Falling Off the Wagon
No, it’s not the wagon you’re thinking of. I’ve never really been "on" that wagon to begin with. It’s our "Financial Peace" wagon.
For the last 6 years or so we have been big proponents of Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University. We started classes at our church and led them for several years before giving the ministry over to someone else.
In the first 9 months or so of following Dave’s advice we paid off all our credit card debt and our student loans, finished paying off one car, sold another car, and got a free car from my grandmother’s estate. When my daughter was born 4 years ago we had gotten ourselves into a position where I could quit working full time and stay home with her and Noah, then 3. The only debt we currently have is the very little we owe on our mortgage that we hope to have paid off in a year or two. (You can read a little more about that, here.)
But in the last couple of years as hubby has gotten raises and I’ve had freelance money we have both gotten lax in our spending habits. Most of it is my fault as I’m the one who does the budget, pays the bills, etc. Well at the end of June I will no longer have my part-time (from home) job that I’ve had w/ the employer I was working for before Natalie was born. That, plus the fact that our church is headed into a building campaign, has forced us to take a hard look at the budget, reprioritize and for me to buckle down.
The biggest step is going back to the trusty envelope system. If you’ve never heard of it, here’s how it works. When preparing your budget, separate out the items that get paid w/ a check (or online) like your utilities, mortgage, etc. Everything else (groceries, eating out, entertainment, etc.) is a CASH category. Add up all the amounts you have budgeted for your cash categories. On payday (so we do this twice a month) go to the ATM and withdraw that amount of money. Then make an envelope for each category and put the correct amount of cash in the envelope.
Then when you’re at the grocery store you pay out of the grocery envelope. Kids want to stop at McDonald’s? Check the "eating out" envelope and see if there’s money left. My kids have heard me say, more than once, "no money in the envelope guys".
Yes, you may borrow from one envelope to pay for something else but here’s the catch. When the cash is GONE, your spending stops! You don’t fork over the debit card, you just don’t buy it. It is the only way that we have ever really done a good job at sticking to our budget.
Studies have shown that people who pay cash for things will spend 12-18% less. That’s probably at least $100 per month, maybe more. If you’ve never tried the envelope system, you can start easy. Try it for just your grocery money for the month. See if it doesn’t surprise you.
Since I’m not a huge fan of having 6 different white envelopes in my purse I went online the other day to buy a new Financial Peace University Envelope System/wallet. It has the envelopes built in along with a coin area, and space for your checkbook. And my heavens, now it comes in pretty colors (used to be just boring black). When I saw that they had it in a blue and brown design (my favorite colors) I took it as a sign from God 
For this month we are also saving all our receipts and tracking our spending to make sure that we’re budgeting the right amount in the right categories.
NOTE: The only exception to the cash rule is that we use our debit card for gas so we can pay at the pump. But the amount is still budgeted, it’s just left in the checking account. Not really any way to overspend there (as long as you don’t go IN the convenience store).
If anyone is in need of financial help I would HIGHLY recommend Dave’s program. You could start with his book "Total Money Makeover". To find a FPU class in your area, click here. He also has a great call in radio show/podcast that you can find here. He is never boring, highly entertaining and speaks about finances in a very practical, easy to understand way.
P.S. Because people always ask here is our cash categories (yours may vary):
- Groceries
- Husbands Lunches Out
- Medicine
- Hair Care (mostly my cuts and color which don’t happen every month)
- Household (cleaning supplies, stamps, organizational stuff, home improvement projects, etc.)
- Clothing (gets more money in spring and winter when I have to get kids new clothes)
- Babysitting (for twice monthly date nights)
- Entertaining/Eating Out (movies, date night meals, McDonald’s stops)
- Fun Money (hubby and I get equal amount that is ours to do with as we please – golf, scrapbooking, etc.)
- Gifts (birthdays, etc.)
The Open Toed Shoe Pledge
My friend Kelley sent this today. I’ve seen it before and thought you guys would enjoy it. Of course here in Phx we pretty much wear open-toed shoes year around. Not sure if that’s some huge faux paux but it makes my shoe budget a lot less.
I pledge to follow the Rules when wearing sandals and other open-toe shoes:
- I promise to always wear sandals that fit. My toes will not hang over and touch the ground, nor will my heels spill over the backs. And the sides and tops of my feet will not pudge out between the straps.
- I will go polish-free or vow to keep the polish fresh, intact and chip-free. I will not cheat and just touch up my big toe.
- I will sand down any mounds of skin before they turn hard and yellow.
- I will shave the hairs off my big toe.
- I won’t wear pantyhose even if my misinformed girlfriend, coworker, mother, sister tells me the toe seam really will stay under my toes if I tuck it there.
- If a strap breaks, I won’t duct-tape, pin, glue or tuck it back into place hoping it will stay put. I will get my shoe fixed or toss it.
- I will not live in corn denial; rather I will lean on my good friend Dr. Scholl’s if my feet need him.
- I will resist the urge to buy jelly shoes at Payless for the low, low price of $4.99 even if my feet are small enough to fit into the kids’ sizes. This is out of concern for my safety, and the safety of others. No one can walk properly when standing in a pool of sweat and I would hate to take someone down with me as I fall and break my ankle.
- I will take my toe ring off toward the end of the day if my toes swell and begin to look like Vienna sausages.
- I will be brutally honest with my girlfriend/sister/coworker when she asks me if her feet are too ugly to wear sandals. Someone has to tell her that her toes are as long as my fingers and no sandal makes creepy feet look good.
- I will promise if I wear flip flops that I will ensure that they actually flip and flop, making the correct noise while walking and I will swear NOT to slide or drag my feet while wearing them.
- I will promise to go to my local nail salon at least once per season and have a real pedicure (they are about $15 or 20 and worth EVERY penny).
- I will promise to throw away any white/off-white sandals that show signs of wear… nothing is tackier than dirty white sandals.
WFMW – Perking up Limp Flowers
Disclaimer: I was taught this trick specifically for gerber daisies. It does not work on all flowers (like roses) but it’s worth a try. I think it mostly works on "soft stem" flowers – maybe tulips…can’t remember.
When the flower goes limp and beds over, take a needle, or push pin, or straight pin, and poke it at the top of the stem. Several hours later the flower will be standing up right again. (Unfortunately, it only works once). I’m not sure of the science behind it but it works for me.
Two Strong-Willed Heads Butt
I have been informed, on hundreds of occasions, that I am "the strong-willed child" – you know, the one James Dobson wrote a book about. Yeah, yeah, I get it.
And my reward is having a very strong willed son. Add to the mix that he is VERY smart! Like scary smart sometimes. And he knows it. Mix these two elements together and you get a 7 year old that thinks he is ALWAYS right!
Tonight we were discussing what days off dad has – Friday.
Noah: "And sometime Thursday."
Me: "Well no, not really. Unless we’re on vacation."
Noah: "Yeah, huh. Sometimes he has Thursdays off."
Me: Searching my memory for some Thursday that he might have been off. "Well maybe once, Noah but I can’t think of a time."
And he just won’t let it go. It goes on and I finally said (with much exasperation), "Noah, why do you have to do that? Why do you have to always be right? It’s SO annoying."
At which point 4yr Natty pipes up "It even makes my shoes angry Noah!"
You can’t argue w/ angry shoes
The Promised Land
Yesterday, we walked in the desert – on our 40 acres of "Promise Land" – that will soon become the campus of Palm Valley Church. It has been a long time coming. Our church is 6 1/2 years old and one of the largest portable churches in North America. We’ve met in a living room (before our time there), a movie theatre and now a high school gym. Over a year ago God brought 40 acres of land and almost literally dropped it in our laps. It’s been a matter of waiting for the right time to build and it is finally here.
Yesterday about 300 people from the church came to the land for a "Prayer Journey". We walked to where each of the buildings are going to be and prayed for the ministry that would happen and the people who’s lives might be affected.
The coolest part is the Kid’s Fountain. In the center of the campus will be a kid’s fountain with the water that comes up from the ground that the kids can run around and play in. The kids have been giving money toward it for the last 3 years and have raised thousands of dollars. Years from now our children will be able to bring their kids to the church campus and tell them how faithful God has been to Palm Valley and that they got to be a part of that.
The kids on the land yesterday each got to put a rock on the pile.
“In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean? tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.” Joshua 4:20-24
Noah is already on a race to save up $46 to give before they’re done building (shouldn’t be a problem). It’s so awesome to see them so excited about the church campus and the things that will be there.
The Cricket Hunter
In honor of the warm weather I’m bringing out this old post, originally published last July. Cricket season will soon be upon us.
My husband has a super-power. It’s not super strength or the ability
to fly or something really useful like that. No, he has supersonic
hearing. This is another one of those things now listed in the "How did
I date you for 4 years and not realize this until we were married"
column (along with his golf addiction).
You’d think supersonic hearing would be useful. No need for a baby
monitor, he would hear the slightest cry and rush to the aid of the
infant. Right? Uh, no. It seems that somehow the supersonic hearing got
mixed in with the normal male selective hearing so he’s able to turn it
off and on for crying babies and requests to do the dishes at will.
Only digital clocks are allowed in our house. The others "tick too
loud". Seriously, the sound of the hands moving around the clock drive
him insane. Now I know there are some clocks that tick loud but we’re
not talking about those. We’re talking about normal clocks. I had a
small travel alarm clock that was inside a case buried at the bottom of
my stuffed-to-overflowing sock drawer and he could hear it. He couldn’t
find it, but he could hear it. And it drove him nuts. "Can’t you hear
that?" he asked, amazed that I couldn’t. I finally found the offending
clock and removed the batteries. Supersonic hearing.
I owned a watch once that ticked too loud. Oh, it was okay for
normal wear, but I couldn’t wear it to bed because if my arm was to
close to his head it would keep him awake. Supersonic hearing.
We sleep with a noise machine on every night, the fan going (even in
the dead of winter) and most nights he also has ear plugs in.
Supersonic hearing.
And apparently, I chew too loud. This is VERY disconcerting. I will
admit that somehow my parents failed in the "chew with your mouth
closed" manner teaching and this is a poor habit that I have. But
again, this goes in the "why didn’t you ever say anything during the 4
years we were dating" category. The poor man suffered through hundreds
of meals listening to me chomp away on my food, completely oblivious to
the fact that I was driving him crazy.
So after many years I am better. Granted, not perfect, but better.
But it’s not good enough. HE CAN STILL HEAR ME CHEWING….inside my
mouth….he can hear me move food around for more chewing…with my
lips sealed. Seriously, we’ll be sitting on the couch watching TV and
if I’m eating he will leave the room! Supersonic hearing.
And now, the worst time of the year is upon us….CRICKET SEASON.
No, not the wicket and ball variety, the creepy, crawly, CHIRPY
variety. Very CHIRPY. And so was born the Cricket Hunter. Each night
when the sun finally fades and darkness falls, the chirping begins.
Slowly at first, then, like some sort of chorale society more join
crickets join the happy little chorus. And he stalks them. He follows
the sounds. He taps on walls, he climbs on the counters, he opens
cupboards, he crawls under desks. All in search of the elusive
chirping. He sprays, he swats and he hunts. After all, there’s not much
else he can do WITH ALL THAT NOISE going on. Supersonic hearing.
Two nights ago I went to bed before he did. As I laid my weary head
on the pillow I heard it, "chirp, chirp, chirp". It was in the wall,
right behind our bed. "Oh is he going to be mad" I thought to myself.
Ten minutes later I could take it no longer. I rolled over, found some
ear plugs and stuck them in. Supersonic hearing….maybe it’s catching.
Vacation Tally
Well our vacation is half way over and here is the score:
Times Natalie has fallen asleep in the car and drooled on herself: 5
Books I have finished reading: 3
Times I have blown my diet: 2
Times Mark has said "How do people live here" while in rush hour traffic: 1 – there will be more
Trips to the Beach: 1
Resort Pool: 2
Trips to Chuck E. Cheese: 1
Avg number of times we have to go into the kids room to tell them to be quiet each night: 2
Thrift stores visited: 4…I think…I lost track
Meals eaten at McDonalds: 0 – can you believe it?
Tomorrow it is off to Legoland. You can read more about the trip at hubby’s blog. I think he’s blogged more in the last 3 days then the last month.
You’re an 80’s child if…
Someone sent this to my husband it was quite the flashback so I thought I’d post it for my friends to enjoy. Some of you (cough, Stacey) are probably too young
You’re an 80’s child if… (if applicable to me, I’ve bolded them)
- You had a crush on one of the New Kids on the Block members. (Don’t remember which one – saw them in concert.)
- You wanted to be on StarSearch.
- You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off. Or even when he had those freaky eyes in "Thriller" at the end of the video.
- You wore a banana clip or one of those slap on wrist bands at some point during your youth.
- You wore french rolls on the bottom of your splatter painted jeans.
- You had slouch socks, and puff painted your own shirt at least once.
- You owned a doll with ‘Xavier Roberts’ signed on it’s butt.
- You knew what Willis was "talkin’ ’bout."
- You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, Wax off."
- You can name at least half of the members of the elite "Brat Pack."
- You can remember watching full house and saved by the bell for endless hours.
- You have seen at least 10 episodes of Fraggle Rock.
- You know that another name for a keyboard is a "Synthesizer."
- You hold a special place in your heart for "Back to the Future."
- You know where to go if you "wanna go where everybody knows your name."
- You thought Molly Ringwald was REALLY cool. (Was there an 80’s movie she WASN’T in?)
- You know what "Sike" means.
- You fell victim to 80’s fashion: big hair, crimped, combed over to the side, and you wore spandex pants
- You wanted to be a Goonie ("Goonies never say die.")
- You’ve heard of Garbage Pail Kids.
- You knew "The Artist" when he was humbly called "Prince."
- You actually saw Ted Danson as the MacDaddy he played "Sam" to be.
- You ever wore flourescent -neon if you will clothing…(or nailpolish)
- You could breakdance, or wished you could.
- You know who Max Headroom is.
- You remember when ATARI2 was a state of the art video game system. (Remember Pong)
- You know all the words to "ice ice baby".
- You remember M.C hammer.
- You can still sing the rap to "fresh Prince of BelAir".
- You own any cassettes.
- You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we’d all be living on the moon.
- You remember and/or own any of the CareBear Glass collection from Pizza Hut.
- Poltergeist freaked you out.
- You carried your lunch to school in a Gremlins or an ET lunchbox.
- You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female smurf.
- You wanted to communicate with some being named Cinergy, or you wanted green hair like that lead singer of the Misfits.
- You know what a Doozer is.
- You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish.
- You ever had a Swatch Watch.
- You actually spent countless hours trying to perfect the care-bear stare.
- You had a crush on one of the Coreys (Haim or Feldman).
- You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.
- You had WonderWoman or Superman underoos.
- You wanted to be The Hulk for Halloween.
- You Believed that "By the power of Greyskull, you HAD the power!"
- You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
- You know what a "Whammee" is. ("No Whammy, no whammy, stop!!")
- Partying "like it’s 1999" seemed SO far away.
So how bout you – got any to add?
A little change can be a good thing…
I really want to redesign my blog, maybe even rename it, but I do not have time. I have paying clients expecting work product from me before we go on Spring Break. So I decided to spend a couple minutes, give you some new colors to look at and you’ll have to be satisfied with that…for now.
BTW, feeling 100% today so it was a very short bug of some sort!
I thought it was the Mexican food…
On Wednesday nights while the kids are in the church program, hubby and I get out for a mini-date and have dinner together before we pick them up. We ate at a new (well it’s a chain, but new to our side of town) Mexican restaurant and it was really good.
But about 45 minutes after we got home I was NOT feeling it…the love. I was feeling bloated and burpy and just generally not very nice. I figured it would be gone by morning. It wasn’t. I figured it would be better after a cup of coffee and a shower. It wasn’t.
I dropped daughter off at preschool at noon and calculated exactly how long of a nap I could get before I had to pick up soon from school. Luckily my head wasn’t completely in the clouds as I NARROWLY (like had to swerve into oncoming traffic which, thank you LORD, was not that close) because some IDIOT decided to pull out in front of me and try to cross the road I was on. If I wasn’t busy having a coronary and throwing up many "Thank you God for protecting me"s I would have chased the booger down. And done what I’m not exactly sure, but I was ticked!
Instead I swallowed the bile that had tried to work it’s way out of my already churning stomach and drove home, crawled into bed and slept for 2 hours. Now I’m sprawled on the couch.
You do not even want to see what my kitchen looks like. I think I have one clean knife left. I never finished last week’s laundry and it’s laundry day again and we will have no clean clothes to take on Spring Break if I do not manage that sometime soon.
And my aunt is in town and coming to dinner tomorrow. And I have tiny pieces of potato chips ground into my carpet. And I’ve got 3 freelance projects I need to finish before I leave. And really all I want to do is crawl back in bed.
BTW, it is not the Mexican food unless that gives you a 101 fever. Please don’t let it be the flu!
