Wednesday

At my house, Wednesday is bills night.

Every Wednesday night, faithfully, my husband sits down to pay all of our bills. We used to sit down together to pay the bills, but after the cancer diagnosis I kind of checked out. For more than a few weeks I was just too sick to sit with him. But then I just wanted to bury my head in the sand because most of the bills were my medical bills and there was a lot of sadness, frustration, and guilt wrapped up in my head when I would attempt to get back with the program.

Let's be honest. There still is. But it was time for me to jump back in, and as I said a few weeks ago, watching the Chicagonista LIVE! show about finances was the push I needed.

So, we are back to Wednesday night bills night with both adults in the house. I brought back the two spreadsheets we use to track spending and the last few weeks we have faithfully filled them out.

I still feel really unsettled when we work on it. I don't like it. But, it needs to be done. So I'm sucking it up, and jumping in.

Things aren't magically better (although, wouldn't it be nice if it worked that way?). But I think this is the first step to getting them better - tracking the money again, knowing where it is going, knowing what we can cut and what we need to spend more on, these are all really good things.

We'll see where it takes us. While I know it won't be a straight line up, I hope we can find a 2-steps forward, 1-step back, because at the end of the day, that's still forward progress!

GPS To Your True Wealth

Note: I am being compensated for sharing this information for you. However, as always, all my opinions are my own! 

So, the bonus to not having any insurance (which is only being typed half-sarcastically) is that I have more time on my hands this month. No therapy appointments, no blood draws, no doctor's visits, no tests to be ordered, nothing. It is kind of, well, nice. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have insurance, but the break from the poking, prodding, driving to and fro is nice.

And since I've been home, I've been able to do more more things. I've cooked a bit more than I usually do. Okay, a lot more since I cooked maybe once a month before and relied on my husband, kids, left overs before. I've had more time to watch Netflix (related: watch Fringe. It's awesome. I just saw the final episode and they ended it well). And I've had time to be on-line a bit more.

So last week I sat at the computer, with twitter open in one tab and the Chicagonisata LIVE in another tab. This is a monthly on-line talk show that streams from Chicago and is a fabulous Chicago show, but seriously, don't think you need to be in Chicago to watch it because there's great info and lots of fun packed into each show! I was extra happy to catch it because they were broadcasting from the Chicago Board of Trade and were kicking off a 6 part series called GPS To Your True Wealth. Let's be honest here folks - between the medical issues we've had for the last few years and then job loss, car purchase, etc, to say the finances in this house need a little work would be a huge understatement. (side note: this is not to say that we can't feed or cloth ourselves).

We had built up an emergency fund before (I've blogged about it here), which we used during the emergency of my health issues, but we'd like build it up again, as we've essentially used it all. It is time for us to rebuild. We've done it before, so it's not entirely new to us, and yet, this time it feels different. We are at a different point in life, the kids are at different ages, and while there is no cancer, I still have health issues we have to juggle. Not to mention college for the kids is much closer. Medical costs are so much higher now and the kids only cost more as they age. So I feel a bit overwhelmed just thinking about it all. I might even be slightly hyperventilating as I type this out. Again, we aren't going to starve, but things are very tight and we definitely need to work on being frugal. So much feels unknown at this point - there's a new job, I wonder if I will ever be healthy again, the kids are getting older, and to have the security of that emergency fund again would give us peace.

So, anyway, I tuned into Chicagonista LIVE and felt myself nodding along to so much of what they were talking about. It wasn't just about money either - but also talking about what is important to you if you could take money out of the equation. Because, really, if you don't know what's important to you without money, how will you know what to do with your money? There was a nice reminder to me that I needed to be involved with the finances. I kind of am involved, but I'm really not. I get depressed doing bills with my husband because so many are for my medical things and I feel all sad inside, so I try to avoid it. However, as they talked about on the show, all the adults in a household need to be on board with the finances and to know where things are at always. Yes, I agree. Yes, this is the motivation I needed to jump back in the game! So, I'm watching the show, nodding along, listening to all that's being said, tworking (tweeting while working, which okay, I don't really work, but being a mom is a job so I can say I tworked right? LOL!), feeling pretty motivated and ready to tackle it all. Which is perfect, because they gave us homework to do.

So, I know homework doesn't sound that exciting, but a) I like homework and b) it wasn't hard and c) it is a great starting (or restarting as the case may be) point. I eagerly printed the worksheet off and then waited for Eric to fill it out together. As you can see, the emergency fund is our focus right now. Ideally, 6 months of living expenses would be in it when it's full! The second question was hard for me - it asks about what life events could impact your finances. For us, it was a no-brainer: my health. Which was hard to write down, but it is what it is and I can't ignore that. The last question is about what wealth aside from money do you want to pass along in your family. I love this question because life is so much more than money. We need it to survive obviously - no one's going to get groceries on an upbeat personality, but sometimes it's easy to forget it just isn't all about money!

It also asks you to round up your bills, receipts, important financial papers, etc for the next segment (oh, did I mention yet? There will be a total of 6 segments in this series! So, I guess I will have to start scheduling doctors appointment around these shows because I do not want to miss them). So this part was easy for us, we already have everything organized into a couple of folders and a filing system, etc. If you don't though (because we haven't always been so organized) it can seem daunting to get it all together, but I promise you, you will not regret it! So do it - it's best done in the just-dive-in-head-first-and-get-it-done fashion I think!

And now I will sit and impatiently waiting for the second segment of the series to air (October 8 if you want to mark it in your calendar!) which will be about navigating and tracking! This is going to be an awesome series overall I think - the chunks are small enough that it doesn't seem overwhelming, but a lot of great information is being shared!

Right now, you are probably thinking, Brandie, I need to get in on this! Because finances are so FUN and I LOVE them! So. Okay, maybe you don't really think finances are fun - confession: neither do I. But, they are important, and I want to be in control of my finances and not have my finances in control of me. So, I suggest you start with this video, it's short and sweet and does a great job of introducing the series!




Then you need to print out the first worksheet from here - put your goals, your (hypothetical or not) hurdles, your dreams down on paper. (I love this step because for me, putting them on paper makes them seem more concrete and more real.)

Then come and watch the rest of the series. The next two segments air:

• October 8, 2013  2pm CST
• November 12, 2013  2pm CST

I will update when the last three segments will air as soon as the website lists them, though in general, they are all the 2nd Tuesday of the month!

I'm excited. This is good timing for our house ... I hope it's as good of timing for your house as well. Maybe things are tight for you, or maybe you feel like you just don't have good control of the finances, or maybe things are looking good and you just want them to look better - I think there is something for everyone in this series. And I hope you follow along with me!

2009 Round-up

Just a small round-up of things of things in 2009!

I read about 28 books. I didn't keep great track though. Also, that's less than I normally read. I hope to get back up to reading more books next year and keeping better track of them all! (you can see all about them at my librarything page!)

I completed 12 knitting projects! Which you can check out Ravelry!

I did a lot of sewing projects. Just the ones I can remember add up to about 30. I don't really keep track of those in a easy way though. So who knows! I put all the pictures I took of said projects into a set at flickr!



We eliminated more debt - not as much as we hoped, but we chipped away at it! We ended with more money in savings than last year. Again, not by too much, but I consider both of these things forward progress and that is a good thing. We just need to keep that forward momentum into the next year!

We got to take an unplanned vacation to New Hampshire that was so wonderful!

The kids and I did a lot of great exploring - museums, the Sky Deck, Make-A-Messterpiece, walks in the woods! So many fun things!

Overall, there were a lot of great things in 2009. I also felt like I got my butt kicked on so many levels - the loss of a loved one, husband's pay cut and lots of uncertainty for a long time about how long his job would even continue. Trips that we had planned and had to cancel because we just couldn't budget for them. Lots of cutting back on things, lots of anxiety through the year.

I want to look back and say overall the year was more positive than negative. And in some sense it was. And yet, 2009 in my mind is a dark year, a heavy year, a year that I do not ever wish to repeat again. I entered the year with so many goals and hopes and dreams and plans, and so many of them never happened.

But I look forward to 2010. I didn't make resolutions for this upcoming year. I just want to keep plugging along with long-term goals already established and I just pray this year is a good one. I'll take a great one too, but right now, I just hope for a good one!

More on Resolutions

One of my resolutions this year is for our family to pay off all our debt. I talked more about my debt over here. So when I came across Angie's Debt Buster Club, I knew I had to join!

All of our debt is one credit card. Most of it is debt from when dh started up his side business. The business has been unable to repay us what we loaned to it, and so we have been unable to pay off this debt (I want to chime in here and say though, the business has saved us much more than this amount and so I don't regret dh starting it. BUT we will never do that again unless we can do it without taking on debt)

Here is the info:
Debt: 14,624.22
interest: 303.47 is at a HUGE 11.15 APR and the rest 14,495.09 is at 6.11 APR (total of 83.15 in December)
Minimum payment: 229.19

I believe last year we paid off 6000 of this debt. Also, they are only applying our payments to the 6.11% APR. Blech.

We have already mailed the January payment of 300. We have it set up in our bank account to auto pay citibank 300 every month. Last year, when we had extra we sent it in. I believe last Jan, the min payment was 290 and we could only scrounge up 10 dollars extra to pay that month! (but hey, still, paying over the min - no matter how small helps so we tried to not get too depressed about it LOL).

So this year we need to find 14,624.22 + interest to them. 9,000 more than last year!

Where will the money come from?
Good question. One we haven't entirely worked out. We know where some will come from:

• Cut back on spending. pull a few areas of the budget back as far as possible.
• I have already told where I worked last summer, that I am willing to work again this year.
• grow more food this summer to lower food costs
• Cut way back on savings
• Mortgage payment is dropping this year. The bummer - we don't know by how much. We can shift the difference to the credit card. (and no, not because it's an ARM - we have a standard 30 year loan. However, our mortgage companies pays our real estate taxes. Taxes didn't go up as expected last year so we have enough in our escrow that they are lowering our contribution. We fully expect to go under the required amount this year and for it to increase next year - which is what happened in 2008 LOL)

Aside from that, it will mostly be giving up things. I wanted to attend blogher. That is now out of the question. I turn 30 this year. We talked about having a nice party for it. We are giving that up. The kids will have no birthday parties this year - which is fine. We keep it to every other year anyway, and they all had them last year. I had planned on taking some sewing classes - again, they will all have to wait. Gas has dropped - so we plan to pay less this year for that than last year - which will be good! We don't have much we can sell around here - but I am planning on putting a few things on craigslist. Also, we need to declutter the house, so maybe we'll find a few more things to sell? I think, though, most of it will be small and will probably just go to the goodwill! I might reopen my etsy store - with completely different products though! We'll see. I'm not completely sold it will be worth it.

The good news is that we have a bit of savings set aside. Although we are following Dave Ramsey's baby steps, we decided given the current climate right now, we needed to have more than 1,000 in savings even though debt is paid off. Because dh works with advertising and he's watching competitors go out of business more often than we feel comfortable with, we built up some savings at the end of last year - enough for 2 months of expenses. We are hoping the economy turns around and that if we get debt down low enough, we can just pull out the money from savings. We don't have saved what we owe, but we could pull out 5,000 and pay off any remaining debt if we feel dh's job is secure!

At this point though, we know that we probably won't make much of a dent into savings until the second half of the year. Medical deductibles reset in January. Also, life insurance is due. And car insurance. And our dentist appointments are all in January. The only thing we won't be worrying about in January? Christmas expenses because we save a bit for those all year and had the money we needed in December. ::phew:: But most of "extra" income comes in September and October - my dh works a second job and his business operates then (so I guess really he works 2 extra jobs on top of regular day job) and I also make some extra money then as well. But, every month, anything we can pay on top of that minimum balance is good I think!

Going green and debt ...

I haven't really talked about either much lately, so I shall take some time now to do it!

Going Green

We have been pretty good at sticking to our changes this summer. We are line drying as much as possible (although it's been pretty rainy around here!), using green water when possible. I have switched to Seventh Generation Liquid Dish Soap and am VERY happy with it! Bonus, we recycle rinse water when possible for the garden! Remembering to bring our own bags to the stores (and not just at the grocery store folks - I take them to Hobby Lobby, Joann, Office Max, Staples, etc). This week I bought 40 dollars worth of produce and used brown paper bags to bag it all instead of plastic bags (although, I really want to invest in a really nice, thin cotton bag to use instead - for now, paper will have to do). When picnicing we are creating as little waste as possible - I bring real plates with, etc. The air is turned up (set to 80 right now). Walking when possible. So, yeah, we've managed to keep up with the changes.

However, we haven't added anything new to our efforts. And we are in the midst of planning a party and dare I admit it? We are planning on paper plates, napkins, cups, bottled water, etc, etc. Our party will not be eco-friendly at all. And I feel bad. But its approximately 125 people. And I don't have enough non-disposable to do it anyway. However, I read about Treecycle Recycled Paper from Stretch Mark Mama and the prices look good, so I should probably get on ordering that RIGHT NOW. But, I'm all about pretty. And I really wanted pretty plates. But, I also want a pretty planet in 50 years too, so I guess I have to ditch the pretty plate idea and just buy hte plain, eco-friendly ones!

So, we're moving along nicely here, but I know there is more we could be doing. We just need to suck it up and do it.

And I talked to someone from Method today. I don't know if there will be more to tell you or not. We'll see where it goes. But I'm excited that I even got to talk to someone today and that was pretty cool!

Money

We are still chipping away at our debt. Yes, chipping. Not making huge progress. Not have it paid off yet.

Oh how I wish I could come here and tell you debt is paid off and that we were working towards building up our 6 month emergency fund! But it is not so. Nope. We've been fortunate enough to pay more than min. balance, but not by a whole entire lot. This summer most of our extra money went to dental work for me and vacation.

The promising news is that we knew the dental stuff was coming. We got a quote and paid cash for it. It was a few thousand dollars worth of work, so that was awesome that we didn't have to add more debt to get it done (and it all needed to be done).

Vacation is a bit more fuzzy. I can tell you that we didn't go into debt to take the vacation. Again, we saved and spent only cash. We did not go over our budget. In fact I'm pretty sure we spent less than we saved for (which is good, but we haven't worked out the budget completely so I'm not positive). However, at the same time, there is a part of me that is saying we shouldn't have even gone on vacation until debt was paid off. Oh, I can rationalize it SO well. Mostly, the heart of the trip was to visit family - my husband's mom. And you can't put a price on that really, because they average seeing the kids about once a year. And to us, it seemed worth it provided we did not go deeper into debt to see it done. Which we didn't.

Of course, the extra for this month and probably next month goes to the party I am throwing in a few short weeks. But again, it's worth it. We are doing something we feel is very important and won't be going into debt to do it. And then after that, the holidays come up. And after that an important wedding that requires travel and dresses (myself and the two girls are in the wedding, so when I say I have to buy new dresses, I mean it! It's not me wanting to buy something new)

And really, that has been our mantra lately - if it is important and doesn't cause more debt, then do it. Because at the end of every month we have less debt and healthy kids and a roof over our head.

We entered this year knowing we wouldn't make much headway. We entered the year knowing that we would not be debt free when 2009 rolled around. You could say our only goal was to not make more debt this year and so far so good. We thought we would have a bit more done though. We weren't factoring in groceries going up and gas going up as much as it has. But we have less debt now than we did at the start of the year. And we have more in savings right now than at the start of the year too. So I consider both of those things very good.

However, we are still not prepared should something really big hit us. And that makes me a bit nervous. But I am hoping and praying that next year, next year we can kick that debt to the curb. I would love it if 2010 would see us with no debt because that would just be phenomenal! But that would mean next year would see us buckling down, getting serious, cutting spending as much as possible, and really working hard to knock it all out!

So, there are my updates =) Probably I haven't given many because there just hasn't been much to share honestly.

Shopping ....

If you happen to like Jane cosmetics, then go read this to find out how you can get some of them for free or almost free. I read it and got about 54 dollars worth of make-up for about 5. I'm very excited about that and tried some of it out tonight. Truthfully, I'm not too fond of the lipstick colors I picked out, so I have printed up some more coupons and will be returning to try again - and pick up some more items (since I like how it feels, I will buy a few more eye shadow colors and stuff like that).

Also, when I shopped today, I brought my own shopping bags (the ones I recently bought from target because they were ultra-cute) and the cashier actually gave me a really nice compliment on bringing my own bags and asked where I got them because she might want a couple too. So I told her I got them at target and I showed her how they folded up and zippered into a small size (which is why I bought them honestly. For instance today I threw two in my purse and pulled them out when we checked out). I do not always get warm reception when I use my own bags. I think it's harder for the cashiers at most places because the bagging areas is set up to hold their bags much easier. (Interestingly enough even one cashier at Target was visibly annoyed with me for using them which cracks me up, since that's where I bought them from!) The only other cashier that excited to see them was when I originally bought some of them - the clerk asked if I wanted to use them that day and seemed quite excited when I said yes! LOL

Anyway, it is sort of weird to bring your own bags, but it's also pretty neat to bring my own bags into stores when I shop. And it's nice to get cashiers who don't seem annoyed by it because I feel like I am doing something good, and I don't want them to rain on that goodness.

New Site ...

I was actually told about this site a month ago, but haven't had a chance to really look at it. (Although since I did end up ordering about 6 books this holiday, I should have looked at more closely in December!)

The site is BooksPrice.com.

The set-up is you search for what you are looking for and it will let you know the different prices around the internet for you! For fun today I typed in The DaVinci Code and got LOTS of hits back ... the prices, ranged from 3.99 to 32.65. The best part I think - the price includes shipping! So those 2 3.99 prices, are 3.99 WITH shipping. Okay, I really like how it just adds the shipping on the main search screen because then you know the total cost of the book.
It brought back a lot of different places for TDC - used to new.

It also allows you to search for CD's and DVD's as well. I can see how useful this site would be, especially if you are hunting for the a good bargain (which, I most certainly will be needing to do for some time here!).

Anyway, try them out if you need to find something. And if you do use it, let me know how it goes.

Saving Money This Week Update

This week, I am trying to get our grocery budget as low as it can go. (my goals is to spend 50.00)
On Sunday I sat with coupons, sales flyers and made a list of the stores to go to and what to buy.

So far, I have made 1 trip and I think I did pretty good.

Trip 1: CVS

1 mini-box Keebler club cracker (free with sale and coupon)
1 mini box graham crackers (free with sale and coupon)
2 cans Campbell's Select Soup (1.50 total after sale/coupon)
2 rolls of wrapping paper (58 cents)
2 tubes of Aquafresh advanced toothpaste (free after sale/coupon)
1 bottle children's motrin (4.75 after sale/coupon)
1 bottle childen's tylenol (4.75 after sale/coupon)
2 bottles of excedrin (free after sale/coupon)
1 box sudafed pe (3.99 after sale/coupon)
1 box tylenol cold medicine (3.99 after sale/coupon)
2 bottles robitussin (free after coupon/sale)
1 tube colgate toothpaste (1.75 after coupon/sale)
2 pack storage bags (4.99 after sale)
extra 5.00 off coupon
20 extra care bucks

Out of pocket paid: 6.18
Savings as on receipt: 79.28
Bonus: 18 extra care bucks earned to shop with next time


Trip 2 (with a lesson!): Dominicks
2 boxes Fruit Roll-ups (2.50 for both after coupon/sale/bonus (normally 2.99 for 1))
2 boxes Fruit snacks (2.50 for both after coupon/sale/bonus (normally 3.29 for 1))
4 boxes nature valley granola bars (4.50 for all 4 after coup/sale/bonus (normally 3.39 for 1))
2 boxes cheerios and 2 boxes lucky charms (4 dollars after coup/sale/bonus (it would have been 22.56 at regular price)
*1 box brown rice cereal bars 4.59 (didn't check the receipt - this was on special for 3.50 and I could have saved 1.60 on it but since I didn't pay attention and at this point I won't drive back for that)
*1 box Koala crisp cereal (3.00 with sale)
2 soft scrubs (3.39 for both with sale)

Out of pocket: 21.00
Savings: 40.32

Not only did the register make the mistake I just caught as I was typing, but the register shorted me one of the 4 dollar bonus subtractions. I mentioned it to the cashier and she said no, I had hit the limit, then showed me the add to prove the limit and lo and hehold, there is NO limit mentioned in the ad. At that point I had to go to the customer service desk. There were 2 ladies back there. One said the computer did NOT make mistakes and if anything they were giving bonuses to people who didn't deserve them. I offered to empty my cart, show her my items and all that. She again said there was a limit (but again, couldn't find it listed in either ad she looked at). The other woman very nicely gave me 4.05 cents cash. I kindly thanked her and she commented "well thank goodness it is Wednesday because this bonus has caused nothing but troubles." I said, well, I am sorry for the problems, but there was no limit listed (and there were three bonuses listed and I used each one one time, so it's not like I tried to do it 52 times in my trip). I do hope you have a great day." She smiled and assured me it wasn't my fault and was very nice. The other two people treated me as if I were trying to rob the store at gunpoint. (FTR I did very nicely ask for the correction and I thought they could have replied just as nicely in return.)

Trip 3: Walgreens
4 cans progresso soup (4 after sale/coupon contrast this with 2 for $4.00 SALE at other local store)
2 bottles sunlight dish soap (1.78 after coupon - so it's like getting B1G1)
*5 boxes royal jello mix (1.00 total)
3 cans jif peanut butter (3.95 for all 3, not the best savings but pretty good overall and it will probably last us until fall)
*1 container sunmaid raisins (2.00)

out of pocket: 13.81
savings as printed on receipt: 15.39

Trip 4: Target
1 28-oz. can stewed tomatoes (94 cents price reduced)
2 boxes market pantry mac n' cheese (74 cents - no bargain)
1 goldfish (1.50 on sale)
1 can diced tomatoes (.69 - I think no bargain)
1 package celery (39 cents with coupon)
1 package broccoli (99 cents with coupon)
*Chips (2.29 - no sale but they are safe for my dd to eat and we were completely out for her so I needed some snack besides celery for her)
*Ham (10.57 - again no sale, but I have about 4 soups planned to use this for and we like to just munch on it cut up anyway LOL!)
tomato soup (1.04 - no sale)
Fantastik cleaner (1.69 on special)
2 travel pack 40-count wipes (.94 after coupon)
1 reusable bag (1.49 not on sale, but my splurge that I can feel good about - it fit all but one bag's worth of groceries today (we had filled the two bags we brought with at the other stores already)

out of pocket: 26.44
savings (estimate because receipt doens't print it): 8 dollars?


Total spent this week: 67.43
Total saved: 142.99
Bonus - 18 extra care bucks

*items that are safe for my gluten/dairy/wheat/soy free child!

My goal was to shop for less than 50. However, in reality I had 90 to go into the store in. I did not originally plan to walk into the Target so I would have been well under my 50 dollar goal, however, we did need some more items from there and even though I want to budget shop, I still need to successfully feed my family, and spaghetti is not going to cover us every night, thank you very much. Also, I forgot that we would run out of items safe for my daughter to eat. Her safe food was 22 dollars of it. Am I upset to have to buy those for her? Heck no! I am glad that we are able to provide her food that is safe and won't make her feel sick! And when it's all said and done, we haven't even gone over the budget technically so really, how awesome is that? I am actually under by 20-some dollars!

Yes, I do love my coupons! I have also asked 2 people to start saving their Sunday coupons for me and if I can get the courage I will ask others to start saving them for me too because they are making a HUGE difference for us and I know lots of people who get them and don't use them

Much needed break ...

So, I took a little break from the computer recently, and it was much needed. I might even mostly stay away for the rest of the week.
Sometimes I get too involved in the computer and other things begin to slide. Also, I just needed a break period. Because we came off of a busy month and it was nice to just kind of veg for a few days and not worry about the e-mail or the messages or what's going on this website and all that jazz. I admit, I was on a bit - but really just minimal. And you know what, I didn't even miss the computer that much. I hung out with the family, I vegged, I played games, I did some crafting, I went to the mall (but didn't actually buy anything LOL).
Yeah, it was nice. I needed that time. It's kind of like Computer detox.

I will try to post some pictures of what I've done soon to share with you.

I do have a bit of good news to share with you ... we sent in the check to pay off our second mortgage. Boy, does that feel SOOOO good. Now, we just have the one credit card to pay off. (of course, using current estimates, that will be done in a mere 41 months - and might even be a bit longer because between May 2008-February 2009 we will have 2 out of town weddings (requiring overnight stay), one wedding without overnight stay but with my both girls being a flowergirl, one trip to Maine, Christmas and probably one trip to St. Louis). But no, I can't let it take longer because I truly want it gone much, much sooner. I am going to be cutting costs as much as I possibly can around here to free up as much money as I can to throw towards this debt we have. I WANT IT GONE! I have even offered to get a weekend job for the next 12 months to help get money towards debt and help save for all the other expenses that will occur. We'll see. My husband isn't a fan of that plan in any way, shape, or form! We'll work it out though. I know we will.

Anyway, off to do other things for now ... I'll be back again .. just not sure when! =)

An FPU update ...

I haven't been doing any FPU updates lately. I apologize for that.
I suppose if we had been saving tons of money, knocking out debt left and right, I'd probably be writing about it very often out of excitement. As it currently stands, looking at our financial picture is mostly leaving me feeling very stressed and worried. (Although I have to add, at least I'm looking at it now and I can't imagine what sort of path we would be on if we didn't get in gear now).
This month Murphy visited us (uninvited I might add) and hit us hard with all my tooth issues. It has really stressed us.
And oh, remember when I bragged about our thankfully low debt that would be paid off in November (right here if you want to go visit a cockier me). Well, I was technically correct when I said in November we will be debt free aside from the house. However, I was rolling the second mortgage into the house category and have now realized (with a little help from dh) that the second mortgage is in fact in the debt category and only the mortgage is the house. And he's right because 1) the second mortgage is technically a Home Equity Loan. And it's almost double the interest than our regular mortgage and (here's where it becomes the problem) it's a balloon payment. Seriously, I didn't' know that until recently. They are only billing us for interest each month and the principal will be due in about 14 years, 6 months. Now, we have paid extra on it and they keep applying it to the interest, despite us calling to put it to the principal. :::sigh:: So in one swoop, our debt was doubled because of how we are viewing it. And with the money we will be receiving soon, we have decided to pay off the HE loan and then attack the credit cards. Our thinking is a) the HE loan is a pain because of how it is set up. b) if things get worse, the credit card companies can't take our house away. But the mortgage company, can. So we are eager to get rid of it.
With our current plan, it will take approximately 33 freaking months. Seriously, I want to puke about it and we are on a very modest budget I think. Mostly because of the house. This house. I have a love/hate relationship with it right now - because it takes 45% of our monthly take-home pay for the mortgage.
I will be honest right now, I'm very down about this whole thing. I had some people over last night for a craft night (who ended up buying some things from me) and I joked that I would pretty much do whatever they wanted me to - babysit, make things, help in any way shape or form these days. They laughed about it with me, and then the one mom told me a date she needs a babysitter, because they also knew I was serious about it too!
But I want this debt gone ASAP! I don't want to carry it for 3 years. If we could go back one year ago, we wouldn't have bought this house. But we have to start where we are. And this is where we are. And we are working on it, and we are attacking it. And I know it will get better. But, it is going much slower than I predicted. We should have had a chunk to put into savings this month. As it stands now, if we can make it through the month without running out of money, well, I will consider myself quite blessed truthfully.

Anyway, that is my update for now. It's not very pretty at the moment and it's not a lot of fun either frankly! I'm stressing about it all big time. But we have a plan. And we are digging our way out. Most importantly, we are changing out attitude on money and how we spend it and what we buy and redefining what is important to us.

But right now we are the turtle and not the hare. And that's okay, because in the end, the turtle wins.

Currently working on ...

Placemats (that were started forever ago and so are consequently part of my UFO Resurrection project this month LOL!)

Also, listening to Dave Ramsey's radio show. Because I think Dave is taking over our lives - but I mean that in a good way!

I can not believe how into this whole thing dh and I are right now. How much we have changed so quickly (thank the Lord that we are getting it and changing it!) My husband left me a little love letter the other day. And he wrote in it "P.S. Let's stick to our new budget. I agree it's the best thing that's happened to us in a long time." Maybe I'm dorky, but that at the end of his little note to me did make my heart flutter, because I had been feeling the same way about it all! And to think dh was feeling how that it was just that wonderful - well, it's nice to be on the same page!

So we were driving home from class on Tuesday and chatting. Dh mentioned he was positive we need to take the class at least 2 more times - to really get it and let it all sink in, and as we make it through the baby steps different parts of the classes will become more important to us.

[I have to admit here, although dh was glad I won, he went into the first class with a "well, of course it will all sound good, but will it actually work and will we get realistic expectations." And I'm not positive on this, but I'm thinking if I hadn't won the class, well, he probably wouldn't have paid to be there. (Now, I will have to ask him to see if I'm right about that!) But we did win it (again a shout out: Thank You Lu!) and we are there and we are so excited about it.]

Anyway, talking about how we will need to take the class again. So I agreed and said now if only we could find it at a closer church or at our church. To which dh pointed out my church isn't too much closer and if I wanted to see it there, I should go ahead and teach it. Which of course made the little wheel in my head start to spin! And I think I would enjoy spreading this around to other people - really how awesome would that be?! Anyway, it won't happen soon. Because I feel swamped already and I don't think it's in my near-future. But in 6 months to a year from now? Maybe. It's there. The idea is now tucked into the back of my mind as a possibility for someday.

Anyway, the budget was perfect last week. Even had a few surprises on bills that came in less than what we budgeted for. It really feels like dh and I are on a mission. And we are attacking it head on, and it is so incredibly awesome!

Hair Cuts for Little Men - A Review!

Over a month ago, Nancy had a post on her blog saying that she would give 2 copies of her book away if someone had a little boy who needed a hair cut! I happened to be the first commenter, and so was given her book! I printed it right away, read it, dh and I talked every week how we would cut Little Man's hair that weekend. Of course, life happens and somehow the hair cut kept getting pushed to the next weekend. Well, we finally were able to sit him down tonight and give him his haircut!

First, let me tell you, this is the third time I have cut his hair (well, maybe the fourth, I really haven't counted). Before I kind of prayed that God would allow him to look semi-normal when we were through. I cut it a few times with just scissors and once with clippers and scissors. It has ALWAYS been uneven. It has always had spots that bother me to look at. He had one particular section that was quite long and yes, a few relatives pointed it out each time they saw him and laughed at how "cute" it was. Of course, I didn't think it was cute because it meant I did a bad cutting job! But, I would always think - he's 1. He doesn't sit still. The fact that I can even attempt to cut his hair seemed okay to me ...

And in came Nancy's book. When I read it, it made complete sense. She suggests an order that sounded fabulous (and much better than the method I tried to cut the hair with prior LOL!). The book was easy to read, she included lots of good pictures and most of all, it just made sense. She makes cutting hair seem pretty simple - no complicated language, no terms I needed a cosmetology license to understand - just straight forward and simple. Which I think, is fabulous!

Anyway, tonight we put it into practice. Because well, lots of times I read things that seem to make sense, but then when I try to do them, well, I'm lost! Thankfully, I did not have that feeling tonight! Oh bless Nancy - not only was it easy to read, but her instructions were easy to follow too! Now, trust me, I had a 20 month old tonight who was bopping around like crazy, and I could still follow the book easily! Of course, dh had to hold Little Man, my 7 year old took pictures, both dh and Little Miss were helping my juggle the book, the scissors and the comb - but, he had a hair cut. And I think, frankly, it looks pretty darn good! I feel like I accomplished something and so far I can't find any huge chunks of hair I forgot to cut! Phew!!
So I give this book 2 thumbs up! Go - go and buy it and learn to cut hair all for yourself! (Click here to buy it!)

Some proof:
Before:




After:




A few "in progress"



(and yes, he is eating a snack in the second picture because sometimes, well, you gotta bribe them! LOL!) More pictures are here.

Now, as a bonus, I also cut my Big Man's hair using these guides tonight. Because one, if I can cut his hair for him, that's a big savings each year and well, that would be nice! LOL! I have also tried to cut Big Man's hair in the past - one time, and the sides were uneven, and honestly, I'm pretty shocked he let me attempt it again - probably only because I was using the book and I had already finished Little Man's hair!
Anyway, it looks a million times better than last time - which says a lot because it was uneven coming into the cut (I guess a lot like Little Man's was as well). I asked dh what he thought of it. He likes it. He won't be embarrassed to go to work tomorrow - good. His only comments were I didn't deal with the colic like his normal stylist and his hair is thick and I guess she usually does something with some thinning clippers. I want to add though - those complaints have NOTHING to do with the book! The book was specifically for boy's hair. Dh is just thinking maybe we can get Nancy to write a book for Men's hair that will address colics and thick hair!
I might also add that granny has also requested a book to cut her hair - she likes it thin, and so far when it comes to females, I can only cut straight across. Although, I think an e-book for girls might be in the works? Maybe? (Read that as PLEASE PLESE NANCY!!!)

Dh's before:



After:




Anyway, as I said before, I give the book 2 thumbs up! And if you have any desire to cut your son's hair (or even your husbands) for whatever reason - money, convenience, etc ... purchase this book! You won't regret it! =)

Misc news ....

I am waiting for a Ravelry invite... I looked it up a moment ago:

Found you!

• You signed up on July 2, 2007
• You are #12063 on the list.
• 902 people are ahead of you in line.
• 18838 people are behind you in line.
• 36% of the list has been invited so far

Yep, just a bit of a wait there. Oh well. It's all good.


Overheard in my house today:
Little Momma (the 4 year old): Mom, am I old enough to get my own blog yet?
Me: Not quite dear. What do you need a blog for?
Little Momma: Well I took some pictures with you camera and I want to show them to the internet.
Me: Well .... if you want your pictures to go on a blog, I can put them on mine!
Little Momma: Wow! That would be fun!



Knitting news:
I have one half of fetching done. Started up the second one today AND have made progress on the bird bag! =) Yeah!


Reading news:
I am now half-way through 2 books - my goal for the year will be met by the end of the week. Woo-hoo! I am reading very interesting books and plan to talk more about them when I am finished.


Budget news:
A few unexpected bills popped up, but a few other bills were lower than we planned for. Woo-hoo. Dh and I tweaked our budget and it is still looking gorgeous.
Bonus: Jewel had chicken breasts buy 1, get 1 - I have enough chicken for 4 meals at least (not counting reheats and leftovers) and I paid a mere 32 dollars (half of what I should have). Yeah. I'm pretty pleased.


Other news ....
For fun, go and visit The Motherhood if you have not yet. It is a great community (I put a link in my sidebar a bit ago but decided to mention it in a post as well). A lot of good conversations going on over there - and some fun groups to join!

Budget Update: Week 1

Last week was our first week of using our budget.
I stayed under in all categories that I was responsible for! Yeah! If that keeps up as a trend, we wil both be very happy - especially since one of them was gas for the car. Always nice to not have to spend an arm and a leg on that!
The grocery budget we were way under as well - but we are going to keep it rolling over because we think over the course of the month we will have one high week, one low week, and so we'll see if there is any leftover at the end of this month to get excited about that one - but it was nice to not have to go over this week!

We hit our first stumbling block though - but it will be a temporary one.
Before last week we used credit cards to purchase everything. Now we are pulling out the cash each week. Which means this month we will need to pay for last month's purchases (which were mostly made without a budget in mind) AND this month's purchases. Of course we don't have an income that will allow us to do that so easily. There are three credit card bills. The good news is one of them closed last week and it was paid already (whew!). The other one wasn't so bad - but wasn't so good. We seemed to (thankfully) naturally cut down on spending when the FPU classes started and then with using cash all last week, it's balance isn't too extreme. The third one is the Target bill. Which, amazingly enough is the lowest it's ever bee and so not very high. Then we received one medical bill in the mail that we hadn't counted on.

I don't think we can pay all of those and feed ourselves with cash on hand this month. But, I will not let that get me down, or stop how well we are doing! Because, really, it is truly like trying to pay two months expenses right now and we can't do that (part of the reason we are taking the class!). Although, I may have to e-mail Dave and tell him he should include that as part of the discussion on making the switch to the cash plan budget and all that jazz - we didn't think of it until just today because a bill came in the mail! Because, you know, I'm sure he wants to know what I think of it all ROFL!!

Anyway, I won't let this stop us, or bring us down. It may take us two months to fully absorb those credit card bills, but you know what? I still feel like we are making progress here. We are definitely spending less already. We are way more aware of where our money is going to. I have finished two of his books and the more I read, the more I really feel like we are doing the right thing for us at this moment. And I still love Lu for giving us this wonderful gift! =)

Anyway, tomorrow, knitting content I promise! And :::crossing fingers::: embroidery machine should be back in business and I have a cute shirt that needs to be made last week! =)

Howdy ...

Well I originally intended to sign on, add a few updates to yesterdays post and call it a day, but then I started typing and it turned into more than a few sentences. Hence, a new post today LOL!

Regarding yesterday:
I want to add thanks for the nice comments. I also want to say that I understand it would be better to save the entire amount I make for sitting. However, for the next month only 100 dollars is being used towards misc, entertainment, extra, bonus - whatever you want to call it. We are in general on a pretty tight budget and so I am making a conscious choice to not save a small part of it (1-2 yards of fabric worth) and then saving the rest.

I also want to add (and it's sort of a brag but really I'm saying it because I am excited) we will be debt free except the house in November! How awesome is that? We will have no cc debt, no car payments, not debt aside from the house. I can't tell you how food that will feel. So we will be on baby step 3 by Christmas! Yeah!!

UPDATED DECEMBER 2007 - I have NO clue why I thought we could do this - I believe I wasn't grasping the total amount of debt that we had. Although we are over half-way through paying our debt, we are certainly NOT debt free and it won't happen very quickly truthfully. I felt the need to come back and say this because 1) I was pretty cocky back then and I needed to come down from my high horse and 2) it certainly isn't nearly as easy as I thought it would be - it's hard work, but i promise, it certainly is worth it.

Although admittedly, debt is not our big issue at the present moment - learning to live within our means is the big lesson we need to learn. And we are both learning it, slowly by surely. And we also very committed to learning that lesson ASAP. We do not want to live paycheck to paycheck. We do not want to live worrying about all the bills that will be due soon. We want to enjoy life and to live and have fun. I think a good 8-10 years of hard work in order to get that and I think in the long run it will be worth it and feel so good!

I might also add - having the 2 little girls here today isn't all that bad (and hopefully I haven't jinxed myself just now LOL!). They are getting along well with my 3 and of course we've had a few moments of trying to figure out who can play with what toy (of course we have those moments every day LOL!), but overall, I have to say they are two very well-behaved girls. I imagine that tomorrow will go just as smoothly. I was even able to do a tiny bit of scrapbooking today - which is amazing LOL! =)

Now I just need to get some more knitting time to finish up a few projects. And one more book and I will have read my goals for the year =)

I have to admit that life is feeling pretty good right now, even if I am feeling a bit broke - I can say that I'm happy where we are at adn the places I think we are heading!

Better and best ...

Last night, while trying to fall asleep, I was struck with what I think will be a fabulous idea. I had some inspiration to make something for my girls based on FPU, something they already own and something I saw on etsy yesterday.
I just knew it was going to be a fabulous idea and a great thing to make.
Except, even with my large fabric stash, I don't have any fabric that is of the material that I need.
So I was kind of bummed because we did make our budget for the month, and there was not money in it for fabric. And we don't have room to play around with it either at this point. So I was thinking today I have this great idea and if I'm lucky I can whip it up in October and that's not too terribly far away. Not to mention that I am temporarily without embroidery capability - but that will be remedied soon - so even if I did go shopping today, I wouldn't have worked on it today anyway.

So yeah, I was resigned to the fact that it would have to wait, and that this was a good first test to see if I am disciplined enough to stick to the all-mighty Budget dh and I worked on. But I was a bit bummed. A month ago, I would have gone to the store, picked up the fabric I needed, picked up a few more that also looked cute, then maybe browsed the yarn and found some that I liked and then just for fun have thrown in a few other things that I didn't need. But nope, not today. I really am trying to stick to this whole budget thing, really!!

Anyway, fast forward a few hours - and the phone rings. And it's someone asking if by any chance I can babysit for 2 children (and I might add my girls have played with them before and really enjoyed it too!). So tomorrow and Friday I will have 2 extra friends in my house. Not only that, but that means there will be a bit of extra cash flow as well. And that my friends means that I can go shopping over the weekend to buy the 1-2 yards that I need and the rest can be put right into savings to help us reach our goal a little bit faster! Really, I am truly amazed at how that worked out and very grateful for how it all came together! Yeah!

So maybe next week I will have something really great to show everyone!

*FPU Update

So last night dh and I put down our budget on paper. This was no easy task because a)I have a cold that makes everything seem pretty darn fuzzy and b)things are tight. I mean, really tight.

But, we did it. We successfully made a budget.

The bad points:
- there isn't much wiggle room in this plan - as in once all the had to be paid bills were paid, there was hardly anything left at all to even discuss
- I feel really poor today


The good points:
- we did not argue about the budget (you might assume that since all the money is spoken for, this doesn't matter, but I think it does)
- all the bills that need to be paid, will get paid
- Starting in October things will be looking much better
- October is a good month because we have bonus income coming in for both of us which will be nice.

We opened a second savings account last night as well. (The first one we have isn't actually for savings which would make complete sense if I typed up a 1000 word essay on it, but I will spare you the details and just ask that you trust me LOL!).
We figured out how much to save per month for the items that are paid only yearly (or twice yearly). We made a list of big purchases we would like to make at the moment and ranked them in order of importance. At the moment we don't have extra in the budget to start saving, but as soon as we hit baby step number 1 (saving 1,000) and are able to add to that on a monthly basis, we can start saving for them OR if we get some lump sum of some sort, it can go towards those items.

It feels good to have a plan. I just wish the amount of money we were basing that plan on would increase LOL! But we are getting there ... it may take us a while, but we can do it. I was thinking last night it would be so neat to look back in 3 years and sort of laugh about where we started today.













*FPU Stands for Financial Peace University. Click here for more info

My day

Today was quite the day for me.
I was actually a bit bummed because a friend was supposed to come over, but plans changed (although tomorrow she will come over and teach me some new skills LOL!)
But all was well. I hung out with the kids, spent some time on internet land, hung out with the kids, managed to clean the kitchen pretty well, hung out with the kids and then went to work in the sewing room.
I've had a pile of things needing help down there and so today I repaired 2 skirts and 2 stuffed animals. I had two very happy girls when I returned the newly hole-less animals to them.
I was sort of shocked by how happy they were frankly, but what an easy way to please them!
Then we got the mail and today my FPU kit came in the mail! I was very excited to see it since tonight was our first class!
So after a nice dinner, dh and I left and went to class.
As silly as it sounds, I was so nervous! I even had a mini-debate on what I should wear to this class - because you know that is a big deal (yes, I think I'm kind of dorky when it comes to these things!). But we made it to class and it wasn't frightening. There were no pop quizzes or tests or anything like that. We actually missed the first session so tonight was the second session for everyone else.
On the way home dh and I talked. I have to tell you, as much as I am looking forward to implementing these ideas, I am also dreading it. Tonight we talked about budgeting. First, I should tell you, dh and I know how to make the most perfect budget ever. We just have never been able to follow one very well. And we never knew how to plan for a 5 week month over a 4 week month and how to work in those costs that only come up every so often (like car insurance and things like that). Now, this program specifically covers both those issues and I think I like it better than what we have tried to do in the past. But that means we need to start a budget, and more importantly we need to follow a budget.
So we started to chat about it. We talked about how this Christmas we may have to scale back. We might have to eliminate half the people we traditionally buy for. How we might have to limit birthday gifts for a while. We know our biggest expense each and every month is our house. So we talked about if we thought we should really think about selling it and getting something less costly. That option feels completely wrong to both of us right now. So we are going to operate as if that isn't an option. Who knows, maybe in 3 months we will have to revisit that idea, but seeing as we both are in agreement, we will have to make it work somehow.
Anyway, I have to say, that what we talked about tonight made complete sense to me. It clicked in my head. It clicked in dh's head. And of course, having to go back next week with that budget in hand will be a fabulous motivator to get it done and take it seriously. After one night I have to say I like it a lot.
I will keep you posted each Tuesday as we go to class as to how things are going.

And of course, I have to give another HUGE BIG THANK YOU to Lu and her husband. Truly, we wouldn't have gone to this class tonight if not for her. We wouldn't be talking about these things like we did tonight - we'd simply be trying to make ends meet each month, getting stressed out and worried and that can't lead to much happiness.

As another note, one of the recommendations of the program is to start a buddy system with someone as we learn to budget and spend wisely and save wisely and all that jazz ... so anyone else out there budgeting right now? Let me know ... and we can all buddy up and share progress, the good steps forward and the bumps we hit along the way ... just a thought =)

Blessed once again ..

As if the freebies I won from the Dog Days of Summer give away recently weren't enough, I have been blessed once again!
Lu from over at Hyperactive Lu gave away a Financial Peace University Member Kit. I won. I can't even believe it! I WON! Woo-hoo!
I really did jump for joy (in case you can't tell I am not one to hold my emotions back very well! LOL!) Dh is pretty excited about it as well.
This could not come at a better time. Really. We are spending more money than we make each month. I know, stop spending right? But we've (tried to) tracked our spending. We aren't sure where to cut back and how to cut back. I read at least one book on the topic and it was sort of helpful but not that helpful.
I really think dh and I are eager and ready to get into this course, learn all we can, and then apply it - because we all know the application part will truly be the hardest part of all.
Anyway, I am so excited. A HUGE thank you to Lu for her generosity in giving this away to begin with.
Once we get into a class (we still need to figure out which one to go to or I joked with dh that we needed to convince our church to host one LOL!) then I promise to keep you updated with how it is all going and the changes we decide to make!

Thank you again Lu! I can not wait to get this! Thank you! Thank you! =)

I'm not allowed ...

to spend any money.
Oh. Yeah.
That is very hard for me to do, especially seeing as I'm starting this new quilt project and only want to use civil war reproduction fabrics.
But dh told me tonight, no money aside from essentials can be spent until we close on our house, move into the house, see what furniture we need to buy, and then see where the money situation falls into place.
We were wishing and hoping the side business he has would have sold by now, but it has not. Which means we will have enough to put down what we had planned, but not a whole lot extra.
And the furniture we need is stacking up -

couch for family room

hopefully 2 chairs for family room

Couch/sofa bed/day bed kind of thing for basement

dresser for mine and dh's room

Computer desk

misc. lamps/lighting

Bedding for teh bed we have in storage (it's a king sized bed ... our current bedding is for a queen ... we can stretch the comforter but not the sheets!)

Bedding for the girls room

lighting in the house

TV for family room

love seat for sitting area

TV and stand for sitting area

Bathroom things for all three bathrooms

hopefully a bookshelf in the girls bedroom

and probably even more that I won't know until we are in and see what is missing.

And oh yeah, I forgot one tiny thing. We will most likely replace the furnace, you know, so we can be warm and all that this winter. Their furnace supposedly works, but it's 20 year old 9(at it's lifespan) and has a hairline crack in it. One heater guy says as long as it's small it's okay, another says any crack, no matter how tiny makes the unit unusable. Lovely. Although, if it's the only work we have to do to move in, that's still very great in my mind!

Now, I'm all for furniture in my house - trust me, I am. It's just that, well, I've not lived so budgetedy in a several years (although we haven't had tons of money, there has been spare). The hardest part won't be not spending the money. It will be getting into the frame of mind to not spend the money. But I will do it. I will try to finish all UFO's. I will work from stash. I will not buy any more yarn or fabric, or stickers, or paper, or thread, or patterns. Nope, I will not. Well, okay, I will, but only if it costs less than the gift cards I am currently holding onto. But aside from groceries, gas, and a few things we need to bring to a party in a few weeks, this momma is going into savings mode. Right. Now.

Wish me luck. I will need it.
I will also probably blog more. Everytime I want to spend money, I will write instead. Everytime I want to bid on e-bay, I will write instead. Everytime I want to buy something new, I will pack up a box of things in this house. I will eliminate the items we have accomulated but no longer need (and I have a few baby things to take to a resale shop AND two items for e-bay that I believe will be well worth listing them). And I will use that money for new furniture! And it will be good!