The Five Minute Face

If you are anything like me and hate mornings, then you are sure to love this tip.

I absolutely hate getting up in the mornings to get ready for work. Number one, because I don't find that much joy or satisfaction in my current job, its stressful, I get to deal with grumpy mean individuals all day long, and I spend 8 hours staring at my office walls that are a horrible shade of yellow. Second reason for not being a morning person is the hour in which I have to be up for said job, 5:45a.m. Talk about early!

So getting all dolled up is not my first priority in the mornings (I don't see any of my customers anyways, I just talk to them over the phone).

Well, while watching TLC's What Not To Wear, Carmindy, their resident make up artist, showed the participant of that episode how to do a Five Minute Face. Since seeing this for the first time years ago, I have since impleminted it in my life every time I am in a rush. Look below for the guidelines, and a quick video where Carmindy demonstrates these helpful tips!

Carmindy's Five Minute Face

1. Apply Face Primer
2. Apply loose translucent powder
3. Add concealer under your eyes to remove some of the puffiness and circles
4. Foundation
5. A light/neutral colored eyeshadow, highlight under your brows, and across the eye lid.
6. liquid eyeliner, when not doing full on eyeshadow, the liquid eyeliner makes a cleaner line making your look more natural.
7. Mascara
8. Blush
9. lipgloss

If your like me and some of these products aren't in your makeup bag, you can definately drop a step or two. My five minute face consists of this

Kayla's Five Minute Face

1. Moisturizer
2. Foundation
3. Setting powder
4. eyeliner
5. Mascara
6. blush
7. Lipgloss

I cut out the translucent powder and consealer.. since I don't normally have a problem with under eye circles.

Its all up to you. But this way you end up looking nice, without pumping 20 minutes into your make up routine. Do a simple uptwist with your hair and you are ready to go!

Here is the video of Carmindy demonstrating her Five Minute Face. She is promoting Sally Hansens Beauty products, but you can find the similar products in most makeup lines!

I hope you have fun doing the five minute face!

Checking Your Credit

I recently stumbled upon this website called Credit Karma. Its a free credit checking website, and by free I mean FREE. Unlike the three major credit bureaus that require a $1 hold with your credit card this one does not. You simply sign up for a free account and they pull your credit info for you. Credit Karma gives you helpful tips on how to save more money. They have a credit simulation page where you can pretend to add different things that will effect your credit like a new credit card, a loan, or closing a credit card, or raising your credit limit on a card. When you click on these certain things it will then tell you how its going to effect your credit, either negatively or positively.

I currently am working hard to improve my credit. I eventually want to have outstanding credit, because it is so important to financial success as well as success in life.

If you have poor credit banks view you as a risk, so this means no mortgage loans, no car loans, no student loans etc. Some banks, however, will be willing to give you loans with an incredibly high interest rate. Yeah it gets you the money you need but you spend the next 30 years paying off the interest.

Some corporations only hire people with great credit, because it shows that you are responsible. Regardless of the situation that got you into debt, corporations don't look at the why, they look at the numbers.

Another important reason to have good credit is that rental places, if you aren't planning on buying a house just yet, look at credit scores too. They, like the corporations, use it as a way to view how responsible you are. If you pay your bills on line and aren't head over heels in debt, then you will have enough money to rent from them. Ask yourself, do you really want to be sleeping on the streets because of your credit score? I sure don't!

Below are a list of ways your credit can be damaged. If you fall into any of these categories I suggest checking your credit score and then re-evaluating your finances!

• Your "identity" or social security number has recently been stolen.
• You own multiple department store credit cards and they are all maxed out.
• You have been late on credit card payments in the past.
• You haven't paid your student loans
• You late on your car payments
• Have been turned over to collections for money issues.
• Are behind on mortgage or rent payments
• Have had to file for bankruptcy in the past 10 years.
• Late on child support

If you find that you fall under anything in the list above, don't freak out. First go to Credit Karma, make a profile and find out if your credit is in serious trouble. Second, grab all your bills and sort through them. Even tho you have back payments due on your credit cards it is important to not get further behind, so make sure you are paying the minimums on all your cards, this will protect your credit from becoming worse. Once you have paid the minimums, find the biggest thing that is effecting your credit at the moment. Whether its your mortgage, car loan, or Macy's store card, find the one that is most deliquent. For the next 5 months you should then try your best to pay double or tripple payments on this card. It will be amazing to you how much money you can put toward a deliquent account if you put your mind to it.

Now, this may mean that for the next 5-6 months you wont be able to buy those adorable green suede pumps you have had your eye on, even if they just went on sale. It also means that you might have to pass up on dinner with friends, or going to the movies. But if you let them know that you are trying to be responsible and get some "things" paid off. They will most likely understand. Whats more? Just think how great you will feel once you can finally proclaim "I PAID OFF MY CARD!" It will be a great feeling, a mountain of stress will be lifted off your shoulders.

After you tackle your first deliquent account, then move onto the next one. It may take you a few years, but hey! Once it is all paid off you will finally be debt free and your future will be bright once more. So again I say, get your credit check on at Credit Karma, and start tackling that debt today!

Preventing the Clutter Crazies

Do you have a box of miscellenious junk shoved in the top of a closet somewhere? How about a desk drawer full of odds and ends that you don't know what to do with? What about a whole section of clothes you cant part with, or that box labeled stuff shoved out in the garage just taking up space? You know you won't ever sort through the piles of the unknown electronic chords that have accumulated over the years. Yet you can't part with them. You know that box of mismatched socks aren't ever going to find matches yet you keep a whole drawer of them. You know the stuffed animal that you got from "Joe" your boyfriend from two years ago isn't ever going to come out of the box to see day light again but you cant seem to part with him.



Does this remind you of someone?



We all have it, Stuff! Crap! Junk! Boxes of it that we just can't throw away because, Heaven Forbid! we never know when we may need it! Or it holds sentimental value, or we might find the other piece so we can't throw this piece away. So we fill up every closet, cupboard and garage space that we have with junk. Our minds become cluttered, we cant find anything, so we slowly go crazy!

To prevent the Clutter Crazies, I have put together a list of ways to decide whether or not you should be keeping it around. If your junk falls under 2 or more categories then it MUST GO!

• Does it make you money or does its value increase over time? If not, Strike!
• Does it bring you joy daily? If not, Strike!
• Does having it around improve your life? If not, Strike!
• Do you have all the pieces? If not, Strike!
• Have you used it in the last year? If not, Strike!
• Does it fit? If not, Strike!
• Have you worn it within the past two months? If not, Strike!
• Is it broken or worn out beyond practical use? If yes, Strike!
• Has it been replaced with a newer model that you use instead? If yes, Strike!
• Do you use it? If no, Strike
• Are you willing to devote valuable space to storing it? If no, Strike
• When you think of the item do the words "I'll keep it Just in case" cross your mind? If yes, Strike

If you're keeping something for sentimental value remember, that you will always have that memory with you. If you are afraid that, in years to come, you will forget about it then take a picture and keep the picture in a scrap book or a picture box, your memories take up much less room this way.

If you are holding onto stuff because you think others might need it, remember that you can always donate it. The opportunity may never arise that you can help someone personally by giving them your things, but if you donate it you can assure yourself that those in need will receive your unused stuff and they will be grateful.

If, once you have gone through all your junk, and have decided to donate a lot of it, throw part of it out and keep a few key things, you find that you still have a pile of stuff you are unsure of, don't fret! Just place those things out in the open somewhere. In the corner of a living room is a great location. Don't put them back in a box and shove the box away somewhere. If you keep them out in the open it allows you to think about whether or not you want to keep the items every time you see them. If you store them away, it is likely that you wont get back to making a decision for quite a while.. "Out of sight, Out of mind."

Hopefully this helped! I know I have a corner or two that could use some organizing. I plan on tackling them using the list above. I hope you do the same! Make sure to let me know how it goes.

Oh, and fellow reader, don't forget to have fun!

Happy organizing all!

Get Rid of a Grudge

 Why do they deserve to be forgiven?

What have they done to show me that they deserve a second chance?

Why should I change when they aren't willing to do the same?

Sound familiar? It sure does for me. It is a common occurrence for people to hold grudges, my guess would be that hardly anyone goes throughout life grudge free. So how can we battle these Grudges? What can we tell ourselves to help get past the moments, days, weeks or years of holding onto said grudge? I have compiled a short list of Do's and a few Dont's for you all.

1. Read Matthew 18:1-22 -Just a suggestion. Especially if you are a religious person.
2. Make Reconciliation- Confront the conflicting party with whom you hold a grudge. Take time to plan this out, you don't want to perpetuate the problem by causing a fight. If you are afraid that the discussion might turn into a fight make sure to meet publicly (after all who wants to make a scene). Discuss with the person your feelings about the way you have been treated. Let them know that you want to start anew, giving both parties equal opportunity for change. 
3. Move past- Decide that you are going to move past their faults, you are 100% going to forgive them. 
4. Forgive For You -  Forgiving someone of the wrong doings isn't just for them. Its most certainly for you. Even if they don't deserve your forgiveness, you yourself deserve to forgive them for you. It is not healthy harbouring bad feelings for others, especially family members or loved ones. It causes stress, family functions aren't as much fun, you find yourself constantly irritated, constantly frustrated, constantly mad.
5. Do Not Forget- We are all human, even tho you and the offending party may have  reconciled, don't forget that they may just mess up. Like Jesus said, we must forgive our brethren seventy times seven. (hard concept I know) Give them another chance, just remind them that you are doing your best to get past what happened in the past and you need their help.  
6. Do Not Get Discouraged- It takes 22 days/trys to make something a habit. The only way to get rid of a habit is by replacing it with a new one. So replace that grudge holding habit with something new.
7. Meditate- When you feel frustration coming on, take a few moments to breathe, and think through the situation, calm yourself down and then confront the situation.
8. Add Some Fun- Make sure to make an effort to change on your part. Forgiveness is not only about letting grudges go, its about changing the way things are, its not enough just to forgive, we must cultivate and strenghten our wounded relationships. So make sure to invite that person out to lunch, or over for dinner, or out to the movies, or simply over for a chat. Add some fun back into the relationship.

Sometimes relationships that have been injured for many years are sometimes, as sad as it is, unfixable. But even tho this may be true, still make time to forgive them. Its only hurting you. Lately I have made a concerted effort to rid myself of grudges, I have let things go and I am working hard to repair those relationships that have been injured in my life. 

We all want to be spiritually, mentally and emotionally healthy. Letting grudges go is a sure fire way to start our journey.

So, fellow readers, what do ya say? Wanna get rid of a grudge with me?  

Early To Bed, Early To Rise

After creating my first blog Confessions of a Chocoholic I decided that I wanted to revamp my blog a bit. I wanted it to have purpose and not just be ramblings of a cocoa feind. So I decided to start anew. I recently stumbled upon this link 100 ways to uncomplicate your life and it kinda threw me for a loop. I decided that I would pick a new one each week and work my hardest at perfecting it, or atleast making it a habit.

We all could use a little simplification... and then that had me thinking. I am so into trying new things, like figuring out ways to shop cheaper, find more time in my day, or ways to be healthier, or how to make/save a little extra cash, or easy and quick beauty tips, and I realized that if I am learning these new things then I needed to share them. I needed to share them with the world. Show others what I have learned and found, and maybe they too could learn something from me or share their ideas too.

So this was the inspiration for my blog, I want a place where I can list my finds, adventures, newly discovered tips so that others can read them, try them out and improve their lives as well.

Our lives are so chaotic and I am on a mission to simplify mine. So grab a champagne flute fill it to the brim with your favorite form of bubbly! (mine? Apple Cidar) and lets make a toast!

"To a Simplified Future!"