Will you sniff my armpit??

Ditzy, air-head, goofy, peppy, hyper….these are some of the labels people awarded me throughout my life. At different times in my life, labels offended me. Seriously, I hated the “air-head” label!

 You know what? I am an air-head and I don’t get jokes easily! People have to spend about 25 minutes explaining a joke to me, and by the end of the explanation, the joke is no longer funny! You know, I am also ditzy, goofy, peppy, and hyper. I am proud of my labels, they are part of who God made me, and honestly they keep my life fun!

Recently, my friend Ryan labeled me with the most genius label yet: quirky. The air-head in me asked him to define quirky because I did not understand? He proceeded to try to define the label, a pretty funny conversation and definition.

I still didn’t quite understand…quirky…really, Ryan?? However, quickly I found myself doing quirky things. One day, I was in a computer training room with my co-workers. The room grew silent as we found ourselves in deep concentration. Suddenly, my eyes met my co-workers and at that very instant we both arrived at the same conclusion: Yes, I was caught SNIFFING MY ARMPIT!!

We bellied over laughing for about 10 minutes and of course, I had to proceed to tell them that I think this one act defined me: I am quirky.

You know, it’s probably unprofessional, inappropriate, and embarrassing to sniff your arm pit in public settings. But, Wednesday I found that I was no alone with my quirky behavior.

James and I finished our swim training for the Tri; as we dressed, children around the ages of 5-6 started piling into the pool for their first swim lesson. A group of boys gathered together (I need to emphasize: this is the first time they met one another). After about 4-5 minutes of chatter, one skinny boy jumped in the middle of the group with the loudest, proudest, most confident voice; raised his arm high to the ski and SCREAMED: OKAY GUYS, WHO WANTS TO SNIFF MY ARM PIT!?!??!!

You know what happened? The children proceeded to SNIFF the KIDS armpit!! I laughed hysterically and thought, “okay, I am not alone…that kid is pretty quirky, too!” I am quirky and sometimes you might find me sniffing my armpit, or if you are lucky, you might find me running with my bike helmet on my head...

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.”

You GET what you GIVE to the world!

Have you ever heard the saying, “you get what you give to the world?” Recently, as evidenced by this blog, I am trying to pour my energy into reflecting and appreciative the positive in my life. After reading Barbara Frederick’s book, “Positivity,” I believed in changing my life through positive thinking.


A few Saturday mornings ago, I sat down at my computer to type a long over-due thank you and appreciation letter for one of my best friend in high school Mom. Why on earth would I write my friend’s Mom a random letter 10 years later? Well, as I age, I realize people develop and grow based on their interactions with hundreds; I contribute some of my personal positive growth and development to her.

My friend’s Mom is a beautiful person inside and out. She provided me with just the absolute perfect amount of support during an incredibly difficult time in my life 10 years ago. Some mothers, in her situation, might have thought that I was a crazy teenager and forbid their daughter from spending time with me. But she is different.

Now, I believe we are placed on this earth for a reason. Some people’s reason may seem less obvious, but no less important. My friend’s Mom doesn’t have a fancy career, she doesn’t have a fancy job title at work, she doesn’t wear fancy name brand clothes, but she positively influenced my life more than she will ever know.

A few weeks ago, I wrote the letter to my friend’s Mom. Of course, when she received the letter, she did not expect it, and I did not expect anything more from the letter except to feel happy that I let her know how much she meant to me.

Well, the next week, I opened up my e-mail box to find a beautiful and unexpected gift. My baby sister, who I love more than anything; the most beautiful little girl on the planet, wrote me this poem and read it to her school at poetry night:

A sister is someone who loves you from the heart,
My sister is my best friend,
Even though we are miles apart,
We’re together till the end,


She helps me through difficult times,
She’s so beautiful, on the inside and out,
Her comforting words are worth way more than dimes,
When I’m with her there’s never a doubt


Whether I’m having my ups or downs,
We usually never fight,
She always smiles instead of frowns,
Her personality is always big and bright,



Laughing and smiling,
I love when we are together
You are so styling,
You are my best friend and I love you

Her gift did not cost 0$.01, but I accept her inspiring thoughts, her courageous action, and devoted time over a billion dollars, any day. Of course, I cried my eyes out when I read this poem. I beemed with positive evergy for an entire week because of this gift [and my heart still swells with joy everytime I read this poem]!  I do have the best baby sister on the face of this earth!

Then just yesterday, I received another completely random and unexpected act of kindness. One of the women I meet with regularly for wellness appeared at my desk mid-morning with a HUGE smile on her face. She looked in my eyes and handed me a card and waited as I opened and read the card.

She created this beautiful, hand-made, appreciation card specifically for me and wrote a beautiful thank you note and letter of appreciation. WOW, my eyes teared up again. How unexpected? What a beautiful way to start my day!

Then the thought occurred to me, “you get what you give to the world.” You don't give to get, but it's just the natural outcome. Unbelievable. I am blessed a thousand times over.

Amazed by NAKED pizza!

James and I budget $500 per month for food (max $125/week). Most of the time, our weekly food expense is about $100, but sometimes special occasions, guests, or food gifts cause our weekly budget to tip over! Last week, with James traveling home to Bangor, our food budget tipped in the wrong direction! To recoup the losses, we were challenged to save some $$ on food this week.

Some of our most expensive food items include: cheese, meat, and vegetables. In order to maintain our budget, we had to shave about $30 off our grocery bill this week. We didn’t want to skimp on veggies, so we decided to ditch the cheese and meat.

What did this mean? NAKED PIZZA!! This delicious whole wheat pizza topped with natural pizza sauce and four veggies: mushrooms, orange pepper, onion, and spinach is not only loaded with TONS of nutrients, and saved us $$, but I honestly was amazed that I didn’t notice the missing CHEESE! WOOT WOOT!!


"The wise man should consider that health is the greatst of human blessings.  Let food be your medicine."  Hippocrates

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun!"

Mary Lou Cook

[This week’s grocery bill= $70.15, I am NOT lying!!!] YAY, WE’RE GETTING OUT OF DEBT! Plus, we are EATING HEALHTY!!! BAAAABY!!!

Peace, Love & $50 Allowance!

James and I set out on our debt snowball adventure thanks to the help from Dave Ramsey 15 months ago! Every day we look at our debt snowball thermometer and feel proud that we are on the right track! But, we can’t help to admit that paying down debt is HARD.


One of the biggest challenges we faced is personal spending. Why? Well, sometimes we cannot agree on priorities. I might think that mascara is a priority and James might think a new pair of baseball pants is a priority. Who decides? Do we need to go on the marriage coach?

We settled our differences by establishing a weekly personal spending allowance; I swear allowance==marital BLISS! Each week we receive $50 allowance for personal spending. We decide independently who, what, when, where, and how we will spend our allowance.


What comes out of our weekly allowance?

Fun activities, happy hour, new clothes, make-up, sports apparel, birthday presents, eating out, coffee, trips, entertainment, and any other non-essential to life item or situation!



Why do we love our weekly allowance?

We are about a million times more creative with our fun & entertainment!

We do not waste money on frivolous, mindless purchases because we can’t afford to!
We appreciate the items we buy for ourselves and other’s soooooooo much more than we did before

We eat healthier because we rarely spend our personal money at a restaurant

We don’t fight about money [95%]

We are more organized with our $$ and our life

We waste less

We have less stress, which equals more room for peace & love


Here's an example of a creative, low-cost FUN!


                                                                       Candle Light

                                                                  Sunset Happy Hour

On the beach

                      “If you want to feel rich, just count on the things
                         you have that money can’t buy”


                         Proverb

Strout's Tri-Training BLOOPERS!

James and I registered to complete our first Triathlon in March. For the past five weeks, we have started training so that we can FINISH the race successfully on May 22, 2010! Our weekly training routines are always an adventure, we’ve experienced some expected and….unexpected moments! What did we expect to occur during training?

 Improve Physical & Mental endurance

 Challenge Strout Exercise routine Status Quo

 Risk taking

What did we not expect?

 James to CRY LIKE A BABY!!

On the ride home from our first training session at the pool, James complained of “burning eyes.” He looked at me and if eyes could bleed, I am telling you, his would have squirted all over me! I knew right away we had a little situation on our hands. I said, “cry, flush out the chlorine… come on…you have to CRY! Think of something sad, let the tears flow ….” We both started laughing, and the tears flooded down like rain! Ultimately, we learned that although the swimming goggles make you look like a freaky LIZARD, if you want to keep your eyes in your socket, of if you want to see for the rest of your life…you NEED the goggles!

 Me to experience temporary insanity!

Apparently, tri training fiercely improved my concentration, or caused me to officially lose my mind! Last week, I completed a bricking workout [two workouts back to back]. I rode my bike from our apartment to the back-bay. I found a nice little tree to wrap my bike lock around; I diligently looped my bike lock in between my front tire, and I proceeded to jump on the bay path and run.

I felt sooo proud. I thought, “damn, I just rode my bike and now I am running” this is pretty sweet. For some reason, my ear phones from my iPod kept popping out of my ear. I thought, “jeeze Louise, I need some new ear phones…and they are not in the budget.” I kept popping them back in my ear. After about the fifth situation [and about a mile down the path], I gently grazed my hand up to my ear to reposition the earphone, and I felt something weird on the side of my face…and then….I realized what had occurred, I WAS RUNNING WITH MY BIKE HELMET ON MY HEAD!!!

I BURST into hysterical laughter!! A man was running slightly behind me, I turned around with tears rolling down my face, and I said to him (as if we were best friends), “I FORGOT TO TAKE OFF MY HELMET” HAHAHHA….and he looked at me like I was completely and utterly INSANE!

I guess that the Tri registration from should come with a warning: MAY CAUSE UNCONTROLLABLE TEARS, TEMPORARY INSANITY, and LAUGHING

Would you eat 52 teaspoons of sugar today?

Do you know how much sugar you eat every day?? The average American consumes 52 TEASPOONFULS of sugar PER DAY!!

USDA.gov 2010 (http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf)

A couple of weeks ago, I tracked everything I put in my mouth on: http://www.thedailyplate.com/ . After three days, I was SHOCKED! I learned, on average, I eat 137 teaspoons of sugar DAILY, and the recommended value is 41 teaspoons! WOW!

I went on a Sugar Revolution!!

Apple Renovation: I did a little apple research and discovered that granny smith apples contain 14 tsp of sugar versus 25-30tsp in other apples! I want to eat an apple every day because apples are superfoods;I switched to granny smith apples and saved 10-15tsp of sugar per day!

Yogurt Overhaul: My non-fat, plain, regular yogurt contained 20tsp of sugar! Plain, non-fat greek yogurt contains 7 tsp of sugar, and 18 GRAMS of PROTEIN! I dip my apple in my yogurt around 9am, and I am FULL until noon!

Oatmeal Refurb: I ditched the 2 tsp of brown sugar in my morning oatmeal, saving me 8grams of sugar/day. At first, I felt like I was chocking my oatmeal down, but after one week, I didn’t notice the missing sugar!

23.5MILLION Americans over 20 are diabetic (National   Institute for Health, 2007)

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/DM/PUBS/statistics/#allages

3 small changes=36tsp of sugar! Tracking my food intake helped me learn my sugar intake is too high! I plan to be mindful of my sugar intake whenever possible. I am also thinking about ditching ketchup…..BUT…that’s a BIG situation. I LOOOOOVE ketchup. So I will think on that one.

What good would come to your life if you went on a sugar revolution!? Do you know how much sugar you eat per day? Are you surprised by the sugar content in prepared foods??

Did you hear what I just said?

Last week, I completed training and earned my certification as a Health and Wellness Coach. The WellCoach program is designed to help health professionals grow as effective coaches; interestingly, I believe the training process helped me grow not only as a health professional, but deeply as a person.


I will share some of the invaluable lessons I learned throughout this life changing program.

Did you ever think of listening as the foundation of life? Probably not. Why? Because we have left listening behind in our 21st century craze! Multitasking is at an all time high with the invention of text messaging, facebook, e-mail, iPhones…the list goes on. When was the last time you really listened to someone?

"I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I mean.” Robert McCloskey


I think that listening, really listening is the most difficult challenge in life; the great adventure of listening isn’t something that you can master in one day. To break the challenge into a manageable snack, I started practicing listening exclusively with my coaching clients...... and WOW! What an amazing difference listening made in my experiences and conversations.

When I take the time to listen, to shut down the choas in my mind, to leave my cell phone behind, to turn off my computer, to stop eating, to stop reading e-mail, to stop multitasking period and give someone my undivided attention powerful outcomes occur. I used to walk into coaching meetings with assumptions and pre-determined prescriptions of what I believed a person needed to do or should do. But, since I started to focus on their words, their feelings, their facial expressions, and their meaning behind it all, I realized that I had it allllllll wrong.

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, make us unfold and expand. “- unknown


Listening has taught me the power of people’s dreams, visions, and feelings. When I listen, people open their heart to me, and interestingly I grow and learn from living vicariously through their stories.People say that I help them, or that they appreciate meeting with me; in the end, I think I am the one who receives the ultimate gift.  Suprisingly, I learned that most people just want to be heard.  They don't want to be told what to do, or how to do it.  They just want someone to listen. 

"Deep listening is miraculous for both listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand.”Sue Patton Thoele.


I plan to move listening into all areas of my life, but I like to take baby steps so that I don’t feel overwhelmed; listening is hard and sometimes it makes my brain hurt!!  In fact, as I am writing this blog post, James called me.  He started talking to me about some amazing breakfast that his friend made him this morning.  He was telling me the details, and I know he ate something with hot sauce...but, honestly, I dont' know what the heck he ate becuase somewhere in the middle of his story I found myself messing with my blog layout. hahaha.  As soon as I realized, I giggled to myself a little.  See....listening is HARD!

How do you practice listening?

•  STOP everything else that is going on in your life: internal chatter, self talk, e-mail, phone, television, driving….everything…. and focus all of your attention on the person you are talking to
• THINK: "When I multitask while talking to someone, I am essentially saying," 'I don't care enough about you to give you my undivided attention.' or 'I am too busy for you.'
•  Don’t think about what you are going to say next.

•  Listen to understand.

•  Reflect back to them important points to make sure you really listened and understood what they said

Exciting possibilities come from listening:

· You will probably learn about what excites people, and that might excite you.

· You might light people's true values in life, which might cause you to think deeply about your own values.

· Your relationships will transform and people WANT to talk to you

· You WANT to talk to other’s because you learn and grow from their stories and experiences

I truly believe that we are all valuable to one another. We all have something to learn from someone, even if we think we cannot tolerate their presence, even if we think that they have nothing to offer us. Everyone on earth was placed in our lives for a reason. When we listen and learn, we will understand why.

"The first duty of love is to listen.” Paul Tillich

 Think of one person in your life, do you believe that you can focus on listening to that person for one day? One interaction? One week? Is it possible to try to listen today?

Food is Medicine, EAT IT!!

Food has turned into the enemy of our society; the stories we hear in the media as well as the stories we tell ourselves… “Eat less to weigh less” “healthy food costs too much” “will power protects you from resisting temptation...”

Today, one of the people who I meet with regularly for wellness coaching raised an interesting observation: every major street has a fast food restaurant. Okay, I know what you are thinking, “who cares? We already knew that.” Well, on the same street, you will find at least one pharmacy. Essentially, we eat ourselves to death and try to recover through pills and then complain that they cost too much.

“Don’t boil the devil out of vegetables. Use only enough water, cook them until just tender. Why waste precious vitamins, and then buy them back in pill form?” – Ducan Hines

Food IS our medicine, we need to EAT it! I tried using the story, “Kelley, healthy food is too expensive.” But, I arrived at an exciting epiphany: HEALTHY FOOD IS CHEAP!!! You think I am crazy? Check this out!

One bag of frozen blueberries, 2 pounds of oatmeal, and 1 pound of nuts (almonds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds) cost: $14. This will last 2 people 7 days equaling= $1/day per person! How is something unhealthy cheaper??

• Dunkin Donuts donut?? Okay, you are right…we could probably grab a donut for .76 cents, but we can’t forget that the monthly cost of blood pressure medication is $10-$300 per MONTH!! (consumerreports/health.org) Not to mention, in 2010, high blood pressure will cost the U.S. 76.6 BILLION in healthcare!!!! Still think the donut is cheaper??

Okay, it’s not all about donuts either. Half the food we think is healthy is filled with preservatives, sodium, and sugar. This weekend, I was checking out oatmeal available at Hannaford, “WEIGHT CONTROL” “HEART HEALTH” oats…I checked out the ingredient list, and here’s the deal, if they have money to advertise their health claims, they are LYING! They are tricking you into believe their product is healthy. True farmers don’t have the $$ to advertise. Quaker Oats are safe, indulge!

Why did I choose oatmeal to shoot for oatmeal, blueberries and nuts for breakfast? Well, first off, this is the cheapest healthy breakfast I could design. Plus, all five foods are super! Combined this breakfast contains valuable soluble fibers, vitamin C, antioxidants, protein, and numerous vitamins and minerals.

We don’t need to eat less, resist temptation, or tell ourselves that health food is too expensive. Food is MEDICINE! We need to love our food and think about how we can feed our body the most nutritious foods at every opportunity. Healthy food is CHEAP when you think of the alternative. Food is our medicine, eat up!!

Macoroini & Cheese to LIVE for!

James and I were craving a thick and delicious macaroni and cheese….at the same time….we wanted to feed our body nutritious food…. Do we have to suffer while demonstrating intense will power as we resist this temptation? Not if we bust out our creativity and enjoy macaroni and cheese to LIVE for!!

To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” –La Rochefoucauld

Macaroni and cheese to LIVE for is packed with four superfoods: broccoli, red pepper, squash, and soy; complemented with whole wheat pasta, and whole wheat bread crumbs!

Why on earth would we want to eat macaroni & cheese filled with superfoods? Well, let’s just examine the ingredients on the popular box macaroni and cheese:

To DIE for box Ingredients: Modified food starch, sodium tripolyphosphate, buttermilk solids, sodium phosphate, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, lactic acid, yellow 5, yellow 6.

To LIVE for home made ingredients: vitamin A 32869 IU, vitamin C 100.mg, vitamin E 5.6mg, Folate 100.9mcg, protein 10g, calcium 100.mg, potassium 1582mg, Omega 3 fatty acids, 60, Omega 6 45, fiber 12g.

I don’t know about you, but I might as well suck on the tail pipe of my car while it’s running if I am going to eat the DIE for ingredients.

We baked the Macaroni on Sunday and will enjoy the dish for 3-4 dinners this week, allowing us to save mega time and mega $$!!


Macoroini & Cheese to LIVE for Recipie!

1 small butternut squash - peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 cup chicken broth

1.5 cups soy milk

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of cayenne pepper

3/4 teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

1 lb of organic whole wheat elbow macaroni

2 Orange Pepper, diced

Fresh Broccoli, chapped into small pieces (I use four stocks of broccoli, but use the tops and only some of the stocks)

8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

1 cup fat free ricotta cheese

6 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons whole wheat bread crumbs

2 teaspoons olive oil
Combine squash, broth and milk in medium sauce pan (depending on the size of the squash, you may need to add more broth and soy milk in order to cover the squash). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender (about 20-25 minutes). Remove from heat. Blend squash mixture in a blender until liquefied, add cayenne, salt and black pepper.

Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to a boil and add noddles. Cook al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain, transfer to large bowl, stir in squash mixture, pepper, broccoli, cheddar, ricotta and two tablespoons of Parmesan.
Lightly coat 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Transfer noodle mixture to dish. In small bowl combine breadcrumbs , the remaining Parmesan and oil. sprinkle over noddle mixture.

Bake at 375 for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tops is lightly brown. ENJOY!

Last time, first time??

Kelley, “when is the last time you did something for the first time?” This quote inspired me to jump outside my black or white thoughts.

My company is sponsoring a TriAthalon, I received the e-mail announcement and clicked “delete” almost immediately. Why? I can’t swim. I can’t bike then run. Period. No further discussion.

My 59 year old co-worker approached me regarding my status, assuming that I would definitely participate. I verbalized my argument. She proceeded to tell me that she completed her first Tri at age 59 after fearing water her entire life. She completed her first marathon at age 50 and completed 5 since. I felt stupid, she inspired me, and I agreed to join.

This experience opened my eyes and generated deep self-reflection, I learned:

Open to challenge: I let my ability to swim auto reject an opportunity rather than remaining open to the challenge.

Stretch Status Quo: I was okay with my current exercise routine, accepting it as status quo; rather than stretching myself beyond the norm outside my limits.

Take Risks: Completing a Tri is a risk; fear of not finishing, looking stupid, left me sitting in the safe zone; rather than jumping in with both feet.

Thank God for my co-worker, her belief in me opened my eyes to new possibilities and helped me to realize that I had shut off my own core values: open to challenge, stretch status quo, and take risks.

We are on this earth to LIVE! Yesterday, I completed my first, what they call “bricking” in the Tri business, and my body wants to die today. But, at least I challenged myself, stretched my status quo, and took a risk. In the end that is what life is all about.

Summer 2010, we might not have another. Let’s do something WILD and CRAZY! Sign up to run a race, bike a race, complete a Tri….why? WHY NOT!? When is the last time you did something for the first time?

Who put a $100 bill in my sports bra???

My goal for this blog post is to dispel a common myth related to the point of “wellness.” You might think, “I know all about wellness; eat well and exercise, right?” WRONG!

I am not going to go off the deep end and get all philosophical on you here, but being “well” is incredibly holistic requiring a much deeper understanding and assessment of our entire life.

Think about a time in your life when you felt your very best….. who was around? What were you doing? What or who supported you? What was contributed to you feeling your best?

Often, when I ask my wellness members this question, their answer usually includes school: high school, middle school, or college. Or I hear, “before my kids were born” or “before I had a full time career.”


Why is this? Well, let’s think about life as a “traditional student:”

• Financial freedom (heck, we left that crazy business to our parents)

• Super Networked: we hung with our friends every day, benefited from external adult support though guidance counselors, school nurses, our teachers; and we had a plethora of community involvement opportunities.

•Family: most of us lived with them until college, and when we went to college we benefited from our college “family.”

• Personal Development: we used our creative minds in art, music, dance, or band. We participated in sports, chess, or key club.
Now, let’s flash forward to life as an “Adult” or as our parents liked to tell us, “Welcome to the Real World”

•Financial FREAK OUTS: We base most of our decisions on the green stuff $$$ “how much will the job pay me? How much is the house? I can’t quit the job I despise, I have to pay for the mortgage that I can’t really afford….I can’t work less and spend more time with my family, how will I pay for my $400/mo car payment?? I don’t have time to visit my Mom, I am working a 2nd job to stay ‘afloat.’ I can’t afford to eat healthy…I can’t afford to take a dance class…

•Super Lame: We have limited time to spend with our friends, we work too much. We hate our co-workers and our bosses don’t want to mentor us, they just want to make our lives miserable. Community?? Who has time to commit to the community?

•Family?? Say What? Who has time? “I don’t have time to sit down and eat dinner with my family… my kids spend 4 hours on the computer each night while I work” “heck, I definitely don’t have time to visit my parents…let alone my grandmother!”

• Personal Development: “what the heck is personal development?? I don’t’ have time for myself…it’s a waste of time to invest in fun.”

Get my point?

Okay, now that might be a little extreme, and I believe that Gen Y will generate real change in the world-life balance category. But, as far as balance and wellness is concerned, if we sit back and think about the best times in our lives, we will find that more than nutrition and exercise contributed!

If our finances are out of control, keeping us up at night, and robbing our sanity, how can we expect to focus on getting in better shape? If we hate our jobs and feel that we chose the wrong career, how can we focus on optimal nutrition? If we don’t let loose and relax, have fun, and invest in our own fun and personal development, how can we expect to feel great?

I created and attached a graph of the essential components of optimal wellness. When one area is out of whack, we jeopardize another area. When we invest in improving one area, we reap benefits in all other areas.

So yes, the $100 dollar bill belongs in your sports bra….healthy finances has everything to do with wellness!

Debt SUCKS!!!!

Here’s the deal: last year James and I paid $15,849.67 in interest between our student loans and our house payment. What do we have to show for it? Okay, I guess we do have four college degrees and a house that we don’t live in, but either way…DEBT SUCKS!!!

Let’s just paint a little scenario here….$15,849.67/year…is $1320.80 every month….what could we do to unload that kind of money??

Take #1: At the first of each month, James and I go to the bank, drive up to the teller and ask, “Can we please withdraw $1320.80 from our account?

Why don’t you give it to use in $1 bills… [Let’s spice things up!]”

James and I hop in our cute little silver Honda Civic and drive down 295 with 1,320 $1 bills. We crank the radio, maybe we would blast a little Black Eyed Peas “where is the love?” or maybe a little Mandy Moore “Candy.”

Once we felt good about our location on the highway, we would roll down our window, smile at each other…high five….and THROW $1320.80 out our window!!! Isn’t that awesome?!?! Just for fun we would scream, "STROUTS" and feel like we accomplished something in the world.

Take #2: James and I receive our bi-weekly paychecks. We proudly go to the bank, request that the teller deposit half our check and give us half the check back in cash.
At the first of each month, we would walk into our bosses’ office, hand him or her half our check, and say: “actually, I think we don’t need this much money. You over paid me, but thank you!” J Wow- didn’t that feel good!!??

Take #3: At the end of each month, James and I crumble $1320.80 into a ball and jam it down our garbage disposal…..what can we say? We LOVE the sound of shredded money, that’s normal, right??

Conclusion: DEBT SUCKS!!!!

What would we do if we had the $15,849 that we paid to some random stranger?? The possibilities are endless!! We could set up a scholarship fund, go on tropical vacations, buy our friends and family outrageously awesome presents, go to an Oprah show, buy a new couch, secure season tickets to the Red Socks, or Duke Blue Devils, buy a season pass to a golf course, take dance lessons….feel FREE!!!!

To date we paid $27,000 of our combined debt, we still owe $18,000. We’ve had many tests and challenges throughout our debt pay down journey, but we will not let them defeat us! If we did, our alternative is spending the rest of our lives draining $$$$ to the wind, I guess we could continue to use the humor expressed in takes #1-#3? That would make throwing away $1320.80 fun, right? NAH!!!

Our visual debt snowball thermometer provides daily motivation to stay on track. James created this bad boy, and he went all the way: the thing is 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide!

**Exciting news:  one of my bestest friends paid of $5000 of debt since my first blog post in January 2010!!!!!