Ginna - My Pretty Pennies | My Pretty Pennies

January Recap & February Goals

Posted by Ginna on Feb 2, 2012 | 2 comments

Hello February! It’s good to see you again. Snow has had its chance and now I’m ready for Spring. This month is promised to be a good one with plays to attend, trips planned and a wedding the last weekend (yay!). Here are some of the things I’d like to get done this month.

February Goals:

Read at least one book
Travel to Nashville with my sister and mother in law
Do something fun on Leap Day, after all it only comes once every four years!
File our taxes and figure out what to do with our refund
Consistently read my Bible five days a week
Cook and blog three new recipes
Finish reading Simple Blogging and put at least three things into practice this month
Participate in the Fab Ab February:

Curious to see how I did on my January goals? Not so great. On the other hand, we stayed well under our budget this month, which is always rare and welcome. :)

January Goals, recapped:

Workout three times a week. :: Fail. I did workout some… but maybe two times a week average.
~~Finish reading Life of Pi and start another book.~~
Don’t spend any money on clothes, accessories or decorations. :: I did buy some clothes, but I only spent like $30 on three things and saved like $90, so I don’t feel too guilty. Perks of post-Christmas shopping!
~~Be intentional about morning and evening routines~~. More on this later :)
Blog four times a week. :: Yeah we all know this didn’t happen.
Only purchase fresh foods at the grocery store and use all of our freezer and pantry items. :: What a vague goal I set for myself… of course there’s still freezer and pantry items that I didn’t eat, but we did try to use what we had this month.
Take at least 30 minutes for lunch and don’t eat at my desk. :: Major fail. I think I did this January 2 and that’s only because it was a holiday for everyone else. Perhaps this will be easier when work calm down?

(top photo credit; fab ab image found via pinterest – who’s surprised?:)

It’s Tax Time!

Posted by Ginna on Feb 1, 2012 | 5 comments

Oh boy! It’s February 1st! You know what that means!

IT’S TAX TIME!!!

I love tax season. I get practically giddy when I receive my W2s in the mail. I love organizing all of our accounts, income, charitable donations, interest and calculating the amount of money we should get back from ol’ Uncle Sam. Ah! It’s so exciting.

I know there’s a whole camp of people who feel differently and see tax refunds as frustrating and boring. And I get that, it is kind of a tedious process. I also know many personal finance gurus see tax refunds as cheating yourself of a year of compound interest. But there’s just something about receiving that large (or small) payout all at once that does a heart good. Plus how much interest are you really getting on your saving accounts? The most I am is a measly 1%.

Anyway, we plan to file our taxes this month. I wonder how much money we will get back this year? Eeee! So excited!

So, what about you?
Do taxes make you confused and frustrated?
Or do you find yourself excited putting together your taxes?
Do you outsource your taxes to an accountant or use an online version?

I’d love to know!

–

PS – Check out my last few years’ tax refunds: 2010, 2009, 2008

PPS – I’m starting to rethink my calling… perhaps I should have been an accountant? Hm.

My morning with Gigi

Posted by Ginna on Jan 31, 2012 | 8 comments

This past Saturday I drove to Greensboro to spend some time with my grandmother Gigi. I turned off her TV and put on Celtic music. She napped while I crocheted granny squares. I read aloud passages from the Bible and an article on cherry blossoms from my January copy of Southern Living. I told her stories of what was going on in my life today and memories I had of when I was younger.

She didn’t remember who I was, but it was the perfect morning. At one point I said, “I love you Gigi!” and she laughed and said, “Well, I love you too!” as if it was silly to have any other response.

Weekly Money Check-Up: 1/30

Posted by Ginna on Jan 30, 2012 | 0 comments

Weekly Money Check-Up is a weekly series on My Pretty Pennies. To participate, fill in the blanks in the comments section, or post it on your blog and link below. If you do post it on your blog, please credit MPP and link it back here. Thank you for participating!

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on prescriptions. But this doesn’t really count since I have a Flexible Spending Account and will be reimbursed.

2. Today I am thankful that I did not have to serve on a case last week! I was summoned to jury duty but stayed in the jury lounge all day reading and chatting it up with other Wake County residents.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was getting a pedicure with my mom and Lucy.

4. I will consider this week a success if I blog every day. After last week’s sparse posts, I have a few scheduled so this can be accomplished.

5. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. My sisters and I would play school any free time we got. We had a little shed in our backyard that we converted to a school house.

–

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____.
2. Today I am thankful ___________.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________.
4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________.
5. When I was a kid I wanted to be ________ when I grew up.

Have a very good weekend.

Posted by Ginna on Jan 27, 2012 | 7 comments

Oh hi there, Blog. It’s been a while, no?

This week has been… work. Lots and lots of work. I love my job and I love my position, but right now things are busy and I find myself drained at the end of the day. Thus no posts aside from the usual Monday check up.

But enough excuses — it’s Friday! That happy day that puts an end to work and starts a weekend of rest. (Or at least for some of us.:) What are you up to this weekend? J has to work Saturday so I am going to Greensboro to spend some time with my family and catch up some housekeeping items that have sadly been neglected lately.

Five happy things for your Friday:

1. Lasagna Rolls — What an ingenious way to make lasagna (and maybe you won’t overeat, a problem I always seem to have with lasagna).

2. I’d like to make this lovely window coffee table, via Oh! Glory Vintage