Sunday, November 28, 2010

Many Blessings

I fully intend to post again on finances, but being that it is the holiday season I thought it only appropriate to take some time out to be thankful for the many blessings God has bestowed upon us.  During the holiday season many of us can find all kinds of reasons to be thankful, and rightfully so.  For some of us though, the holiday season brings a sort of pain in our hearts for something we long for or are missing in our lives.

A few weeks ago, our preacher said something that stayed with me (which is good because I'm pretty sure that's part of their goal :) )  He basically said that we need to remember that no matter what "God is at work."  It is easy to remember a statement like that when things are going well, but when we're going through difficult times, it so easy to forget that God is truly at work. 

This holiday season I'm going to challenge myself to dig deeper below the surface and look for the ways God is at work in my life.  Of course I am thankful for my amazing family, friends and husband.  I have a great job, live in a nice home and never go hungry.  From now, until the beginning of the New Year I am going to take something that seems negative each day and try to see how God could be at work through that specific event.  At the end of the year, I may even post the results of my self-challenge - who knows!

Happy holidays to all!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Budgeting is Fun for Everyone!

Budgeting is such an important part of our livelihood.  There are so many great methods for budgeting and it takes time to find one that fits you.  As I mentioned in my 2nd post, I grew up with a mom who worked for many years as a credit card counselor and is now a certified financial planner.  I have had most of my life to perfect a method that works for me. 

Over the next few blogs I'd like to share a few things that I remember from my childhood as well as a few techniques I use now.  Although my methods may not work the same for you, I hope that if you don't already have a budget plan, you are able to take away a few good ideas.

Today I would like to write about some things I remember from my childhood.  These can be used with a child's allowance, for money they earn mowing lawns or even when they are old enough to get a part-time job.

Growing up I was an avid baseball fan.  I collected tons of baseball cards and spent a lot of time watching Baseball Tonight on ESPN.  Of course when the Ken Griffey Jr. baseball game came out on Super Nintendo, I just HAD to have it.  Although I received an allowance I did not have enough saved to buy the game when it came out.  Mom agreed to "loan" me the money.  She wrote up a contract that stated I would pay her a certain portion of my paycheck each week for X number of weeks until the money was paid back in full.  I had to sign the contract and over the next few months I had my first experience paying off a debt.  I think this is such a great technique for kids!  Understanding the process of how a loan works as well as the fact that by taking out a loan you will have to live on less money until the loan is paid back.

Another method I used growing up was the envelope system.  For those of you who have read Dave Ramsey, you understand this concept.  This is a great method for kids to learn at an early age.  Later I will talk to you about how my "envelope" method has evolved, but when I started, I truly began with envelopes.  For children, you can develop envelopes based on their spending habits.  Obviously they don't have the types of expenses we do but some envelopes could be devoted to entertainment (things like movies, or trips to get ice cream, etc), clothes (in the event they want to buy something outside of a time that you have plans to buy them clothes), giving (to church or charities), or it could be for something specific that they have as a hobby (such as baseball card collecting, painting, etc). 

Though giving is something we may often overlook for a child, it is really important that children understand at an early age the importance of giving back to others.  I would encourage you to make a special point of sitting down with your child to discuss this with them.

Saving is also a very important habit for children to learn at an early age.  I would pick a set amount for them to place into a savings account and make sure they do this on a consistent basis.  I had my first savings account by the 4th grade.  It is never too early for your child to start one on their own!

The envelope method can work as such: Let's say your child is earning an allowance of $10 per week.  The envelope categories they have are giving, entertainment and baseball card collecting.  You decide with your child how much money they should put towards each.  The breakdown could be $2 to giving, $3 to entertainment and $3 to baseball card collecting, and $2 towards savings (or whatever you decide is best).  When you make a trip to Walmart and your child decides they want to buy a package of baseball cards, you have them pull out their envelope labeled baseball cards.  Once the money is gone, they will need to wait until they receive their next allowance to spend money on any more baseball cards.

Read more about the envelope method here.

Developing healthy spending habits early can make all the difference in the world and will set your children up for success!

Friday, October 1, 2010

As the Deer

I am so blessed to live in a neighborhood where deer can be found roaming at any time.  While on my way to work this morning I noticed a car stopped in the middle of the road.  This usually means that a deer is getting ready to cross the road so I of course stopped as well.  I then noticed 5 little baby deer eating grass on the side of the road and so we waited as each one took its time crossing. 

Even though this is a common occurrence, it never ceases to amaze me!  It always makes me think of one of my favorite church songs which is taken from Psalm 42:1, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God."

As the deer panteth for the water,
So my soul longs after you.
You alone are my hearts desire,
And I long to worship You.

You alone are my strength, my shield;
To You alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my hearts desire,
and I long to worship You.



 

Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Story of Jason and Sarah

While Leezard may be great (and quite possibly more interesting than my next topic), I thought it important to introduce you to myself as well as my husband, Jason. 

If it is not already obvious, my name is Sarah Brinker (formally, but always at heart, Sarah Sheeley).  I grew up in Bryan, Texas and graduated from Texas A&M University in May 2005 with a degree in History.  I spent 2 months after graduation backpacking by myself through Europe which was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.  I have worked for the same company for the past 4 years and am blessed to hold the position of Corporate Recruiter.

Jason grew up in Jackson, Michigan but his family moved him to the Las Vegas area during high school.  You may ask, “What brought Jason to the great state of Texas?”  The answer is: taekwondo.  During a tournament, he was approached by the A&M taekwondo instructor to move to College Station and assist with coaching.  Though he is no longer involved with the A&M taekwondo team, the sport is still a large part of his life and he continues to teach others as often as possible.  Jason is a Communications Technician (don’t try to understand what that means, just know it is fancy computer stuff) for the same company I work for.
 

We did not meet at work, but met out with mutual work friends.  We began dating in May 2007, were engaged on Thanksgiving in 2008 and were married on January 23, 2010 in Bryan.  The day couldn’t have been more amazing.  I hope to someday have my wedding photos to share with you but as some of you may or may not know my photographer has disappeared off the face of the earth (a topic which I am guaranteed to blog about at some point).

We are Christians first and foremost.  We love our church and are involved in our young married couple’s class.  We having amazing friends and family and we love to travel as much as possible.  I love doing our finances which is something I picked up from my mom, the financial planner.  We also love working out and being active.  Most recently we've been spending time fixing up our house which is coming along quite nicely!

As I am inspired I will be sure to express myself in blog form…hopefully not waiting as long as I did this time to post.  Topics will range but I will do my best to keep them interesting.

As my good friends the Ghost Hunters would say...on to the next!


Sunday, September 19, 2010

My Pet Leezard

It's 11:40 pm CST and I should be sleeping.  Tomorrow I am to impart my wisdom of interview skills to 10-15 Aggies by conducting mock interviews.  Rather than turn off the lights (and the current showing of Criminal Minds) I've been inspired by my good friend and former officemate, Amanda Joiner, to start my very own blog!

I know absolutely nothing about blogging.  In fact, Amanda's blog is probably the only one I've ever truly read.  I thought about introducing myself and talking about my reasons for starting a blog, but I decided instead to introduce you to my pet Leezard!

My husband Jason and I were married back in January of this year.  I never thought in a million years that I would inherit a reptile for a pet, but here I am.  I am now the proud owner of an albino leopard gecko named Leezard.  Leezard is almost 4 years old and despite the "albino" part of his title he is a beautiful mixture of yellow, brown and a purplish/pinkish color.





When Jason and I started dating and he took me home to meet his gecko (okay so he didn't literally take me home just to meet his gecko) I thought he was the ugliest thing I had ever seen.  Needless to say I am not the biggest fan of reptiles so it took a while before I warmed up to him.  It was well over 6 months into our relationship before I agreed to touch Leezard - with one finger only of course! 


About a year into dating Jason, I decided it was time for the next step in our relationship.  I went to Jason with my hands extended and said the words I'm sure most guys wants to hear "I think I'm ready."  Confused, yet interested, Jason's reply was "Okay....ready for what?"  I answered, "I am ready to hold Leezard."  He laughed and proceeded with helping to place Leezard in my hands.


Most people are surprised when I tell them I have a pet gecko.  I'm really more of the cat type and I dislike slimy/scaly things (I don't even eat fish).  I have to admit that Leezard is pretty cool.  He's hand trained so I never have to be scared picking him up.  He keeps me company when Jason travels (in an I sit in the bed and he just hangs out in his cage kind of way) and I often refer to him as Leezard Boo.  I am a pro at feeding him crickets and I do my best to do so with out actually touching them.

I chose Leezard as the topic of my first blog because on Friday, I bought him a new rock for his cage and it makes me happy to see him enjoying it.  I was a little worried he was getting bored with his old set up.  As I am approaching 12:30 am I think it is time for me to bid goodnight.  Leezard however will be awake until the morning.