Ok, so we've both been slacking, and I feel like I let reader MJK down...

Neither of us have been consistent with the push-up, sit-up, squat challenges, or with running. I can blame it on the move and how crazy it's made our lives with unpacking, family visitors, and projects. I can blame it on our busy work schedules. I could even blame it on the recent bout of unseasonable rain and cool weather we had been getting - but the truth is we just got lazy.

Before the Airport 5k race we ran once after the move - that is far from enough training to run at peak performance. And we hadn't done any fitness routines at all. As of today our exercise bike and weights are still in the basement waiting to be unpacked.

But this week that is changing. I went for a run on Wednesday and will go again today after work, and I restarted the 200 sit up challenge from Week 1, Day 1 which I will also continue with (day 2) tonight. Ryan went home for lunch today and went for a run before eating. And I have it on the "to-do" list as a priority to get the basement unpacked, sorted, and set up - including the bike and weights.

It's going to be tough to make time to exercise, and get back into a routine, especially since we don't have any established running paths yet - but we need to do this for health and sanity.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Status so far:
200 Push Up Challenge
Week 1, Day 1 (repeat)
Five rounds: 9, 9, 6, 6, 13 (max) (Last time my max was 15, but I am still happy with this start)

Photo credits:
http://www.topendsports.com/clipart/pics/fitness/Sit_Ups_3
http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/CelicaCrazed
http://noaa.gov

I know we are behind the times - but Ryan and I just picked up our digital television converter boxes.

If you remember, back in February all television signals over the air were supposed to be converted from analog to digital; but the government delayed it because not enough people got the coupons and converter boxes. The new switchover date was June 12th 2009.

With our apartment we got free basic cable and didn't need a converter box. Then when we moved to our new house and tried to plug in for the free "over the air" channels we realized we didn't have a digital signal reader and couldn't get more than one fuzzy channel. (Of all the channels, the religious network came in the best and was the only one that might have been viewable)

We went to order our coupons and found that the previous owners had already got them delivered to our address and we didn't qualify - only 2 per household and they had already used them up. Instead we sent them to our apartment address which got forwarded to our new house and arrived in yesterdays mail.

The coupons were for $40 off, and the converter boxes were exactly $40 at Target - so why are they "almost free"? Well... New York charges an 8% sales tax, and on $80 that's $6.40. We went to check out and had to pay the taxes ourselves, the coupon wouldn't cover that. We also had a coupon for a free bag of cat food, but there was no sales tax associated with that one.

So tonight Ryan will try to plug them in and get our TV's up and working. Honestly we don't watch much TV - only PBS. Most of the time we either get news online and only use our televisions for games and movies. But it would be nice to have a few channels.

This month was very exciting for our lives and for our net worth. Some highlights:

• Visiting my family in Connecticut. This was a lot of fun but also a lot in gas and eating out. It's a full two tanks of gas each way, plus food on the road, and food when we get there. We treated my family and friends to ice cream one night, but overall didn't have too much more than usual travel expenses. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and hang out.
  

• Buying a house! We closed on June 19th and are still unpacking a few boxes. This means more expenses than usual with house supplies, repairs, and other miscellaneous expenses. We've been trying to budget and prioritize what we spend, but there's still a lot of unusual expenses this month. This also means that our emergency fund is currently "in the mail", as we used most of it towards the down payment - this will be replenished with the $8,000 stimulus money which we should be getting in a few weeks.

• Family visiting OUR house. After buying our house the family was eager to see it, so for the long Independence Day weekend we had Ry's sister, his mom, and her husband up to visit, as well as my parents, my brother, and my grandparents. It was a crazy weekend, and I am proud to say we had homemade meals for all but one (pizza on Sunday, but my dad treated us (Thanks!!)) and we were able to have fun with so many people and such a huge range of ages and interests. The full highlights of the weekend will have to be in another post.

So given these unusual circumstances in June we find ourselves with a net worth change of +18.13%. Sweet! We gained$2030 this month when you factor in the stimulus money that is in the mail for our home purchase. It hasn't arrived yet, but we've put a place holder for it in our tallies, and it should be here any week now. Being so busy this month our alternative income is down from last month, but we still managed to earn over $300 this month. We started June with a lot in alternative income (mainly selling stuff in preparation for the move) but towards the end of June when things started getting crazy we were struggling to keep the stream flowing.

Here's where things stand:


Investment Update: (-0.35% for June, +3.06 YTD)


Alternative Income ($336.33 for June, $2500.95 YTD)


The full spreadsheets with all the information can be seen here:

• Alternative Income Breakdown - Fully updated as income is earned throughout the month.
  
• Monthly Budget Breakdown - June Edition
  
• Full Net Worth breakdown - June Edition
  

Here are blank versions the spreadsheets we use; you can download them if you are interested in using our templates:

• Where did the money go? A spread sheet we use to track individual expenses, both fixed and variable. Each purchase we make is added. We normally use credit cards so we can update this at the end of the month with all purchases, but if we pay cash for something it is added the same day. You can see the 5% Fun Fund in use here - we budget 5% of all income towards fun purchases.
• Monthly dashboard A spreadsheet that shows how our net worth has changed from month to month. It is also used to record the value of all assets (liquid and illiquid) as well as expenses and the current net worth.

How are the goals coming?

• Goal#1: $10k Emergency Fund: Was done, but temporarily used to help our down payment fund. Currently sitting at around $20 with $8,000 on the way soon - so we are counting it at $8020. All extra money is going to replenish this quickly to at least 6 months of expenses, which will probably be more than $10,000 when we complete our new budget.
  


• Goal #2: Save for a down payment on a house: DONE! We've moved and are loving the adventure of being a home owner.

• Goal#3: High Interest Student Loans: $21,931. Still working on this one - it's taken a back burner to replenishing our e-fund and finishing some needed house projects.
  

On Sunday my friends and I went strawberry picking at a local farm. It was a lot of fun!

This is the first time I had gone picking for strawberries, and I didn't really know what to expect.

When you get to the farm you check in and they weigh any containers you brought so you only pay for your weight in strawberries not buckets. You can also buy cardboard containers from their stand. Then you go to the center of the field were a guide assigns you to a row. There's a flag in each row that tells you where the last person left off, and so you know where to start. There were three of us so we got assigned two rows next to each other.

There were TONS of strawberries on the vines! All sizes, shapes, and levels of ripeness were available. It took us about an hour but we ended up picking about 10 quarts. There was a promotion where if you picked 9 quarts you got one free, so we only paid for 9 of them - total was just over $30, which is very cheap for the quantity we got. The container in the picture is only one of five we left with stuffed to the brim with ripe berries.

When we got back to my friends apartment we immediately set about making batches of homemade jams. It was time consuming but well worth the effort. We made three batches, experimenting with the flavors and amounts of pectin. The whole process took about four hours and we ended up with about 25 jars of jam in various sizes as well as a good amount of 'leftover' fresh strawberries to snack on during the week.

So how do you make strawberry jam?

If you look in cookbooks or online there are several recipes, most of which call for copious amounts of sugar. We all agreed that it would too way to sweet with that much so decided to taste as we went. There is some sugar in recipe but it is relatively low, and could be substituted for no-calorie sweetener if you are diabetic and wanted to keep it sugar free (aside from the sugar naturally in the fruit, of course) - just make sure to use no-sugar-needed pectin.

The steps involved look long and complex but they really aren't difficult at all. To sum it up in concise way:

1. clean
2. cut,
   
3. boil,
   
4. add sugar,
   
5. boil,
   
6. add pectin,
   
7. can,
   
8. clean up,
   
9. and enjoy!

Here's the technique we used for the best of the three batches in long form:

Clean and sterilize glass canning jars. The dishwashers rinse and heated dry setting works well for this.

While the jars are cleaning wash, stem, and cut in half 4 quarts of strawberries.

Add juice and zest of 1 lemon to the berries.

Bring to a boil on medium to medium high heat, stirring constantly to prevent the strawberries from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.

When the strawberries have started to liquefy use a potato masher to smash the larger pieces. (unless you like really large chunks in your jam)

When it has just started to boil add 1 cup white sugar.

After the sugar has been stirred in and all absorbed take a small spoon and taste it - add more sugar to your preference. We tasted before and after the sugar (clean spoons of course), and you definitely need some sort of sweetener, the jam (although delicious) was very bitter without it.

After stirring in the sugar continue stirring until it has reached a boil again.

After it has been boiling for about a minute stir in the pectin. For jam with such a little amount of sugar you should use no-sugar needed pectin; we tried the regular pectin and I don't think it's going to fully set. (we will probably use that batch for ice cream topping or in a pie)

At this point start boiling the lids to your jars to sterilize them.

Continue stirring at a low boil for about 5 more minutes until it becomes noticeably thicker.

To test for done-ness take a clean spoon and place a small amount of jam on a plate or bowl. Wait a few seconds for it to cool and if it has started to jell (is no longer very runny liquid) you are ready to start canning. The pot wont ever reach the full consistency of jelly, but it should set when it cools.

Carefully with a wide bottom funnel begin to spoon the jam into your cleaned jars. You should fill them to the point just below where the cap will fit. This will be the point just below the rim of the funnel inside the jar. (make sure to leave some air)

Then carefully clean off any excess jam from the edges and top with a round canning lid and screw cap. You should tighten finger tight all the way so water doesn't get in during the boiling, but you shouldn't strain yourself to get it super tight.

Place the filled jars in a large pot of boiling water. If you have a rack it would help to keep the jars from hitting each other, but if you don't you just need some sort of divider to prevent them from smashing.

Boil for 10 minutes at a full boil with the lid on the pot

Then carefully (with tongs is best) remove the jars and set them out to cool. You should hear 'pops' as the lids suction down and lock in place. Any jars that don't pop you need to use right away because they won't be fully sealed.

And that's it! When you are done with your bounty split it up, taste a little of what's left in the pan, and call it a day!

We've decided this was so much fun that we are going to set up a "Canning Weekend" on the last weekend of each month, and then preserve whatever is freshest and in season.