The Forgotten Man

This post was first featured on my now defunct blog, M&J Hooray!

Thanks Dad for showing this to J and me.
It's doubly scary to me because every day in class, I feel the urgency in my professors' voices when they talk about the current government. Sorry, you can't be a finance major without politics playing a big part in your classes.
I know they are worried and we are too.

I don't normally talk about politics on this blog because, especially now, they are depressing. But maybe they need to be talked about more than ever.

So here are my politics, thanks to Jon McNaughton. I've turned off my comments because good or bad, I frankly don't care. This is what I truly believe, said by the voice of another.

And thanks Dad for making sure I was brought up with my head screwed on straight.

Friday DIY Project

This post was first featured on my now defunct blog, M&J Hooray!

I saw this awesome, yet easy tutorial for a canvas bag featured on How About Orange and knew I had to try it. Jessica, the woman who is behind HAO linked to Ashley Ann Photography's page for the DIY bag.

Okay, so what's this awesome bag? It's a doily monogrammed canvas bag. It's great! I had a lot of fun making it, it only took an hour and voila! A cute tote for whatever my heart desires.

I didn't think to take photographs of the process, but you can see that in the tutorial. I'll just show you my finished product!

My supplies:
1 canvas tote -- I chose one with pockets on the outside
1 tube of black sparkly fabric or craft paint
1 sponge brush
1 paint brush
1 doily
1 can of adhesive spray

And that's it! I sprayed the adhesive onto the back of the doily and positioned it onto the bag. I blotted paint over the holes of the doily to create the pattern. I lifted up the doily before it had completely dried. I waited for the paint to dry and then painted the monogram in the middle.

Here's a close up of the paint:

It's also a great project for those of us who are a bit messy. You don't have to be perfect with your painting because that's what makes it unique!

This is was a nice Friday afternoon project and I encourage all my bloggy readers to make a cool bag like this too!

How We Save Money

This post was first featured on my now defunct blog, M&J Hooray!

Don't read this thinking you'll gain some new brilliant insight into how to get rich. Because Jarred and I are anything but.

However...

I'd like to think Jarred and I do save a lot of money by knowing what to buy and when. Or whether we should buy at all. With new bills coming in, like car insurance, we're going to be needing to ct back even further. But we can do it!

1. We buy generic. Everything. Our grocery store sells cans of tomato soup for 46 cents. Campbell's Tomato Soup sells for something over a dollar. I don't even really look at the price because I choke when I see it. All I have to see is the number 1 before the decimal place to know that the can of soup has no place in our shopping cart.

2. We eat leftovers. I try as best I can to cook for 2 people. But there's normally a little food left over. Jarred has been taking Banquet frozen dinners into work for almost a year and he told me yesterday that he was getting tired of them. So I told him that he could start eating the leftovers, which has been my job up until today. He took in some red beans and rice leftover from Monday's dinner and tomorrow he's having tacos.
Now what do I have for lunch? Mostly peanut butter sandwiches. And grilled cheese. Sometimes salads. Sometimes soups. That's where our cheap shopping comes in handy. That 46 cent chicken noodle soup? That's my lunch!

3. We go grocery shopping together. This is mostly because Jarred has the checkbook, but I also like going together because we keep each other in check. I want some Oreos, Jarred asks me if we really need them. So the Oreos get put back on the shelf. Yeah, it sucks at first, but I don't really miss the snacks once we get home. We look at prices together and compare. It may take us awhile, but at least we're really aware of what we're bringing home to eat.

4. We don't go out to eat or to the movies. I love eating out at restaurants, but it's so expensive. Honestly, I about threw a hissy fit when I figured out that a double cheeseburger from McDonald's Dollar Menu wasn't actually a dollar. It's called the Value Menu now. $1.29 now. I don't go to McDonald's now.
If we get coupons or gift certificates to a restaurant, then we'll occassionally go. A sandwich/pizza shop in town offers $10 off you next order when you order online. Too bad I can't find the gift certificate to actually use it...
I'm sure everyone's heard of redbox. We will sometimes get a movie from the kiosk and take it back home for a movie night. But even better? We will play video games with each other or just watch TV. Our days are hectic and relaxing at the end of the day is great!

5. We take advantage of coupons and special offers. Sometimes Jarred's employer has discounts of basketball or football games, so we'll take advantage of those. The first semester after Jarred had moved out here, we bought season tickets to football games. While we didn't go to all of the games, we made sure to go to enough to get our money's worth!
For the ladies, here's a great offer! I sometimes like to shop at Victoria's Secret -- yes, they've got more than just underthings! I gave them my mailing address and now every month or so, I get coupons for free underwear. Yup. FREE. There's no catch to it really. I mean, the company is hoping you'll come into the store and pick up the free gift but then also purchase other things. But not me. Just the free gift thanks.

6. We don't shop. Jarred and I both have our certain things that we like to buy. For me, it's makeup and clothes and shoes. For Jarred, it's cigars. I see things at the mall that I'd love to have. But by the time I'm back home, I've forgotten about them. And frankly, I don't need clothes right now. I may want to get a sweater or 2 for the colder months, but if I don't, I'll survive. It's a good thing that Jarred and I both have lots of clothes. Frankly, unless one of us gained some serious weight, we'll probably keep these clothes for a while. Even if we lost weight. My pants could always be looser, right?

7. We don't spend money unless necessary. This is the one that counts the most. I'd love to get a new t-shirt for an upcoming football game. But do I really need it? No. I'll find something else to wear and it won't be the end of the world. I guess if you don't have money to spend, then you won't. I know, I know. Some people still do. But we don't!

Fall is Here -- And so is Apple Bread!

This post was first featured on my now defunct blog, M&J Hooray!

I love fall. I love the changing seasons and the changing colors outside and everything is cool and crisp. I just love it.

In honor is Labor Day, we took a trip to the apple orchard outside town for Apple Fest.

We got a bag full of Jonathan apples -- perfect for Apple Bread!

I want to share this recipe, since it's my very own. I tried to perfect it last year and I think I have the consistency down. I am still working with the measurements of spices.


MandJHooray! Apple Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour (unbleached)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup room softened butter (1 stick)
2 eggs, beaten
2 medium size apples (tart apples work best)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cinnamon
Dark brown sugar
Nutmeg
Cloves
Allspice

Directions:

Set the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a bread pan with butter or shortening.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Whisk together to blend, but do not sift ingredients.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together until color of mixture is a pale yellow. Next, add the two beaten eggs and vanilla to the wet ingredients. Stir together until a smooth consistency has been achieved.

Chop apples into bite size pieces. Feed apple pieces into a food processor to shred. Add apple shreds to wet ingredients. Combine flour mixture and wet ingredients, stirring until a smooth dough has formed. Dough will be slightly tacky.

Dust dough with cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. The more spices added, the more flavorful the bread will be. Blend spices thoroughly into dough, then spoon dough into buttered bread pan.

Bake in oven until bread is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. In my oven, the bread bakes for about 40 minutes, but times will vary.

Once bread is done, remove from oven and let cool in bread pan for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan and set on rack to finishing cooling.

Slice and enjoy!