Deb's Dabbles

Don't think for a second that because I like to dabble in a variety of things, don't mind putting in a little work and getting my hands dirty, and love to learn new things that taking on a big project like a kitchen remodel doesn't still have a large level of intimidation. It definitely did, and I think I'd be a fool to say otherwise because just dipping that new paint brush in the paint and taking that first stroke on the wood almost caused me to hyperventilate, and I've painted more than my fair share in my life! Having the confidence to try something by no means is equivalent to not being terrified that you could mess everything up. As with most things in life, I feel a little bit of fear and intimidation is a healthy thing and if you didn't feel any trepidation, I'd think that was very unusual. Taking the time to just leave the house to look at paint samples, flooring (I took at least half a dozen trips to look at and borrow floor samples), granite (a st

BEFORE pics of the old kitchen  Just about 14 months ago I was wrapping up a project that I had dreamed of since the moment I first walked into my kitchen when it was owned by someone else. That had been one of those "it has good bones" moments and I knew the features of the rest of the house more than made up for the awful blue countertops and outdated light oak cabinets that matched all the amazing built-ins and custom wood work in the home, so I overlooked the ugliness and never let the aspects I didn't love keep me from entertaining. The space has always been functional and for what it lacked in room, I made up for in creativity and basement storage. As I've posted the remodel pics in various forums over the last year, I've had a number of people ask the usual "how did you do that" and "what kind of paint did you use and did you sand it all down first" types of questions so I figured it was time to share the story of my kitchen.  Despite wh

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I am no stranger to the whole process of budgeting. I have a solid 2 years under my belt of documenting every penny spent and, though I sucked at digging my family completely out of debt for the 20 years of my marriage, I was amazing at doing what it took to stay within our paychecks on a monthly basis and keep our credit scores around 800. But times are a changing and I'm no longer living in the "Every Dollar" or "Mint" realm... I've ventured into "You Need a Budget" (aka YNAB) territory.  To those of you not familiar with the subculture of budgeting that is YNAB, this is one of those applications that has a cult following.  As with most cults, whether real or follower-proclaimed, this one has quite the learning curve and throws a wrench into the life I had been happily, somewhat passively living.  Throw in my recent obsession with insisting that I hit my $6000 annual Roth IRA contribution limit and decid