Day 1

Janurary 25th 2010 - Day 1 of The Financial Fast

11:35 am - On my way to school I stopped off to get my Monday morning fill up at the gas station, well this morning it would be called more of a Monday morning half tank.

I've gotten in the routine of always using my credit card to get gas, and I didn't carry the $60 in cash that my cars enormous gas tank takes to fill up so I'll have to live with a half tank. Maybe I'll see if I can S T R E T C H that out and make it last the whole week. We'll see. While in the gas station I realized that I wasn't going to be able to buy gum anymore! Ah! I think I remember seeing some have used packages laying around the house that I'll search for when I get home.

I made my own tea this morning and I brought my own snacks. A banana and a fiber one bar. Yum... Hopefully that will last me til I make it home for lunch. Ta Ta!


11:10 pm:

Well, I've gotten through the first day of my financial fast! Luckily I didn't have time to spend any money on unneeded items. Hopefully the next three weeks will go this easy. Probably not. I'm supposed to go dress shopping with one of my friends at the end of the week. I wonder if that is allowed? I figure as long as I won't be buying anything it should be alright... right? Oh well, classes early in the a.m... Goodnight all!

Taking on The Financial Fast

I got an e-mail this morning from my mother (who I tend to get all my amazing ideas from.) The e-mail was titled " "Financial Fast" and inside all it contained was "do you think you can do it? ;-) ". Hm, is this a challenge? If so, I take it!

Classic me, jumping into something two feet first before I even start to research it. Well, upon clicking on the link that was also included in the e-mail I read what the financial fast is. I'll do a quick summary of it, and I'll include the link here so you can read up on it yourself if you'd like.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/31/AR2009123103495.html

The Financial Fast Summary

1. It last 21 days

2. During this fast, you will not shop or use your credit cards.
*By not shopping they mean you must refrain from buying anything that is not a necessity.
*And by necessity, I mean the bare essentials, such as food and medicine.

3. You will refrain from going to the mall or retail stores. Even window shopping is off-limits.
No restaurant meals -- fast food or otherwise. This includes buying breakfast or lunch at work. You can't stop for coffee. Make it at home instead!

4. If any parties are planned within these 3 weeks you are not allowed to buy gifts. You are allowed to make home made gifts if you already own the products needed to make the gift, but no buying for presents! You may not tell the person who the gift is for that you will give them a gift later either.

This is only the first part...

5. The second part of this is stopping your use of plastic. That means no credit or debit card use. They say in the article that people tend to think they are spending less money when they use plastic.

So... This is my challenge. I'm going to keep a blog of this because as this fast alone will probably be much more challenging that it seems I am also going to be completely "de-cluttering" my life starting with my house! I'm going to be selling or giving away all of my things that are unneeded and I'm going to be saving and putting back all that I earn from this. I was to see how much junk I really carry around with me physically, mentally, and emotionally and this is just the beginning of my journey.

Well, that's enough for tonight. Tomorrow should be an interesting day and hopefully a great start to the next chapter of my life! Goodnight to all!

Dali Style Melting Clock

I heard about this project a few months ago and had to try it for myself.

1. First, you need to find a record. Luckily I have a old storage building full of them. But, for the most part you can find them at a thrift store or a garage sell for less than $1. What you really need to make sure of is that label in the center is in decent shape... or not if thats the look you're going for. This will be the main focus of the clock.

2. Once you have your record picked out you are going to want to pop it in the oven. It doesn't need a pan to go on or anything just pop it right in. You will want the oven preheated for 220F/100C . Leave the record in there for a few minutes, you will see it starting to disform and droop. This is a good thing. Don't leave it in there for more than 10 min.

3. While the record in cooking away you will want to find a flat level surface with a straight edge. This is where you will hand the record.Once the record is ready to come out of the oven you will want to grab the record and RUN to your flat surface. (really run, the record will harden quickly.)Make sure the label is aligned to your satisfaction and then flatten out the top of the record thats on the table top. You can try and shape the record if you'd like, but I think it looks neater when he's got it's own weird funky curves. If your record messes up then just throw it back into the oven. I did mine about 7 times before I got it to look like this.

4. Next you'll want to either dismantle a clock or if you live near a crafts store like I do they have small clock kits for usually less than $5. I went to Hobby Lobby, but I have heard Michaels and Ikea have them as well. You can also go to www.klockit.com they have a wide variety of clock hands and movements for cheap.Just go ahead and disguard the second hand. It makes too much noise and is just a hassle.

5. Use some hot glue or other adhesive you prefer and glue the movement to the record. The hole in the middle is plenty big enough for the movement to poke through. For an extra detail, be sure to center it.

6. Next you will attach the hands. You may want to trim them if they are too long.

7. Lastly you will want to drill a hole in the horizontal part of the clock to accommodate a nail.

8. Now you can hang the clock on a mantle or a bookshelf. The trick is to find a place that has enough room for the clock movement. and once you do, be sure to nail the clock down so that it doesn't fall off. Hope you enjoy! :-)

Vintage Leather Belts Recycled into Rug's, Mat's, or Floor Tiles

This is an awesome project that I found on one of my favoirte websites http://www.dornob.com/ .

(Belt) strapped for cash? Forget affordable for a minute and just imagine the curious combination of feeling aged leather beneath your feet and the look of vintage belts lining the floors of your home. Leather flooring is fairly unusual, but these upcycled belt designs are unique – each one hand-crafted and with individually-selected old belts.via Dornob.

OK, but the price? Over 600 dollars for the round mat shown above from BranchHome and over 70 dollars per square foot for the floor tiles from Ting shown below. If you are looking for a cheaper alternative approach, however, local vintage clothing stores may sell a belt for a few dollars. After finding a few choice samples, it is just a matter of figuring out the best way to put them together. For the do-it-yourself craft-oriented individual, part of the fun lies in the creative process – choosing the right hues of faded black, brown, red and orange like in the first (wonderfully muted-but-colorful) example.

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This project like any has it's difficulties. When doing the project you come across having the old belts not laying out flat. This is actually not an issue at all. The kinks in curls in the belts add character to your project.

Next, you may be wandering, how the heck do you get those belts to stick together? Well, there are several options.

1. Some people may chose to stitch the belts together. This method could work perfectly. It may be a bit time consuming and leather is not the easiest fabric in the world to stich.

2. The other option which I have found works best is to get a piece of backing made of reconstricted leather (or any fabric for that matter that would be stiff and heavy enough to keep the belts flat) and get a water based glue to glue the belts to the fabric. ***(This is my favorite choice)

3. Another idea I've heard which seems like it would work great is to get some cheap vinyl floor tiles and put them together and use them the same as the fabric.

Hope some of this helps. I would love to see some pictures if anyone tries to do this project and I will be posting my own very soon!

Where Do I Start?

If you had asked me a year ago if I would ever start a blog I would have looked at you like a dear in headlights. Af far as I was concerned blogging was only for those people who could write a novel, and I'm far from that. So, what got me to start a blog you ask? Well, I bought my first home a little over a year ago and as a single 24/F with a job that isn't classified as one of the high paying occupations I started searching everywhere to figure out cheap DIY ways to save money and make a beatiful place to call home at the same time.

I have become quite obsessed with home decor and DIY projects over the past few years. I have started helping friends and to decorate their homes and it's a dream come true. I'm currently in school to become an interior designer so I will hopefully be adding new tips I learn in school to the site as well.

So... Back to the blog, I hope to bring you some help, or advice, or even a few laughs through my blips and blunders exploring new ways to save a few pennies and learn new projects to make your house into a home. I hope this can help you as much as some of my favorite sites have helped me.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!!! :-)