food for finance: i'm smarter than my smart phone

(healthy) food for finance is a column where we talk about how fitness and finance correlate with each other. join us on our journey to be both physically and financially fit.

 

The people who are close to me know that I was totally against getting a smart phone. There was no way I was going to pay that much money a month. Especially since Kyle and I are trying to save to buy a car with cash and pay off our house.

 

No WAY!

 

Until I found out about Clark Howard from a friend at work. He is a guy who has a radio show about how to live frugal. A man after my own heart.

 

We were paying about $100 a month for Kyle and my "dumb" phone as I like to call it. We had 700 minutes together, unlimited mobile-to-mobile minutes, unlimited text messaging, and stuck in a contract. That was with the 22% discount I get from work.

 

 

Lets rewind to the beginning of the year. Kyle started a new job and was given an iPhone as a work phone. We decided to cut his personal line since his contract was up. It was a pain to let everyone know about his new number but worth it to only pay for my phone.

 

Now one of us had a smart phone....and was not even paying for it! The only way to do it! FREE!

 

Now with only my line open, I was paying $70 a month. All for a stupid dumb phone. SERIOUSLY?!

 

 

Back to the beginning of the year. I came back to work from maternity leave and in my office was my new co-worker. She is like me because she is a Dave Ramsey follower! She is as passionate as me about getting out of debt! How do we get any work done?!

 

I asked her how is she drinking the Dave Ramsey Kool-aid AND have an iPhone. It made no sense to me.

 

Enter Clark Howard...

 

He suggests StraightTalk for a cell phone provider. Get this....I have unlimited minutes to anyone in the States, unlimited text, unlimited Internet, no contract. for only...

 

wait for it....

 

$45 a month!!!!

 

GET OUT!!!

 

YES!!

 

I also kept my old number. What is the catch? You have to get your own phone. I bought a used iPhone 3, bought a sim card, hooked it up, then BAM! Service! There was some hoops I had to go through but it works great.

 

If anyone wants to sell me their old iPhone 4, let me know. I would love an upgrade.

 

I figured if I did not like it, I could cancel and go back to my old provider since I'm not in a contract.

 

Good news about StraightTalk is that they use AT&T and Verizon towers. Win/Win!

 

I've had the service since February and I have had zero problems, even with traveling. I refill my "card" each month. This is a pay-as-you-go service. I have it automatically refilled each month.

 

I was paying $70 a month for a dumb phone to a company that I had been with since 1997. I had to even pay a little money to get out of my contract. Now I pay $45 a month ($48 with tax) for a smart phone! Where is the loyalty?!

 

We only pay $28 a month for both of our phones. How is that? Kyle's work pays for his. I get reimbursed $20 a month for my phone from work. 48-20=$28 a month. For 2 iPhone plans. SCORE!

 

I highly recommend it!

 

 



Jonah 7 months

On May 1st, it happened...J is 7 months old. He is closer to a one year old than little baby.

 

 

Ahhhh! Being a mom is so much fun and exhausting at the same time. So much happened this month! Here is hoping I can catch up the blog!

april recap-the life of a 6 month old

Jonah turned 26 weeks old on his 6 month birthday on April 1.

 

I am proud of myself for keeping up with the weekly pictures!

 

This seems to be the look he always give me. "Really mom, ANOTHER picture!"

 

A lot of times the pictures happen before bedtime and he is out of it.

 

BYOB-bring your own bottle (or in my breastfeeding case...BOYBoob!)

 

 

There is that look again! There were 5 Mondays in April. 

6 month findings:

He still loves bath time! Loves to splash and kick!

 

 

 

Our 1st run as a family.



1st really good bed head picture.

 





Loves it when Granny keeps him. Granny keeps him 2 days a week, my friend Randi keeps him 2 days a week and I'm home on Fridays!

 

He started solids this month.

We only do a little bit since most of his nutrition still comes from breast milk.

 

 

He started to get on all 4s

 

1st road trip (besides Mississippi) & hotel stay

1st BBQ contest

He started imitating (ugh, ahhhh)

 

Nap time is still not the best.

 

Love watching him learn new things!

 



ohio state university gender reveal, DMB show, and more!

The last weekend in April was a time for celebration. My friends Jen and Leon are expecting in September. I am beyond excited for them. Also I am having flashbacks of my pregnancy last year since we basically had/have the same due date, just a year apart! I feel what you are going through Jen!

 

My friend Kristy that did my reveal cake and Steph's reveal had yet another great idea. Since my friends are from Ohio and are BIG OSU fans, she had this idea.

 

Buck-guy or a Buck-girl?

 

 She even made this crafty sign

 

 

The future parents!

 

Here is Steph's reveal, and then mine. Look at our cuties!

 

 

 It's a....

 

 Buck GIRL! Look, I even made these Buckeyes! They were yummy!

 

April married a twin. This is what she would look like if she carried on the twin theme! ha! Looks as if Eli (almost 5 months) has caught up to Jonah (almost 7 months)!

 

 Our boys playing!

 

Best buds! Only 2 months apart

 

Later we went to the Dave Mathews show. The weather was perfect.

 

At the show with our friends.

 

 

 Meanwhile at the house.... Shelly, Adam, and Kristy kept Jonah. They said he was great.

 

 Then on Sunday, we went to visit my aunts.

Uncle Jake and Aunt Connie getting some Jonah time!

 

We had a very busy weekend, but that is always how April is.

BBQ and Bulldogs

April is always a busy month for us. Kyle's BBQ team entered the Super Bulldog Weekend BBQ Contest again this year in Starkville.  

 

Jonah got to come and hang out with the Bluff City Bulldogs. They are teaching him early. It was his 1st BBQ contest.

 

 

Jonah hanging out with Jessica, his Labor and Delivery nurse!



This year they entered in whole hog. 

 

Proudly displaying last years 2nd place in ribs trophy.

 



Time to impress the judges.

 











Poor Ms. Piggy. Good news, they got 3rd place in whole hog! And almost placed in ribs (4th).

 

The wives went the the arts festival with our babies and our BOB strollers.

As we walked through, people would move! We really need to advertise for the the BOBs! We have some cute kids!

5th wedding anniversary

In April, Kyle and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. I can't say enough about my Kyle! With us, what you see is what you get. We are goofy, serious, and loving all in one.

 

5 years!! Now we have our little love bug Jonah! And to think our last anniversary Jonah was growing in my belly!

 

We celebrated our anniversary a week later due to the fact that I am an awesome wife and "let" Kyle partake in a BBQ contest the weekend of our anniversary! Seems every anniversary ends up the same weekend as Super Bulldog weekend.

 Randi (my friend/nanny) kept Jonah while we went to see Memphis the Musical. We ate beforehand at McEwens on Monroe. We stopped for a little outdoor music on the way to dinner. We had a fun night!

 

Some pictures from our wedding in 2008.

 

Why our marriage works:

We talk about everything. He is very easy going and laid back. We are on the same page (especially our finances). He treats his mom and mother-in-law like me, which is like a princess! He loves to do the dishes and cook. He was so excited when we had Jonah. He had been waiting to be a daddy. He helps with late night feedings, diaper changes, all the messy stuff that comes with babies. He is very active in the community. He teaches a class at church. He works hard.

 

We have been through a lot in 5 years. Kyle lost 60 pounds and became a runner. We even started a running group and ran a marathon together. We've become debt-free except our house, funded our emergency-fund, and are working towards our other goals (to buy a car with cash, then pay off our house). We went through a miscarriage, cancer with family, but on the up side we had our Jonah.

 

Our gift to each other:

The traditional 5 year gift is wood. We had friends make our presents for each other. My friend Kyle made a little bench for me to give to my Kyle. Then John made a side table that goes in our living for Kyle to give to me. They both turned out great.

 

I can only hope the next 5 years will be just as fun as the 1st 5 were!

 

getting lucky in kentucky

Back in April, we went to visit Leah (Kyle's sister) and Josh in Kentucky. They live between Louisville and Lexington. Nana wanted to come as well. I think she wanted to spend some special time with Jonah since we had a packed weekend with the Lacks.

 

We left on a Thursday night and stayed in a hotel outside Nashville. Jonah's 1st hotel stay. He did wonderful.Then we got up on Friday and stopped by the zappos outlet on the way in. That's a fun place if you ever get a chance to visit.

 

Friday night we hung out at the house while the Lacks cooked for us. Yummy!

 

We had a packed Saturday. While Nana kept Jonah, the 4 of us started the day in Frankfort at the Buffalo Trace Distillery.

 

 

 

 

 

Our tour guide was great. I learned a lot about whisky that day.

 

 

 Smelling the whisky. There is a fine art to making it.

 

 Next we went to Keenland, a horse track in Lexington. I really wanted to come up on Derby weekend but I couldn't talk the Lacks into it. Funny the race we went to was the biggest at Keenland. It was the Bluegrass Stakes! It was SO busy. Next time I will know to pay for upstairs seating.

 

Taking a look on who to bet on. 

 

 

Josh & Kyle placing their bets.

 

 

 I got close to watch one race.

 

 

I forgot my big hat.

 

 

 Apparently, this was a big horse race. It was on NBC and a pre-qualifying race to the Derby.

 

 We know what to do for the next time. Get a big hat and buy assigned seats! We were not lucky in Kentucky.

 

 On the way back we stopped at Rebecca Ruth's for some Bourbon Balls. YUM! I think that was my favorite part of the trip.

 

Nana had a fun day with Jonah.

 

 

 Aunt Leah and Uncle Josh. Jonah looks mad or more like "stop taking pictures mom!"

 

 We ate dinner at the Bell House where Jonah sat in a restaurant high chair for the 1st time.

 

Kyle & I both got the hot brown to eat. I'd never heard of a hot brown but you know Kyle knew about it. He loves food network. In turn, he likes to cook and that makes me happy!

 

After dinner, Jonah was loving Uncle Josh. He was making Jonah laugh!

 

 We left Sunday and stopped to eat outside Nashville. Jonah has Nana wrapped....look he is even taking all her money.

 

Jonah was great on the ride home. It is about a 6 hour drive and he was a trooper. I love being his mommy. His 1st long rode trip was a success!