Decafmama

Gazelle Intensity…right?

Ok, so Dave recommends gazelle intensity when going towards the goal of becoming debt free. So, to go in this direction, I got a JOB. I was planning on a nice little part-time job, maybe even overnight so I could be home during the day to get kids to dance lessons, etc. Alas, life had other plans and gave me an actual full time job. I’m working as a cashier at a local grocery store until the end of May and then am being transferred to a new store, quite a bit further away from where I live. Definitely not in the plans, but for now, while we are working to get rid of our debt, it is working out alright. It’s really rough getting things scheduled and accomplished for day to day things now. Erik is having to take care of most of the dance lessons. Tupperware business is taking a backseat now too. They are supposed to have the schedule up at least a week in advance, but that almost never happens. Hard to plan the rest of my life when I’m completely at their mercy. I keep reminding myself of the big picture. We’re going to become debt free and teach our children NOT to do what we’ve done in the past.

Just keep our family in your prayers… we can survive this

Been quite some time…

I just got out of blogging for a bit but hopefully I will feel more like writing now. Christmas is almost upon us! Just about done, just a few odds and ends to get still. Really excited this year. Was able to get my kids a decent holiday, and provide for a family in need as well. This is not to say that our finances are anywhere near in order yet, but I can feel we are heading in a better direction. Erik got a new job back in August and now he gets paid every other week. This has been FABULOUS!!! Plus, his new employer pays all medical so more actually comes home. Crossing my fingers that it keeps improving

Tonight my son and I are going to the National Christmas tree performance. His class is singing in it. Hopefully it will go smoother than my daughter’s did… the president left in the middle of their performance and they had to leave the stage until he left and then were allowed to continue! I thought he should have at least waited until the group on stage finished, especially because it was my kid. Plus, the school had no way to tell us that this disruption caused them to be at least an hour late in getting home. Should be fun…and cold though.

Back on track

Didn’t get anything up last week, so this week, I am going to try and make up for it.

Our little cushion, we were hoping to create this month, is not going to happen now. Vacation really messed things up with limited internet connection, so my husband couldn’t get the extra work done he had planned while we were gone. Stack on that a failed safety inspection (need new tires and windshield wipers) and hubby’s inspection will be this month. No big shockers, but trying to get our plan into place has been hard. Following the budget will make things like this so much easier in the future, just a pain trying to get there. It can and WILL happen though.

Thursday’s Thoughts…on Friday

So, I didn’t get a post up yesterday, but thought I’d write one today. Today’s activities toward becoming debt free included a very comprehensive budget. We put EVERYTHING in there. Bills, debt, and what I owe my mom The debt part we have set up for the debt snowball. In case you don’t know what this is, I find it an amazing concept and yet so simple! Write down all your debt. Put them in order from smallest balance to largest. (Yes, you will pay more in interest, but there is a method to the madness.) By paying off the smallest amount first, you will feel a sense of accomplishment. I think it definitely helps to just know that one thing is completely gone.

Then, you take that amount and apply it towards the next item (that you’ve been paying minimum on until now). For example, if you were paying 100/month on the first item and 200 on the second item, once you’ve paid off the first one, you put the 100 and add it to the 200, so you are now paying 300/month for item two. Then you pay it off and add it to the 100 you were paying for item 4, and are paying 400 a month now on this. It keeps building and things get paid off faster and faster. The feeling just becomes amazing as it goes away. (I know it works because I’ve done it before…now I’m going to apply it for the final time and not make the same mistake again).

So, now we have a visual representation of our plans and a definite beginning. It will change a billion times between now and the end, but it helps to have a place to start.

Saving money but eating right

Can it be done? This has been my biggest question since starting couponing as a way to save money on our journey to financial freedom. I only watched a few episodes of the infamous show, but one thing that stuck out was that they said couponers get the best deals and can stock up the most by buying frozen meals. This bothers me a lot because while these foods are occasionally yummy, they are NEVER healthy. Even Weight Watchers and others are generally high in sodium if nothing else.

This past week, I spent a week up in Maine with my family and my inlaws. While we didn’t always eat the healthiest, we did eat all natural and/or organic and everything we made, we had complete control what was put into it. I got very spoiled up there, mostly because my inlaws provided most of these things for us. We came home and of course after a week of being gone, we were in need of groceries. I went to Trader Joe’s last night and shopped mostly store brands to save money, but realized I couldn’t see the savings the way I do when I go to a regular store. So, I began to search for TJ’s coupon policy. I haven’t found it yet, but I did find a couple sites that I am now in love with The first is Healthy Life Deals. This site provides matchups for places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s AND for the good stuff you can get at Target. Their prices are based in St. Louis, so I know I probably won’t find exact deals each time, but definitely helps and lets me know what coupons are out there for items I can buy at TJ’s. They also have a list of places where you can get organic printable coupons.

Second site I found was Mambo Sprouts. This is a coupon printing site for organic and natural foods. They also have blogs, recipes, contests and product reviews. They also have coupon booklets that you can find at the grocery stores I believe.

Next time I go to a natural food store, I will be much better prepared and not have to compromise so much in the health department just to save a dollar.

On Vacation

Hoping to keep this blog updated 2 to 5 times a week, but being up here in the middle of nowhere Maine, that may not happen this week. We are truly on a “Dave Ramsey” vacation. We had to spend money on gas and food to get here and have only had to buy a few groceries here and there. My husband’s parents rented the house for the week and have bought most of the food since we’ve been here. So, it’s very nice from a financial point of view.

We are in an older house on a lake. This is especially great for the kids and my husband. They love playing in the water and boating, etc. My husband and son love fishing too. I like to go once or twice a day out on the kayak. Been taking a few pictures while we go out, so that has been very nice. Nature shots are always pretty.

For me, that’s about it. Other than nature photography, I’m not a nature girl. I was pretty sure that after a couple days, how pretty this place is was not going to be enough, and I was right. Today is day 4 and I’ve already read 3 entire books…which is one more than I had even planned on bringing along with me (new on my kindle). Thankfully my MIL brought a ton of books with her.

Oh, I did spend a little money on myself… Erik bought me a new broomstick skirt from a consignment shop and I also got a Vera Bradley purse there for 15 bucks! (Skirt was another $15). Since Erik gets paid on Friday, I’m hoping he and I will get to go out for a bit by ourselves (since we’ll be driving home on our anniversary Sunday). Getting a phone upgrade that day too

Oh one bit of YAY… I thought I had forgotten my bag which had all my ac adapters in it, but it was just my husband not being able to listen when I said it was a black and blue bag. The white threw him off apparently. Well, everyone, I hope you all are having a great week, and I look forward to posting more of our DR journey in the future!

Thursday’s Thoughts…

Going towards our first goal of saving a $1,000 emergency fund is a difficult process. Almost feels as though we are starting about 10 miles away from the starting line. In his books, Dave Ramsey talks about Gazelle Intensity, doing whatever we can to get to the point we need to be. My husband has been working side contracts since he can make more money in a shorter amount of time, and most of it he can do from home. Our plan this month and next month is for him to work a set amount of hours that we figured out which will hopefully get us caught up so we are current with all creditors, etc. It’s nice because I can help him sometimes and we still get to spend plenty of time together.

The thought is, that if he can continue the same amount of hours next month, without us having to play catch up, we should be able to save that $1,000 with no problem. We also started a new account with PNC bank due to their virtual Wallet program. With it, you get a checking account (which gets interest), a short-term savings account and a long-term savings account, which I believe is a money market account. The $1K would go in the long-term account because it should not be touched, unless we have a true emergency.

Tonight Erik is meeting with one of the companies. This will fund the rest of the next week and pay for the gas we will need for our vacation to Maine. (Gotta love in-laws who are providing the place to stay!) We are now sticking to the principle that if we do not have the cash to do something, we cannot do it, plain and simple.

I would love it if anyone would like to share how they are or have saved $1,000 in a very short amount of time.

My Quest for Financial Peace

My quest for Financial Peace

For years and years, my family has been “getting by” financially. We’ve been living month to month, paycheck to paycheck. We have quite a bit of debt (even after being bailed out by parents in the past). Just when we think we’re getting there, getting back to “getting by,” something comes a long and yanks the floor from beneath us. This month, we decided to get serious. We have chosen to follow Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. This blog is going to follow our journey, all the ups and downs, to financial peace.

Baby Steps

The following is taken directly from Dave Ramsey’s TotalMoneyMakeover.com.

Step 1
$1,000 in an emergency fund($500 if your income is under $20,000 per year)

Step 2
Pay off all debt except the house using the debt snowball

Step 3
Three to six months of expenses in savings

Step 4
Invest 15% of your household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement plans

Step 5
College funding

Step 6
Pay off your home early

Step 7
Build wealth and give!

I plan to chronicle our path through each of these Baby Steps. This isn’t going to be some perfect, everything by the book journey. Sometimes we do just have to deal with what life throws at us as we attempt to stay on task. We have I think finally learned that we CANNOT do this anymore. It’s no longer an option. Eventually, I plan to enroll in Dave Ramsey’s financial counselling course and I plan to be financially fit after following all of his advice before even attempting to help others with their lives.

America’s Most Smartest Model

Ok, I know I’m “behind the times” when it comes to a lot of television… we got rid of cable 2 years ago to save money, and haven’t gotten it back yet. I do, however, like to watch as much newer stuff as I can on Netflix and Hulu. Today’s pick happened to be America’s Most Smartest Model. As they state on the show, YES the name of the show is a joke, done on purpose. Honestly, I haven’t laughed that hard while watching a show in a long time, and that includes most comedies

The first challenge the “models” were given was a Spelling Bee. Most of the words they were given were fashion or beauty related. I found it quite unbelievable that these people who make their living in that world, didn’t know how to spell the names of the designers! My favorite was “Tommy Hillfinger” LOL. The next challenge combined their skills as a model walking the runway, and thinking out loud at the same time, kind of based on the walking and chewing gum simultaneously theory. One was given the topic of states… apparently Memphis and Seattle have been added to the union.

I think what I enjoyed the most about this show is that maybe, just maybe, I have retained at least a little bit of the intelligence that I believe I once had. Or maybe I just retain lots of useless knowledge such as naming the states in alphabetical order and all of the presidents of the United States. I was a speech major after all

Great news and upcoming vacation

So, I had my second ultrasound this morning. The tech was awesome and let me know that everything looked great and the cyst is gone! That’s totally awesome! One less thing to worry about is definitely a good thing.

Getting ready to go on vacation to Maine this coming week. Looking forward to a week with my family but a little on the wary side of how long the “beauty” will keep me excited I’m not an outdoorsy kind of person in general, so an entire week of sun, lake, and trees (aka dirt, mosquitos, and sweating), not my idea of lots of fun. The kids will have a blast though, and I know that is what is important. So, my plan is utilizing my kindle to it’s full potential.