Where did the summer go?????!!

 It’s already gone. Official sports practices are in motion. No more skipping a day here and there. No getting away. 

So the two high schoolers (gulp, I only have high school kids left) and I went to my work to pick some things up and then off to bowl and eat.  Anyone who knows me knows this is truly a treat.  I can’t even remember the last time I bowled. Probably for my 26 year olds 13th birthday?  But it was just the three of us. I forgot to make reservations so we just kindly asked if they had a lane and we ended up with a private room for awhile.

We had an hour time like so we got two and half games in. The last game was a lightening round meaning no prep just bowl as soon as the pins drop. That was my best game. We each won one. Then we had lunch at the alley so Chelsi could go to work. It was a really nice time.  The only pics and video were from the beginning. After that we just enjoyed. So yeah…Jae did actually start putting his fingers in the holes and bowling right. He did much better then. 

Cashback for eating out??

We’ll let me tell you. You can double up for sure. 

I hadn’t had Dominos Pizza in years but my husband really wanted it. I saw we had 20% cashback (up to $10 back) on the Upside App. Check out this free app that gets you cash back on gas and other errands! Click this link or use promo code XTNA6F to get a $5 bonus the first time you make a purchase. https://upside.app.link/XTNA6F

Well we used our credit card that gets us 3% cashback on dining and then set the payment method in Upside to that specific credit card and voila. We got 3% back from the credit card company (full disclosure; we pay our credit cards off in full monthly) and the full $10 back from Upside for our $50 order. We essentially got back $11.50 for several pizzas which means we netted paying less than $40. 

If you’re going to spend, spend wisely. Join upside for money back on gas, groceries and dining!!

#cashback #makemoneyonnecessities #bestcashback

My baby boys favorite snack!

 

My youngest kiddo’s favorite snack?  Well, when we went to Korea, as a family, in 2013 an ajumma fed him some anchovies.  They were dried and we were all kinda….well not feeling it like he was. Ever since then he’s asked for them but we live in small town with an Asian market about 40 minutes away. But I look every time I go. In 10 years I’ve never found them until this weekend. They had dried, seasoned anchovies and he was in Heaven. He had them opened so fast I didn’t have my camera out because I was still putting the other items away. All I hard was the crack of the container and then a low, “mmmmm”. He finished them the same day.  They smelled so bad to me but he LOVES them. 

True Korean kid. He loves his gojuchang spice and anchovies. 

Rock this and paper towel holder

He wanted paper towels handy when we eat out by the pool, which is often.  So I found this holder for $10 and you can either stick it or screw it.  Our bar slats weren’t very thick and the screws that came with it were too long and would have gone through. I have quite the collection of screws if the sticky tape doesn’t hold so I’m not too worried just trying this first.  Sticky tape it is….for now. 

It’s now been up for several days and it’s been hot and humid   The tape hasn’t let go AND the paper towels haven’t unrolled  love this!

See link  below 👇🏼👇🏼 

Paper Towel Holder Under Cabinet, Single Hand Operable Wall Mount Paper Towel Holder with Damping Effect, Self-Adhesive or Drilled Paper Roll Holders for Kitchen, Bathroom, RV(2 Towel Robe Hooks) https://a.co/d/2q5xYBo

#affiliate #amazonfinds #papertowelholder #nomess #makelifeeasier #outdoorpatioaccessories

You rock Drew!

 

Such an example for mid aged women everywhere. It’s kind of impossible to live up to the Barbie images most models and celebs portray.  So hearing one say hey I’m just going to embrace my grey and whatever else comes is so welcomed to this almost 50 year old woman.  She’s not saying to hell with yourself, let it all go. She’s saying you don’t have to do Botox and have lifts and other surgeries to look younger.  Try to eat well, throw in some exercise but if things aren’t perfect embrace them,  

Thanks Drew!

Best ambience decor

 

I still love these Amazon purchases so much. From my plug in candles to my fairy lights that go at the base of my faux palm and into my little sea shell lantern. They both are on timer but they’re so pretty at night.  

Plug in candles

Warm fairy lights

#ambience #affiliate #amazonfinds #creative decor

So much accomplished on a hot Saturday

 I got my new Kasa motion switch installed for my pantry closet so we can see inside the pantry.  And then off to Lowe’s to get a garden box and some soil to transplant the tomatoes and peppers. For whatever reason they’ve not been happy in our raised bed so I had heard good things about this and had to try.  We’ll see how it goes.  The husband wants to put strawberries in the old raised bed next year so we will give it a try before leveling it.  I like the idea of how the garden box works. We shall see. 

After planting we jumped in for a swim and had friends over  some stayed to watch another Cardinals game  

I LOVE productive yet relaxing days  

I’ll post more on the garden box at a later date. 

Your chance to get that switch!

 

Kasa smart motion switch here!

These are some of those Kasa switches that I’m always talking about.  Extremely awesome price today. Likely won’t return. Can’t wait to install mine in the pantry!

Real record player for my daughter….score Amazon lightening deal

 

I just scored this record player for my daughters birthday.  She’ll be 18 soon and mentioned asking for one for Christmas because our budget is too low for a birthday.  But at just under $40 I could sneak it in. She will be so surprised and excited!

If you see this during Prime Deals 2023 get it while you can. Link below 

Lightening deal record player

High deductible health plans and your adult children on your insurance (you need to know)

 What you don’t know could get you audited.

Luckily I had came upon this a few years ago when my oldest went out on his own. But I was disappointed to find that our congress and most HR staff didn’t know that when congress allowed parents to keep their children on their health insurance until age 26 and high deductible health plans (HDHP) came along they didn’t fix tax code to match up to the change and make it make sense.

So yep you can keep them on there but you cannot pay their medical bills with your HSA (health savings account) finds unless you are able to legally claim as a dependent. That’s really only possible with student adult or disabled children. Publication 969 explains all of this.

When I tell HR this they say well just have said child open their own HSA? That does work if your child also has their own employer sponsored HDHP. If not, the employer won’t set up an HSA so the child would have to get their own through a bank and most local banks will charge fees AND they’re no longer getting the tax savings of having it deducted from their paycheck. You’re better off putting it anywhere else at that point.

In my middle sons case, he got a job with the same large organization I happen to work for, so they don’t allow him to have his own and be on mine. So he’s only going to be on mine so at least he gets the benefit of meeting the family deductible until later, when he turns 26. And if he decides to return to grad school this will be better in the long run.  In my middle sons case, he got a job with the same large organization I happen to work for, so they don’t allow him to have his own and be on mine. So he’s only going to be on mine so at least he gets the benefit of meeting the family deductible until later, when he turns 26. And if he decides to return to grad school this will be better in the long run.

Fortune, when they turn 18 in my house I made them open a Roth IRA. They all work at age 16, so they all can legally contribute. They just open it with $2k to start and that starts the clock ticking on the 5 year rule.

That’s another topic for another day!  #healthinsurance #healthinsuranceadultchildren #adultchildinsurance #claimingdependents

Sweet little kitten

 

We love our sweet little kitten so much. He’s not such a kitten anymore. He’s  over a year. His sleeping positions, in the summer heat, crack us up. He lies on the floor, in various chairs and hangs off the zero gravity lounger.  He always makes us laugh and is so sweet. 

Our sweet Loki is growing up. 

We waited….I waited…a long time

 

I have wanted a pool since I was a kid. I LOVE the water. I was born to be near the water. When the older kids were little we had a couple of framed pools for several years. $100 was all we could afford but they had fun in it. It was worth it. I still wanted a pool I could float in but couldn’t make sense of the expense.  

THEN…. The mortgage rates dropped and the interest we saved refinancing down to 2.375 and 15 years was about $100k in interest. We cashed the house some money (while keeping in range by plenty so as not to pay PMI) and found someone to put in a pool. This is of course, more  than 10 years after all those small pools but it was worth the wait. It was never for them. It was for us to enjoy. We will be here even after they fly. And we use it almost every day. And the biggest reward is having friends and family over to enjoy with us AND the pool completely eliminates my husbands nerve pain from his spinal cord injury. Wait for what you really want. 

Keep dreaming and keep trying and working. 

#waitfordreams #patience #nervepainrelief #refinanceforpool #worthit

Samsung electric stove review

 

Out with our old broken Maytag. Good riddance. I hate aqua clean ovens. They DON’T clean!  But the electronics quit working so we decided to sell this one super cheap to someone who could fix it themselves. It was going to cost us too much and we needed a stove asap as we cook every single day!

Enter 

Our Samsung with air fryer. I was not specifically looking for an airfryer oven because I love our Ninja Foodie. And I was skeptical. But this one had a bigger oven capacity than our old one so I can actually fit more in there without the cost of a double oven and it was on sale. I guess the perk of breaking down right before Memorial Day weekend. We read the reviews while we were at the store and they did sell us on the credit card to get an extra $100 off. I never take those but figured $100 was worth it and I won’t use the card again. The only negative reviews really were about the glass top scratching easily.  My old Maytag didn’t look too bad. I’ve seen worse but we were careful to clean it. However I feel like my carbon steel pans were hard on it so we will not be using them on this one. We have a side burner we use on the cast iron anyways. I did brush up on making my old stainless steel set of pans non stick so we could use them on the stove and sure enough it works!  

After one month of constant use, there’s nothing not one slightly hazy spot. 

Otherwise we’ve been keeping it in good condition. 

The air fryer genuinely impressed me. With our Ninja we have to do quite a few batches when we’re all here. With the Samsung oven we can do everything at one time. And the fries turn out pretty much the same as the Ninja air fryer but not quite as good a oil frying. The oven has a lot of settings and things that we will likely never use but it has the old style of heat cleaning and I’ve already used that and it’s awesome!  My husband does want to try the dehydrator. It does link up to Alexa but have yet to figure out how to turn it on to preheat. I can turn it off though. 

I LOVE THE LOOK of it. It’s very streamlined and goes nicely with my counters. I love the typical Samsung music when anything changes like preheating etc.  Something we became very accustomed to in Korea.  

All in all, we’re loving it!

How to avoid handprints near light switches

 

Voila!

Lutron motion switch here!

I installed these in the walk through pantry and laundry room shortly after moving in. I noticed handprints near the switches and was having to wash the walls.  This has saved me a lot of anxiety and cleaning time and breakdown of paint.  Worth it!

Had to share!!! Cool children’s book

 

Get the Dude Perfect children’s book here

We have watched a LOT of Dude Perfect over the years. My 23 year old watched it a bit when they first started and my 14 year old grabbed on. He loves watching them. He even asks for the merchandise. He has a hat and some shirts and even got a new one this year when he outgrew the old. 

The thing is I like him watching them. They’re clean fun and pretty funny when we watch with him. I was literally seeing this book while he was watching them this morning and if he was his younger self I would buy it for him. Such a cute book with a $3 coupon. 

#affiliate #amazonfind #dudeperfect #dudeperfectbook

Great Etsy jewelry find

 

Link to this Etsy jewelry store 👉 https://www.etsy.com/shop/mysignaturejwl

I’m it one to wear much jewelry. Mostly because in the past anything that’s not solid gold turns and discolors on me. But I really wanted a necklace with my kids names on it in Hangul. I’m took a chance and ordered this this Spring. I worked it to sweaty track meets and all the way through our Florida vacation with sunscreen and saltwater. To my EXTREME surprise it hasn’t turned yet and has held up well. It’s also adjustable in length from 16”-18” for $30. 

I love this necklace so much!  Check out her store. And she was retry quick to ship. 

My favorite sale of the year!

 

I used to love Black Friday. Don’t get me wrong. I still find some great deals on things we need or Christmas requests….and streaming deals.  But Prime Days Deals have quickly become a favorite. It’s 3 months prior to any Black Friday deals and I ALWAYS have items saved in my Amazon cart for things I like or need but don’t like the price yet. You can start watching the prices drop on them days leading to and through Prime Day. 

By the way, when is Prime Days you ask?  July 11th and 12th for 2023. They’re coming soon so if you don’t have a Prime Membership get one. If you’ve never had one you can get a 30 day free trial with all the benefits below

 👇🏼👇🏼

Amazon Prime Free Trial

https://amzn.to/46eFZMu

If you’re a student try the 6 month trial membership just for students 

👇🏼👇🏼

Amazon Prime Student 6-Month Trial
https://amzn.to/46f5kpz

It’s going to be fun!!

#affiliate #amazonfinds #primedaydeals #amazonprimeday #loadyourcarts

Motion sensor switches? Why not?

 

I LOVE these Lutron motion switches. They keep the kids’ dirty hands off both the switches and walls. These are great for closets, pantries and other pass through rooms. We even have it in our laundry room. You can set the time to varying increments of which the lights will stay on before turning off.  They’re also super easy to install.  I did ours myself several years ago. 

Lutron motion detecting indoor light switch

Why faux flowers are awesome?

 

This is why.  

We’ve been in a drought since last year and the grass is brown and probably dying again but my flowers by the door are great. Admittedly, I’m not very good about remembering to water things. I have my arborvitaes on a drip system I put together last year because they’re WAY too expensive to lose. But anything in the front kinda always gets forgotten. 

Still looking good!

Link to post on putting together pot of faux plants

Stainless steel straws?

 

Comparable stainless steel straw pack

I’ve had these for 6 years. The kids use them, I use them they stay super clean and no discarding straws uselessly. These are definitely worth the money you save and you’re being good to the planet!

Collect sea shells from the beach?

 

I keep sea shells from different beaches. I usually put them in small glass dishes or vases and label them on the bottom. I didn’t have any from Shell Key already so I wanted to keep them from the last trip but wanted a unique display. My husband and I found this little lantern at Home Goods.  And it has a door on it so I put all the shells inside and placed it right next to my faux palm (another video) where it could share the fairy lights without anyone seeing. It’s adorable, unique and I love it!  

What do you think? 

 #seashells #seashelldisplay #cutevacationdecor #uniquedecor

New series for Amazon products

 Im going to spend the next several posts highlighting different items that I, likely, haven’t already shared. These will be pitches made 2019 or prior that I still have and use. It’s hard to find anything that lasts more than a year anymore so I’m going to share with things that have definitely been worth my money!

#moneysavingtips #mindfulfrugalista #amazonfinds

Yes, I actually have curly hair

 Not straight. 

I’ve been with my husband for over 30 years. I think it’s funny that my mother in law still thinks my hair is straight because, in all these years, she’s never seen it anything but straight or up with a hat.  I guess I’ve never actually swam in front of her because that’s how it dries.  But this ⬆️⬆️ is my normal hair.