Monday Q&A | Saturday Posting, Blotchy Spray Paint, and ING Checking Accounts
Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
Did I miss something? Are you taking Saturdays off now or this is a temporary thing? Either way is a-okay, I just wanted you to know that your absence is noticed and your presence missed!
-Diane
Ha! No, not officially. My spotty posting on Saturdays has been a result of Mr. FG's schedule change. For the last two years, he's been working Tuesday-Saturday, and that meant that doing a Saturday post was easy because I was up early.
He's now working Monday-Friday, though, which is great. It does make doing Saturday posts a bit more tricky (plus, this past Saturday I'd just gotten back from my Chicago trip, and hadn't had any time on the computer).
However, that should improve this week. He's received a promotion at work (yay!), but this promotion has come with a schedule change. Instead of working really early, he's working really late. In fact, his workday will now start when it used to end (2:00 pm).
So, instead of blogging early in the morning, now I'll be blogging late at night when the kids are in bed. I plan to write my posts ahead for the next day, so I'll write the Saturday posts on Friday night.
This is a really big change for our family, but honestly, we're so, so sick of getting up at 4:40 am, we're up for the challenge of adjusting to this unusual schedule. Even if it's just as hard, it'll at least be a different kind of hard.
Though we've been on a M-F schedule the last two weeks, this is our first week on the late schedule, so we'll be trying to figure out how to best use the time we've got with Mr. FG before he goes to work. I'll keep you posted!
I tried to paint a bedroom suite. I sanded a little, primered then spray painted. I wanted it to have that nice finish that some of the black furniture has now. It looks really good, but is has dark spots like where there was more spray here and there. Is there any way I can fix this or prevent it when I do the dresser. I'm doing it for my newly married grandkids and I wanted it to look really nice.
Thanks, Teresa
That's a typical problem with spray paint, unless the paint is a flat sheen. The only solution I've seen for that is to spray with a flat paint and then use polyerethane to provide an even sheen.
I personally do not prefer to spray paint my furniture because of the blotchy sheen issue, so I use the brush-on Painter's Touch paint, just like I described in my post about how to paint wooden furniture.
It's also possible that you did get more spray paint in some areas than others. To prevent that issue, you can do thinner coats, and try to be more even when you spray. Really, though, I think it's a lot simpler just to follow my brush-on method, and I've been SO much happier with the results. Give it a try!
I'm recently married and my husband and I are trying to organize our bank accounts. We want to have joint checking and savings accounts and are considering ING, partly based on your strong recommendation. Our only hang up is how much of a hassle it seems to deposit checks into an ING account. Direct deposit is easy enough but the options for depositing personal checks don't really sound that great.
I know you have ING savings accounts, do you use ING for checking? If so, how do you feel about their approach to depositing money?
-Elspeth
I do maintain a checking account at our local credit union for that very reason. Mr. FG's income almost always comes in the form of direct deposit, but I have lots of small streams of income, and those typically come in the form of a check.
I opened an ING checking account to get the bonus they were offering, but I haven't used it much. It has come in handy for my PayPal account, though...Mr. FG and I both needed checking accounts to link to our PayPal accounts, so it was nice to have two!
So, yeah...mostly I'm a fan of ING for savings accounts. I love those with all my heart
(If you're reading this and haven't experienced the fabulousness, go read this post about how I use my ING accounts and then open one. Or two. Or three. It could change your life!)
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Today's 365 post:I was trying to take a picture of Sonia and Mr. FG
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Congratulations to Mr. FG for the promotion and to you for supporting him so well that he could excel at work. Hope it comes with more moolah! Yeah for M-F schedule and no more super early mornings. Good luck with the transition to the new hours.
I also have missed you on Saturdays and was hoping everything was okay. I miss your weekly menu planning as it has been helping me be more organized and buy less food (and throw away less). Any chance to post this week's menu?
Yes, you were missed! And congrats on the promotion!
Teresa might avoid those concentrated spray paint spots by beginning and ending each spray with the paint directed away from the piece with sort of a sweeping motion: point spray next to piece, begin spraying, sweep spray toward and across piece, end by sweeping spray off to the side, then stop spraying. Helps me, anyway. I do prefer a brush, though. Spray paint is NOT my buddy, and I never have brush strokes showing.
I just have to put my plug in for ING savings AND checking. We just opened ours (after Kristen's high recommendation) and I am LOVE LOVE LOVING it. We got their debit cards (and even printed checks)and so far, it's been great! We are keeping our account at the local bank for the purpose of deposits then we just transfer the money over. It does take a bit more planning but so far, it's worth it. According to their website, they are getting ready to change the way they do deposits to make it easier so I am eager to see what that means.
We use the Dave Ramsey "envelope" system so I have all my "envelopes" set up as savings sub accounts and all our bills set to pay right from there. We just set up our direct deposits to go right into the ING account, I divide it up accordingly, and we're set to go. Once it's set up, it's a breeze. I can't say enough about it! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. I'm happy to help with my limited experience so far!
I've had an ING checking account for a year now, and I will NEVER switch back. We also kept our local bank account just for deposits and transfer the money to our ING checking. They're just a wonderful financial institution....and it's hard to find free checking that offers interest these days. Definitely worth the extra "hassle" of transferring money when I need to deposit a physical check or cash.
So, is breakfast or lunch going to become the new big family meal?
YAY promotion! Boo long hours 🙁 But yay again for your great attitude about it!
My family loves pecans and I was able to get them cheap this weekend. I'd like to make a chicken-pecan dish--maybe honey-pecan chicken, but I don't know a good recipe. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Karen
Oops...I meant cashews, not pecans.
I do!
Grind the nuts in a food processor so they're like bread crumbs. Coat the chicken in a light layer of honey, then roll in the nut crumbs like you're breading them. Bake on a cookie sheet or glass pan for 30-40 min at 350* (or until juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink inside). You can do this with all kinds of nuts and it's delicious (pistachios and cashews in particular).
Thank you so much! I'm going to make it tonight.
Congratulations on the promotion. My husband is working a similar schedule to your husband's old schedule (up at 4:45 am) but there is a possibility that in the spring he will move to a new schedule with a start time of 3:30 pm instead. As homeschoolers, I am concerned about how his new schedule might effect our school schedule. Are you making any changes to how you homeschool with your husband's new later schedule?
Thanks!
Amanda
Yep! We're planning to treat our mornings like our evenings, and then we'll probably do most of our school after Mr. FG leaves for work. We'll see how it works out!
Thanks so much, Kirsten! We'd heard about the benefits of banking with a local credit union, so it was a happy surprise to hear that that's what you do too. I think we'll end up doing something very similar to your current set up, with a credit union checking account and ING savings.
Congratulations on the change. A big change but a really nice one 🙂 I too haven't had a lot of success with spraypainting furniture. I've gotten the nicest finish using foam rollers.
FG - i will be praying for your family during this transition! my husband has also recently been promoted, which meant going from a normal(-ish) day schedule to a night schedule (4pm-1am). Because i work outside of the home during the day, we only see each other four days a week/five hours each day (hubbie's "weekend" is Tuesday/Wednesday). i think it is an AMAZING idea to move school so that you all have time with Mr. FG everyday. curious if this will change how you plan meals for the week?
Due to a Hubby arriving home late (regularly) I started slow cooking so that meals were ready for whoever, whenever. Really and truly changed my life - no joke! It was getting so difficult to try and co-ordinate everything and everyone! Good luck with it all!
Congrats on the promotion! Good luck adjusting your schedules...I'm sure you'll have it down pat soon!
I wanted to mention USAA's savings and checking accts. They have an unbelievably easy way to deposit checks. In fact, we haven't had a local bank in over three years because they make it so easy. Of course, not everyone can use USAA, but if it's an option, then I recommend taking advantage of it! It's our one-stop banking!
I just have a quick question about the ING savings accounts. I've tried to get my husband to buy into several small designated accounts, but he is reluctant to do so because he is afraid it will add to the income tax prep. Has this been a problem for anyone else? Thanks.
I don't see why it would add to income tax prep. All the interest from each institution should report on the same 1099. So you would still only get one 1099 from ING regardless of how many accounts you have there. The complication comes when you have multiple accounts at multiple institutions. Then you would get multiple 1099s that would have to deal with but only if the institution pays you more than $10 per year in interest. So even if you had multiple institutions, its unlikely that the balances would be high enough to generate that much interest if you just using them for budgeting purposes with small amounts. Long story short- no it shouldn't complicate your tax filing. Hope that helped!
Yep! Mine all comes on a single electronic 1099 and is super easy to enter into Turbo Tax.
Thanks so much!
Oooo congrats on the exciting changes! I can't wait to hear how it all works out.
It looks like I'm in the minority, but I like spray painting. I do lighter coats & keep going until it looks good & there aren't any uneven spots. I just hate washing out brushes & trying to get in all the corners w/out brush strokes- and it takes so much longer to wait for it to dry between coats.
Any worries that Mr. FG will like being at home so much in the morning that he'll have a hard time leaving for work in the afternoon? 😉
Congrats on the promotion!
My husband's switching to a 4pm-midnight shift at the end of November, and it'll be a huge switch for us too. I'm curious to see how it works out for you and if you'll have tips on how to make the transition!
I like spray painting way better than painting with a brush - I think it is so much easier to hold a can and press a nozzle rather than deal with brush strokes!
I spray painted an end table and coffee table black, and loved how it turned out. The trick is to use very light coats, 3 at a minimum. With that in mind, make sure that you are using a smooth, fairly quick sweeping motion and not holding the can too close to the furniture. Also, make sure to clean the nozzle between uses. After you are done with one coat, turn the can upside down and spray until paint no longer comes out (just takes a couple of seconds). Good luck!
Yay for the promotion, and getting to sleep until the sun comes up! As someone who gets up at 4:45am 3-4 days a week for work I really enjoy the days I get to sleep until 6. (It's amazing what a difference an hour can make.)
Unsolicited advice from our alternate shift family: at some point in our careers either my husband or I have been the one to get home late at night after everyone is asleep. We have discovered over the years that even though we didn't have to get up early we STILL had to stick to a strict bedtime and try to get to sleep asap when getting home. The tendency to get a lot accomplished in a quiet house, and enjoy a little kid-free time as well, would leave us staying up too late and then sleeping until lunch the next day. Which left barely any family time, and a little resentment on the part of the parent who had to get up early with the kids and didn't get to sleep in. : )
Breakfast for breakfast, big evening meal for lunch before Mr. FG leaves for work, and snacky lunch stuff with the kids in the evening? Supposed to be healthier to eat your big meal in the middle of the day anyway.