Life Lately: According to Instagram

If you aren't already following me on instagram, you should totes go and do that, I'm tiffross5!

What's going on lately you ask?

I got a new macbookpro this past weekend and I'm having so much fun decking it out! I love the great deals you can get on Amazon. $1.99 for the chevron keyboard and $10.99 for the blue case, keyboard, and screen protector = awesome!!

My hubby does a fabulous job at picking out jewels for me. 

I'm obsessed.

We had lunch with one of my best friends this past weekend and her little girl Aynslee. She makes my heart happy. 

CT and I are currently working our way through all the Harry Potter dvds. We have gotten through 2/8 so far. 
Then if I get around to it, I'll start to re-read the books. Wishful thinking!

Last weekend we went to a Vows Marriage Conference hosted by our couples pastor at our church. It was extremely interesting, and it feels good to invest in your marriage and to be proactive.
Read about some of it here and check back in the next few Sunday's to learn more about what we learned! 

I have a picture of this quote on the home screen of my phone. 
A daily reminder that we all live a beautiful life. 

Nice little day date we had.
 Picnic, feeding the ducks, and some golf range!
 Cheap and fun, you can't beat that!


Linking up with Life Rearranged. 

Washi Tape Wednesday - Link Up #5

Welcome to my Link Party - Washi Tape Wednesday! 

Washi tape is one of my new found loves. It's a craft supply that is super affordable and there are so many uses for it. From decorating, to labels, to color coding your planner - the possibilities are endless. 

This is a place where you can link up your best washi tape post of the week. 


Link up rules

-Follow Crafting a Fairytale on GFC & Bloglovin'

-Add my button or do a text link back to my party in your post


 

 <div align="center"> <a href="http://craftingafairytale.blogspot.com" title="Crafting A Fairytale"><img src="http://i1352.photobucket.com/albums/q657/tiffross5/WashiTapeWednesday_zps8d468a7c.jpg" alt="Crafting A Fairytale" style="border:none;" /></a></div> <br><br> <br>

-Link directly to your post and not your home page. No items for sale, etsy shops, ect.

-Spread the word of Washi Tape Wednesday

-Check out other links and leave a comment! 

----------------------------------------------------------

This weekend CT and I upgraded our old PC to a new macbook pro! I am in love with it. The battery has lasted 3 full days, it's super quick, and I love the fact that I don't have to get worried about it getting viruses. 

So I went on amazing as soon as I got home for a cheap cover to protect this bad boy. 

Who doesn't love the color robins egg blue?

I also then found this super fun keyboard cover. 

Pink + Chevron = totally my style. 

I figured if my computer was going to be super cute that I needed to make the charger super cute too. 

Why not add a little washi tape to spice things up. 
Now that I see all the colors together in this post, I'm not sure I like the blue.
I'll have to see how it looks when everything comes and I get the cover and keyboard put on. It may be too blue so I might have to redo it. 
Good thing it's super easy to remove. 
That's a plus and negative to washi tape. 

What color do you think would look good? 
I'm thinking probably pink.

I got a secret, can you keep it?

So. . . "I got a secret, can you keep it? Swear this one you'll save. Better lock it, in your pocket. Taking this one to the grave. If I show you then I know you wont tell what I said. Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead." 

I am obsessed with Pretty Little Liars and more importantly their style. 

I having the darndest time trying to figure out who "A" is though. Each week we get no where closer to finding out who it is. If I had to guess I would think it would be Spencer's mom. 

It's just a hunch, but seriously who is it already?

Anyways, to the fun part. 

Each one of the girls has their own unique style completely different from the others. 

Spencer's is more classy with a bit of preppy mixed in. 

Hannah's is more chic and girly with a few vintage pieces.

 Emily's is more sporty and comfy casual. 

And Aria's . . .  I l-o-v-e Arias! 

Girly mixed with a little punk, and lots of black!

 I totes want her wardrobe as my closet. 

She pulls it off so well plus she's gorgeous so that helps. 

Who's style do you like the most? 

My Version: Cash Envelope System

If you have been around the blog awhile, you would have read a nice little post titled: FML . . . Student Loans.

 Basically it just recaps how much I loathe our student loans and what new systems we are trying to set in place to help reduce them. 

What we decided on was to do a modified version of Dave Ramsey's cash envelope system. 

Our version goes a little something like this:

- There are many budget printables floating around the web - but I easily created my own with just a simple pen and piece of paper. 

I starting by writing down everything I thought we spent money on. 

My list: 

Rent, car loans, student loans, insurance, cable, cell phones, electric, gas, cc bill {the months we have one}, tithe. 

These are the things that get automatically withdrawn from our account, so they don't go in an envelope. 

Christmas money, groceries, gas, entertainment (weekly money as a couple- can be used on dinner, movies, zoo, etc) , beauty (nails, spray tan, hair cut), tickets (we are big sports fans so this will cover our trips and actual tickets) , gifts (baby showers, birthdays) , lunch, prescriptions, dr. bills, car registration/tax, bentley, play (hobby lobby, car wash, toys, etc). 

These are things we have envelopes for and will pay strictly cash for. 

- The purpose is to assign every dollar a category.

 At the moment we have a good amount in savings so we don't have a separate category for that, but Dave Ramsey says you should have $1000 in an emergency fund. 

- Most categories don't 'roll over', so if the money isn't spent at the end of the month it will get divided into two place: savings & which ever loan we want to pay off first. 

Then there are categories that 'roll over' {i.e. - Christmas, tickets, car reg/tax, bentley, play} which will continue adding up all year. If we have left over money in those categories at the end of the year we will do the same thing, divide it up. The point is to budget all year for the roll over categories so there isn't a big chunk of change missing one month. 

- So, since I get paid bi-weekly and Christian get's paid monthly, what works best for us is that since his paycheck gets direct deposited we keep that in there for the automatic bills, and we cash most of my paycheck to put in the envelopes. 

{How funny do you think I looked the first time asking for hundreds of dollars in mostly tens and fives. Needless to say it was a lengthy bank trip that day.}

The first few months will take a little adjusting. What I have found is that we may have to adjust our numbers each month based on our electric, gas, and dr. bills, the things that really vary month to month. Since this is our first month doing this budget thing, I will find a printable that will allow me to keep track of the budgeted amount and the actual spent amount. This way I will be able to look back of the months and see any trends, etc, and where I need to adjust my numbers.

I also discovered that I have a few more categories to add: ct gift, tt gift (christmas, birthday, anniversary, valentines), for the home (new pans, sheets, any bigger purchases), vacation, and car maintenance. 

Do you do a similar budget? What do you do different that might benefit myself and other newbie budgeters? 

PS- Check out here for my crafted version on the cash envelopes. 

That is until I find time to make a fabric one!