hiatus

{i'm baaaaaackkkkk}

alright ya'll, i've been on a quite a little blogging hiatus lately. my apologies, but it was much needed. i'm not terribly confident i am, in any way-shape-or form, the person to be delving out advice at the moment.

things have been crazy, and busy, and ambiguous, and sometimes good, and most of the time weird, and sometimes funky. i haven't had my norms, my schedule, or really much of any sanity...if we're being completely honest.

BUT...i wanted to update ya'll on the spending/saving and tell you (honestly) where i am with the ol' financial lockdown.

so my last post was in june-yikes.

in june my total amount to debt and savings was: $998.00
in july: $942.00
in august (it's looking like): $855.00

total debt down in 16 months: $22,349.26

so, long story (very) short, i'm still cruisin, but have slowed way down. as it turns out moving into an overpriced luxury apartment wasn't the smartest choice-and i'm still working bit by bit to save when i can.

i'm thinkin' down payment by fall of next year.
now, i just have to figure out where this gal will be when it comes time to make a choice.

they say life is a process...
yea, i'm feelin' that.
xoxo
ashleycolean

a beautiful day

my amazing friend tara, has done it again. check these beautiful photos of my mom, sister and me and hop on over to tara's blog to see more.

love you t, thanks for this.
xoxo ashleycolean

a progress report

i'm not rockin this june challenge, kiddos.

i'm killing it.

like, murdering. not-'killing it, brah' but seriously, doing terribly.

i have $80.34 left for the rest of the month. for everything. and, need i remind you, it's only june 19th.

um, losing.
xoxo ashleycolean

friend love

a few weeks ago my amazing, spectacularly talented friend, tara took some photos of me while we roamed around five points.

i'm gracing her blog today-so pop on over and check the rest of them out.

follow her blog for beautiful updates in a much more regular fashion than me!!
also, like her out on facebook, here!

thanks again t for the fun photos!
xoxo ashleycolean

lo siento

sorry for not having my blogging' sh*t together...things have been an insane whirlwind lately.
luckily, i have tara, doin all the work for me! :)

check out a fun recent weekend with new friends here. and join t's blog! she's pretty much my favorite. :)

{cred}

here's to doing it all again this weekend.
xoxo ashleycolean

an update

{get it...cash}

of my $400.00 i started june with for all my spending needs i have $243.68 left....and 18 days...

can she do it?!??
xoxo ashleycolean

how to make it work...

{cred}

my oldest friend, of all time, is getting married early next year to his beautiful fiance, in hawaii. we've been friends for nearly 20 years. twenty! and i am so incredibly happy for him that he's found the perfect girl for him! so happy!!

hawaii will be beautiful, amazing, and unfortunately, not cheap.

i would be so sad if i missed this wedding adventure, and regret not seeing such a dear friend begin the next chapter of his life.

in order to try and make this work, i decided that maybe a travel credit card (capital one venture card) would be a good idea. for the next eight months i could put all my purchase, from rent, to groceries, to expenses for work on that card and pay it off each month. i would assume in 8 months i would have enough points built up to make a serious dent in the flight if not pay for it in its entirety.

that's step one.

step two...well, i'm workin' through this one thing at a time.

here's to hawaii.
xoxo ashleycolean

misery fail

{new sunnies-gift from mom}

i tried to spend $200 the second half of may and failed...hard.

alas, the attempt is happening again! i am trying to spend $400 total (gas, groceries, spending) for the month of june. on day 6 i have spent $50.00, leaving me with $350.

i have a few days worth of groceries, and just under a half tank of gas so i should be in good shape, but WE SHALL SEE.

wish me luck!
xoxo ashleycolean

great news

{me:mom:sis}

my mom and sister are coming to boulder to spend the weekend with me! they get here this afternoon.
we have no plans and few commitments...which is pretty much amazing!

pool days, farmers markets, movies, shopping, and showing them around...i can't wait!

happy weekend!
xoxo ashleycolean

month one, year two

{cred}

may of the SECOND YEAR of my financial awareness. sheesh. time flies.

so this month was weird. i tried to get back on the wagon but failed, sorta miserably.

i had a hard time turning down fun, and friends, and activities this month.

alas, i still threw $638.00 in savings, and a normal car payment of $360.00.

the truly exciting portion of the month was when i realized that my savings account finally has as much as it started with last year {remember i pulled a few grand out to pay down my loan} so that's a step in the right direction.

i'm in the process of potentially getting a little part time side job, so bare with me, i may have a whole new plan of action by the end of next month.

total debt down: $19,685.26!
xoxo ashleycolean

in a weekend

some weekends are so great you wish they'd never end. last weekend was one of those.

{trampolining: woodchuck under the trees: snuggle w the pup
bbq: lovebug: bcf brunch @jill's
jam sesh: homebrew: donuthut}

i wish i could stay in a slightly tipsy, sunny, friend and family filled three day weekend forever.

hope yours was a blast, too.
xoxo ashleycolean

happy day

and it's an extra long one!! winning!

i've been looking forward to this friday for a while now, because i get some face time with my friend tara down in denver. love it. love her. love friday.

happy weekend, kiddos.
xoxo ashleycolean

my best financial advice

here it is...

the bigger your savings account, the better.

{cred}

profound, i know.
xoxo ashleycolean

first friday

{my kind of place}

a couple weeks ago i went to first friday in (cute as it gets) louisville with my fantastic friends beth and blake.
it was super entertaining, fun, cheap and the cocktails were flowing!
i'm officially attending every month, especially if i run the chance of seeing that hot eye doc.

see you there!
xoxo ashleycolean

foolish

{cred}

don't let advertising lead you astray! you and i both know, the chances of kissing clooney have nothing to do with your lipstick!
xoxo ashleycolean

may challenge

{a cheapskate's weekend}
farmers market splurge $15: free itunes download of 'justified' pilot: bathtub: $104

because of the intense stress i have over the ol' interest free card, with the looming balance, i decided to test myself and see if for two weeks, i could live off $200.

two hundred dollars.

this covers, gas, groceries, and any other item i want or need.

it's tough, but it's only two weeks.

i have never operated on cash. it's not in my blood. i'm a credit card girl all the way...but with financial awareness in mind i am seeing what happens with this $200.00...cash.

i started on payday, last week. so i am 5 days down, with 10 to go.

i have $104.00 left.

yup. this oughta be interesting.

the good news: i have about 8 cans of black beans in my cupboard.
xoxo ashleycolean

weekends at gran's

{teaching me how to make green chili on my last trip down}

weekends with gran are good for the soul. this lady has nothing but love for me, even if it comes out of her mouth in a shockingly harsh way, she is such a love. :)

i try and make it the three hours to gran's house every couple of months. we cook, chat, watch hours of crime drama reruns and i explain the 'confusing parts.' it's just a restorative thing, to spend time with your grandparents.

i learn something new about my gran each time i go. this time i learned that she raised her SIX children on less than $30k year!! the idea that i have any sort of financial anxiety is almost laughable when i hear her talk about how hard she worked to put food on the table for her family. i know times are different, etc, but still. no complaining allowed!!

i keep thinking i should take my friend tara down with me sometime to 'document' my gran in all her sweetness, especially after seeing her latest beautiful blog post.

a warm home cooked (carb loaded) meal, a comfy couch and a sweet gran is always good for the soul.
and it's harder to leave each trip. gran waving to me from the front step is always a tear jerker.

love and miss you, gran.
xoxo ashleycolean

the regimen

okay, tara...you asked for it! :)
lately i've been talking about my new skin care regimen that cost me an arm and a leg and i'm still waiting for benefits...hopefully, waiting.

let me preface this with one thing i know for sure...origins products smell amazing!

from top left -the entire system

wash/modern friction exfoliater/exfoliating pads
(the exfoliater is made with rice so it isn't as harsh on your skin as say, the sand products i used to use/the pads can only be used twice/week)

balancing toner
(i put it in a spray bottle i got a target for $1 so i wouldn't waste any on a cotton ball)

brightening serum/everyday serum
(this brightening serum is supposed to solve my dark spots problem/the other is to keep environmental junk off your face)

moisturizer
(i love this product...a lot)

ginzing eye cream
(a day time eye cream with caffeine to take the night time puffiness out of your eyes)

bb cream/vitazing
(i'm not in love with their bbcream. i think garnier's product is better/vitazing is a tiny bit of tint plus spf for days you are running to the gym or errands. i also use it under my makeup sometimes just because i like the way it feels on my skin)

smashbox photo finish/origins foundation
(not an origins product but love it (sephora)/i went with their 'fawn' color and am pretty impressed with the coverage)

at night/apply after serums
zit cream/anti aging eye cream/night cream
(for spots/never too early to start/not in love with this night cream, the texture of it is a little weird for me so i will try a different approach on my next go around)

there you have it. the suddenly paranoid about age, 27 year old's face care system.

origins, i'll be lookin' for my kickback.
xoxo ashleycolean

a giant step

today i got a giant step closer to my goal of setting out on an out of country adventure...
my passport came today. one less excuse for the type a, cheap, paranoid, people pleaser to get out, do something, and have fun...

looking for a place to grab my first stamp.
xoxo ashleycolean

to covet

in this week's addition of 'don't you wish you were rich'

the definition of coveting:

1 : to wish for earnestly <covet an award>

2 : to desire (what belongs to another) inordinately or culpably

uh, yep.

{cred}

heavy sigh.
xoxo ashleycolean