I wasn't planning on posting today.  I really didn't have any particular inspiration.  However, at about 2:00 this afternoon, inspiration presented itself.  We had a layoff at work today.  An out-of-the-blue, Holy Crap, totally unexpected layoff.  

It wasn't me, thank God, but I felt the brush of the bullet as it zoomed past me.   There are two of us in the Salt Lake office and in 30 days, there will only be one of us.  I don't even know how many others there were in the other departments because the grapevine hasn't gotten around to me.  


That was such a shocking moment, I was just sitting there shaking.  What if it had been me?  The other gal is a recent widow so if it came down to the two of us, I would have put the money on ME having the meeting with HR this morning, so I am feeling very, very lucky.  


But the practical lesson here is that financial devastation like this can happen at any time.  Yes she will have some severance pay and unemployment benefits to hold her over for a while, but she is the sole breadwinner of her family and I am the main breadwinner in mine.  You have to have a plan in place BEFORE the ugly news comes your way.  


That is a great argument for doing everything in your power to keep your debts low (or non-existent) and build up that emergency fund, because emergencies doesn't ever come on a schedule.  They come when you least expect them.  

And obviously, do whatever you can possibly do to keep your name OFF that layoff list.  I think in my case, my saving grace was that I have multiple talents - my accounting skills, some general Telecom experience, and a lot of technical skill in databases and spreadsheets that my co-workers don't have.  Plus I handle one of the largest vendors in the company and am always begging for more.  So they know that I am willing to handle a workload that would choke a horse!  Apparently, that's a good thing to be known for. 

Because being broke and unemployed is just not a fun experience.  When we first moved to Utah, my husband's promised job fell through.  Jobs were harder than we expected. I ended up out of work for four months and he was out of work for six and we both took a 30%-40% pay cut.  We didn't have money for bills, prescriptions, diapers, entertainment, and had to borrow money from our folks for groceries.  We finally ended up short-selling our house and living in my parent's basement for a year.  That was our rock bottom and I'm not too interested in going back there ever again.  I don't want to see you end up there either.  


Stop by every Thursday for a fresh dose of Smart Money.  If you'd like to see past posts on the subject, just click the link below for a complete list. 

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Friday, April 8, 9 am- 8 pm - No strollers before noon due to crowds

Saturday, April 9, 8 am – 2 pm - Clothes & shoes an extra 25% off on Sat.


However, there is a little secret.  There is a pre-sale to get first crack at all the best stuff!  A very exclusive pre-sale that only lasts for just an hour and a half - 7 PM to 8:30 PM on Thursday April 7th.  Usually this event is only for the dozens of volunteers who help out with the sale.  However, I'm going to give you a chance to win one of these exclusive pre-sale tickets.  


Just FYI - kids are not allowed at the Pre-sale.  It's kind of a mob scene and we don't want anyone getting hurt.  And besides, you need your arms free for grabbing all the great deals.  


PS:  If you don't win a pre-sale ticket, you might be able to volunteer for a 3 hour shift and earn one - if there's any spots left.  Leave me a comment and I'll put you in touch with the organizers.  'Cuz I know people....


To win the pre-sale ticket - You get ONE entry just for leaving me a comment.  You get a SECOND entry if you Tweet or Facebook this to your friends.  You get a THIRD entry if you follow my blog.  Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  


I will draw the winner on April 2nd and I will Email you immediately to get your address to mail your pre-sale ticket.  Please be sure there is a valid Email on your profile or in your comment.  NoReplyBlogger isn't going to be helpful here.  

Anyway, I hope you can come.  This is going to be a great sale and all the leftover clothes and proceeds are going to go to local charities and to support our church programs.  So you get a good bargain and do a good deed at the same time.  Sounds like a winner to me!  




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I'm going to be guest posting over at Memories by Christine in a few days.  She has a baby theme going on this month, so I thought I'd share some pictures of some of my favorite babies.  These pages were all made in Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio program, which is my favorite toy in the world these days!  




This is Koston, my great-great nephew, along with his Daddy Robbie, and his proud grandparents.  I wanted a "manly" theme, so I went with the Old Olive graph paper for the background and then added some highlights with our Extreme Elements sets.  I really struggled with the color combo on this, but finally settled for Not Quite Navy for the photo borders, and Dusty Durango and So Saffron for the stars with a grey drop shadow to give them a little depth.  I added a little bit of zigzag stitching along the edges just for giggles. 


This is yours truly.  A few of my very rare baby pictures.  I chose a Brocade patterned background in our Going Grey shade for both pages with a patterned paper in my favorite Cherry Cobbler paired with Very Vanilla.  Then I matched the page borders and text in more Cherry Cobbler With a few Old Olive accents like the leaves and the little swirlies on the 2nd page.  I love being able to size and rotate elements however I want to get the maximum use out of my elements.  I used the same flower from our Vintage Vogue set and added some silver buttons to make pretty centers for them. 




This is my youngest granddaughter and grandson.  Both adorable redheads!  This was literally a 5 minute page because this floral border is a stamp set you can just pop in there.  All I had to do was size the pictures and line them up on the Certainly Celery background and toss on a couple of borders.  Easy peesey!  I love pages that put more emphasis on the pictures. 


This is my late best friend Maxine holding my son Blake on the day he was born.  I love this color combo - Baja Breeze with Whispter White and a little bit of black.  I wanted the embellishment to show up a bit more, so I duplicated it in black and then layered it to give it a bit of the pop.  The lacy borders around the picture really set it off nicely.  It's a simple page, but with a memorial page like this, you want more emphasis on the picture and the journalling. 


This is my granddaughter Ella about a year ago.  Now she's got about 6 inches of flaming red hair.  It's amazing to see how much they change in just a year or so.  Naturally for a girly page, you want it all fussy and frilly, so I added our Medallion stamp in Pirouette Pink and then faded it out to about 50%.  Then I added a bit of lace trim, some little swirlies in grey, and a few assorted flower embellishments.  if I'd wanted a hybrid page, I could have added the real elements after printing and they would have match perfectly, but since I share a lot of pages online, I don't do a lot of hybrid work.  Then I added her name in a silver frame down in the corner.

Please note that a couple of these pages were inspired by samples posted in our online repository for Stampin' Up!  The Koston page was inspired by a sample posted in our monthly demonstrator magazine Stampin' Success.  It's a great resource provided to all active demonstrators at no cost.

Just as an FYI, I do sell this program and if you order it from me before Thursday, you can get in on our great Sale-a-bration special and you'll be able to receive an extra stamp set, digital download, or several other incentive items for free.  Contact me at AdriansCrazyLife at Gmail dot com for more info. 

Stop by every Tuesday for a fresh dose of Stamped Stuff.  If you'd like to see past posts on the subject, click the label at the bottom of the page for a complete list. 

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OK, I know I'm a little late on this one, but I'm finally getting a minute to write about the tragedy in Japan.  We've all seen the horrific videos and pictures of this unbelievable disaster, but I don't know if anyone can actually comprehend the scope of it.  


I think the local equivalent would be if the cities of Salt Lake, Ogden, and Provo were wiped off the face of the earth in about half an hour.  Every home, every business, every school, basically every single building, car, etc. just mangled and ruined beyond repair.  Even the ground is ruined beyond salvaging because of all the salt and now the business with the radiation contamination from the nuclear plants.  That is finger of God-level devastation and I don't know how they will ever be able to recover from that. 

Right now they are sitting there with half a million people left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.  No place to live, no vehicles, no livelihood, and a lot of them have lost their entire families or anyone who could take them in.  How can any government cope with that?  


I keep wondering where these people are going to live in the coming months, how they are going to get the necessities of life.  I know that a lot of people have gone through this, but most of them seemed to have been poor people who didn't have much to lose and didn't require much to get back to where they were before.  These people are very similar to us, people with nice homes, cars, computers, etc.  It shouldn't matter, but I'm sure it's more shocking when you think you are living in a reasonably safe little world like ours and it caves in on you so suddenly and so overwhelmingly.  

The thing I'm surprised about is that they didn't get those people OUT of there.  I was reading somewhere about a nursing home that had been left for a week with no heat, no electricity, and very little food or medicine.  I can't even imagine how miserable those poor old people were.  If it had been me, I would have done whatever it would take to get them out of there and distribute them around to whatever other facilities had empty beds or even to private homes, where at least they would be warm and fed.  That kind of baffled me, especially with the nuclear issue.  

The other thing that surprised me is that they are already talking about rebuilding.  Seriously?  Sometimes it's a better idea to just call it a day and move on!  I thought that after Katrina as well.  Some places just aren't meant to be lived in, and I thought that swampland that is below sea level was an excellent example!  When you think about the staggering cost of what it would take to rebuild all the infrastructure to make these towns livable again, it doesn't make a lot of sense.  

I think if I were the government, I would just pay these people for their houses, reclaim the land, and do something different with it.  Build a huge wind farm, or a solar plant instead.  Turn it into a strictly industrial area.  

Or even better, trade them their ruined properties for foreclosed properties in other towns.  Sort of a swap/recycle program.  It just makes so much more sense, because you never know if this could happen again sometime soon.  There's no way to know if the seismic activity is going to settle down in that region. 


The scary thing is that this happened in a country that is about the best prepared to deal with a disaster like this.  Their people are docile and cooperative and are used to doing what they are told.  I don't think you can say that about Americans.  I can't imagine what it would be like if this actually had happened here in Utah.  I think it would have been a lot worse. 


Anyway, I went out and bought some earthquake insurance for our house.  It may not help much, but it helps me sleep a little better. 
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The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan got me to thinking about the subject of emergency preparedness.  In their particular case, the damage was so severe, there really wasn't any way the families could have prepared for it.  But that is rare and fortunately, the Japanese government was prepared enough to be able to provide at least some of the necessities of life, although the survivors had some extremely uncomfortable days in the beginning.  I doubt that the US would have been able to provide as well.  We learned that from Katrina.

So, let's play a little game here.  As of five minutes ago, your local town was hit by a major earthquake.  Power is out, phones are out, and a water main has burst in your neighborhood leaving you with no running water.  You are fortunate that no one in your home was injured, but help will not arrive for three days.  Your spouse is at work, your kids are at school and your car is running on fumes.  Using only what is in your home at this moment in time, how will you keep your family and pets fed and warm for the next 72 hours?

Discuss.  Then start making plans for obtaining any items you don't have on hand.  Earthquakes and other natural disasters are on the rise and I think they will increase in severity as our weather gets more and more out of whack.  

Stop by every Monday for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs.  If you'd like to see past posts on the subject, click the label on the bottom of this post for a complete list. 


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Lindsey over at Dishwater Dreams is my guest poster today.  I was happy to have a post as I've never had to deal with a Collection Agency and she's got some good advice on the subject.

If you stop paying your bills or can’t pay your bills, chances are, you won’t get more than three months behind before your account is closed and the debt is sent to a collection agency.

However, this is not a death sentence. There are many ways to deal with collection agencies so that the outcome is better than you could have hoped for.

1. Never talk to a collection agency on the phone. – See the previous post about how to get them to stop calling. Send your cease and desist letter then communicate only in writing. This way everything is documented.

2. Never claim the debt unless you are making payment arrangements. You don’t have to deny it either. In fact, the FDCPA says you aren’t required to tell a collection agency the truth about anything.

3. I want to pay my debt, but I can’t pay it all at once. What do I do? – You can negotiate with the collection agencies. They have purchased your debt for much less than the total amount or have been assigned your debt and will be paid a fee based on how much they are able to collect. You can negotiate your debt down to 40-60% of the balance and then negotiate monthly payments. You are in control in this situation. You have the money that they want. Use this to your advantage. Take your time negotiating. You do not need to hire a company to negotiate for you. Most credit card companies and debt collectors will give you a better deal than they will give to a debt negotiation company.

4. I don’t like collection agencies. Can I get this sent somewhere else? – Yes, you can. Essentially, the collection agency is only offering you a service. You can decline. Send a letter to the collection agency stating that you decline their service and request that the debt be sent back to the original debtor. Chances are, it will get sent to another collection agency. Send the same letter. Eventually, it will just go away. It will probably remain on your credit report though. Wait until a year has passed then dispute the entry on your credit report.

5. The debt is mine, but I can’t or don’t want to pay it. What now? – It is possible to get out of this situation. It is called debt validation. Send a request to the collection agency requesting that they validate your debt. You need to send this letter certified mail. Once the letter is received, the collection account must be removed from your credit report and the collection agency has 30 days to validate your debt. The FDCPA outlines clear guidelines as to what constitutes validation. They must provide a complete account history, signature documents, or proof they they are legally allowed to collect from your original contract with the creditor. Any other response is not validation. I had a company send back the last four of my social as validation. This is not acceptable according to the law. It is also a good idea to find out the statute of limitations for your state and see if the debt is still even collectable.

6. The collection agency couldn’t validate. What happens now? Nothing should happen now. The entry must be removed from your credit report and the company is no longer allowed to pursue you for the debt. Any violation of that such as updating your credit report or making a phone call is a violation of the FDCPA and you can sue the company for $1000 for each violation. The debt may be sold to another collection agency, but if this one couldn’t validate, the next one won’t be able to either.


7. I wasn’t contacted by a collection agency, I was contacted by a law firm. What is the difference? Nothing. There is no difference. The law firms are simply collection agencies masquerading as law firms. They have to follow the same rules as other collection agencies.

 Stop by every Thursday for a fresh dose of Smart Money.  If you'd like to see a list of past posts, just click on the label at the bottom of this post for a complete list. 
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I had some particularly nice projects for the March classes.


I just love this one.  I copied it (kinda sorta) from the Stampin' Success magazine they send us every month.  

Isn't this just gorgeous?  I just learned how to make these flowers for hairpins or broaches.  They are super easy with our Circles Big Shot die.  You just cut a small piece of fabric and it cuts four sizes of circles at once, and you can cut 8 sets of them at one time, depending on the thickness of the fabric.  Then you use a candle to melt and singe the edges of the fabric to get the rose-like texture.  Very cool and I'm in the process of making them in a whole bunch of gorgeous colors!  



This card is my favorite!  I shamelessly copied it from my friend Patty Bennett over at PattysStampingSpot.com.  She always has such great ideas!  


Look at this cute little froggy!  He's made from about six different punches all layered up together.  There are dozens of samples like these floating around online.  You can do some amazing things with punches.  


Haven't done a baby card in a while, so I put this one together.  It's also a great way to use up a few scraps you might have laying around.

Stop by every Tuesday for a fresh dose of Stamped Stuff.  If you'd like to see past posts on the subject, click on the label below for a complete list.  



   



 

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Today we have a guest poster, so you'd better be on your best manners!  Chantelle from Mom Went Crazy decided to come and help us out with a Smart Money post on Meal Planning.

1. On a piece of paper write down these headings: chicken, fish, pork, beef, Mexican, Italian, meatless, other
2. Write down every meal that your family enjoys under the appropriate heading. Need some new ideas? Visit a recipe site. My favourite is www.allrecipes.com
3. Once you’ve broken the meals down into categories, make a chart seven columns wide to represent the days of the week.
4. Space the meals out so you’re not having chicken four days in a row. Be sure to put the nicer meals (Roast beef, steaks, etc) on Sundays for your family dinner. Anything with lots of prep should be done on a day off, like Chili on Saturday.
5. Consult the meal plan before you shop. Try to only shop once a week.
6. Schedule fast food a couple of times. You know you love it, so why not add it in.
7.  If this all seems too daunting of a task for you, I’m giving you my family’s meal plan. Print it off and use it for yourself. Change what you want. Suit it to your family’s needs.

I couldn't get the sample menu she gave me to show properly, so please pop over to Mom Went Crazy to see a whole month's worth of menus. 

Stop by every Thursday for a fresh dose of Smart Money. If you'd like to see a complete list of past posts on the subject, just click on the label at the bottom of the page.




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One great option with digital scrapbooking is that you aren't necessarily married to a page size.  I typically like to design in 12 X 12, but I don't necessarily like storing the 12 X 12 albums.  They take up a LOT of space and are kind of awkward to carry around to workshops and stuff.  They're also pretty pricey to print.  So instead, I've learned a little trick to downsize my pages into 8 X 8 for printing.  

First, as I said, I design my pages in 12 X 12.  Anything smaller is a lot harder to work with because your pictures are usually 3 X 4 or so and you'd have to keep scrunching them down to get the right proportions with your embellishments.  So, when I have my page exactly the way I want it (that's the hard part - I always want to keep fiddling with it) then I save the whole page as a .jpg file.   Typically I do 10-20 pages in one project, so it saves each page as it's own file.  


Then I just open up a blank 8 X 8 project and load up each separate page and voila!  I have an 8 X 8 album all ready for printing.  

This page features my dear friend Maxine.  She was my best friend and co-worker for a lot of years, but sadly she passed away very suddenly about five years ago.  So the few pictures I have of her are greatly treasured.  Here she is in the hospital, holding my son Blake on the day he was born.  


The Cherish and the Friends items looked a little washed out on the Baja Blue background, so I duplicated them in both black and white and layered them offset by just a hair to give them a little bit more depth.  I've learned now how to use the drop shadow feature to get a "sponged" look to letters like these, but that's a lesson for another day!   


Come back every Tuesday for a fresh dose of Stamped Stuff.  if you'd like to see past posts on the subject, just click on the label at the bottom of this post for a complete list. 

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This is a subject I am kind of a fanatic on. Money is very important to me. Not because I want a new Lexus, or a mink coat, or a cruise around the world, but because I want to make sure that my family is safe and secure, even in precarious financial times such as these.

I've had some tough financial times in my life and it wasn't fun at all. It isn't just about having nice clothes, or eating in nice restaurants, or taking nice vacations. Sometimes it's about having a safe place to live.
Because of my Mom's financial situation as a single mother, I was raised in some very rough neighborhoods. The kind where your Mom doesn't let you play in the back yard or go across the street by yourself to play with a friend. The kind where there are shootings and police around all the time and scary looking guys walking around. Where the kids at school have lice and belong to gangs and will be only too happy to beat you up if you look at them wrong. My Jr. High School backed right up against the Long Beach Projects, so when we moved to Orange County a year or so later, I thought I'd died and gone to paradise.

Here's an excellent post I found on UnClutterer.com about the subject of Financial Clutter. go and check it out.

Be sure to stop by on Thursday for my Smart Money posts. Hint: If you want to look at past posts, just click on the label at the bottom of this post and it will pull up a list of them. 
 

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