A Penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter............

Money seems to be the root of all evil. Seriously, no matter how hard you work, how frugile you are, there is never enough money to make ends meet.........and forget about saving!

This has been a battle that I have watched my family members fight for as long as I can remember. Don't get me wrong, we've always had food on the table and shoes on our feet, but we also scraped many months just to make ends meet.

I always wanted to be able to do what I wanted when I wanted without worry. In college, while racking up a loan balanced out of this world, I felt like I was doing pretty well for myself. I could run through a drive-thru if I wanted or go out for a few drinks with friends every weekend without worry.

One day, reality set in, I called to transfer money from savings to checking for rent and there wasn't enough there. I was in complete shock! I'd always had enough money for my bills and then some! In tears, I called home and asked for help.

I soon realized the depletion of my funds was due in large part to a love interest that wasn't worth the time, money, or effort in the end. Now, I can't go back and change the past, so I dust myself off and go at it again. This time, with flying colors.

Two years plus removed from this toxic situation, my financial status isn't perfect, but I make ends meet most months without too much trouble. However, I'm still paying on those outrageous student loans, the credit card balance from the heart of this bad situation, a health loan from well after I started moving forward, as well as a good-faith loan from my grandparents for a trip to the city where I once believed 'real life' would start. Needless to say, Carrie Underwood's "Don't forget to remember me" kept me from making the move to Chicago, but I still had to pay for the experience of checking out the city and searching for an apartment that I never took.

Now that the laundry list of my debt has been put out for the world to see, I need to get this to disappear....like now! I want more than anything to be debt free. I also want to have a savings account. More importantly, I want to know how to make this happen without making me crazy or forcing me to eat bread and water for the next 10 years.

So, we begin, I have always tried to dumb my change into a piggy bank, one that was once being depleted by someone else as quickly as I was filling it. At the present time, I have $37 in piggy funds...my hope is to get to $100 by the end of the summer.

When I was in high school, I used to save all change and dollar bills. To date, $7 of that $37 is one dollar bills I have managed to stash into the jar. I hope to continue this trend as well as expand upon it.

Being 30 minutes from home, it is so easy to run out for lunch rather than bringing something from home and eating in the office. I am going to try to pay myself for eating in. I think if I give myself $5 each day I eat in, I will be able to save a ton in a little amount of time. When I do decide to go out, I can use this little fund to do that. I could save $25 a week right there.......sweet!

What else though, how do I find extra money to pay of debt such as a credit card bill without creating more. It''s easy to write a $200 check each month, but it doesn't make much since if I'm charging $100 back to it. So far I've done really well at not using my card; however, with that I'm only paying minimum or just above each month. My new credit card goal is to pay the minimum payment plus that month's finance charge. Hopefully this along with not using the card will help me to make progress more quickly than I am now.

Aside from that, I'm not sure what other tips or tricks to use for myself to save more money. I'd love some ideas.

By the way - rounding up your debits in your checkbook register doesn't work well for a person who likes to balance the checkbook regularly. I tried.

Aflac or AhF#!K

I don't know that I have any earth shattering thoughts on this topic; however, since it has become all the buzz in NASCAR Nation, I will share what I've got.

I realized that NASCAR opened a can of worms large enough for the fishermen of the world to have bait all summer long when they said "have at it boys!" Although I prefer this rubbin' is racin' outlook, I didn't expect someone to take it this far this quickly...esp. not Carl Edwards in his Aflac sponsored Ford Fusion. Apparently, I didn't know quack about his temper when it came to the rivalry with Brad Keselowski.

Initially when I saw the 99 close up on the 12 and the 12 take flight like that cute little duck in Carl's latest commercial, I thought it was racin'. Lord knows it couldn't have been intentional, I mean we're talkin' Carl Edwards here, not Tony Stewart. Then I wait, watching replay after replay, until the camera finds Carl and his comments show clearly that it wasn't a mistake...it wasn't racin' at all! Carl Edwards, laps down, came on track for the sole purpose of putting Brad Keselowski in his place. As I listened intently to Carl's comments I realized.........this cat really is from Columbia! (ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!)

So, today as we see the comments flow out of Charlotte.............

"There's a too far in everything, and that was too far. Bottom line, simple as that." - Clint Bowyer, The Kid from Kansas that has been known to make donuts on doors, not just pretty grass between the start/finish line and pit road!

"I'm thinking about asking for a refund for all of my penalties!!!!" -Kevin Harvick who has been parked for similar situations in the past.

.................I have to wonder along with Mike Helton, what made the 12 go airborne. If NASCAR can't find an answer to that and can't fix the problem, then they have to re-think the "have at it boys" attitude before someone ends up parked in the grandstands on top of spectators!

We all know this sport is dangerous, we all know this sport kills even the best of the best, but we also know as fans, drivers, crew members, owners, and officials, it is our duty to place ourselves in the direction for the best possible outcome.

Tempers and airborne cars in a "have at it boys" environment is not the best direction for this great religion we all call racing!

How do you feel about North Carolina now Coach?

As a Jayhawk that lived through the Roy Williams to UNC drama with fellow students, I just read the most amazing quote in history, "With NCAA Tournament hopes out of the picture, North Carolina has four games left in the regular season as it fights to keep its record over .500." Well Roy - all I can say is...LOOK AT US NOW...sure is funny how things work out!!! ROCK CHALK!!!

The above is my current facebook status. This morning as I was reading The Wave, an insert in the University Daily Kansan, when I came across an article titled "A 3-horse Race." This article was about three of the most prestiges college basketball programs in the country...Kentucky, North Carolina, and Kansas. Kentucky is the only team in the nation to have 2,000+ victories. North Carolina is two shy of the 2,000 mark and Kansas is four games away. As Kansas is on it's way to sweeping the conference and on the heels of clenching at least a portion of the Big XII title, earning it's head coach his 400th career win, and watching their big man earn the Academic All-American of the Year title, the Jayhawks aren't showing signs of slowing down. The Tarheels on the other hand have had a season that has left a lot to be desired. The journalist responsible for this piece of work has described the Tarheels present with a single sentence that I never dreamed of reading, "With NCAA Tournament hopes out of the picture, North Carolina has four games left in the regular season as it fights to keep its record over .500." North Carolina - the dynasty that was created in Kansas and made who it is today by Coach Dean Smith, the dynasty that Coach Roy Williams left KU for after so much turmoil and the quote heard around the nation, "I don't give a $h!t about North Carolina." Well Coach, regardless of how you felt about North Carolina in that moment, you left...and now, we are rolling on and flying high. We have accomplished something that you were never able to accomplish in all 20 years and now with no remaining Roy Williams recruits we are well on our way to doing so again. So, tell me Coach, how's it feels to win a Championship at a school that you always loved more than Kansas with players you didn't recruit...then to fall short of a tournament appearance with kids that never knew Coach Doherty, kids that YOU recruited!

Well Coach, we still don't give a $h!t about North Carolina, but we sure our in love with our Self! So, I suppose all there is to say now is THANK YOU!!! I didn't understand back then, but I do now...CHANGE IS GOOD...I'm so glad that you left for that school that learned so much from Coach Smith and the Kansas program!

We'll be thinking about you win we beat UNC to 2,000 against Mizzou and claim our Big XII title outright in their house!!! ROCK CHALK!!!

Time - Precious, Priceless Time

Time is precious, so when someone gives you theirs, to me, that is priceless.

I know that we are all busy and sometimes feel like we don't have time...time for yourself, time to get to know someone, time for those you care about (or want to care about), when in reality, we always have time for the things we really want to make time for. I know that I am guilty of pushing off people and things, but why? It takes 10 seconds to send or reply to a text message, a couple minutes to make a phone call, maybe an hour to stop by and see your grandma or have lunch with an old friend, and two hours to watch a movie or go bowling with someone that you are interested in. So why is it so difficult for us to piece together those small amounts of time to show how much we care and appreciate people or to give someone a chance? What is it that we are so busy with that we are willing to let life pass us by without even realizing that we may be letting something perfect slip right through our hands while we are scrubbing a floor that we scrubbed yesterday or taking our 5th shower of the night...or worse yet, watching some dumbass TV show we won't even remember next week, let alone 20 years from now when we are wishing we would've just talked to that person one more time or tried just a little bit harder to see what might have been.

We can always live with 'what ifs' but we can't go back to find the answers. Regret is a waste of time, time you could be using right now to prevent those regrets from ever forming. Send the text, make the phone call, visit your family and friends, and go out on that date...in the end, you'll be glad you did. ;-)

Love you all and God Bless!
~Jen B.

Noticing You Noticing Me ;o)

So, we barely know each other.
My nieces call you my husband, but you're younger than my brother.
Do I think you're cute - no doubt...
And I'd love to hangout.

The thing that makes no sense to me...
Is how we keep finding ourselves in each others company.
You bowl on my parents' league...
I've showed up twice in two weeks at the same place you just happen to be.

Last night was a blast I never expected...
In a sense it seems like we kind of connected.
Tonight my niece saw you catch a glance...
Then I noticed you did so at every chance.

So, should I care that you're only nineteen...
Or give it a chance to see what the girls seem to have already seen.
I'm thinking the latter...
age doesn't matter.