Southern Styled Flair: pictures

My birthday is around the corner again. This entire year has gone by so fast. January started off badly and I was just under the weather. My mind was all over the place and I was completely filled with anxiety and stress. God had a purpose for all of that and if you want to read more about the trials of this year click here. Every year I realize the importance of things that didn't seem so obvious when I was younger. Here are a few things I thought I would share.

1) Savings Is Important

I know what you are thinking. This should be common sense. It is definitely something I have known, but failed to follow through with. It doesn't matter if you live paycheck to paycheck or you are comfortable with your income situation. Either way you need to put away something! In addition to a savings account we are starting a weekly savings plan! I will tell you more about that soon!! It is important to make sure you have something to fall back on!

2) Insurance Is Important

Again, this is a no brainer in most cases. I'm not only talking about home, auto, or health insurance though. Life insurance is something younger people tend to overlook. After seeing the after effects of losing a loved one I have seen the importance first hand. There are several options for life insurance so do some research.

Plans are affordable and can greatly help your family if something happens to you! Trust me when I say that losing you will be hard, but you don't want to burden them with not properly being able to take care of the final arrangements. Thankfully my grandmother took care of things!
I know when you are young that isn't on your top priorities,
but it should be!

3) Good Credit Is Important

As you are reading this some of you are probably wondering why I am stating the obvious. To some of you these things are normal, but others may need some incite. I started out with amazing credit. I had credit cards, loans, financed cars, etc. When something happens and you are unable to pay your bills (note the importance of savings....that I did not have) your credit can get ruined.

I know this first hand! Being young it didn't seem like the end of the world because at the time I thought I had everything I needed. That was until every company under the sun needs to make sure your credit is up to par before you do anything. Employers for several companies even check your credit today! So my advice to you is obtain your free credit report and make sure everything looks good! If there are things that look wrong or debtors you are unaware of then make sure you dispute the items. When that is taken care of contact the creditors and make payment arrangements. You definitely want to stay on top of your credit!

4) Forgiveness Is Important

Some of you may hold grudges and hate to even think of the word. Let me just ask you this...who does the anger you have for this person/people really hurt? Do you think they are losing sleep at night because you cant get over something they have done, or is it you losing sleep because you cant let go of the past. Trust me when I say that I've had my share of heartbreak, arguments, and random drama. Some of those things I held on to for so many years. At times it felt impossible to let go, but after much prayer God helped me to forgive. I cannot tell you what a weight was lifted off my shoulders! So let go and let God help you!

5) Weekly Starbucks Trips Are Expensive (or other fast foods)

Yeah, yeah I know. We all love our Starbucks. I am slightly obsessed myself. My husband and I would make about 3 trips a week to grab our favorite drinks. For both of us at almost $12 a day for 3 days is $36 each week for coffee! That means we would spend $1,872 every year! That is insane! I'm not telling you to stop going to Starbucks, but I am saying cut back....A Lot! This goes for any fast food or eatery. Look at what you spend and calculate what you could save.

6) Planning Is a Must

If you know me then you know I'm seriously obsessed with planning, planners, lists, binders, and organization. I learned about Erin Condren Life Planners a few years ago, and have been hooked ever since! I did a review a couple of years ago. You can check that out here! If you like them then click HERE for the discount shopping code!!

Ok, back to the planning situation. I love to plan. I have found that planning things out helps with productivity. Writing down your schedule, daily task, appointments, and to do's will help you stay focused on the things at hand and get much more accomplished. You can use a notebook or binder if the Life Planners aren't for you. There are some affordable and cute planner options at Target as well! Check out my Printable board on Pinterest for some planner stickers and page options! You can also click HERE for printable binder page ideas!!

I will be working on several organizing posts in addition to planner and binder suggestions! Stay posted for that! I hope to include some new printables I've designed too!

7) Couponing Is Time Consuming (but worth it)

I will admit that it has been almost a year since I clipped a coupon. I can say that because my plan is to start back this weekend! My life has been so busy that I didn't have any time or energy saved for that. I am now able to focus some of my time on clipping coupons, planning shopping trips, and saving a ton of money while stocking our house. At one point I would purchase 20 Sunday papers and plan several intense shopping trips each week. This stage in our lives will not allow for all of that. I simply do not have that kind of extra time or patience. I will, however, be purchasing 5 papers each week. This will allow us to maximize our savings and start filling up our dwindling stockpile. We have saved thousands of dollars using coupons in addition to getting tons and tons of free products. Several occasions we even walked out of the stores with cash back, meaning I literally got paid to walk out of a store with their products! How awesome is that! Most of these stores have changed their coupon policy, so this is not likely anymore. The point is couponing takes some time and effort but it is totally worth it.

8) Sleep Is Important

As I type this it is clearly past my bedtime. That makes me laugh a little. I should have been asleep hours ago, but that didn't happen. I managed to get off track and am working on getting that fixed. Sleep is very important though. You need to get the right amount every night. It helps in so many ways in addition to being a health benefit! You need the proper amount to function correctly. For me that is about 6-8 hours. I have gone with much much less, but that is my goal! As an adult I really wish I could get back all those naps I fought so hard not to take in my younger days!

There are several more things I could add to this list, but for time purposes I will hold off. I hope you will all stay posted for the upcoming post on organizing, a few DIY projects, and a peek at the remodel we are working on!

Love and Hugs,

(Some images obtained from Google Images in addition to my personal images )

Wow! I think this is the longest I've gone without posting! I know I always tell you guys how busy life has been, but the past seven months have been beyond that! I started another blog and that will tell you a lot about where my time has been and what has been going on in my life! You can check that out here!

I thought I would do my usual insta update and then tell you a little about the posts I have planned!
Here are a few shots from the past several months!

Whew! There were many more pictures, but I didn't want to overwhelm you! So far we have worked like crazy, been to a few awards ceremonies, I got my hair colored and trimmed, more awards dinners, bible studies, planning, took care of my grandmother (who suffered from dementia), planned school for the kids, and unfortunately the last two pictures were from the flowers we had at my grandmothers funeral. I cannot explain how very much I miss her. She passed away two weeks ago (Thursday).

I hope everyone has enjoyed the past several months! The good news is I have several posts planned!
Some will include :
* Reviews
*Videos
*Planning
*Recipies
*Our Current DIY and Remodel situation
*Helpful tips
*and more!!

Love and Hugs to all of you! I have missed you!! Don't forget to follow me on social media to stay up to date and not miss anything!!

Love,