What's it Worth to You?

Getting out of debt! What is that worth to you? What are you willing to do? What can you do? These are the questions we ask and are still asking ourselves weekly. What more can we do and are we truly doing enough?
I have to laugh at our craziness. We have a timeline on a bill that needs to be paid. We can't use credit, so we are left with cash. Well, we have no spare cash to put towards this. SO we once again looked around the house. What can we live without? Here's a reminder..... Everything we have is a material item. We need our beds so those stay. We need our kitchen table and appliances so those stay. We need the washer and dryer, stay. Couch? Hmmm! I think we can live without the couch. We do have two nice little chair things we can sit on that are already a part of the living room. So we agreed on a price and put the couch, actually a very GINORMOUS (complete understatement) sectional from the La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery up for sale. I looked online and discovered the exact couch is new for 2,599. Yikes. That is over double what we pd. I then looked at the couch in detail and noted the things that were wrong with it and posted in on the local Craig's List. We had it sold, the people showed up after renting a uhaul and decided they didn't want it because it was not a solid brown. Downer. I was flooded with emails in response and hit the few that said "we want it no matter what. Have the cash and can pick up asap". So we went to the next and it was sold. Again. We delivered to them today and to my surprise they obviously did not measure like I said they needed to do. Sure enough the sectional was way to big for the living room there but they said they will make it work. LOL! So I walked away with the money for it. I was pleased.

Once you sell that first item it's easy to feel great and think, "Now what can I sell?" So we are selling our stationary bike and whatever else we find in storage that we have been living without for the past 7 months. I will keep you posted.
Just remember that if we can sit on the floor for a few months while watching tv, which we shouldn't be anyway, plus it's summer, than so can you. Well, I am not saying go sell your couch, but find things that you have around your house that you CAN LIVE WITHOUT. Sentimental things, heirlooms and those things passed down keep for obvious reasons. NO complaining until you have tried everything you can. Try your best to sell something before running to someone to borrow money. You will feel so empowered. Any feedback? Do I have any readers? I guess if you quit posting people quit reading. If I'm not suggesting realistic things for realistic people then there is no point in putting this out there. I will anyway, even if for one reader. If anything for my own documentation of our journey.

So what's it worth to us? Being debt free! Bottome line!

Have a great summer selling things on the Internet, at garage sales and however else you can. Clean house, less clutter and less debt. Go sell!!!!!

Avoidance!

I think I have been avoiding this blog because I am not really sure what to write about. On top of that I know that I have a few family member that follow and a few friends. I knew that I went out on a limb when I followed my own blog as some of us tend to click on others our of curiosity. Or nosiness. ;) I'm not that one though. LOL Warning, this is a info post and a full blown vent at the end. I have bottled it up and am just going to let it out! (((ROAR)))

We have waited for over 5 years for stock $ from a job my husband had several years ago. He was automatically vested into the company and after his job change we knew we would watch it grow and have a certain amount of money in the end of a waiting period. We have come to that time where we have had to decide what to do with that money. Since we are huge Dave Ramsey fans we definitely know that we need to pull enough to become as close to debt free as possible. Knowing this made us a little lazy in being totally frugal. We have researched and know that we will make more money off not paying all the interest on the credit cards and line of credit we have then to invest or roll over the portion to gain money. When looking at our interest and how long we technically will be paying for these debts, it was way more outrageous. Remember our biggest financial success is from our income. So we know that we will be taking out enough for that. So in the next few months my blog will be saying we are SO close to being debt free. I know that this isn't an opportunity for many, we are blessed. With this I remind anyone who could even be reading this that we started taking baby steps and still are, and we have paid off almost 20 grand in 16 months. That is huge for a family of 6 that lives paycheck to paycheck.

We have had a lot of things come up that are not in our budget lately. ER visit for severe headache/migraine= strep, Urgent care visit for stitches on the back of head, several as in 12 dr visits at $20 per visit just in co-pays, ER visit for medicine reaction, ENT surgery and visits = $400 for dr/surgery center bill, ER visit for high fever after surgery that wouldn't come down, a baby shower for my sister, and a few expenses out of pocket for things for the school. These are areas where we did not include into our budget and KNEW that once we took them out we would regret it. We have no emergency fund. But we manage and know that at least the bills are being paid and on time. We are keeping our credit afloat.

I am not really sure why I blog about money. It's such a taboo to talk about and it's a risk to put it out for all to read. I think that there is a part of me that is not embarrassed because I know we are SO NOT ALONE. There is that other part of me where I have been so encouraged by others blogs that I wanted to write it all out myself. I love being on the computer typing away all my thoughts. I have been judged because I have done it but I really don't care. We are doing something about it and have worked SO hard for 16 months. We are too prideful to put others out and borrow from others. I think it's tacky when you keep making stupid financial choices and spending and every month are needing to borrow from people it's time to find another route. I know people who so this and it really bothers me. Lack of responsibility and maturity is everywhere. I may be too hard on some, we are no better, we just borrow from strangers call credit. But we vowed we would NEVER put out family or friends to rescue us because of our bad choices. I get so irritated when elderly, yes my grandmothers are used for borrowing money. I don't care who does and if they pay back but it's tacky. If you can't pay for something DON'T BUY IT with others money!!! If you need money every month, GET A JOB, get a second job. My husband did and it works. He's had 3 jobs at a time three times and two jobs almost constantly. I love my family but the more I hear the more angry I get. Especially when they are going out to eat, buying coffees, fast food, clothes and drive nicer cars and have new things. It's irritating. I am totally venting and willing to reap whatever comes out of this vent.
I know that we all hit hard times, and I am not opposed to borrowing from family or friends if needed for a last resort once or twice. I just think when it's abused its not ok. I have seen this too much. And truthfully, I never have done so, so maybe that is why it's easy to "judge" if that is how it's coming across.

So on a positive note, I am enjoying shopping for meals each week. I intended last time to jot that down. Not sure if it's to give you 3 ;) ideas or if it was to keep me accountable. So here I go with that:
Mon: leftovers
Tues: freezer meal- pasta primavera
Wed: crock pot chicken, rice a roni
Thurs: hot dogs, party potatoes
Fri: Left overs
Sat: misc
Sun: Dinner with family ??

Welcome Summer!!!

I'mmm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Man has it been a long time since I have committed to posting on here. Mostly because I felt if the debt wasn't going very far then it wasn't important. We have sold most things there are to sell in the house, and are at a little standstill. However we will have big changes this year and big choices to make.

I will be brutally honest! Last night after watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution , I realized that not only are kids not getting healthier foods, but that I was also feeding my kids terrible foods. I was appalled at the head cook for one of the schools he was at when she complained that it takes "too long" and would mean hiring more people to prepare foods from scratch, then to give them nasty processed foods. The head lady at the school even said that she wasn't sure on continuing this project, or mission, Jamie is one because it was double the cost. I was ticked thinking, "How dare someone put a price on my child's health. Most people pay for their child to have hot lunch, they should be fighting for their kids to have better quality. It is their money. And how dare she complain about the time and effort, and even the man power it will take to serve a child better foods." Then I felt so disgusted at myself thinking of the many time A WEEK, (I know embarrassing, humiliating, and shameful) I feed my children this same way. Because I am tired. Because I don't want to spend two hours in the kitchen. Because I don't want to clean up the mess after. Because I don't want the hassle. Man that is selfish. And wrong. I have been blessed with four wonderful children to serve. Part of that servant hood is giving them healthy foods to put into their God given bodies. This IS a very important task that I have been failing miserably at.

I then started doing some research and saw things like McDonald's fries never molding. I vowed to go buy a cheeseburger and small fries to document how long it takes to mold vs raw, hand prepped burger and fries. The only reason why is because I don't want to just believe what I saw but to see it for myself. I will keep you posted on this as well. Apparently the more raw a food the faster it will, should spoil.

You may be wondering what the heck this has to do with saving money, budgeting, or becoming debt free. Here's is the answer: In order to eat fast food, it costs money. I looked at our spending and I was even more embarrassed. I will save you the details of our stupidity but know that we BLOW so much on eating out, going through the drive thru, pizza, coffees, etc.... We even ate take out pizza right before watching the show. (Today I couldn't even eat the leftovers. I made my own healthy lunch). Not only fast food but things like buying frozen foods like chicken nuggets instead of being creative and making your own.

So, Within 30 minutes of watching the show I had two weeks of meals planned out and a shopping list written up. Ron and I agreed on this change. No more eating out unless it is fully planned and not without purpose. This is however, how it was when we were growing up.

So here we go. I will start again posting recipes and meals plans this next week. I will be checking out all of your blogs again too. I will keep you posted on our journey to being det free. I have been absent and could use the revamp!

I have a picky eater so I have included her in the meal plan. She gets to choose a healthy meal once a week. I am hoping this will save her from going to bed hungry.

Here's to saving money on gross foods to buying and preparing healthy foods. NO matter the cost. While not blowing it I can spend it on better things. Yay!!!!!

Freezer Meal Makin Mamma's

So this is the newest of my adventures. Four of us gals decided to meet up with two recipe's each and make our 8 meals together. We made quadruple the amounts and we each got one of each of the eight recipes to take home and freeze. I must admit I have eaten 2 of mine in just a few days. And one didn't even make it to the freezer. At this rate we will have to get together every other week. :)

There are more than a few reasons for encouraging you all to find other women to do this with. If you happen to be a male reading this, encourage your wife to do this. This is a great way to save money, enjoy some girl time, prepare healthy meals for your family and make life just a bit easier with a busy schedule. Taking a wholesome meal out of the freezer to thaw and throwing in it the oven, microwave or crock pot is extremely easy and awesome. Nothing like a day long to prepare meal made in just minutes.

So I encourage you to all get a group together and give it a try. Some tips:
1. Get together the week before and double, triple etc... your recipes to how many women are coming. Compile the grocery list.
2. One or more that can do the shopping. After, you split the cost. There you have it. (for 8/9 meals our cost was just less tahn $50 each. We got 2 meals out of the Taco soup recipe)
3.Bring plenty of crock pots, large pots, fry pans, cutting boards and be ready to be washing dishes hroughout the meal making process.
4.Start early on cooking day. Cook all the meats in bulk then measure to separate to each recipe.
5. Most importantly, if you are making soups or stews, start those first. Make them first. For a few reasons. The chopping and cutting take a long time. The cooking process for the ingredients to soften take quite a while AND you will want to pull off burner/turn off crock pot etc... and let cool some before measuring the soup our equally into freezer bags.
*Side Note... The freezer bags (Glad brand) DID NOT melt when we put the steaming hot stew into them. We gave it a try. So far it was a success.
6. Most importantly HAVE A BLAST!!!

Not only has this helped me with dinners it gave me new and fun foods for myself the the family to try. I also loved more than anything the fellowship I had with the women I did this with. That really was my favorite part. We have amazing conversations, laughed and left with only a few minor injuries. Okay, okay, so I was the only one who walked away with a small burn and a sliced open thumb. But all in all this was the most fun thing I have ever done.

I'll post some of the recipes soon. ;) Keep on living like noone else. Plan your meals so you are not tempted to waste money eating out. Continue to say NO to credit cards. Live on that zero balance budget. Happy meal making everyone.

Dave's thoughts on Cash for Clunkers

Dave's Thoughts on "Cash for Clunkers"


With all the buzz about Cash for Clunkers, it’s easy to think that it was a great way for people to get a better set of wheels. But was it really? No way! Cash for Clunkers was simply a way for broke people to buy cars that they really couldn't afford. It was a bad idea on multiple levels. But before digging into that, let’s take a little history lesson.

About a decade ago, a fair housing program was started, called a sub-prime lending market. The idea behind it was that everyone “needed” to own a home—including broke people. The government decided to start a program to reinvest in communities, which allowed pretty much anyone to borrow money to buy a house. Lending companies charged high interest rates, causing already struggling families to go even further into debt.

Basically, this was a program designed to encourage broke people to buy houses. Most people didn’t even know it existed until it unraveled and became the number-one cause of our recent recession. The government took those stupid loans back and securitized them, which created the financial mess last fall. Helping broke people buy houses didn’t turn out to be a great government program. Guess what? Helping broke people buy brand-new cars—and now home appliances—will turn out just as bad.

The Cash for Clunkers program was designed exactly for people who should not take advantage of the program. You trade your $2,000 clunker in for a brand-new, shiny $20,000 car, and the only way you can afford it is with a high-interest payment. That just means you really couldn’t afford it to begin with. Doesn’t this sound like the sub-prime mortgage problem all over again?

When you drive that new car off the lot, you’re immediately going to lose $4,500. The worst car accidents happen on the showroom floor. New cars go down in value like a rock. The government thinks it’s going to save the American auto industry by putting broke people into cars they can’t pay for. It’s going to come back to bite them—and the rest of us—in the form of taxes galore.

Another bad thing about this program is that we, the taxpayers, are paying for the new cars! It’s morally wrong of the government to take money away from us—against our will—in the form of taxes and give that money to someone else to buy a stupid car they can’t afford in the first place! This is theft, plain and simple.

Cash for Clunkers is a program that redistributes wealth in the name of the environment, and it’s going to be a curse on the car dealer and the manufacturer that carries the paper. It’s going to hurt the broke person who bought a car he couldn’t afford. And it’s already a problem for our country, because it’s adding dollars to the national debt.

There’s always a twist with government programs like this. They try to think of creative ways to help people, but the situation usually ends up worse than it did before they “helped.” In the end, I should decide what to do with my own money. If I want to buy you a car, I will! And if you can’t buy a car without actually paying for the whole thing, then you’re better off keeping your “clunker.”

So good riddance to a really bad program that has done more damage than good.



AMEN!!!!!

Tour de Faith

This is near and dear to us. I know that this is a random post at that but I knew when I heard this man was doing this again this year I knew I needed to post and repost to get the word out. Here is someone on fire for supporting those who wish to have their children in Christian education but may not be able to afford it. Poppa J is on his way to bike 1500 miles and is due back to the area in several weeks. He is riding for donations for the Tuition Assistance Program at our Christian school. The need is there like neverbefore. Not just due to the economy but for many other reasons. This is truly near and dear to our hearts because we have before used scholarship for our children to attend this wonderful school. Please take a moment to read his blog as he just left. Follow along and if after prayer and reading and following his journey on Tour de Faith you feel lead to help financially do not hesitate. Him and his wife will be maching the donations raised. It is due in part of the generosity of others that our children have had the opportunity to have a Biblical education. Not one penny has ever been aken for granted. And for the families who need it as well, it will not either.
Enjoy and thank you for taking the time to read his bike journey!!

Getting Ready for "Back to School"

Thought I'd throw in this picture. I love it! I enjoyed visiting Seattle this summer.

Okay, so I have avoided this blog this summer for a few reasons. We are not really throwing down any debt, which I mentioned in my last post, and because there isn't really anything new going on. There are so many things regarding money I really want to touch on but feel as though the timing is inappropriate. I have an interesting variety of people reading this blog. Some which I know and others in which I do not. Heading back to school and this time of year for us is really overwhelming. I have pondered how much to put myself out there. I will do so with some reservations.

We are hit each year with the uncertainty of where are kids will be attending school. We have been a part of the most wonderful private Christian school for the past 5 years. The school is small, the teachers are outstanding and the curriculum is fabulous. Although this is all wonderful it costs a lot of money. Any of you that are reading and have done private or looked into it know exactly what I am talking about. Every year we make our last minute decisions the week before school begins. It is overwhelming for me. Add on to that, uniforms, school supplies, tuition, classroom fees, registration fees, shoes, coats..... and the list goes on and on.

For the first time this year I will be making due with what we have. The kids will get a new clothing item as needed and not all at once. They will be used or on massive clearance. I will be going thru their school supplies from last year and get only what cannot be used again. They will reuse backpacks and lunch boxes, that's a given. I will get back on track making my own breads and anything bread related. I will not worry one bit about name brand clothes or items.

So with this said I recommend going to Phoebe's post on frugal back to school shopping! I ended her post feeling refreshed and okay with what I am about to do in the next few weeks as we look at going back to school. I refer to her blogs a lot. She was one of two people who inspired RJ and I to do Dave Ramsey.