Hey everyone! Happy Monday. This weekend went by way too quickly. I have had 3 day weekends for the past 2 weeks (and then a week-long vacation the week before that), so this week will be a rough one! I haven’t worked a full week since the beginning of August.
Boardwalk Empire was on last night! Did anyone catch it? It’s definitely one of my favorite shows. Last night’s episode was kind of slow, so I’m not sure how this season will be.
My good friend got married on Friday, and I was a bridesmaid. It was a really fun day, and she looked beautiful! Definitely the prettiest wedding I have ever been to, and it was my first time being a bridesmaid.
The winner of my Swagbucks giveaway is Kristen B. (Swagname: kbon). Please email me if this is you!
Spending
I don’t think we have done much spending in the past week. We bought W a new tie and a new shirt for the wedding at H&M and spent around $40. And I had some spending for the wedding I was in also, but that was already known about. Hair and makeup was $102 altogether.
Food spending has been pretty low lately. We are really working on eating only at home. We haven’t gone out to eat for dinner in a while. Food is better at home, it’s usually healthier, and I don’t have to wait 30 minutes or more to actually eat it (and no driving is involved!). Win!
Extra Income (does not include income from our main jobs)
Extra income has been good so far this month. I’m hoping for a strong September, and I’m really wanting the rest of the year to be strong also.
I have my 100% self-employment switch date in mind. I’m keeping it a secret for now but I will let all of you know very soon. I am feeling much more confident and comfortable about switching to self-employment and I cannot wait!
We have been working on lowering our budget as much as we can. We really want to have this at a lower amount so that we are able to live off of a lower income and still be able to save a good amount. We still want to enjoy life as well. We are mainly just working on lowering our food spending, and also focusing on more outdoorsy activities, such as kayaking, biking, hiking and so on.
I have not really researched health insurance too much. I have been looking up prices but I really need to dive into this soon. Do you pay for your own health insurance? How much do you pay each month?
Being healthy
I have not been the healthiest person in the past week. I have been eating kind of healthy though. I will blame this on being extremely busy, especially with having many wedding activities this past week. I wouldn’t change a thing though, as it was an enjoyable week!
We have been riding our bikes a lot lately. We have had a little bit of a heat wave lately though, so riding a bike in 100 degree heat along with the high humidity has made me not want to ride lately. Hopefully it cools down soon!
Wedding Planning
I haven’t done much wedding planning lately. However, by the end of October I do have a couple of things that I need to get done. We need to find a caterer, book the music, and send out the save the dates.
I also need to decide on the bridesmaids dresses. I really like the look of a different dress on each bridesmaid. And I like the look of short cream bridesmaid dresses. I know that a lot of people are against choosing this color because it “takes away from the bride,” but if anyone confuses a bridesmaid for me then they probably don’t know me at all (most of my friends are blonde, whereas I definitely am not 🙂 ). What do you think of cream bridesmaid dresses? What about blush or peach?
We have also been thinking about flowers and how we will save money. We really want a lot of flowers (I’m thinking rectangular shaped reception tables that are just completely covered in flowers and candles, so there will most likely be well over 100 vases/jars just full of flowers altogether), and I would really not want to spend thousands of dollars on flowers. We are thinking about planting and picking our own (we both want a lot wildflowers at our wedding) and also buying flowers in bulk and arranging them ourselves. Has anyone else ever done this? Another way to save money is that we will be printing our photos using HP ink jet cartridges on our HP printer. Tell me all about it in the comments, or any tips that you may have!
My wedding dress should be getting in soon. I can’t wait to see it! I’m really hoping that I don’t regret buying it before actually seeing it.
Have you been doing well with your extra income, spending and being healthy?
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You guys all look great in the photo. Being in someone else’s wedding probably is getting you very excited for your own.
Do you have anywhere in a different post where you ever detail a breakdown of your extra income each month? I’m curious how much of it is freelance projects versus blog income.
Yes, it has definitely made me want to actually start planning my own!
I don’t think I have a detailed breakdown of my extra income (just to protect myself). Around half is from freelance projects.
Great job on the income. I think you should pick whatever color bridesmaid dresses you want. It’s your wedding!
Have a great week!
Oh I know, I just want to know what looks best!
You look like a beautiful bridesmaid! I also really like the look of different dresses on each bridesmaid. I think when you can have similar dresses but let each girl pick something that compliments her body everyone looks better. I think a cream color (I am picturing vintage lace somewhere :)) would be elegant and would be fine if your dress was a true white.
I have done good with extra income and spending! I can’t wait to hear when your quit date is going to be. You’ll have to let us know soon.
Thank you Alexa!
And yes I think a cream color makes a wedding look much more elegant.
Yes the last week and this weekend just seem to fly by. So much to do and get done. I haven’t seen BWE in awhile. Really liked it but kinda cut out tv right now. Cant wait to hear more about the DATE to leave the 9-5 behind. Not much extra income as of yet but I have big plans for August and the rest of the year. Keep us posted and really like the pic!
Thanks Thomas!
Congrats on all the extra income! I looked at my June-August recently and was pleasantly surprised at how much I’ve made and definitely happy that my hard work is paying off. For health insurance I would just purchase some through ehealth insurance and then starting October 1st you can purchase insurance through the health insurance exchange in your state.
Thanks DC!
And congrats on your income as well.
Thanks so much for the shout out Michelle, I really appreciate it! Great work on the income, September looks like it’s looking up from the past few months, so hopefully it’ll be a good one. We watched Boardwalk Empire as well and it was a bit on the slow side, but I am excited to see where they take it this season.
You’re welcome John!
I am excited to see where they end up going with Boardwalk as well.
I think cream would be awesome for the bridesmaids. I actually saw pictures of two weddings recently where the bridesmaids wore WHITE. The first wedding had the bridesmaids in short white dresses and the whole wedding party looked so beautiful and classy! The second wedding had the girls in all different floor length white dresses and honestly, I was a little confused (from the pictures) on who the bride was in some pictures. (I didn’t know the bride personally, only one of the bridesmaids). But I think especially with shorter dresses you should go for it! 🙂
Yeah, it would definitely be with shorter dresses. I am glad you like it!
It looks like you had a busy weekend! I am in awe of your side income. No doubt it take a lot of work and dedication. You will do great worki g for yourself!!
Thank you Lisa!
Great job on your extra income! When is your wedding again? Next summer? That is so exciting!
June 7, 2014!
Those dresses are so cute! And I love the bride’s dress, too. Weddings make me so happy. I have one this weekend that I’m in!
I did do my own flowers, and there’s a bit of a story behind it… my mom and I ordered dozens upon dozens of tulip bulbs. We planted rows upon rows of them in the freezing cold of November, and eagerly awaited the fantastic bouquets that we would be making. Well… all the tulips came up a month early and were dead by the week before my wedding! Luckily, my mom has a friend was a huge garden. As she was picking flowers for bouquets and the church (our reception venue took care of the tables), her friend’s neighbor stopped by and heard what happened. She opened up her garden to my mom, and the result was my mom’s 8-foot dining room table COVERED in flower options. It was great. 🙂
Moral of that drawn out story: growing your own flowers is a great option, but choose more than one kind just in case.
Have fun in the wedding that you are in! You are right, they do make me happy.
That is awesome about your flower story!
I pay for my own health insurance and it’s about $120/month with blue cross blue shield of Illinois. It’s really for catastrophic things though as I’m very healthy and don’t really ever visit the doctor. It kinda sucks, but then I remember I’ve been in two accidents needing a hospital visit in the last 5 years, so I keep it.
$120 a month doesn’t seem too bad. I will probably just have some sort of catastrophic policy as well.
Hi Michelle, congrats on getting closer to self-employment. We love it and don’t ever want to NOT be self-employed again. 🙂 CJ has BC/BS, a high deductible, and the monthly cost is low like Andy’s! My own policy is ridiculous and pricey at $360/month. I hope to find some relief soon with the health insurance exchange.
We purchased flowers from a wholesaler and put the bouquets together ourselves. If you have some handy friends, this might be a good option. I’d just make sure you have enough time for this since you want to buy the flowers a day or two before the wedding without being stressed out. P.S. I hear you on the heat wave! It’s been sweltering in Southern California as well and my bike riding has been limited!
Yes, we will definitely have to make sure that we have enough time.
Good luck on the wedding planning. It all works out in the end no need to worry. (Budget and Wedding) We all adjust to what is in front of us. Boardwalk empire was great, it was slow because they are building it up. Did you see how many people got elminated in the first episode. WOW.
Thanks!
I’m planning to grow my flowers for our bouquets, haven’t decided yet on the tables. I’d recommend going with something large, such as hydrangeas. They aren’t as expensive as roses or other small flowers will be, but still lovely. As far as cream/peach dresses, I think if you keep them short for separation, it can be really nice. You could always make a statement too with a pop of color either on your dress or theirs. Good luck!
Thanks Jamie!
I plan on growing a lot of different types of wildflowers, cannot wait!
Congrats on the awesome income! Also I love the idea of cream dresses. I don’t think they will take away from you. Do what you love! 🙂
Thanks Cat!