Ya'll - I'm Published!

Last year, around August, I was contacted by a magazine and asked to write an article for their quarterly publication. To say that I was thrilled is an understatement. It was a total God thing because He somehow orchestrated the right people to be in the right meeting at the right time discussing the right topic and miraculously my name came up. I've since been asked to write for them a few more times and they have been so fantastic and lovely to work with. It's also been a great outlet for me as I love to write and this has given me a good excuse to get to use a thesaurus. Oh how I love the thesaurus. I know, I'm a nerd. Granted, I just had to use spell check to fix "thesarus." I love words but spelling them is a whole other story. :)

Anyhoo, I digress.

In case you've never heard of FUSION, they are a devotional magazine for adults published by Randall House and it's distributed in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The magazine is part of the D6 curriculum that my church uses. I love the D6 program because it is consistent across the board, meaning that I am studying the same themes that my 5-year-old is learning about in her Sunday School class. It's really neat to hear her take on the same subject and it makes it super easy to discuss Biblical principles together.

Because there is such a big lead time in the publishing world, my article has just been released but this is a perfect time to share it. In the article, I give some ideas for how to have a fantastic and fun summer without breaking the bank. We are seriously counting down the last few days of school over here. Bring on summer fun!!! So, without further ado, please check out my very first published article....

Summer Family Fun on a Budget

(can I just tell you how cool it is to see my name in print! squee!!!)

RECIPE: Loaded Potato Soup

Here's another favorite at our house. We actually had it tonight. YUM!

Photo By Real Mom Kitchen

LOADED POTATO SOUP

2 large baking potatoes 1/3 cup butter 1/3 cup flour 3 cups milk 1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper 2 green onions, chopped 6 slices bacon 1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese 1/2 cup sour cream

Peel and chop potatoes into small pieces. Boil in water until tender. Set aside. Cook bacon, drain and crumble. Set aside. In a dutch oven, melt butter and whisk in flour. When combined, pour in milk. Stir over high heat until a roux is formed. Reduce to low-medium heat. Add salt, pepper, onions, bacon, cheese and half of the potato chunks. Mash the remaining potatoes and add to the mixture. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Garnish with extra onions, bacon, cheese, and sour cream if desired. Serves 4. Can be doubled.

FREE Finance Software to Start The Year RIGHT!

Last year about this time I was introduced to Mint.com. I tried it for a few weeks and I loved it. You can read what I had to say about it here but I was anxious to come back and review this program after a year.
Mint has been a HUGE time-saver for me! My favorite features include being able to set up my own categories and budgets that are specific to our family. I also love all the visual tools they have available. A quick glance on the bar graph lets me know if we are on track with our budget for this month or not. I also really enjoyed looking at the data over a year's time to really see where our money goes. What can I say, I'm a sucker for pie charts. ;)
One of the neatest features is being able to "split" a transaction. Let's say I'm at Target purchasing household items and also picking up a birthday gift. Instead of me having to "split" the transaction at Target, I can do it with a click of the mouse at home and designate just how much of the purchase should go into each category. They also have apps for iPhone and Android, so you can check it on the go.
It's the start of a new year, which is the perfect time to get your finances in order. I hope that you will love MINT just as much as I do. Did I mention that it was FREE? Check it out for yourself.


Mint.com also comes with some amazing reviews from Time, PC Mag, and Money Magazine who give it extremely high marks for security, functionality, and ease of use!