Ten Grand

Tomorrow I'll be taking my van to the shop once again. The cost to work on the suspension will likely be $1000. I cried when I found out. I always cry. I am weak and get frustrated with the unexpectedness of it all. This will put our total van repairs over the 10,000 mark. That's right. TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS over the last three years.

So where does that put our loan payoff movement, the one that we started less than a week ago? Right on schedule thanks to the savings we stashed for inevitable circumstances like this one! I'll rebuild our lost savings with extra earnings here and there, and if our balance falls below our comfort level, we'll pause our extra debt payments and focus on nursing the account.

It feels great to feel in charge of our income. I know that it'll take us three years to pay everything, assuming no job loss or tragedy strikes our family. But that's not as terrifying as it used to be, not as overwhelming. I know we're getting ready for something more, a life that God intended us to live. We've purchased college degrees and vehicles on credit, learned first hand why Jesus taught against borrowing money, and now we're finally going to live with financial responsibility. God didn't intend for us to live the three years of financial headache ahead of us; we created that mess. A necessary, self-inflicted life of living paycheck to paycheck is no one's fault but our own. It's strangely empowering to acknowledge that failure; it comes with an awareness that we can control our finances.

If you haven't invested a few minutes into this website, you really should. Mr. Ramsey operates largely on common sense and it's very likely you're already familiar with his financial theory. His conservative, Christian views of financial planning have earned my respect and attention in the last year or so. And for all you Missourians, he'll be visiting Kansas City in two weeks. My husband's busy then, but I'm really considering making the drive and bribing my sis and brother-in-law (hint, hint) into watching my kiddos.

Financial Dieting

I just sealed our first extra vehicle loan payment into its envelope. According to the math, we should be able to pay off the remaining three year term of our loan in... 5 months. When I figured (and refigured) that timeline, there was no way to do anything but dive, head first, back into frugal living. The numbers work on paper; in reality we will undoubtedly be faced with unexpected expenses along the way (like the thousands of dollars we poured into vehicle repairs last year). Realistically, we should be able to finish before Christmas.

We've knocked our vacation plans to the bare bones: our beloved east coast beach vacation... the one that we take almost every other year. We share the cost of a beachfront house in a gated neighborhood with several other families. We make the 16 hour drive there and back without an overnight stay. We spend little extra while there; the beach is our amusement park/spa/party scene. We'll spend $700, far less than the $2,000 I wanted to spend taking the family to Pennsylvania this summer. We could have saved the expense completely and stayed home, but there's something to be said for truly resting and enjoying your family for a week.

Drive thru trips for caffeine have been diminished to once a week, house projects requiring a purchase of materials will be postponed, and the mattress that might have been purchased with a tax return will wait. Yard sales are in the works, an embarrassing amount of baby clothing and gear to purge. Extra income opportunities will go toward debt instead of fun. We'll spend more time at home.

Sure, we'll get off track. We'll kick ourselves for purchases we didn't need. We'll bask in a splurge on pizza for dinner once in a while when this mamma's just worn out. But the reality of our finances is not easily forgotten; I am reminded of the potential power in the budget I've written each time I hold my debit card. At the very least, I'm constantly weighing our financial options and making smarter choices. It's amazing how much money we throw into drive through windows if we're not careful.

Financial Cleansing

I'm currently on the brink of a lifestyle overhaul. My two main concerns: finances and weight. Big Surprise. As for the weight, I'll post about that if I'm successful, and as for the finances...

Since January when we started to remodel our new home and took on double house payments, I've lost my formerly clear sight of where our pennies are going. While we always make it from pay day to pay day, I haven't been making much of an effort to contribute to savings or watch our eating out. The fact of the matter is that some eating out is almost essential if any timely progress is going to be made on a remodel with three kids and very little hired help with construction. And there were so many things (like light fixtures) that we've opted to pay out of pocket for instead of increasing our house loan that we tended to purchase those items as we needed them. Most of our savings was used up in double mortgages and electric bills (along with an untimely string of car repairs to the tune of three thousand dollars). It was NOT a fun six months!

After a very sad electric bill (with the winter months still ahead), I decided that it was time to cut back to the bare essentials for a month or two, let the waves in our checking account calm, and then head back into the process of furnishing our house (because getting Little Mister's mattress set off the floor and onto a bed really has to be remain priority around here!).

My intentions for cutting back the spending:

1) Pack snacks for the car so that fast food isn't necessary when the kids get hungry while we're out.

2) Buy Hubby's morning drinks in bulk instead of him buying them on the way to work. Be sure to hand it to him each morning because he'll walk out without it otherwise.

3) Avoid Walmart and shop Aldi or Kroger for groceries.

4) Try E-Mealz, a site that shops grocery ads and compiles a menu and shopping list based on the sales. Coupon Code DAVE saved $2.50 on the $15 three month subscription.

5) Set heat to 68 instead of 70.

6) Stay home more.

7) Eliminate McDonald's large Diet Dr. Peppers and take water from home instead.

8) Eliminate movie rentals and find free online movies instead.

9) Don't purchase anything that I can live without.

10) Any Suggestions??