The Whole German Life

The title of this post may seem misleading and it’s probably really terrible of me to write that title. Basically, I want to talk about two things today and I decided to smoosh them into a title together. Okay enough rationalizing.

Germany Venture Update: Sorry that my updates have been non-existent few and far between. Life has been kinda crazy recently. But I told those who are supporting me with prayers and finances that they would receive updates here on my blog. And that’s my plan!

Days until Germany: 51 Days!!

Financial Update: I’ve reached 1/2 way! Woohoo! Still $1900 to go…which is a lot. That number is very scary. How I wish I could just get a check for that amount in the mail…that would be awesome, ya know? But I’m going to trust God, pray, and work hard! I’m hoping to save about $800-$900 of my own money so I really only need to raise $1000 more (which is less scary but still scary).

Team Meetings: Our meetings have been going really awesomely! Our team is great and I’m really looking forward to experiencing Germany with them all! Recently we read and discussed the book “In the Garden of the Beast” by Erik Larson. It’s a non-fiction book about the US Ambassador to Hitler’s Germany during the 30’s. It’s crazy to read first hand accounts of the things that went on in Berlin during Hitler’s rise to power. We had a great discussion about the main character’s the Dodd’s – their daughter Martha was a very interesting person.

We’ve also been watching some great German films like Metropolis, Olympia, and Das Boot. We’re trying to read articles about current German Culture to get a feel for what we will experience while we are there. This week we are presenting on pre-WWII Germans who influenced their country and the world. I’m giving one on Wagner – will hopefully give a post on Wednesday or so about some cool things about him!

Whole30 Life

Yes. I just typed those words. I started the Whole30 on March 4th (on day 25 right now)! This has been an awesome adventure for me as I learn how my body handles different types of foods and as I experiment with making different things. I’m going to do a follow up post about my results but right now I’m loving this whole Whole30 thing. Check out the website and read the book!

Basically, for 30 days you cut out all sugar (including honey, maple syrup, stevia), alcohol (not a problem for an under 21er like myself), grains (including Quinoa and Rice – hardest part for me), and dairy (no cheese!). Then over the course of 10 days after your Day 30, you slowly reintroduce the different food groups and see how your body reacts. From there, you make a decision/game plan about how you are going to eat for the rest of your life! Except for being sick right now, I’ve been feeling the best I’ve every felt and don’t want to stop eating this way. However, I know that eating this way isn’t easy and isn’t practical for the rest of the semester. However, I’m trying to decide whether to extend it for a few more days (an extra week or so) or just see how things go while reintroducing the foods. I shall update you will my plan ;)

Wow, this has been a long (and probably boring) post for you to read so I’ll end it now! Thanks for reading!

The Miracle Check

Okay, this story is both an update on Germany and an amazing story to share about God’s provision!

So last week (Tuesday 2/17/15) I found out that each member of our team to Germany had a February fundraising goal of $1200 (aka a benchmark to shoot for). At the time I found out I only had $155 raised so far (which was pretty great in my opinion) so finding out that this goal existed was kinda stressful. How could I raise 10x what I currently had raised in a little over one week? So I prayed about it and went on with my week.

Wednesday night I came back to my apartment after a long day of school and work. I went to the mailbox for my apartment and opened it up to find three of my support envelopes sitting there along with some cards to my roommates. I got really excited and started opening the envelopes in the elevator. The first envelope was a note from a family friend expressing their excitement for me as I embark on this trip. It concluded with them expressing that they will be praying for me. Feeling loved, I got off the elevator and walked to my apartment.

When I unlocked the door I found a large group of people hanging in my living room. After saying hi and depositing my stuff in their appropriate places (coat to the closet and my backpack on the floor) I went to the bedroom to finish opening my response envelopes and drop off my roommates cards on her desk.

I opened the second envelope and found a check for $50 from one of my Mom’s really good friends. I was ecstatic! I couldn’t believe that people were willing to donate that much money to support me in my Germany Venture! She had also checked off the box on the response card saying she would be praying for me. I thought to myself, “I’ll need to prayers in order to raise the other $995 by next week.”

Then I opened the last envelope and started to cry. In it was a check for $1000. One thousand dollars. For me. For my trip. (it’s still making me tear up!). I didn’t feel worthy of such a large gift! The check was from another friend of my Mom’s – one of her childhood best friends. In that moment I thought two things: 1) I can’t believe that she wrote me a check for $1000! 2) Oh my goodness! This puts me at the fundraising goal of $1200 with $5 extra! Holy cow!

So sometimes huge surprises come in small envelopes and sometimes God has a plan is going to provide even when you don’t think it possible.  I had always known that God is Jehovah Jireh – the Provider – but never before had I seen such a clear picture of what it actually looked like. It’s not everyday you see a check for $1000 but it is everyday that God takes care of us.

So that’s my update on Germany! We’ve been studying Luther, World War I, and current political movements so far as a team. This week we are continuing to focus on World War I and the German culture.

Current Prayers: That the team will continue to bond as we meet weekly to discuss German culture and history. That each team member will be able to easily raise the entire amount ($3800) before we leave in May and that we would all be able to meet each monthly fundraising goal. Also pray for me as I try to learn a little bit of German and decide what I’m doing for the rest of the summer! I have something cool in the works but won’t know for a few more weeks. 

Germany

I have exciting news! I applied to be part of a research group to Germany (primarily Berlin) the last two weeks of May into June and was accepted! I will be joining 7 other students and a professor as we venture into Germany to research life there since the Wall fell.

The crazy thing is that I never wanted to go to Germany until I heard about this opportunity. Even though my aunt and uncle live there about half the year, I was never really interested. Now, I can’t wait! It’s as if this is finally my chance to do something with myself for a bigger purpose.

While we are there we will be meeting people and talking with them about German life, religion, values, traditions, etc. We will also be visiting historical sites, museums, and tourist attractions. Part of the trip is to do research and the other is to develop relationships with the people over there in hopes of establishing a more permanent trip or study abroad program.

However, before we land in Berlin we have a lot of work to do – primarily with raising support. Because this is a research trip backed by my school, we have to raise support in order to go! Which is a big challenge. I don’t just have a few extra thousand dollars in my bank account. So I have to rely on the generosity of others.

I will try to keep y’all up to date on the trip and different things! It is an exciting time in my life – my unbalanced life.

Budgets: A comprehensive list

If you just started following me, first off, YAY! Second, I’ve been discussing Budgets and what they are/how to make them. If you have any questions or tips, please let me know! I’m always interested in learning better ways to do things :)

Here are the three posts so that you have them all together in one place:

Budget 101: What is it?

Budget 102: How do I make one?

Budget 103: How to stick to it?

Well, there you go! Have a Happy Friday !

Budget 103: How to stick to it?

Now that we’ve made our budget, how do we stick to it? This is where I struggle the most so I’m going to be looking back to some experts on how to achieve victory with the budget.

Here are some tips from Dave Ramsey:

• Write it down on PAPER – Not Excel, not a Word Doc
• Use an envelope system  – like this or this check out these free apps

From Will Ray:

• Check out Will’s Tuesday Money tips each week! A lot have to do with making and sticking to your budget.
• Always go back and reconcile your budget towards the end of the month, as you prepare for the next.  Did you actually spend what you planned to spend?  Or did you blow the Starbucks budget sky high and forget to set aside money for gifts?
• Do a new budget every month.  No two months are the same, and budgets shouldn’t be the same either.  They should reflect what’s going to happen that coming month.

That’s all I have folks! Let me know if you have any particular questions and I will do my research and get back to you or make another post! I’m planning on sitting down this upcoming weekend and following Dave and Will’s advice for myself. I’ll definitely keep you updated with my progress :)

 

Budget 102: How do I make one?

Sorry to leave you on such a cliff hanger! Now that we’ve established what a budget is, we can move on to how to make one!

Once again, I will be using Will Ray’s advice on how to build a zero-based budget. You can also check out this post with a step by step guide.

Anyway, let’s get started!

Step 1: The Monthly Budget needs a name (the name of the month is okay or if you want you can come up with something super fun like “Warm Winter Month” or something). Don’t forget to date it (include the year)!

Step 2: Calculate monthly income. You can do this however you choose – by dividing yearly salary into months, or calculating hourly rate by hours worked each month. Either way you do it make sure to count out taxes!

Step 3: Now list all your expenses for the upcoming month (AKA monthly expenses). Not what you would like to spend but what you actually think you will spend (this is key. It’s also where I often go wrong with making my plan). Write an exhausted list – you don’t want to forget anything!

Step 4: Now take annual or semi-annual expenses and divided them up by the remaining months. Add to your list from step 3. Don’t forget to allow for unexpected expenses and vacations (cause you definitely need a vacation)!

Step 5: Now add up all your expenses and subtract from your monthly income. Still have extra income? Allot it to another expense area. Don’t forget your Savings, Rainy Day Fund, or Spending Money! Are your expenses more than your income? Take a look at the areas you can cut back on for this month.

Woohoo! We did it! The budget is complete. Now all that’s left is to stick to it and carry it out.

Budget 101: What is it?

Like I promised in my first post, we’re going to talk about building a budget today! Who is excited??? No one? Well, hopefully after this post you will be!

Do you know where every cent of your money goes? Do you feel like you can never afford things? Panic when it’s someone’s birthday? If you answered no to the first question and yes to the other two questions then you need to budget your money! And you’re not alone! I’m terrible with my money (at least with knowing where it all goes). I’m great with making a budget but once I get done with the planning out phase, I fail to move on to the recording phase. So join me as I go back to the basics and learn what a budget is, how to set one up, and (most importantly) how to stick to it!

First, let’s answer a few questions:

1) What is a budget? According to mymoneycoach.ca (love the picture they use to explain budgets, check it out!), is a plan on how you will spend your money. Budgeting is therefore the using and forming of said plan. It’s where you make sure that your expenses match your income!

2) Why is budgeting so important? Because you are telling your money where to go (i.e. get spent) instead of it (or your friend’s birthday present) telling you where to go and spend it.

3) How do I set one up? I’m glad you asked! For this, I’m going to turn to the experts – Dave Ramsey and William Ray. Both are Christian men who want you to succeed in managing your money! I’m going to tackle this in the next post, so stay tuned!

3 Areas of Life to Balance (ASAP)!

1. Money – what did you think I was going to say? The way we spend money needs to be done in a ‘balanced’ way (aka a budget). I’m not very good at sticking to this one myself but starting Monday I’m putting myself on a budget and will report my progress on the following Friday.

2. Food – We all know that we should eat more veggies and fruits but what does a balanced diet look like? (hopefully not the above picture…) Stay tuned as I discuss my own eating habits and popular diets (Paleo, Gluten-Free, etc).

 

3. Work & Play– Most people in America (especially New York) overwork and over commit themselves. To ‘balance’ out this workaholic society, most of us abuse our favorite ways to relax (I’m looking to you Netflix). So whether it be finding the time to take a break and actually chill (peace, quiet, ahh) or ending your Gilmore Girls marathons (just one more episode…it’s 3am?) I want to discuss how to say no to over-committing and no to too much relaxing.