How I Paid Off My Credit Cards...

It all started in high school....I was shopping at American Eagle (yep), I wanted an outfit, but I didn't have enough money to pay for it at the time. So what did my non-responsible self do? I decided to open a credit card. Want to know how much limit they gave a non-credit-having teen? $100. Ha. That was such a blessing in disguise. 

That was probably the start to my credit card addiction. 

Freshman year of college, I opened up an Express and Victoria's Secret card, almost simultaneously. I wanted to be fashionable and again, had no money. 

Senior year came the Best Buy card. I really wanted a digital camera and of course I had to have the picture printer to go along with it. Later, I went on to buy my ex-boyfriend a Xbox. #dumbass

After college came the Saks (David Yurman ring and bracelet? Yes please!), Pottery Barn (wedding gifts galore), and South Carolina Federal (my bank - so that I could charge whatever I wanted!). 

You know what all of that gets you? 
$7,000 in credit card debt and hardly anything to show for it. 

Back in August of 2010, when Cameron and I really started getting serious about our relationship, he created a balance sheet and income statement for me that I would fill out every month. It helped me see where my money was going and it was an easy way to watch the balances of my credit cards go down. I probably didn't start cracking down on my cards until last year when I had about $4,000 left to pay off. But in that short amount of time (roughly a year), I managed to pay the rest of it off with the method below. I would use my work bonuses, tax refunds, etc towards it. Anything I could! 

Here's what worked for me:
The Dave Ramsey Snowball Plan

-I took the credit card with the lowest balance and focused on that one first. I would pay the minimum payments on the rest of the cards, and use whatever extra money I had, plus the minimum payment, towards the card I was focusing on. Dave said it best when he said, "You need some quick wins in order to stay pumped enough to get out of debt completely." Each time I paid off another credit card, it felt awesome, and turned into more of a game for me to see how fast I could pay off the next one. 

-After I paid off a card, I would add that money that I normally paid towards it, towards the next one. My bank account didn't know the difference because I was paying the same amount each month towards the cards, but the card that I was focusing on, was getting 2, 3, or 4 times the amount of the of the minimum payment. 

It's as simple as that! 

I hope this short little post may help you in some way in paying off your credit card debt, if you are trying to!

By the way, I am in NO way promoting this kind of behavior. It was very stupid on my end and obviously I've spent years (and LOTS of interest) paying these cards off. 

A Day Off {Pool, Trader Joe's Trip + Prayer Request}

I just realized that this is my last full week at my current job! Woohoo! Next week I'm only working 3 days and I cannot wait!

Since I'm working an event this upcoming Saturday, I had the day off today. My friend, Katie, met me at my in-laws house so that we could get some sun and catch up on our busy lives. 

We lasted about 3 hours before the heat started getting to us. I headed to Mt. Pleasant for a Trader Joe's trip and figured since I like to see what out people buy, I'd show you what I got! Now this was not a huge haul, as I had just gone to Harris Teeter yesterday, so keep that in mind. 

Ginger Beer - $3.99

Organic Chicken Broth - $1.99

Sparkling Pink Lemonade - Just realized this isn't on my receipt! Woopsie!

White Cheddar Corn Puffs - $1.99

Organic Red & Green Mixed Grapes - $4.49

Pita Chips - $1.99

Shaved Brussels Sprouts - $2.79

White Button Mushrooms - $1.79

Georgia Peaches - $.69 each

Coffee Ice Cream - $3.99

Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas - $1.99

Mediterranean Hummus - $3.99

Carne Asada - $10.94

Mint - $1.69

Chile Verde Chicken Burritos - $2.99

Garlic & Herb Pizza Dough - $1.29

Total after Tax: $49.40

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Lastly, I have a prayer request for some very close friends of mine. If you've been following for a while, you've heard me mention my friend Tim, who has been battling colon cancer for the past 4 years. Keep in mind, he just turned 31. His wife, Jenny, is one of my sorority sisters. He was admitted to the ICU last Friday due to high fever, trouble breathing, and issues he's been having with his pancreas, and has had plenty of ups and downs since then. They removed him from ICU on Saturday, but he was placed back in there today. He has a million people supporting and praying for him, but he could always use more. 

You can find out more and keep up with his status here on their blog.

We love you, Tim! Keep fighting!

Friday Five.

{one}

Pineapple Thank You Cards

{two}
F21 Tulip-Sleeve Dotted Blouse

{three}
Brady love
Brady went to go stay with my parents Tuesday night - Thursday morning. We got a new roof installed on our house and didn't think the workers would like a noisy dog barking at them all day. The house was so quiet and there was no one to lick up any spilled crumbs. We didn't like that feeling one bit and were so happy to see him yesterday back in our house when we got home from work!

{four}
Union Provisions
Last night a group of us went out to eat for our friend, Justin's, birthday at Union Provisions. It is a recently new restaurant located on upper King Street in an 114 year old renovated building. The menu is tapas style, so Cameron and I ordered a couple of things to share. Along with what you'll see below, we also ordered the fried oyster salad, which turned out to be our favorite dish of the night. The other plates, unfortunately, we were not blown away by. The Duck Carbonara was probably our second favorite item. 

Pickled Veggie Plate

 Chicken & Dumplings                        /                          Duck Carbonara 

{five}
Update on the risotto
I got a great response to the risotto recipe I posted on Tuesday, so I wanted to update y'all! I, like a lot of you, was always intimidated to make risotto, but I'm telling you, it's really not hard! It's time consuming, but not hard. Highly suggest you try it out soon!

Here's how mine turned out:
 (I didn't add spinach like the recipe called for because I was lazy and didn't feel like stopping at the store.)

I'm off to the beach to enjoy a day in the sun with my sis-in-law and nieces!
Have a great weekend!!

Tomato-Basil & Spinach Risotto.

Tonight I'm attempting to make risotto for the first time. Kind of nervous! Seems to be a labor intensive recipe, but I am ready for the challenge! 

Have you ever made risotto before? Any tips?

Tomato-Basil & Spinach Risotto

Photo and recipe from Iowa Girl Eats

2-1/2 cups chicken broth

1 Tablespoon butter

1 shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

salt & pepper

3/4 cup arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded & chopped (or equivalent amount of Roma or Compari tomatoes)

2 cups baby spinach

handful torn basil

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

 Bring chicken broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to low and keep hot. 

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat then add shallot, season with salt & pepper, and then saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add garlic then saute for 30 more seconds.

Add rice then stir to coat in butter. Add wine then stir until nearly absorbed by rice. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth then stir continuously until broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until nearly absorbed before adding more.

When there’s 1/4 of the broth remaining, add tomatoes then continue stirring. Add baby spinach and basil with the last broth addition then continue stirring. Stir in parmesan cheese then add more salt & pepper to taste.

Weekend of Fun {Greyson's 1st Birthday + Hootie Concert}.

Happy Monday morning! 

Writing from my comfy couch with a cup of hot coffee right next to me, waiting on the (when is it ever going to end) rain to begin. This is my last day of my 4 day weekend, and my, has it been nice!

Here's what I was up to this weekend...

On Friday, Emily, Lane, and I drove to Bluffton to to celebrate Greyson's 1st birthday! His party wasn't until Saturday, but since I couldn't make it, I still wanted to spend time with him and his parents!

After we got the boys a snack and waited for the rain to stop, we rode around the neighborhood on the golf cart, just catching up and admiring all of the beautiful homes. 

We kept it low key that night, just ordering some Mellow Mushroom, drinking some red wine, and watching some tv. The next morning, everyone woke up bright and early, Kelly Anne made some delicious cinnamon rolls, we drank some coffee, and played with the babes. I took off kind of early to head back to Charleston, but not before snapping a couple of pics of the party decor. 

Isn't this banner that Emily made ADORABLE?!? 

Once I got back to Charleston, Cameron and I grabbed lunch at Sesame (their Southwestern salad is so good!), and went to Belk to look for some shorts for him. While we were walking to Belk, there was a little fashion show going on in the middle of the mall. Cameron said, "that looks like Marin! (our niece)" It was! She, and her sister Kaylin, were there doing a little modeling, thanks to her big sister signing her up behind her back. Sounds like something I would do to my sister. :) They were so cute in their outfits and it was such a nice surprise to run into them, as well as my sister in law, Kara! We had just previously run into Cameron's cousin, Courtney, as Sesame, too!

That evening, we went to the Hootie & the Blowfish concert on Daniel Island. They don't really play together anymore, except for this Homegrown concert, which is the 8th annual. This concert also encourages concert goers to donate school supplies that will go to multiple Charleston County schools, which is awesome! We got hooked up again this year with VIP passes (thanks, Ford!), which let us go backstage, drink free booze, and enjoy amazing seats. 

Here's Darius waving to me!

(ok, not really)

I love that he always represents the Gamecocks. 

(And he did a lot of trash talking during in between songs, which I thought was funny)

This song ("Hey Hey What Can I Do"), which was on their Scattered, Smothered, and Covered cover cd and is a Led Zeppelin cover, is always one of my favorites that they perform. It's a guaranteed hip shaker for Darius, which is always nice for the ladies. 

Edwin McCain was one of the openers, along with Drivin' and Cryin', and Edwin joined the band during the encore to sing Solitude. Another favorite.

Hope everyone stays safe out there with all of the rain and high tides! Especially those downtown Charleston and Greenville! 

Dreaming {Entryway}.

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A Very Special Birthday.

Today is my brother-in-law's 40th birthday! 

Unfortunately, I never got to meet him because he passed away at such a young age, but from the stories I've heard from Cameron, his mom, and his friends, he was a pretty awesome guy. Seeing pictures of Cameron and his brother make me so happy, and sad, all at the same time. It's so obvious that Cameron looked up to his big brother, who was 10 years older than him. I cannot even fathom what my mother-in-law has felt over the past 19 years. Ok, I cannot cry at work, so I'll have to wrap this up. 

I provided a little snippet of Travis' story on my rehearsal dinner post because we honored him in a few ways during our wedding weekend. 

Happy Birthday, Travis!