Raging, raging snow storm the likes of which have not been seen for twenty years.
Commuting husband.
A scary spin out.
A blown tire.
Thank God Thank God Thank God for the brand-spankin' new emergency fund.
*phew*
This would've gone a a credit card. *shudder*
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
State of the Union ~ November 2009
Holy crap! November is *snap* GONE! But it was crazy eventful and crazy lucrative so the current State of the Union is looking rather nice. Here we go:
By December 31 I want to:
Have the house in complete working order aka "be fully moved in" ~ Needs improvement
After months of adequate progress, our house went to pot in November. Bee wasn't sleeping and... well... all hell broke loose pretty much. Family was down and Peanut stayed over a couple nights and we so have not recovered for it. I will call this goal a success when I am able to work off of the chore chart I made.
Have Bee's birth completely paid off ~ COMPLETED!
With Billy working his butt off to get a bonus, we ended up being able to pay off ALL our medical debt AND pay my parents back AND have a little breathing room. So wonderful!!
Establish a working grocery budget ~ Needs improvement
Cash only is NOT working at all. I'm getting the hang of setting aside seperate money for household and food but the cash is... a big fat fail. I think we would do better with a seperate account. That's the next step- opening a new account.
Have $500 in an emergency fund ~ COMPLETED!
Yay! It's done and then some! Hurray! In fact, we full on finished the goal of a $1000 emergency fund and It. Feels. Good. Especially now that Billy's job is in a scary place right now.
So there's November in a nutshell. Half FABULOUS and half so-so. I think my goals can be reached on time for once and I'm excited... but scared because our work situation is rocky.
By December 31 I want to:
Have the house in complete working order aka "be fully moved in" ~ Needs improvement
After months of adequate progress, our house went to pot in November. Bee wasn't sleeping and... well... all hell broke loose pretty much. Family was down and Peanut stayed over a couple nights and we so have not recovered for it. I will call this goal a success when I am able to work off of the chore chart I made.
Have Bee's birth completely paid off ~ COMPLETED!
With Billy working his butt off to get a bonus, we ended up being able to pay off ALL our medical debt AND pay my parents back AND have a little breathing room. So wonderful!!
Establish a working grocery budget ~ Needs improvement
Cash only is NOT working at all. I'm getting the hang of setting aside seperate money for household and food but the cash is... a big fat fail. I think we would do better with a seperate account. That's the next step- opening a new account.
Have $500 in an emergency fund ~ COMPLETED!
Yay! It's done and then some! Hurray! In fact, we full on finished the goal of a $1000 emergency fund and It. Feels. Good. Especially now that Billy's job is in a scary place right now.
So there's November in a nutshell. Half FABULOUS and half so-so. I think my goals can be reached on time for once and I'm excited... but scared because our work situation is rocky.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wild Ride
The old cliche about emotional rollercoasters and whatever is far too tame for our life right now. It's been more like that one ride that shoots you up in the air then drops you just as quickly. Ya know, the one where you defy gravity and float a little off your seat while you look at the amazing view (WHEEEE!!!) and then get dropped and your stomach is in your throat and you feel like you're going to throw up (AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!)? Yeah, that's us.
So Billy's PROMISED bonus/commission plopped a nice little windfall on us that has helped us tremendously!!! We've been able to pay my parents back, will have all the medical debt paid off by Monday, and buy a few things we've put on the back burner (like pillows... ours were literally falling apart). (WHEEEE!!!) Unfortunately, the evil corporate people were playing games to try to avoid paying anything that was promised (in writing!!!) and once they got caught in a loop, they couldn't get out of paying the money he was entitled to. Now though, they're still acting like spoiled children and... long story short, we're not sure how long Billy will actually have a job there. (AAAAHHHHHHH!!!) Crap crap crap. We're so not ready for something like that. Crap.
The cash only budget is NOT working. Cash and I have never gotten along very well and I don't see why I thought that would change. Something else is going to have to be worked out there. Like a seperate account. *sigh* It doesn't help that this is coming in line with coupon burnout. It had to happen eventually. It's happening now. At the worst possible time.
I'm feeling really down about a great many things... lack of friends, lack of drive, feeling mediocre in everything I do especially as wife and mother. I get dangerously irritated with Billy and Bee on a regular basis these days. Even with paying off all the medical debt, I still feel like there will never be a light at the end of the tunnel... Or if there is, it will just be a train.
So Billy's PROMISED bonus/commission plopped a nice little windfall on us that has helped us tremendously!!! We've been able to pay my parents back, will have all the medical debt paid off by Monday, and buy a few things we've put on the back burner (like pillows... ours were literally falling apart). (WHEEEE!!!) Unfortunately, the evil corporate people were playing games to try to avoid paying anything that was promised (in writing!!!) and once they got caught in a loop, they couldn't get out of paying the money he was entitled to. Now though, they're still acting like spoiled children and... long story short, we're not sure how long Billy will actually have a job there. (AAAAHHHHHHH!!!) Crap crap crap. We're so not ready for something like that. Crap.
The cash only budget is NOT working. Cash and I have never gotten along very well and I don't see why I thought that would change. Something else is going to have to be worked out there. Like a seperate account. *sigh* It doesn't help that this is coming in line with coupon burnout. It had to happen eventually. It's happening now. At the worst possible time.
I'm feeling really down about a great many things... lack of friends, lack of drive, feeling mediocre in everything I do especially as wife and mother. I get dangerously irritated with Billy and Bee on a regular basis these days. Even with paying off all the medical debt, I still feel like there will never be a light at the end of the tunnel... Or if there is, it will just be a train.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
I Suck at Everything
Our newly implemented budget... has not been a success yet. We have $2 left of the original cash. But... I had three "forget it" faux pas in the last two weeks. 1- Football snacks ($25), 2- Sushi ($20), 3- Pet food & litter across the board- cats, dogs, goat ($57). $102 on credit cards. The pet food is necessity. Snacks and sushi? Um, no. Not at all. Stupid stupid stupid. STUPID!!! I am baffled as to how to successfully fit in pet food into the budget equation. Must figure that out. Rarely coupons. Rarely sales. Expensive. Blah.
Our health insurance premium is being raised $120 effective January. I don't know what we're going to do.
Bee's horrible sleep schedule is throwing me into a tailspin of unhappiness, doubt, anger... I'm really feeling like a horrible mother. Mommy mode turns off around 2 a.m. and I just want to dump her on Billy. But it's not possible. This sucks.
I should clean but I don't want to. At all.
Our health insurance premium is being raised $120 effective January. I don't know what we're going to do.
Bee's horrible sleep schedule is throwing me into a tailspin of unhappiness, doubt, anger... I'm really feeling like a horrible mother. Mommy mode turns off around 2 a.m. and I just want to dump her on Billy. But it's not possible. This sucks.
I should clean but I don't want to. At all.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
State of the Union ~ October 2009
A little early, but not much else should go down in the next two days (hopefully ^_^).
Current goal progress report:
Have the house in complete working order aka "be fully moved in" ~ Adequate Progress
Nothing really major was accomplished in October as far as the house goes but I did keep up with the organizational routines that have already been established. I started the routine of fixing the bed everyday, the house has stayed (reasonably) tidy, and we hung up the art for the bedroom that has been sitting in the closet for over a year. I plan on having the organization overhaul complete before Thanksgiving.
Have Bee's birth completely paid off ~ Adequate Progress
Made payments as usual. Paid off the actual delivery!!! Woot! Still owe on hospital stay. Current amount left: $369.73
Establish a working grocery budget ~ Adequate Progress
In my new budget, I worked out a "Food & Household" cash envelope. This has only been in play for one pay period and has been working relatively well so far. I will call this a success when it becomes routine.
Have $500 in an emergency fund ~Needs VAST improvement
Still one big, fat goose egg in our emergency fund. A bonus looms on the horizon for Billy. I'll believe it when I see it. If it does come to fruition, I will fully fund the EF to $1000, checking off a goal for this and next quarter.
Also done in October... Created a true budget, started a Total Money Makeover-ish debt plan, and lost five pounds ^_^. On the bad side, had $338 in car repairs that were not planned for. Oh how we need an emergency fund!!!
Current goal progress report:
Have the house in complete working order aka "be fully moved in" ~ Adequate Progress
Nothing really major was accomplished in October as far as the house goes but I did keep up with the organizational routines that have already been established. I started the routine of fixing the bed everyday, the house has stayed (reasonably) tidy, and we hung up the art for the bedroom that has been sitting in the closet for over a year. I plan on having the organization overhaul complete before Thanksgiving.
Have Bee's birth completely paid off ~ Adequate Progress
Made payments as usual. Paid off the actual delivery!!! Woot! Still owe on hospital stay. Current amount left: $369.73
Establish a working grocery budget ~ Adequate Progress
In my new budget, I worked out a "Food & Household" cash envelope. This has only been in play for one pay period and has been working relatively well so far. I will call this a success when it becomes routine.
Have $500 in an emergency fund ~Needs VAST improvement
Still one big, fat goose egg in our emergency fund. A bonus looms on the horizon for Billy. I'll believe it when I see it. If it does come to fruition, I will fully fund the EF to $1000, checking off a goal for this and next quarter.
Also done in October... Created a true budget, started a Total Money Makeover-ish debt plan, and lost five pounds ^_^. On the bad side, had $338 in car repairs that were not planned for. Oh how we need an emergency fund!!!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I Drank the Kool-Aid
I finally did it. I got myself to the library and checked out Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. O.O <-- (That's me having my eyes opened)
Um. Yeah. I totally get it now. I realized that all this time I thought I was making a tunnel for us to get out of debt, I was really just digging a hole. A deep one that kept falling in. But now! Oh, there is totally light at the end of the tunnel. Squee!
Since reading the book, I have made a real budget, down to the last dime! And I've heard about and I've been fighting it (I don't know why...), but starting tomorrow the envelope system is going to be implemented in my household! WAH! This is gonna rock!
Um. Yeah. I totally get it now. I realized that all this time I thought I was making a tunnel for us to get out of debt, I was really just digging a hole. A deep one that kept falling in. But now! Oh, there is totally light at the end of the tunnel. Squee!
Since reading the book, I have made a real budget, down to the last dime! And I've heard about and I've been fighting it (I don't know why...), but starting tomorrow the envelope system is going to be implemented in my household! WAH! This is gonna rock!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
I'm Addicted to Drugstores
I think Walgreens was my gateway drugstore. It opened my eyes to a whole new world of paying little to nothing for necessities. After my deodorant extravaganza last week, I thought my world couldn't get any better. I was wrong.
Longs Drugs just became a CVS.
Oh. My. Golly.
In the two times I've been there since their grand opening I have spent just over $10 (with tax). With this $10 I have received:
5 packs of Huggies diapers (FIVE!!! 4 of which are spendy overnight diapers!)
1 Opti-Free Replenish contacts lens solution
1 Old Spice deodorant
1 bottle of Head & Shoulders
3 bars of Dial soap
1 tube of Colgate Total
All these things are necessities that I would have bought at one point or another for a total of $82. OK maybe I would've gotten a different brand of soap... Nonetheless, I spent $10. TEN!!! This is an 88% savings. Spending $10 OOP may not rock the socks of CVS veterans but it totally rocks mine. I CANNOT believe the money I have been throwing away my entire adult life. Un-frickin-believable. These are the brands of diapers, deodorant, shampoo, and toothpaste that we use and have always used. These are not store brands. These are not cut-rate products. These are the real deal. I get jittery just thinking about all we've lost by not being conscienctious! And the stupid thing is that we thought we were frugal people! HA! Not even! Using a coupon here and there to save a few cents... laughable, really.
I'm taking this wake-up call and as of next paycheck, I'm officially starting an honest-to-God grocery/household budget. There is no reason not to. Today I made dinner for 4 adults and a toddler for probably about $2 total. I could do this all the time. It's time.
Longs Drugs just became a CVS.
Oh. My. Golly.
In the two times I've been there since their grand opening I have spent just over $10 (with tax). With this $10 I have received:
5 packs of Huggies diapers (FIVE!!! 4 of which are spendy overnight diapers!)
1 Opti-Free Replenish contacts lens solution
1 Old Spice deodorant
1 bottle of Head & Shoulders
3 bars of Dial soap
1 tube of Colgate Total
All these things are necessities that I would have bought at one point or another for a total of $82. OK maybe I would've gotten a different brand of soap... Nonetheless, I spent $10. TEN!!! This is an 88% savings. Spending $10 OOP may not rock the socks of CVS veterans but it totally rocks mine. I CANNOT believe the money I have been throwing away my entire adult life. Un-frickin-believable. These are the brands of diapers, deodorant, shampoo, and toothpaste that we use and have always used. These are not store brands. These are not cut-rate products. These are the real deal. I get jittery just thinking about all we've lost by not being conscienctious! And the stupid thing is that we thought we were frugal people! HA! Not even! Using a coupon here and there to save a few cents... laughable, really.
I'm taking this wake-up call and as of next paycheck, I'm officially starting an honest-to-God grocery/household budget. There is no reason not to. Today I made dinner for 4 adults and a toddler for probably about $2 total. I could do this all the time. It's time.
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