Our Total Money Makeover - Week 1

Well, we finally did it. We took the leap and have embarked on our own Total Money Makeover. Years ago my husband read Dave Ramsey's book and started talking about trying to implement some of his ideas into our finances but me feeling like we were doing things okay and managing our credit so that it worked for us didn't see the need to make any changes. Now after a few years and two kids later our finances are not as under control as they used to be so we decided that it was time to do something about it. We were just tired of always wanting to do something and never having the money to do it. It will still be a couple more years until we get to that point but once we do it will be great. The kids will be older and we will finally be able to go and do fun and memorable things.



Until this point we have used our Discover card to make all of our day-to-day purchases and earned the cash back bonus award. We always paid it off at the end of the month which is the only thing that made it worth while and until this point we have make over $500 off of the credit card company. But here lately that bill has started becoming harder and harder to pay each month. The only downfall to switching over to the all cash method is that we will be going backward first. Not having the money in the bank already we will be going into debt two months on the Discover card. But hopefully we will be able to catch it up quickly and get on track with our other debt.



We have been pretty smart about our debt in that we have never accrued much. All we owe is a student loan, one car loan, and our house. But the overspending each month and not sticking to our virtual budget left us with no extra money to save or invest in retirement. Now there should be no more overspending because when the cash is gone it's gone.



We did a trial run last week and it was a disaster. We fought everyday about not having enough money for this or that. Plus we went for a weekend at the beach with a couple of friends who weren't on any kind of a budget and where it didn't bother me it embarrassed my husband not to be able to keep up with his friend and to have to ask me for the money to go to the store. I was afraid that once we got home the whole deal would be off but he eventually got over it. He does realize that what we are doing (or attempting to do) will be worth it in the end.



So I'll keep you posted.

A Good Day

Today was a good day! My kids played happily while I was able to get some work done. Then after a quick trip to town my son took a long nap while my daughter and I ate lunch and settled down for quiet time. She watched "The Little Mermaid" and I did my Bible study with Beth Moore.

Today, it talked about friends that stick with you no matter what. One phrase that she had everyone say was: "I love you now, I'll love you when you are unlovable because you are my friend." I wish I had someone like that in my life. In the previous lesson she had pointed out that our definition of friend is not quite accurate. Too many times we call people our friends when they are only acquaintances. A friend is someone who is distinguished above and beyond an acquaintance. They are someone that you actually let "into" your heart and someone that you can share your soul with. Someone who can make you a better person as well as stick with you through everything. I haven't had that in a very long time. My last friend was back in college. And we were friends until we let drama divide us and we let go of that stick with you through everything "thing." I've searched for a friend like that all my life and can't seem to find one. I've met people who I would like to get to know on that kind of a level but they never seem to be interested in me that way. I know that this is all part of God's plan for my life but sometimes it just leaves me feeling very lonely.

I guess the one "bad" thing in my day is that we did not have a good sit down dinner as a family. My husband made his own dinner as did I. I fed the kids separately too. Then I never got back around to washing the dishes. I guess that will be waiting for me in the morning.

Oh, yea tonight was supposed to be movie night with my husband but that didn't work out either. So after more than a week of not blogging I just decided to write this while he played his STUPID video game yet again. Oh well, that's life. I am going to go to bed now.

Good night all.

Day 2 - Afterthoughts

Today's post (aside from my coupon deal) was fairly boring. I didn't have any real thoughts or insights that I shared. I guess it may take some trial and error as to what to write about and what to leave out. I guess I have just been using it as a way to review my day. Who really wants to read that? I really need to figure out how to narrow it down to stories and thoughts that have more of a point. So on that note here's today's insight from my quiet time (which I found time to have, Yeah!):



Wisdom is the ability to cope with daily problems and coping is operating power-packed emotionally. Meaning that in Christ I have the ability to be power-packed with healthy emotions. The essence of life is more than just picking up the pieces. I shouldn't be living as a victim to what ever happens to me.



So profound isn't it? God has the ability to give me the wisdom to live a skilled and controlled life. So the next time my daughter colors herself red with magic marker I shouldn't overreact I should just clean up the mess and explain why that is not really a good idea and turn it into a learning experience for each of us not just another loose my temper and make her cry moment.



Does that make any sense?

Day 2 - Typical Day (with shopping involved)

So today started out pretty good. We slept in until after 8:00 am, which was much needed. Then after breakfast and checking the web to see if there were any new deals posted I packed the kids up in the car and headed out. I had planned six stops: Walgreens, CVS, JCPenney, Walmart, Lowes Foods, & Sam's Club. I was running ahead of schedule so JCPenney wasn't open yet so we skipped it.

Walgreens & CVS were a bust because I thought that you could get the Infusium 23 shampoo for free and it was only the spray leave-in treatment. Then I read that if you bought the men's Shick quatro titanium razors then you got two register rewards (RR) $3 & $1 but I was too scared to try it. So I walked out with nothing. I had also read that at CVS the coupon machine was printing coupons for $5 off the Lysol no-touch hand soap dispenser and paired with the $5 mfg. coupon and pair those two coupons with the sale price of $9.99 then it would be free. Well, I wasn't lucky enough to get that great coupon. So I left there empty handed.

Then on to Walmart. I tried out some deals that I had struck out with at Target earlier this week. I got two Benadryl Itch Relief Sticks, two twin pkgs of the Nivea Lip Care, and one pkg of 12 Schick Disposable Razors. See my picture. My total before coupons $12.79. The amount I actually paid was $2.22. Not a bad deal especially given that the Benadryl Itch Sticks were $2.38 each! The coupons I used were: $5 off any 2 Benadryl items, $3 off any package of Schick disposable razors, and Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) coupon for Nivia Lip Care.

So at Lowes Foods I went mostly to get milk. They sell organic milk by the gallon there and it's cheaper than buying two half gallons or even one half gal. of organic and one half gal. of regular which I had been doing. I also got the ingredients for a couple of baby food recipes that I need to make for my son. One for beef and veggies and the other chicken and veggies. He's moving on to the meats and needs some meals to eat. I am still pureeing everything because he gags on any solid food I give him.

At Sam's Club I needed to stock up on my meats which we had gotten very low on due to fewer trips to the grocery store to try to save money and clean out the freezer. I also got two king size pillows that I was needing for the pillow shams that went with my new comforter set. My husband just happened to be in town and in between jobs so he stopped by for a minute to kiss the kids and help me load the car. Oh yea, I can't go to Sam's at meal time and not take advantage of the very affordable hot dog combo. A jumbo Nathan's hot dog and 32 oz soda for $1.83. It's hard to beat that.

The kids were surprisingly well behaved in every store but once we got home they showed their true selves. I fed them lunch and let them play for a little bit then put my daughter in her room for quiet time with a movie and tried to get my son to take a nap. He fought it so hard. I'd lay him down and he would get still and then get up and crawl around and then plop his head down and rub his eyes and then get up and do it all over again. He managed to stay awake until a reasonable time for his bottle and then was still fighting it so I just layed him down in his crib and let him play it out and he did. Now why do I not lay my 3 yr. old down for a nap? Well, if I can get her to fall asleep she will sleep a good 2 to 3 hrs. and we won't get her back to sleep until 10:00 at night. So we just decided to try this quiet time approach and move her bedtime up to 7:30. So far she has been going to bed much easier and falling asleep much faster. While I loved nap time especially on the days when I needed one I would much rather her go to bed earlier and have that time to my self to unwind from the day.

The one thing that I didn't get was a small notebook for the new Bible study that I am starting on in the book of Proverbs with Beth Moore (my favorite). Well, I've got some loose leaf paper I guess I'll just use that for now. I'm really excited about it. I've been out of my daily quiet time since just before my son was born and hopefully this will be the thing to get me back into the swing of things. My biggest challenge is having a long enough uninterrupted pocket of time. Perhaps I should get up with my husband but that is so hard because I am not a morning person. Plus I never know how early my son will wake up and it could be all for nothing.

Well, now for the most dreaded question of the day: What's for dinner? Tonight it's beef tips with peppers & onions, rice, and corn. It seemed to go over well. After dinner it was baths and then bedtime. My daughter fought us a little because she caught a 20 min. nap this afternoon just by passing out while she was playing. Once they were in bed I had my bowl of ice cream and watched Sherlock Holmes with my hubby. Over all I give the movie a thumbs up. At times it was really fast paced and I had a hard time catching everything. It's one of those movies that I will probably catch more of the second time around.

So that was my day today - boring with one good deal at Walmart. Tomorrow I think that we are going to have a play date with I guess my only friend here and her three kids since there has been some upheaval of my usual Sat. play date.

Day 1 - To Blog or Not to Blog?

I've been giving some thought this week as to weither or not I could write a blog. I'm not an expert couponer like some that I've read and I don't live a very interesting life. So what am I going to write a blog about? Well, how about nothing and everything. Sometimes I just feel like I have something good to say and no one to listen to me. So I'll just vent it out there into cyberspace and see if anyone finds it interesting enough to read.

So, my life in a nutshell: I am a stay-at-home mom of two beautiful and darling children. A boy 8 mo. and a girl 3 yrs. I have been married to my wonderful husband for almost 9 years. Some of my interests are finding great deals with coupons and crafts. I am a christian who loves my Savior Jesus Christ and is very blessed beyond words. My daily life consists of housework, changing diapers, and trying to figure out what's for dinner.

So that's it for now. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
My plans: groceries and trying to catch a couple of deals at CVS & Walgreen's with two kids in tow. Oh yea, and trying to figure out what's for dinner.