Bread-baking 101 is not a class I’m getting an A in!

I took the “Your First Loaf” recipe from The Fresh Loaf and gave it a whirl. My yeast did not activate which means the dough never got bigger and it never really turned into bread.

I didn’t . . . → Read More: More Important to Learn than Get it Right (Baking Bread Edition)]]>

I ♥ My Pita

Bread-baking 101 is not a class I’m getting an A in!

I took the “Your First Loaf” recipe from The Fresh Loaf and gave it a whirl. My yeast did not activate which means the dough never got bigger and it never really turned into bread.

I didn’t want to waste the dough so I told my husband in my best, “I know things! Believe me!” voice…

They didn’t have the resources to throw bad dough out in the 1800′s so we better get crackin’ on what we can make happen right here with this bread-tastic failure.

He looked at me warily. At least I think it was warily. His one eye was all scrunched up and he kind of looked like Popeye but without the pipe. That’s warily, right? He looked like he was thinking Not Great Thoughts™ about my cooking skills while sort of half-shrugging his shoulders like, “alright but if this goes bad too I am SO making fun of you.”

I took that as a hugely positive response and got down to it.

First, I rolled some out really flat. Like, super flat. I was hoping it would turn into a cracker or wasa bread or something crispy and delish. About this same time the mini-ball I’d put in the oven to see how it was going to turn out that way was ready and I brought it out and cut it.

It was pretty much the exact opposite of bread. Not light, not fluffy, not crusty. Just…dense and heavy and a little gummy. We couldn’t actually tell if it was done or not. So…if I die from undercooked yeast it wasn’t from that kind of yeast infection. Tell my friends, they deserve to know.

My cracker on the other hand was cooking like gangbusters. I know because it was about the size of a small balloon in the oven. Totally freaked me out when I looked in there because it was really poofy and I was thinking crackers are not poofy and what is going on. I took it out (it was cooked, I was –  mostly – positive) and when I put a knife through the middle it was…hollow.

I’d made a PITA!

I felt like I’d  unlocked some special level on some game where you go to where they make pitas and made a pita and got a whole bunch of bonus experience points for stumbling across a pita recipe. When I told my husband I was going to roll it even thinner and fill it with meat and potatoes he looked at me, again, like I was crazy.

But you know, he looks at me that way a lot so I don’t take it too personally. Maybe I am a little odd. It’s okay.

We threw some beef broth into a pot and put our now-dumplings in.

An hour later we checked them. I’m still not 100% they were cooked all the way through, but really, how do you tell? They seemed ok. Taste was a 6 on a 1-10 scale. Texture was an 8. They were DENSE. If I set them out and let them get all hard and dried out I could brick your CAR with these!

Not that I would. I love you. You know that.

But yeah. Made a pita, made dumpings, made an awful biscuit, and learned a little more about making bread.

I can’t wait until tomorrow – I have another batch of dough that will have been sitting for about 20 hours come morning! (That’s the no-knead super-easy bread recipe I used from Steamy Kitchen) and we shall see.

I’m pretty sure I used the wrong flour in everything, but it’s all learning!

I have to say, though, I’m really happy I figured out I have instant yeast in the fridge. No more mistakes after these two batches – at least not yeast based mistakes. There are so many more mistakes to be made!

I was supposed to go to a meeting for the Rally to End the War on Drugs this morning but Ran had a board meeting for the Chamber so I needed to bow out until next week’s meeting.

I defaulted to work, because that’s how . . . → Read More: Chamber of Commerce vs. Not for Profit]]> We had a big ol’ scheduling conflict this morning.

I was supposed to go to a meeting for the Rally to End the War on Drugs this morning but Ran had a board meeting for the Chamber so I needed to bow out until next week’s meeting.

I defaulted to work, because that’s how I do, but do you think that the not for profit should come before the chamber of commerce in the future?

How do you prioritize things when both are important but neither are paid by the hour?

These two meetings won’t clash again because normally my not-for-profit meeting is on Mondays and the CoC meeting is on Tuesdays. This week was just wonky because of the holiday yesterday.

I’m really envious of people who have a server and can pick things from their computers and watch them on TV. Google TV, Apple TV – these are all really confusing to me. Hardware and connections are just not my bag.

When we missed an episode of Survivor last year and wanted to . . . → Read More: Warpia: Watching Your Computer on Your TV]]>

I’m really envious of people who have a server and can pick things from their computers and watch them on TV. Google TV, Apple TV – these are all really confusing to me. Hardware and connections are just not my bag.

When we missed an episode of Survivor last year and wanted to watch it from the CBS website (it is on CBS, isn’t it?) we plugged this really heavy, short HDMI cable from the side of the TV into the side of the laptop. The view was kind of small even when we tried to change the viewing settings and if we had to “click to return to the show” after commercial one of us had to get up from the couch just to click a button.

Add to this I had to clean off the TV table to put the laptop on there and then leave the laptop open under the TV so it wouldn’t go into sleep mode – it made for a less-than-ideal watching experience.

A very, very nice lady from my favorite PR agency sent over a Warpia Wireless USB A/V Adapter – SW100A for me to try out and see if it was really good enough to let me ditch my cable bill forever.

Here is the stock info:

Wirelessly stream media from your laptop/PC to your flat screen TV for the ultimate Internet TV experience

• Watch downloaded movies, presentations, photo slideshows or any internet content (from Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, ESPN3, etc) on your TV or projector
• Achieves 32-bit True Color depth for high quality images, 720P HD resolution, and 16-bit stereo sound
• Range includes same room coverage of up to 30 feet
• Compatible with Windows Vista/XP/7.0 OS and connected via HDMI or VGA (cable not included)

Available: Amazon.com, NCIX.com, Warpia.com, Walmart.com, Buy.com, BestBuy.com

Price:  From $139.99

Website: www.warpia.com

Here’s how setup worked in real life with me and my laptop and my TV.

1. Plug in base unit with this little USB plugy thing into the TV HDMI port and a power source.
2. Plug in other USB plug thingy into the USB port on my laptop.
3. Turn it on.
4. Watch as some stuff happens on the TV and the computer screen.
5. Turn the TV on HDMI Video 3 (your setting may vary)
6. Go to CBS and play a show and watch it pop up and FILL my TV screen.
7. Squeal like a little girl because now I can totally ditch AT&T Uverse and use Warpia and Netflix for a monthly cost of Netflix and have a full-on TV experience for adults and kids alike.

So the unit might cost over a hundred bucks, but that’s one month of cable for us. With this I can watch shows as they come out on Hulu and the networks. As for shows on movie channels, well, let’s just assume you’ll buy those series on iTunes and then play those on your big TV. I can pop a BluRay disc into my laptop and watch it on TV.

Overall this gives your kids less commercials no matter WHAT you watch with them so they’re not asking you for every As Seen on TV toy under the sun. It gives you less commercials during your shows so you’re not wasting your time.

And it allows you to slash your cable bill by not having one. You’re going to be paying for Internet and maybe Netflix or Hulu Plus if that’s how you want to do things, but you could just watch network television and the news or stream radio stations and listen to music on your TV. I don’t know about you but my TV speakers are way better than my laptop speakers.

I will be totally surprised if you don’t fall in love with the Warpia like I have. It’s amazing, and a great financial choice for a family that is looking to add another hundred or so bucks a month to their IRA or kids’ college funds.

It’s a good choice and I’m just thrilled I don’t have to have a server or drill an Apple TV box into my wall. This is just an easier, faster, simpler alternative for my family. It might be cheaper, but I don’t know, because I haven’t done research into Google TV and Apple TV because I didn’t feel smart enough to figure it out so I never got to the pricing portion of the program.

Bottom line: I love this technology! Make your own TV experience? Yes, please!

Installation Tip: Make sure you don’t plug the power into the wrong hole or you’ll think the unit is broken. Yes, my husband did this. It’s okay, I fixed it. *sigh*

Disclaimer: I was provided with a Warpia unit for free from the PR agency in exchange for writing an honest review about the product and how it worked for me. I loved it and really and truly would have bought one with my own monies because I’ve been looking for a way to get rid of the monthly cable bill for months. But yeah, you know I totes Blog with Integrity and wouldn’t steer you wrong.

With the new tagline, “Invest your money, not your life” I feel a sigh of relief leave my lips. Because investing is kind of difficult on the . . . → Read More: New Sharebuilder? Yes, Please!]]> I’m super excited about the new Sharebuilder site that’s going to be launched soon. I’d even share the video with you if I could figure out how

With the new tagline, “Invest your money, not your life” I feel a sigh of relief leave my lips. Because investing is kind of difficult on the site. From finding news to looking up the right screens for this, that, or the other thing…a simplification is not only much appreciated but coming at the perfect time.

Because I am pretty sure I’m going to be signing up for the $12/mo. paid plan soon. We’re looking to open one last account (in addition to the Smarty Pig account and the ING Direct savings account and the Invisible IRA™ I need to transfer over into Sharebuilder) – I need an IRA. Not the Invisible IRA™ that is over at Charles Schwab making me f-all for money, oh no, I need an IRA that I’m in control of, that I’m putting money into regularly and that has a sweet mix of individual stocks and mutual funds.

Because mama wants to own some Google stock. Are there international lawsuits? Yes! Are there problems here in the US? Yes! Does that mean Google can’t be the next Berkshire Hathaway? HECK no!

But at $600 a share I can’t just wander up and buy 100 shares. I’m not THAT flush, my friends. But I could dollar-cost-average my way to owning some and that’s what I intend to do.

So I’m excited. The new iPhone app looked nice, the system looks easier to navigate and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into those research tools.

How about you? Do you have a self-directed IRA? Who do you use?

For years it’s gone like this…

Salesperson: “Would you like to apply for a store card and get 20% off?” Me: “No, thank you.” Salesperson: “Why not?” (or, “May I ask why not?”) Me: “I’m allergic.” Salesperson: “Excuse me?” Me: “I’m allergic. They give me hives and make me all itchy, . . . → Read More: The One Where I Accidentally Got a Credit Card]]> I’m not kidding.

For years it’s gone like this…

Salesperson: “Would you like to apply for a store card and get 20% off?”
Me: “No, thank you.”
Salesperson: “Why not?” (or, “May I ask why not?”)
Me: “I’m allergic.”
Salesperson: “Excuse me?”
Me: “I’m allergic. They give me hives and make me all itchy, so I’ll pass, thank you.”

It works every time. I’ve heard people try and give real reasons and when they do there’s always an objection handler. I’m fine with that, it’s the salesperson’s job (and sometimes their bonus) that makes them do what they do. But the allergy defense is one no one has been able to refute and I still get to be polite. Plus, sometimes they break out laughing and that’s always fun.

But I bought something for a friend of mine and she was going to pay me back so when they asked me if I wanted the 20% off I thought, “It will be less that she owes me” and said yes, fully expecting to get denied credit AND get a 10% discount anyway.

So when I was approved I looked totally flabbergasted, was totally speechless and finally uttered… “well crap”

I received the card in the mail today and I’m trying to decide what to do with it. I already paid off my friend’s purchase as soon as I had access to the internet payment site (it took a few days to get it set up in their system) and it’s no longer an issue and I paid no interest or charges.

I have begun to shop at Old Navy fairly regularly because the prices are right and the clothes are cute and they have “slim” fitting clothing for my oldest who we have trouble getting into pants because they fall off if they’re long enough. So if I had money and was going to go shopping anyway, maybe it’s better to get the rewards and coupons by using the store card.

As a fan of Dave Ramsey, something about it doesn’t sit right with me, though. I’ve also been considering cutting it up and never using it…or canceling the card outright…or burning it with a torch and screaming at it like it’s Frankenstein. But it’s not a monster – it’s a piece of plastic.

The key is this: If I spend one penny more than I was going to BECAUSE I have the card, the card is a problem for me to have. If I would have spent that much anyway and pay it when I get home, the card is not a problem.

But how do you measure that? It’s so subject to rationalization that I would never really know if I was being straight with myself or bending the truth. That scares me.

But I told the husband the other day that I wanted to take the girls in to get them some new clothes to get them through the rest of the school year and in the envelope with my card I got a 30% off coupon. Not on one item, either. So I was already going to go and spend money, now I’ll be spending less. Because I have the credit card.

I don’t know if that’s logic or if I’m sweet-talking myself.

Darnit.

Usually what I do is . . . → Read More: Trains and Cupcakes and Not Being Chosen]]> One of the many things on my to-do list today was to go downtown for a focus group. I spend an hour spouting my opinion and get $150. It’s a total win-win for me because I’m fine telling anyone an hour of my time is, in fact, worth $150.

Usually what I do is save $100 and blow $50 because, well, I believe in blowing money now and then. So I hopped in a cab from Michigan Avenue and went over to Wilson…where Sprinkles is. If you haven’t been to a Sprinkles and you have one near you GO NOW because it’s cupcake nirvana. So. Awesome.

Then I cabbed it back to the train station and got my happy butt home for a lot of weekend working. By Monday morning I have some serious results to show my superiors at work and I’m on track and poised to produce greatness (as usual).

But back to the focus group. For some reason, for the past few years I’m always the extra. I don’t actually get to participate in the study but get paid full price to NOT be part of the study. Because I’m the extra. I’m not sure what determines it, and I’m not complaining one bit, but I find it really strange. It gives me this “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” feeling going in, drinking their coffee, being handed a check and going home.

It leaves me feeling unsettled.

Of course, cupcakes help me regain my emotional and spiritual balance, even if they’re so rich I can barely finish one. Nums.

The other thing that happened is that I was able to get on the train, go downtown, get back on the train and come home with pretty much zero anxiety. Taking the train used to give me the worst anxiety attacks. Complete with hives, breathing issues…the works. Now I’m pretty much anxiety free and can mostly get through the whole ordeal with nary an anxiety pill. Mostly.

The first cab I was in the driver had an absolutely awful morning. When I asked him how he was doing he spent almost five minutes berating himself because a woman screamed at him and he didn’t kick her out of the cab. “What am I supposed to do?” He said, “I can kick her out, but then I have no fare.”

It must be tough in a city with so many cab drivers to have to decide whether to just take the abuse or assert their right to be treated like human beings. Maybe I’m just the luckiest woman on the planet but I’ve never had a cab driver that was anything but pleasant, but I’m always pleasant first. Who knows.

So today was eventful and I’m going to deposit my check for doing nothing on my way to going out with my cousin tonight. She doesn’t know she’s getting cupcakes and I think she’s going to be over-the-moon thrilled.

FYI: The Red Carpet Cupcake (pictured above) is only available through Feb 27th! Go get some today! They’re the standard beyond belief red velvet cupcake with the cutest little gold star on top! Tasty and adorable. Perfect. Yummy.

PS: This is not a sponsored post. I spent a lot of money on cupcakes today. LOL

But sometimes just doing the normal stuff is really interesting. I set up a sinking fund (savings you know you’re going to have to spend in the future – like a car repair sinking fund, . . . → Read More: Dave Ramsey vs. My Husband (not a battle to the death but still fun)]]> I haven’t talked about finances in a while, mostly because we’ve just been kind of doing what we do.

But sometimes just doing the normal stuff is really interesting. I set up a sinking fund (savings you know you’re going to have to spend in the future – like a car repair sinking fund, etc.) for a car payment. $400/mo. in a Smarty Pig (I heart you Smarty Pig!) account toward a $10,000 emergency fund or a car. Whichever comes first.

Did you know…if you save $400/mo. you will have saved $10k in right about two years?

Not much time at all, really.

Also, when you consider that our current car cost under $3k out the door with tax/title/license and all that stuff you will probably see that I’m cheating. It’s not really a car fund at all. I’m trying to create a 3-month emergency fund. I may go for a 6-month emergency fund. I haven’t decided.

Plus we’re about to get a sizable tax refund and I’m trying to decide which savings account to put that in as well.

Add to that the totally separate savings account I put my blogging money into that serves as a Christmas fund and you can see I’m saving in three different places with three different goals.

That goal that’s falling to the frikkin’ wayside is the debt payoff. Because now that I have money I’m afraid to do anything but hoard it. I mean, it’s better than hoarding cats, for sure, but it’s still not the smart way to run a family’s finances. I’m one step away from the woman who hides all her money under the mattress. Yes, I’ve considered it. I’d sleep good, I tell you, goooood. But it’s in banks instead. One for the emergency fund, one for the savings that might be the car fund but  might also become the Google stock fund. (Does anyone else smell the Birkshire Hathaway potential there?)

But when I sat down with Ran the other day and was all, “Oh hey babe, how much  money do we have to have in the bank before you’re comfortable putting some away in an IRA?” His immediate response, “10k”

So I ask him – because I’m a bad wife and I like to torture him – but Dave Ramsey only says to have $1k and then pay down all your debt. Are we going to go against Dave Ramsey’s advice?

My poor husband immediately gets his thinkin’ look and his worried look all at the same time. He thought I was going to insist we take everything but $1k out of the savings accounts and pay down debt.

He really looked like he was going to vomit for a hot minute.

I’m a really, really bad wife sometimes.

Because Dave or no Dave, I also need a $10k savings account (totally liquid, no stocks or mutual funds) to sleep well at night and be okay with paying down debt.

Now if I could just figure out the IRA stuff I’d be set. I have one but want to open another one through Sharebuilder. Put some Google into that bad boy as well as some high quality growth stock mutual funds. It’s time to ride the next wave until Jim Cramer starts tripping out again and then moving it all into bonds before we lose %75 during the NEXT huge recession.

Rocking an IRA properly involves a sense of timing. A finesse I’m not sure I have, but think I could learn.

How do you pay down debt and put money into your IRA? Do you Roth or do you have a regular IRA?

Thank you to TurboTax for sponsoring my writing about household finances.Learn more about how TurboTax can help you find every tax deduction you deserve. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Me: . . . → Read More: 5 Tips (Learned the Hard Way) for Managing Family Finances]]>

Thank you to TurboTax for sponsoring my writing about household finances.Learn more about how TurboTax can help you find every tax deduction you deserve. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

It used to look a little something like this…

Me: Honey? Have you checked the mail?
He: Yeah, there were a couple bills.
Me: Oh, ok, put them in the pile.
He: Have you paid any yet?
Me: No, I have to check the bank account first.
((phone rings))
He: Babe? I just paid the cell phone bill. We owed two months. They’re taking $300 out of our account right now.
Me: WHAT?! We don’t have that much in the account until tomorrow! What were you thinking?!
He: I was THINKING we should pay the bill so the phones don’t get shut off.
Me: You think you know so much about the bills? Then YOU pay them!
He: I just did. ((rolls eyes))
Me: ((unintelligible yelling, sputtering and flailing arms))

It wasn’t pretty, by any means. We didn’t have a budget, we didn’t track our expenses, and we didn’t communicate about money unless it was already spent. There were a lot of money fights.

Then we started to get smart about finances because, honestly, we both realized it was stupid to argue about money. We weren’t going to remember that stuff when we were old and we didn’t want to waste our lives going from not caring to worrying to panicking every month. We were done!

Time for a Plan

The first thing we did (this was maybe the second year we were married) was write down our expenses and write down our income. The results weren’t pretty, we didn’t make enough to pay all our bills. But it was the first step to understanding that the problem wasn’t poor money management…it was not having enough money!

Not having a budget is like gambling with your money!

What We Have Learned (so far!)

1. Never take a bill out of your budget spreadsheet. Just put $0 dollars in the “owed” column if it’s an “every so often” payment. That way you don’t forget about it. (Like we did a hundred times before just putting in that darn zero!)

2. An income problem is not your fault. Well, until you know it exists, then it’s your job to find a way to fix it. Get a second job, do freelance work from home, whatever it (legally) takes to get your income to the point where you can pay your bills.

3. Get rid of unnecessary expenses! We have basic cable and I’m this close to shutting it down entirely and living on the DVD movies and rentals and HDMI cable that lets me plug my laptop right into my TV and watch almost every network show that’s on television with limited commercial interruptions.

4. It’s better to know than not know. We were so scared to see how bad we were doing that we avoided doing the budget. But without a budget you just don’t have any way to set REAL goals for yourself. Once we knew it was an income problem, we knew how it could be fixed. If it had been an expenses problem, we would have known we needed to cut our expenses.

5. You can always live on a little less. No matter how little you make, you can save some. When we did our budget and found out we couldn’t pay our bills, I put $50 a month into savings. I figured since we were already underwater, what’s another $50? My husband used part of our small – but important – savings account to buy an interview suit for the job he got shortly thereafter that allowed us to pay our bills. Savings helps me sleep better at night.

We learn more about money and finances every day we are together. We rarely fight about money anymore and my husband is thrilled when he buys products with rebates or coupons. We have an IRA, a couple of individual stocks, three savings accounts, and get our tax return direct deposited every year. It’s just how we do things around here, and it really works well for us.

How do you handle your family finances?

The problem is that the premise of the question is twisted. You’re only given two poor options and . . . → Read More: Small Goals or Big Dreams?]]> A friend of mine asked on Facebook the other day if it was better to aim for something impossible or go for a goal he knew he could achieve with only little effort to bring success.

The problem is that the premise of the question is twisted. You’re only given two poor options and choosing between them stays within his paradigm when his messed-up paradigm is the whole problem.

You don’t pick impossible things. I, as a woman, am not going to dream of becoming a professional NBA player. I’m going to maybe pick being part of the WNBA – you know, since I’m a woman and all. If you are someone who believes in impossible goals being something you should strive for, that’s fine, it’s just not how I live my life.

But picking easy, small things isn’t going to inspire you, and failing at the impossible isn’t going to inspire you either. Your goal is to set goals just big enough that they require you to stretch beyond your comfort zone but are still something you could, feasibly, achieve.

Is it a crazy goal to have a degree and a $10k savings account by the time the world ends in December of 2012? I don’t think so. It’s going to be difficult and require a lot of mental stretching and hard work but it’s achievable. Not only is it achievable I’ll be thrilled to get to Christmas of 2012 and know I’ve given myself the gift of a degree in a discipline I’m actually excited to be learning about, a savings account to be proud of, another savings account I’m using for Christmas gifts, and hopefully two years down the road I’ll be well on my way if not entirely debt free.

You see, as my income increases I not only don’t increase the number of services and bills I have, I decrease them. I actually bumped down my cable another notch yesterday. I’m thinking about getting rid of HD service entirely (saving me $120/yr) and depending on how we continue to use the office, I might bring the Clear receiver home and get rid of the cable entirely and use the Clear for our internet and home phone service at a sweet $65/mo. with no cable bill. (That cable bill that includes internet and home phone is about $127/mo. right now) plus we have a contract on the Clear so we’re paying it either way. May as well port my current home number to it (Randy seems to exclusively use his cell for business) and save $127/mo. – maybe we’ll add in netflix or something but I can get a bunch of shows online for free and then use the HDMI cable, plug the laptop into the TV and VIOLA! Prime Time television at a fraction of the cost.

I’m still working the numbers, but every penny I don’t spend right now will earn compound interest later. And compound interest makes me giggle like a 14-year-old girl with a crush on a cute boy.

Yeah, there’s a reason why I’m an economics major. Compound interest makes me goofy-happy.

Does anyone know of a Smarty Pig banner that shows how close you are to your goal percentage wise? I see the link banner but that’s about it. Maybe I’m missing something.

p.s. I don’t really think the world is going to end in December of 2012, but it’s just SO fun to say, I can’t resist.