Lifesavers

Do you have those few little things in your world you call Lifesavers? For me, Lifesavers are the bits and pieces of life that make it easier to get through the day by taking stress out of my life. Like the famously addictive candy, they add sweetness to my life! When I first started writing this blog, I talked about the things I couldn't live without, which encompassed my favorite trench coat to my camera and peanut butter! My lifesavers our different. They are people, moments, decisions, and objects that are enriching my life as we speak. Some are simple but others are so important to me that they should probably top a new "Things I Can't Live Without" list. Here lately, I've been blessed with a few lifesavers: Dinner Time - I am happy to have a job where I am able to come home almost every night and have dinner with Michael. For two years, I didn't get home from work until 8:00 p.m., and it caused a lot of discouragement for us, especially for Michael who always had to be home early to take Scarlett out and then prepare dinner by himself. Our health was also affected because we ate so late every night, and eventually we began to eat freezer meals most nights because it was easy--and we all know how good freezer meals are for you! Salt and preservatives are your best friends! Now, I feel so fortunate to be able to come home and cook healthy dinners with him every night. That time with him is a lifesaver, and the calories we spare by eating better and earlier is saving my waistline! Simple Recipes - Going along with dinner, I have surprisingly found a lifesaver in Woman's Day magazine. Michael will not let me live down the fact that I have a copy of Woman's Day in our living room! "Really Brandi, are you 40 years old!" If any of you haven't read this magazine (please note I am talking to my female readers) you must because they have some of the simplest, cheapest, and healthiest recipes I have ever seen, and I have come across a lot of recipes! By the end of this week, I will have made a whole grain apple cinnamon cake, tamale pie with grain fed beef and fresh corn, lean skirt steak with homemade chimichuri sauce, and tilapia with crispy pesto. All of these meals came from my latest issue. They are so good and so easy to make. Ladies, don't worry if people make fun of you for reading Woman's Day in your twenties, this magazine is a lifesaver! Envelopes - Here lately, we have also been working on our financial fitness. During our entire marriage, Michael has handled the finances. He's great at it, but it's important for me to know where our money is being spent and it also takes the pressure off of him. When we moved to Birmingham, we decided to trade off every other month to be in charge of the budget. Our August budget was my first time to handle our money, and let me just tell you that when I actually crunched numbers and saw what we actually made after taxes and what we spent our money on, I nearly croaked! Not because Michael had done anything wrong for the past four years, I just lived in a fantasy world without taxes, insurance, and bills figured into spending! Of course for my first time handling the family finances, I had to reinvent the wheel and experiment...so I decided to use the envelope method of finances. To Michael's chagrin, he finally gave in to my plan...not without calling me the "Evil Envelope Nazi" of course, and we are trying the envelope plan where we dedicate a specific amount of money assigned to an envelope. Once the envelope is empty, we can't spend anymore in that category. It's not easy I promise, but it's kind of fun challenging myself to decide if I really want to spend my money on something unecessary. For August, here are the categories of our envelopes: Groceries Dining Out Michael's Spending Brandi's Spending Scarlett Tithe Entertainment Our gas and bills are still paid through our checking account.

This method isn't new to many families, but it's new to us, and if we can continue to budget this way, I think we will be happy in the long run. Maybe the envelopes are going to turn out to be huge lifesavers!