This is Part 2 of the ‘How to Use Excel to Project Your Savings’ series.  If you have not viewed the first post, you can find it here. Now that we know how much is possible to save, let’s talk about how to stay on track with savings, starting with a bank account. I’d recommend getting a checking account to serve as a place to hold enough money to pay all of your bills for one month.  Having a checking account with enough money in it for one month’s worth of bills will allow you to use auto-pay on many ...

I'm not one for recipes and measurements because I often find that I'm missing an ingredient or unable to use an ingredient.  For five years, I cooked 100% dairy free.  I used to substitute but I quickly ran out of items to substitute, Since then, I've decided to go it on my own, no recipes, no rules; at least most of the time. This is one of my favorite quick, easy, and cheap meals to make to bring to work for lunch.  It's just enough to keep me going though the work day and satisfy my need for delicious food ...

Thinking about changing your cabinets?  I was.  I'd researched quite a few ways to refinish the cabinets and decided that refinishing was the way to go.  Refacing would give a whole new look but would cost thousands of dollars.  I also knew that I didn't want to replace my cabinets because they offered a lot of storage for how small my kitchen is. So, I took to the internet to see how to refinish the cabinets on my own. I found a lot of options, but here's what I did. Materials 1 package of 150 grit sandpaper 1 package of ...

Today I will be showing you “How to Use Excel to Project Your Savings- Part 1”. For this example, we will begin our projections in January and end in December.  We will assume that income is received twice per month and that expenses include ‘Rent’, ‘Water’, ‘Electricity’, ‘Phone’, ‘Internet’, and ‘Incidentals’ which could be groceries, gas, entertainment, etc. Let’s start by opening a new document in Microsoft Excel.  We will begin by entering our projection period. In cell B1, type ‘January’.  By hovering to the bottom right corner of the cell, you will be able to click and drag the ...

When I bought my house, one of the major downfalls was that the Master bathroom was extremely small!  I quickly looked the other way though as I was delighted to have a walk in closet in two bedrooms and that the laundry is upstairs between all of the bedrooms. After living with the small bathroom, I knew I had to make a change.  I didn't have any storage except for a small square on the bottom of the cabinet for cleaning supplies (the first picture is from the previous owner's listing of the house. I didn't have a shelf for ...