Being Married : Don't Fight Over Money

Finances and marriage.

The two go together like a horse and carriage. LOL... sorry.

But seriously, money is something you'll have to work into marriage. There is no one-solution-fits-all because every person is different, thus every marriage is different. The one thing that is universal to successful dealings with money in marriage is honesty. Funny, this could be the key to everything in marriage being more successful, but we're focusing on the dolla's today.

Shawn and I do not fight about money. We just refuse. To us it is simply not a good enough reason to get upset enough to fight over. Besides, do you know what the deal is with our money and the central bank?

We follow the simple rules:
-Live simply, below our means.
We don't go out every week. Or every weekend. It helps that we are homebodies and we hate most modern cinema, but this helps A LOT.
-Save every dime not used for regular expenses.
 Extra money will be pooled for DVD’s, yarn, extra grocery (like donuts, burritos or snacky crap), pet accessories, and home furninshings.
-Be open and honest about how much money you have and do not have.
I about crawled into the floor admitting to my husband how much money I do not have to help with the new TV. It made me feel worthless, which is ridiculous, but he wasn't mad. He was happy to know how much to set aside for the next few months instead of being surprised at my sudden confession upon receiving a bill when it would be too late.

-Budget, budget, budget.
Even if you don’t mix your funds you MUST mix your budget. Like above, you have to be open with how much money you do and do not have for things (we have been together for 4 years before we were married and have not merged funds. We probably won’t for a while. It’s working for us).
-Remember that money is just money.
It is made and spent everyday. It is simply paper and the only stresses it can give you are the ones you give yourself over it. Sure things are easier with more of it, duh, but fighting about that won't give you more of it.

Do you and your partner have tips that help your financial sharing stay happy and shiny? SHARE!!!

Oh, and if you missed the surprise from yesterday, here's that too!

SURPRISE!!!

For those who do not recognize... this logo is for the new Guns N' Roses.

And we totally saw them last night at ye Olde Qwest Centre (now known as century something...)!!!

I won tickets at my amazing job and that's not all... they were SUITE BOX TICKETS. This was the surprise I was keeping to myself yesterday!!!

I didn't tell Shawn we were going until we drove past the marquee at aforementioned Centre and he saw the logo with the advertised show.

"We're going to this?!" he asked.

"YUUUP," I was finally allowed to be excited now that he knew!!!

Better still, Reverend Horton Heat opened and played for over an hour!!! If you have played guitar hero you've probably heard "Psychobilly Freakout."

 That was better for Shawn than the headliner, who if you don't know, only has Axl as the remaining original bandmember. It was a great show, we had a FABULOUS time for free and didn't mind the late-starting show one bit. We did leave 4 songs from the end after November Rain but apparently from the reviews today in the Omaha World Herald a lot more people missed a lot more songs. It was after 1 when the concert finally ended.

My least favorite thing, to be a negative Nancy (no offense to Nancies out there; y'all can make fun of my B- blood type if you want) but they have replaced Slash with a baby poseur version of himself. The boy needs to take that hat off his head, cigarette out of his mouth and practice not playing sour notes here and there because he's too focused on the camera and babes in front of him to pay attention to the neck of his guitar. DURRRR.

Axl sang pretty well despite some falsely harsh reviews and he bopped around doing a classic 1-leg hoedown jig from time to time. It was a show filled with some talented musicians for sure.

Happy 49 Months Bunny!



Happy 49 Months, Shawnie!!!

Last month Shawn and I celebrated our 4 year Anniversary.
I will brag that we know how to celebrate simply. We have it down to an art. Both of us feels special without knowing the other one might come up short on grocery money.
This year I made Shawn a copious amount of his favorite cookies and he got me some BEAUTIFUL orange daisies.

I love all daisies but I love when he buys me colored ones that go with the season. A little variation on a favorite is all it takes to make it fresh!

But that's not all...
I have a HUGE surprise for him tonight.
Get your mind out of the gutter before I type another word.

I won tickets to an event that is luxurized... if that's a word. I can't divulge too much because he reads the blog but I will update and let you all in on what the surprise was!

OMG I CANNOT WAIT TO TELLLLLLL! AH!

Real Wedding : Love You More, Love You Better

I am SO pleased and proud to present to you, one of my very-best bloggy gal-pals Kim at Party Frosting! has married her love D and has been married for 8 days today! She and D celebrated their nuptuals October 30. It was a rustic, orange, and wine themed celebration of love!

Kim and D did things their own way which I am a huge fan of! They DIY'd the stuff out of their wedding and also did these things their own way:

• The wedding was in their lovely wood-accented home.
• Kim held her daddy's hand and her dress instead of a bouquet.
• Kim went barefoot at the last minute! BOO YAW!
• No attendants; just surrounded by people they love and who love them.
• They had their favorite cake instead of a big fancy wedding cake.
• They had a wine tasting class instead of a first dance.
• They had a wine ceremony instead of a candle unity ceremony. WOOT!

Congratulations to Kim and D!
Read all about her wedding planning journey here and visit her Party Planning prowess blog here!

Puppy Feeder Bowls are B.S.

I know some bloggy land ladies love showing off their pooches and I am no different. Today at my creative blog I wrote about how we found a FREE solution to our fast-eating puppy without buying a stupid $20 feeding pacer. Click here if you'd like to see it!

I know Laura who just got a puppy might like it!!!