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How About Another Question and Answer?

Last Updated: January 2, 2014 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 45 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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How About Another Question and Answer?

Family Christmas 2013

Hey everyone! I hope all of you are having a great week. If you haven’t read it yet, please read my post that was published on Monday – Do You Make Excuses For Why You’re Not Following Your Dream?

I really like Question and Answer type posts lately where I can just talk and talk and talk.

It’s also nice because hopefully readers can learn more about me and I can also learn more about all of you as well.

The other day I asked everyone on Twitter to send me any question that they want, and I said I would answer them.

Comment with your answers below! And if you would like me to answer a question of your own, you can always ask in the comments as well.

 

What is your best time management tip?

This is something that I am asked all the time. Recently I created a post on having a successful work-life balance.

My top tip would probably be to rank your tasks in order of importance, and then knock them out in that order. However, if you have a task that will take a short amount of time (such as 5 minutes), then just knock it out so that you don’t have to think about it.

Being able to cross things off my to do list always feels nice.

 

How much will your wedding end up costing you?

We are now deep into the wedding planning process, and boy there is a lot more work than I thought that there would be. I have been buying some little things every now and then, and now I really just have all of the big things (and the most expensive parts of the wedding) to look forward to.

I believe that we have around another $10,000 to spend, and that is with around $2,000 of cushion in the budget because I am sure that I will forget something. We have already negotiated and paid for around $4,000 to $5,000 as well.

In total, our wedding will probably be right under $15,000. It’s a little more than I wanted to spend since we do have to pay for everything ourselves, but that’s not a bad amount for the amount of people that we are having.

And, yes, I do realize that this is a personal finance blog but we have budgeted and saved for our wedding!

What I want you guys to answer is: a) How much you actually spent on your wedding; and  b) How much you planned/plan to spend.

 

What is your ideal sized home?

Our home right now is around 2,500 square feet if you include our finished basement. I would say that something around 2,000 to 2,500 square feet not including a basement would be my ideal home size for our next home when we have kids running wildly all over the place.

 

What’s your favorite movie?

The other day I went to the bank, and a bank teller had a little frame on her desk that stated her name and a little tidbit about herself. She said her favorite movie was The Town. If any of you have ever seen that movie then you will understand why that is just a tad funny…

Anyway, my favorite movie… I don’t even know. I like a lot of mafia, zombie, and some other weird movies. Oh yeah and I could watch any movie with Leonardo DiCaprio about 1,000,000 times and I have pretty much loved every movie that he has been in. I love a lot of the normal classics that everyone seems to like, but I also really like the movies Casino and Goodfellas.

Childhood movies that I love include ET (of course!) and Flight of the Navigator. If you know what Flight of the Navigator is then we will probably become best friends.

 

What is a weird dream of yours?

A definite farfetched dream of mine (Wes has the same dream), would be to sell all our stuff and buy a sailboat. I read a good amount of sailing blogs and sometimes I even stalk sailing forums like it’s my job.

I do think it sounds wonderful, but I have also read many sailing blogs where they talk about how much work it is so I do know that it’s not all just a fairytale.

 

Your turn!

 

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45 Comments
Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Life, Q&A

About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. DC @ Young Adult Money says

    January 2, 2014 at 6:26 am

    Oh I would love to have 2,500 square feet not counting a basement for our next home! We have almost 2,000 but we really only use the 1,000 on the first floor. Definitely will be looking for more space in our next home. I’ve never thought about living out of a sailboat but it sounds interesting.

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 12:51 pm

      I never really thought about sailboat living until I started reading sailing blogs and I read about all of the awesome places they all visit.

      Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 12:52 pm

      I’m fine with either. I do like older homes more, so usually they have bad layouts which means that more square footage is needed.

      Reply
  2. Dave @ The New York Budget says

    January 2, 2014 at 7:18 am

    I always loved Flight of the Navigator and not just because the main character’s name is David (although that did play a part).

    In terms of time management, I LOVE the service: followupthen.com

    I suppose it is a bit more email/productivity management, but it ends up saving me time and stress as well. Don’t let emails sit in your inbox – just forward them and other reminders to, for instance, 1week@followupthen.com and it will email you back in a week (change the first part of the email address for different timeframes).

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 12:53 pm

      WOHOO! I’m glad I found another person who knows what Flight of the Navigator is. That makes 2 people now that I have met 🙂

      Reply
  3. John S @ Frugal Rules says

    January 2, 2014 at 7:32 am

    I think that’s a good size for a house and one we want to move up to. We’re at about 1500-1600 square feet and is starting to get a bit small for us, especially now that I lost my office. 🙂 My favorite movie…that’s a tough one. I love Braveheart, Tombstone and any Star Wars flick, but I’m a sucker for mafia movies – which drives my wife nuts!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 12:55 pm

      Haha I probably like mafia movies more than most people!

      Reply
  4. Holly@ClubThrifty says

    January 2, 2014 at 8:05 am

    I like your Halloween pic, Michelle! My best time management tip is to turn my email and phone off while I’m working!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 12:55 pm

      Yes, that is something that I need to start doing! Even if I just push my phone a little further away, that still helps.

      Reply
  5. Allison says

    January 2, 2014 at 8:28 am

    She had The Town as her favorite movie! That’s a little crazy for a banker!

    I don’t have a home size preference. I think if its laid out well, that is the difference maker.

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 12:56 pm

      Haha I know, right?!

      Reply
  6. Mrs PoP @ Planting Our Pennies says

    January 2, 2014 at 9:05 am

    Our first big savings focus was to buy a sailboat and leave for a couple of years =). That’s taken a back burner to some other goals, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we still do it someday. V

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 12:59 pm

      That’s awesome that another pf blogger has a similar dream! 🙂

      Reply
  7. FI Pilgrim says

    January 2, 2014 at 9:16 am

    I’m not a huge fan of Leo as a person, but as an actor he’s great. Catch Me If You Can and Inception are two of my favorites of his.

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 1:00 pm

      Yes, love those movies!

      Reply
  8. Raquel@Practical Cents says

    January 2, 2014 at 9:29 am

    We spent around $5000 for our wedding. We had around 60 guests. Close family and friends only. We were able to splurge on food, drinks and a live band. I also enjoy Leo’s movies. I was just reading a review on “The Wolf of Wallstreet”, can’t wait to check that movie out.

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 1:01 pm

      That’s awesome Raquel. We are only having close friends and family as well, but W has a HUGE family (I think his mom has 10 siblings and his dad has 8)!

      Reply
  9. Amanda @ Passionately Simple Life says

    January 2, 2014 at 10:48 am

    I think for home size, it would definitely be around 1200 to 1500 sq ft. I’ve always loved small homes, and luckily I found someone who doesn’t like having a lot of stuff, however, he prefers just having space. And my favorite movie is O Brother Where Art Thou!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 1:13 pm

      Great size! 🙂

      Reply
  10. Alexa says

    January 2, 2014 at 11:17 am

    My biggest time management tip is do the hardest thing on your to do list first – each and every day. You’ll have so much less stress if you do!

    I love Casino as well! Although right now I’m kinda of in love with Sons of Anarchy – Jax in particular 😉 I know it’s not a movie but I bought all the seasons and went on like a three week SOA binge 😉 Can’t wait for season six to come out on DVD!!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 3:03 pm

      I love SOA as well! Jax is awesome 🙂

      Reply
  11. MonicaOnMoney says

    January 2, 2014 at 11:28 am

    I also agree with a home around 2,000 sq ft, mine is closer to 1,500 sq ft and I sometimes wish I had more space!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 3:05 pm

      Yeah, sometimes we feel like we have just enough, and then other times we wish we had a little more.

      Reply
  12. Ryan @ Impersonal Finance says

    January 2, 2014 at 11:29 am

    I’ve never sailed, but I bought a book at Goodwill on learning how to sail like an expert… so you and I definitely have that dream in common. Although it’s very expensive, I think it would be worth it!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 3:05 pm

      Haha I bought a book just like that as well!

      Reply
  13. Michelle S. says

    January 2, 2014 at 12:52 pm

    I agree! It’s all about the layout for me.

    Reply
  14. Michelle S. says

    January 2, 2014 at 12:58 pm

    Yes, prioritizing is always important! Thanks for your answers 🙂

    Reply
  15. sara says

    January 2, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    Currently in a 1200 sq foot home and I feel like its too small for our family of 4. I would love a home at 2500 sq feet but more importantly a home with big closets.

    As for my wedding I budgeted 30k and I think we ended up spending at least 5k more. I should preface that my wedding costs were pretty average for NY.

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 3:07 pm

      Yeah, I want nice big closets as well. I have a decent sized one right now, but the location of it is just the weirdest thing – it’s smack dab in the middle of our house.

      Reply
  16. EL @ Moneywatch101 says

    January 2, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    Time management tip- Get done what’s on your mind immediately and do not wait.
    Home size- 2,000 sounds good
    Fav Movie- Dragon -Bruce Lee story
    Dream- To be free financially and travel on a whim
    Dream 2- To make my own wood furniture (Not IKEA)

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 3:08 pm

      I have thought about making my own wood furniture as well!

      Reply
  17. Tanya says

    January 2, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    my house is 1700 so a 2500 sounds really nice!!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 3:10 pm

      Haha well if you don’t include the basement we are right around 1,200.

      Reply
  18. Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life says

    January 2, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    I’m gonna have to try out that time management strategy. I always waste my day getting caught up in the small things.

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 3:11 pm

      Yes, same here!

      Reply
  19. Leslie Beslie says

    January 2, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    Aww I didn’t realize Flight of the Navigator wasn’t a well-known movie! We watched it several times in elementary school!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 2, 2014 at 3:11 pm

      Haha I only have ONE friend who knows of the movie.

      Reply
    • eemusings says

      January 2, 2014 at 3:51 pm

      LOL! I’ve heard of it before (I think through T who knows every movie ever made and likes the weirdest films, such as Benny and June). I don’t recall having watched it though.

      Reply
      • Michelle S. says

        January 4, 2014 at 12:05 pm

        Haha it was definitely a good movie when I was a kid.

        Reply
  20. Lindsey @ Cents & Sensibility says

    January 2, 2014 at 11:47 pm

    Hi Michelle, I’m glad to hear your new self-employed status is working out well and let’s you come out of the anonymous closet! It sounds like your wedding planning is coming along, building in a buffer is a good idea – I can’t tell you how many things I forgot when planning mine!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 4, 2014 at 12:06 pm

      Yes, I think of something that I’m forgetting nearly everyday!

      Reply
  21. Laurie @thefrugalfarmer says

    January 4, 2014 at 7:31 am

    LOL, we actually owned Flight of the Navigator at one time!!! Score one for the Frugal Farmer family. 🙂 I think you guys are doing great on wedding expenses. $15,000 is not unreasonable in this day and age, and you’ve saved the cash, so, great job! I think we paid roughly 10k for our wedding 18 years ago, which was not over our budget b/c we had no sense of a budget at that time – just spent whatever we wanted. Ugh!

    Reply
    • Michelle S. says

      January 4, 2014 at 12:07 pm

      Haha you are awesome then for knowing what movie I’m talking about! 🙂

      Reply
  22. Michelle S. says

    January 4, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    Yes, he picks awesome roles!

    Reply
  23. SavvyFinancialLatina says

    January 4, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    We just bought our house. It’s 1500 sq ft. and it feels huge. But I get that when you have kids you might want extra room. For me it would just be too much to keep up with right now.

    Reply

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My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

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