If It Works, Why Not?

I have been behind in posting but that's due to being very, very busy..... Okay- So not only are both my husband and I working our full time jobs, he went back to work at the beginning of this month after recovering from surgery, but I babysit full time and have even picked up odd ball jobs stuffing envelopes and what not.... It has been busy to say the least but we have made a lot of progress in getting our savings caught back up. My goal was to get our bills paid (and paid off) and still be able to put money into savings and to get our savings to at least $1,000. We are at about $900 now in savings- So !! YAY !! We are almost all caught up and almost done for the pets vaccinations so far for this year. The initial visit to the Vaccination Station was less than I anticipated, only $68 total instead of $88, and this weekend we go for the last round of boosters and it should only come to about $44 total for both puppies. The vet said they look healthy too when she checked them out....

Things are slowly moving but still not as quickly as I would like. My husband has been glued to his laptop for the past several weeks. He has been selling old records, cds, books, VW auto parts and video games that he does not need or use anymore through http://www.craigslist.com/ and http://www.ebay.com/ . The extra money has been really helpful with our bills especially since I haven't been babysitting as much which means I don't have that income coming in, well at least not as much coming in from sitting. I just worry that he is getting a little carried away and is going to give something sentimental up as a way to make a few extra bucks... The good thing though is we have been able to get some Christmas shopping done by bartering items online. Within the next month we will be able to pay off Mike's car warranty and that will save us another $180 a month. He had bought an extended warranty before his manufacture warranty expired on his car and it was great that he did....

I think my family has been watching too much Kong-Fu Panda lately. My husband bought a few years ago, a sword. Not just any sword but a Katana (spelling?) which is a "Ninja" sword. I thought it was going to be for decor purposes but I was wrong. We have discovered that not only when you give a grown man a "ninja" sword that he will instantly return to his childhood imagination and jump around the house going "HI-YA!" wielding a sword that he can still rationalize the point of owning a sword in this day and age. - It is a means to defend his family from intruders. What burglar in his right mind would stick around if the person whose home he just broke into came at him with a sword. Such a sight would probably catch anyone off guard for that matter.... - It is for yard work. If the blade is sharp enough, it is a wonderful tool to trim the hedges with while making the other husbands jealous that their wives won't let them trim their hedges with a sword to...

Last night my husband and I got into an arguement. It was over finances, which is usually the topic if we are to argue. But after both of us expressed our feelings and heard each other out on the subject I was still feeling a bit upset. Then my husband reminded me of why I married him.... When we firsted dated about 7 years ago we ended things on not the greatest terms. He was not quite over his previous relationship and I got hurt and was not going to stick around and wait for him- it was a messy situation. About 8 months later I got a message that he had called. I was skeptical to call him back. I was still heartbroken over him and I did not want to dig up those feelings that I had been trying to forget. Eventually though, I called him back. We met at the local IHOP, which was a late night hangout for me and my friends after a night partying as the waitresses there like to give us free coffee and sodas. I was nervous about seeing him and felt that this was a good place to meet. A...

Finding time to get chores done around the house have been a little difficult lately. I am constantly on the go and instead of getting caught up on house work when I find down time I am catching up on rest. I am now working a totally of 84 hours a week. Luckily though, 44 hours of that is spent babysitting in my home and half of that time babysitting is at night so I am asleep as long as the baby is asleep. So the hours don't seem as harsh as they sound as I get to be at home and with my family too. This week is my week off I guess you could say, at least from my babysitting gig. I plan to get things caught up around the house as long as I have the energy to do so. Mike has been wonderful with trying to help with what he can since his surgery. I like that he is home but I would be lying if I said I didn't miss him being able to do as much as he usually can. He has been so wonderful though with trying to help out that I worry he is going to over exert himself and I catch myself ...

We went car shopping the other weekend. We only went to see one car but it was downtown Phoenix which is a far drive for us. We searched online and only came across the one that was in our price range with the options that we wanted, so we dropped the kids off with my parents so they would get too bored and went to check it out. When we got to the dealership it was a disappointment as the car did not have the package with the options we thought it had and the sales man, Scott, from internet sales was the worst too. He spent over half of the time texting on the phone and did not seem to know anything about the car when he showed it to us. They listed it wrong online; it was not the touring package and there were not fog lights or a sun roof. We told them no thanks and they insisted that we let them run numbers and see if they could provide a price that we would like to change our minds. They came back with a higher price than what was listed online as they were still trying to price it ...

The last 2 weeks have been nonstop. I am reaching my goals slowly but surely.... I now have 2 jobs, my normal full time office job and I babysit 44 hours a week (half of it is at night when we are sleeping so no biggie) which helps keep us from being negative as long as we do not have any unexpected bills pop up and we keep everything we can in control expense wise in our budget.... I am having to delay my garage sale again until next weekend- I am just not ready and I am going to need help which I do not have this weekend... And with how exhausted I am and everything else that is going on this weekend maybe it will be better anyways so I don't over-do it. Tomorrow we are going car shopping. Not necessarily buying anything but we will be browsing and taking notes. If we come across a REALLY good deal we may go for it but I am not in am extreme rush to where I will jump into something without thinking it through. Last night we went to the grocery store again to grab a few things ...

The hardest part of this, is the waiting. Paying off debt does not happen with the snap of a finger (unless you win the lotto but you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning) and so you wait and watch as this slow process takes place, not only waiting for those debts to slowly disappear but waiting on other things too, like to go on vacation or to buy something or even have dental work done... Everything gets put on hold because you cannot afford to do it or have it and as you wait life is still taking place around you which makes the wait seem longer and longer.... Today I am sick of waiting. I was completely worn out by Saturday morning. Not only have I started babysitting in the evenings on a regular basis - which is not bad at all because its only one little boy - but since my husband had surgery I am also having to pick up on his chores too until he gets better. So I was exhausted and decided to take a quick morning nap; I ended up sleeping until almost noon and woke u...

I went shopping earlier this week and I saved 59% off of my bill. I did spend a little more than I had hoped but I was also picking up items for my babysitter's house, like milk, bread, fresh fruits, etc... I spent just over $80 but that is after I saved over $112 off of the total. The closest thing to junk food I bought was frozen pizza and some cereal too (for all of you non-coupon believers who think you can only buy junk with coupons) and I only paid $0.48 each for the pizza as they were on sale for $0.68 each (Fry's mix-in-match 10 items sale) and I had a coupon for $1.00 off five & $0.99 for the cereal (General Mills) as it was on sale too + my coupons. I even got a couple of seedless watermelons for $2.99 each after my coupons for $1.00 off each. But I am not going to list everything and bore you- but coupons are awesome! As long as I stick with my grocery budget, that is one thing I can keep costs down on, it will help. I started my babysitting job in t...

I am back on track with my grocery budget. I went to Fry's Saturday evening and I only spent $60 on a cart full of groceries. I did not need too many things but they had a sale I could not pass up. They had many items on sale for only$1.00 and they were increasing manufacturer coupons up to a dollar- so I stocked up on some nonperishable items and things that last for months. I bought 12 boxes of Post cereals, for $0.50 a box after my coupons, I bought 4 half gallons of milk at $1.00 each (it was cheaper to buy the half gallons than a gallon). Stocked up on my produce, 3 hearts of romaine lettuce, couple of pounds of pears at $0.88 lb, bananas $0.49 lb and 3 tubs of black berries for $1.00 each (which is an awesome deal if you live in AZ) and green seedless grapes for $0.88 a lb. I stocked up on shredded cheese- 6 bags of different types for $1.99 a bag, a bar of Philadelphia cream cheese for $1.77, 4 packs of Angel Soft toilet paper for a dollar each- all free after each of my cou...

I had an interview for a somewhat part time babysitting job that would be on a regular basis for when I get off in the evenings/weekends. I felt that it went really well but I started to worry as I had not heard anything back. But I just got a message that the mother would like to go ahead and felt I was a good fit to watch her son!! Yay ! I love kids, don't want any more of my own unless I adopt- pregnancy doesn't do well for me- and doing this will just mean I have one more kid in the house to care for with my own which is fine with me. I would rather babysit than have to work at a grocery store or something because this way I won't loose anymore time with my own children. And of course, the pay will be helpful on me getting things paid off. So here is my first " YAY !" moment- I hope its not the only.... We had a new fridge delivered today. Our freezer was not freezing- it was the weirdest thing as it would make ice but otter-pops and ice cream would not f...

So my husband and I just finished reading a really neat article in my Family Circle magazine. Its called "8 Money Saving Tips from Finance Bloggers " and one of the sections, "Snowball Your Debt", talks about this guy, J.D. Roth who is at the website www.getrichslowly.org and how he got himself out of credit card debt. What he did was picked one of his cards at a time, the one with the biggest debt and highest interest rate, and he paid off as much of it he could a month and only paid the minimum payments on his other cards. Once he paid off that card he took that difference in payments and started applying it to another card the same way. This way he didn't feel too overwhelmed and had a sense of accomplishment when each became paid off. And it makes it easier to pay off the remaining cards faster because that difference you were spending on multiple cards is now being applied to a smaller amount of cards, so it does like the title says and "snowbal...

Father's Day is this coming Sunday and I am depressed as I cannot afford to get my husband or my father anything nice. I know my husband would really love a garage door opener but that is going to have to wait as we need to pay things off first. And for my dad, I just have no idea of what to get him. I think I am going to have the kids make each of them cards and I can put pictures of them in the cards - I know that would mean a lot to both my dad and husband. Its not something flashy but it is sentimental. Last night I wanted to scream. I was emailing back in forth in regards to a part-time, regular basis babysitting job I can do after work and filling out an online application for a part-time position at the grocery store so I can earn some extra money. I have yet to hear back from Domino's Pizza. And while I am doing this my husband is sitting at the table mapping out on sketch paper and with an ikea catalog our garage and the shelving units and parts he wants to install in ...

Obviously I have a problem with more money currently going out than coming in. I need to get this fixed ASAP. Currently both me and my husband work full time jobs, so we are needing to find some ways to bring in more cash. I have been babysitting in the evenings and on weekends but those opportunities only come a couple of times every couple of weeks, which is not consistant enough to rely on. I can barely afford my sitter as it is, so I am going to have to be creative and come up with something that I can do to earn money with my kids in tow or that I can work around my work hours and my husband's work hours. I am currently cleaning out closets and thinning out the overflow of toys my children have and adding them to the pile of things we no longer need or use for a garage sale. If anyone has anything they would like to donate- let me know! We have cut back on so much already. No cable or satelite but we do pay about $9 a month for Netflix but that is literally our only means of e...

I find myself recently completely overwhelmed and long for the times before I had kids. Please do not get me wrong as I wouldn't trade my life with my children for anything but before we had kids, my financial life was secure. Time line wise though, things have just gotten worse and its been coincidentally since the kiddos arrived -that's all I mean. Before, I could go grab a coffee with my friends at the coffee shop whenever the urge arose or buy that really cute shirt without a second thought. My bills were paid and I had money left over to go out and do things, go on little trips and buy things with out second guessing my account balance and I made less money then than I do now! Now we are scraping by to pay the bills. The cheap coffee at Circle-K is a luxury that I can sneak in only every couple of months. We pay our bills and we make all of our meals at home. Lunches for work are always brought from home. If I don't remember my lunch I better pray I ...

Okay, so I originally set up this blog to post excerpts of my writing, short stories, etc... Not really anticipating to actually blog but I need to vent about something that has been eating at me for a couple of weeks now.... I am one for sharing ideas with other parents if you come across something that is helpful in everyday life, like how some of the Evenflo brand baby bottle nipples fit perfectly on to the Gerber baby juice to-go bottles (which is nice to know when you are out and about) or how I was warned that if a baby or toddler gets mushed banana on a white shirt that the banana can actually make a brown stain.... But I am against parents or anyone for that matter, telling me how to discipline my children. I am totally against child abuse and think that if anyone ever came across a parent taking discipline way too far and crossed that line into abuse, that they should definitely step in and do something. But do not tell me that I need to punish my child for something and how...

We have all heard the cliché “Children say the darndest things” and as parents we simply are forced by everyday life to accept the fact that there is legitimate reasoning for why that stupid saying exists. I am not talking about a child says that they want to be a dinosaur when they grow up as this is something that all kids say at some point, whether it be a dinosaur, a princess, Spider-Man or whatever they are into. I am speaking about the things that, in reality, are supposed to be above a child’s head, things that children do not truly understand the meanings to or are supposed to keep opinionated to themselves. Like when a child blurts out at the store in the middle of a crowded check out line, that ‘the cashier is really fat and that she never wants to get fat like her.’ These are the things the leak out of children’s mouths causing humiliation for naïve intolerance of differences or extreme hilarity due to obscure nature of the comment. Pare...

Vespas. When my husband first told me that he wanted to get a vespa, I had no idea what he was talking about. He continued on, “It would save on gas having to drive to work.” Recently, the store he managed had been shut down by corporate. The problem wasn’t his management but the fact that they opened the store he was managing about a mile or so down the street from the first store the chain had ever built, and with customers so accustomed to going to the first store why would they go to the newer one down the street that offered nothing more than the first. So sales were horrible. The real question though is who’s brilliant idea at corporate was to put two stores so close together and expect sales to be high for both when the customer base was not any larger? So my husband was given a few options, he could take a severance package of about 4 weeks worth of pay, he could commute to another store on the opposite side of town and work as an assistant manager and...

As the clock on my computer (the one on my phone is slower) changed to 4:30 p.m. I quickly turned my computer off and grabbed my things. It was Friday and it was also my and my husband’s birthday. Yes, we have the same birthday. We had plans for the evening. We were going to “Chuckie Cheese.” Yes, you read that right. Two grown adults having pizza at a mouse themed children’s arcade and play-center, I know, pretty pathetic, but our children have been begging for almost 2 months for us to take them, so why not for the special occasion? I must admit, one great thing about being a parent is that you are sociably allowed to do stupid kid things and no one can say anything. Don’t believe me? Go to a Toys-R-Us and watch the parents who do not have kids throwing temper tantrums (that’s one of the bad things about being a parent- tantrums). I bet they are pushing buttons, throwing things, and trying out bikes and hula-hoops with their kids. As we approached the entran...

There are things that parents come to learn once they have children, like fish enjoy reading which is why there are books in the fish tank, that “juice” doesn’t necessarily mean the liquid that is squeezed from fruit and then jarred, but it can also stand for chocolate milk or tea and if you are to misinterpret its intended meaning you will be dealing with a stream of tears and cries of how horrible a parent you are. One thing that is quickly learned once you have children is however, how to tell if the child needs their diaper changed. As parents, we have learned how to determine this through means that make other non-parent individuals stare at us as though we just ate the contents of a diaper. We will lift the child into the air if there is a notion that our child has soiled themselves and sniff the hind end or pull the diaper open enough with our fingers around the leg holes or back of the diaper to see if we can see anything that may be causing the stench that is lurking around ...