my stand mixer and check Craig's List everyday for an affordable one. So far, my bread maker's been a great alternative ($4.00 purchase from our local thrift store). I can't wait to read your other posts :)
I received a used stand mixer from my husband's grandmother but it doesn't have a bread hook. Do you find it necessary with making bread and noodles? It is very old so I don't know if it ever had a bread hook. I have been leery to use it since I have no experience with one. Up to this point, everything that I do is by hand without using an electric mixer most times. It would be nice to speed up the process some.
Budgets, definitely hot. Because being stressed out about finances, having a worried look at the end of the month, getting your credit card rejected because it's over the limit ... that's not hot at all.
the pasta attachments for the kitchen aid which work like a dream. The pasta is SO much better than anything from the store.
I have a kitchen aid and I LOVE it!
http://www.recipezaar.com/Julia-Childs-White-Bread-9032
http://www.io.com/~sjohn/sour.htm
After 19+ years of marriage I wish I could get my wife to see what a help a budget would be. I guess I just mentally budget and adjust to compensate. I would not say budgeting would attract me to someone. She grew up with nothing and I was fortunate, now she feels that if she earned it she should get to spend what she wants. It's gotten worse over the years as our incomes have increased. It's a scary thought if they decrease, we don't have cc debt but do owe about 12k on two cars (7k and 5k) once they are paid off I will feel much better.
Budgets are definitely hot. I am thrilled that my husband has a good head on his shoulders when it comes to finances. We've been very focused on our financial goals, and are well on our way to paying off our auto & college loans.
Budgets are definitely hot. My boyfriend and I both outline our expenses for the month, each month. We can't afford not to. I'm in the process of paying off a ridiculous amount of credit card debt and he is going to school full-time on the GI Bill. We have modest financial goals for the future and we understand that only patience and avoiding frivolous spending will get us there.
When we started dating, getting ahead financially was not even close to being a reason for spending time together. I've been raised to know the importance of supporting myself. And there's no way in hell my boyfriend would pay for my gym membership; why the heck should he?
And although neither of us have the financial freedom to do all of the things we really want to do (yet!), we're still incredibly happy. Until we're able to do things like buy a home and travel, we're perfectly content being frugal homebodies.
I find the whole concept of budgeting boring, so I decided to challenge myself by writing about all this week. That's my boring challenge.
I paid full price ($60!) for our bread machine and use it religiously! It has an awesome program feature that allows you to dump all of the ingredients in and set it to start later on.
As far as cleanup goes - it really needs to be a team effort. If you're the only one spending time on this process, it's inevitable that you'd get burned out and not want to do it.
We've dropped our grocery bill by half (seriously!) just by cooking from scratch.
The more I gain control over my finances and how much I'm spending, the less I actually reference my budget. I use it as a guideline, something flexible. And it is it useful for paying myself first AND last - the budgeted savings amount plus anything that's left at the end of the month.
- Remember all text isn't the same. Text made with Microsoft products use a carriage return (CR) and line feed (LF) as the "end of line" marker (called "newline"). Text made on Unix/Linux/BSD systems use only the line feed (LF) as the "end of line" marker. All text isn't the same.
- As a rule of thumb, the more sophisticated operating systems (Unix/Linux/BSD) can handle the Microsoft aberration, as well as their own standard.
- So, if you have a choice, specify the CR/LF as the end of line marker.
- I know this annoys the Unix/Linux/BSD people (I'm one). I (grudgingly) accept that getting a resume read is more important that a small victory in the OS wars. The exception being, when I want a Linux related position, of course.
- In my experience, most HR people are not highly skilled computer users. They rarely know that Wordpad can open a Unix/Linux/BSD text document correctly. (Notepad can't) Unfortunately, if HR can't open the text document and see it correctly, they assume the sender is wrong (not their own lack of education or computer skills).
I would say getting in the mood to cook is what takes me the most time! That’s probably because first I have to wash a big pile of dishes from when my boyfriend cooked (we have a deal). By hand, because we have no dishwasher. By then, I’m usually out of steam. Then a couple of days later, there’s yet another pile of dishes.
Washing my own dishes afterwards usually isn’t a problem, though--I keep my dishes to a minimum, rinse or soak them right away, and wash them as soon as I’m done.
I admit that most things I cook don’t take a long time. Either I boil some pasta while making the sauce, cook a one-dish meal, or bake something. The thing that takes me the longest is pancakes because they have to be made one by one. I used to use two skillets at once, but my roommate has an electric griddle, so I can do eight pancakes at once. (Hmm, I could use an electric griddle AND two skillets to really speed things up.) I get through this tough period by eating a pancake every time I put 8 more on to cook.
Cookies and meatballs and matzoh balls can take a long time for similar reasons. I found that getting one of those scoops where you push a lever and a bar scrapes across the bottom has made this process much quicker.
As a work-at-home mom of 3 I cook from scratch a lot but frankly hate it. To me the most onerous part is the cleanup -- a scratch meal is likely gonna have several different pots to scrub, and if I make dough in the stand mixer it's gonna get all up in some of the mixer's crevices (at least if i put too much dough in the bowl at once).
Even tho I have an expensive KitchenAid mixer (Xmas gift one year), I make my bread in a $4 bread machine I got at Salvation Army. I like dumping the ingredients in and forgetting about it, and there is a lot less cleanup.
I'm not a Facebook/MySpace type at all, but Twitter struck me as less of a time-suck than those. I was right - it's as much or as little as you want it to be.
I started Twittering as a way of connecting a little more with my fellow PF bloggers because I love their writing and personalities in general. I also work from home, alone, and need a little interaction from time to time. I've met a few of my "Tweeple" and been on both the giving and receiving end of really useful help in several areas of my life - all of this totally unexpected.
...and Thanks for explaining Tweetdeck. I've been wondering what its purpose was and it sounds like a great tool!
HEY MAN DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT CREDIT CARDS AKA ..MAGIC PLASTIC..
ALL I KNOW U WAVE IT OR SWIPE IT AND YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT. UNTIL THE MAGIC RUNS OUT ITS JUST PLASTIC. ITS LIKE DRACULA WHEN THE SUN RISES
Budgets are hot but rare. The fact that my guy would shop around or wait for a sale was hot. And having large consumer debt is a turn-off, but he had none.
He doesn't do budgets, though. He has an automatic withdrawal for retirement and another one for other investments and otherwise lives paycheck to paycheck.
Mostly I am attracted to people with big brains and in my generation, that means computer programmers. Programming is boring but at least most of those guys don't blow a lot of money preening and buying stupid cars. (At least, by the time they start buying stupid cars, they have so much money that it's just a small dent.)
It was hot, only because I'm more of a have-fun-at-home type guy, and always have been. Girls that wanted to go to clubs or parties weren't that interesting to me.
That didn't mean I was guaranteed to get a thrifty wife, but I think there is less overlap in the ven diagram of spenders and have-fun-at-home types.
budgeting. It's something that has evolved over the 17 years and involves give and take on both our parts. He has a tendency to be a spender, while I am more of a saver. He is more of a big ticket item person, whereas I have a tendency when I spend to nickel and dime our budget to death. We take turns at getting our goals accomplished. After he gets his hunting rifle I will get some new cabinetry in the kitchen.
During the first 5 years of our marriage we didn't even have a joint account. He would pay some bills and I would be responsible for others. I needed the separation though because I watched my mother and saw what being financially dependant on my father did to her. It took me a while to realize I'm not her and he's not him and that our problems would be uniquely ours.
Personal finance is important for my generation (college age). I often think that we're financially coming of age as "Depression lite." While we may not be reusing ziploc bags and stealing ketchup packets into our 80s as our Depression-era grandparents do, we're combining environmental consciousness with a desire to spend less and use less.
I can't say that savings goals are "hot" among students at my college, however. Most simply desire to leave here with as little debt as possible, so I guess budgets matter more.
I've found that the bread hook can make a major difference in how fast I can make doughs. It's harder to find a hook for used mixers, but if you do a search online for the make and model of your mixer, you might be surprised.
I cook from scratch all the time. Food just tastes better and you control what goes into it. For instance, I have a sensitivity to MSG and most 'convenience" items have some form of msg or msg derivatives. I make my own alfredo sauce while the water is boiling/pasta is cooking. only takes 7 minutes from start to finish and has better flavor. I also make my own bread because I don't purchase anything with HFCS. again, very simple to do, tastes better and my family says that when I make them grilled cheese - it's 10x better than with store bought bread. BTW: I do work full time and still cook from scratch every night. The trick is to find what you like to make and the time to do it will fall into place. not everyone is cut out for cooking everything from scratch, but if they choose just a few things, they'll find it easier to make the time.
Brownies from scratch are soooo much better and really not that much extra work...........Bakers chocolate has a recipe right on the box you make in one bowl.........every baker has sugar, flour, eggs, dash of vanilla.........the only ingredient you might have to purchase is the unsweetened baking chocolate. I cook mine at 345 instead of 350 for about 28-29 minutes so they are nice & fudgey-Yum!!
These are some great ideas. I am getting married next year and we originally weren't going to get the standup mixer, but I think we might now...
And the planning is what kills me. I just started to meal plan and it is saving me time time and money because I am going to the grocery store less often and therefore spending less money.
I've always cooked for my family but tended to make things "semi-homemade". Then after reading about all the preservatives and "bad stuff" in these boxed mixes I'm switching over to making from scratch. There are so many blogs out there nowadays with tried-and-true scratch recipes so why not try it? I can't wait to get my stand mixer and check Craig's List everyday for an affordable one. So far, my bread maker's been a great alternative ($4.00 purchase from our local thrift store). I can't wait to read your other posts :)
Cutting ingredients like onions and peppers... I cut and freeze them in separate bags.
I received a used stand mixer from my husband's grandmother but it doesn't have a bread hook. Do you find it necessary with making bread and noodles? It is very old so I don't know if it ever had a bread hook. I have been leery to use it since I have no experience with one. Up to this point, everything that I do is by hand without using an electric mixer most times. It would be nice to speed up the process some.