Budget...Why Do We Think That Is A Four Letter Word?!?

My husband was able to attend a christian financial planning seminar, I had hoped to go, but we ended up having a small son sick with allergies and fever... I was so looking forward to the session.

"Conquering Debt God's Way" by Bruce Hammons
http://www.conqueringdebt.com/

His web site is pretty good, but I got to tell you that his booklet is powerful.

My DH and I both committed to his 'Declaration of War On Debt'

We, the undersigned, choose this day to declare war on debt by making a
solemn vow to God, regarding our future financial direction.

We do not take this lightly. We understand that, "It is better
that you should not vow than that you should vow an not pay." (Ecclesiastes 5:5)
Yet, we choose to make the following vow in order to formally and publicly
declare war on debt. From this day forward, we resolve to:

• No longer accept just getting by from paycheck to paycheck
• Make rapid debt elimination our primary financial objective.
• Commit ourselves without reservation to CONQUERING DEBT GOD'S WAY.
  We will apply every step of action that pertains to our circumstances with
  complete follow through.
• Attack debt with a passion.

We believe that God may choose to miraculously cancel our
debts. However, we also realize that it took time to get into debt and it
will most likely take time to get out of debt. Whether by miracle or by
"dogged determination," we will be debt free!

Signature _________________and ______________Date_________

We completed this commitment on November 12, 2007

Staying at Home and Loving It!!!

I'll be the first to admit, this is not always true...

I miss:
abdundant income
interaction with professional peers
professional challenges

I am learning to:
live within a budget
deny instant gratification of my wants and desires
cook more from scratch
look for bargains
pray more
be happier with simpler pleasures
realize that God is my holy spirit (counselor and corrector) and not other's opinions of what I should or shouldn't do
say "no" more...

I wouldn't trade:
my extra time with my family everyday
seeing my son and husband off to school
being there when they come home from school and work
having the house smell of fresh cooked bread/home cooked meal, etc
having a new little one in our family
learning to look for the little blessings received everyday
being less stressed
the abundant way that God has provided for our financial needs and the suprises that he has provided in increasing our income
feeling like I do have my priorities straight

What are my priorities:
relationship with God
relationship with my husband
relationship with my children
relationship with my family
relationship with my friends
learning to let go and trust

I guess that sums up that I tend to be a control freak...so I am learning to let go and trust God

Band Camp 2008 and the summer hecticness continues....(is that a word?!?)

Our middle DS has been attending band camp this week. This is his second year in attendance and he commutes everyday, so it puts a strain and a drain on our time and gas budget, but it is well worth it. His dad has been a huge trooper and has willingly been doing the commute daily... They leave the house at 7:30am and arrive back at 6:30pm. Yesterday was a longer day and they didn't get back home until 9:30pm.

But our son loves it!!! He is thrilled by the challenge of playing his saxophone and learns so much. He was thrilled to be selected for performing in the High School concert band and feels that he achieved a good position because he is competing against kids who have had private tutors for several years and attend 4A and 5A schools. There are 5 bands that they try out for, 1st Honors, 2nd Symphonic, 3rd Concert, 4th Burgundy, 5th White.

So my son and husband have been getting in some good bonding time together. My husband is a really big trooper because he has predominately been spending his vacation time, just being a driver for our family. Next week he will going out of town on one day for a trip to UTPB to meet with his professors in Odessa, plus one more week of band camp, I don't see how he does it?!? My DH says he is honored to be our son's chaperon and participate and contribute to something that our son loves so much....gotta love him....

The featured guest performer at the band camp this year is a world renowned saxophone player, so our son says he is being very humbled by how much more there is to accomplish in his playing...

We are determined to try once again to find a private tutor for our son. We need to find someone who he can see on a regular basis and who will challenge our son to expand his skills. Our son wants the challenge. He has missed getting placed in state band for the past two years even though he has advanced to Area both years and it is a personal goal of his to achieve state band. It is our understanding that a private instructor will make the difference in his playing level and reaching to new heights in his skills. We have been frustrated with our inability to line anyone up thus far, even after pleading with his band directors, other local band directors and the head band director at WTAMU (who is an accomplished sax player himself). But I am challenged and he wants it, so I will be on a quest...

More B-Day Photos

Couldn't get him to put on a party cap....no, no way...!!!

Hmmm, do you think we bought this for the right person?

Yes, more than 2 candles on the cake, he loves to blow out candles, so we indulged his desires...excessively....isn't that what good parenting is all about?!?
Ready for lots of playing in the backyard, now on to Fort Apricot....(will have to write more about that at a later time....)
Yes, he became very focused on his new Dr. Seuss book from his bigger bro, couln't get him to put it down, so we proceeded anyway...

Big brother time...

Littlest DS and his bigger brother bonding with the birds, little one loves to park his chairs in front of the bird cages and sit and talk with them. We have a cockatiel and a parakeet, now that the baby gates are down (after this photo was taken) he spends quite abit of time nearby. I guess he has been pining to get closer to them and has been as close as the baby gates would allow previously.

Big bro and little one settled in for an afternoon of Lilo and Stitch ...(a new favorite), but we all tolerate seeing it well, at least we haven't seen this movie a hundred times through the years.

Big bro modeling the newest birthday items.

Ta da....drum roll please!!!

And the moment, that so many have been waiting for....

Don't take it too hard, he tolerated it pretty well for a little guy.

Guess, I cut David's a little too short this time also...twinkies....

Two, Two, Two....

We have had a wonderful celebration with Elmo and Sesame Street. Our littlest DS turned two!!!
This was a major day in his life, we took down the baby gates, got rid of the diaper bag and cut his hair for the very first time....Wow overwhelming even for me!

He will now be responsible for carrying his personal items and a few toys in his Thomas backpack!!! He was a champ at strapping it on for church and wore it proudly into the nursery! My littlest is sure growing up awful fast.

His favorite meal, meatloaf and broccoli!!! It was either that or salmon patties and brown rice. Strange tastes for a little one, but hey, the kid eats dirt and loves it....
It was love from first sight!!! He found his truck in our bedroom the night before his birthday celebration, he even tried to get the truck into bed with him when he laid down for the night!!! A boy and his dump truck.

The next major milestone, is getting rid of the bottle, he only drinks his milk from a bottle and he loves to drink milk and I have not been able to change that at the moment, it truly is a test of wills and his is winning at the moment. But I took care of a little girl yesterday who is 15 months and has not had a bottle since she turned one, my DH asked if Michael was embarassed and to tell you the truth, the little girl about did a body slam on Michael to get his bottle from him so she could drink from it...

Couponing Exposed!!!

Okay, you have been warned!!! This is a look into my most private stash....It is a little embarassing...Only really close and personal family members have previously been invited to see this...


Yes, that is right it is all contained in a 3" zippered binder, expanded to the limit....


Can you say excessive and exhaustive...

Can you say, this woman definitely has issues?!? Categorized perfectly....

My massive haul of 10 flyers with the amazingly coveted Farmland meat coupons....my family will definitely be tired of pork products by Fall....

Realistically, it is helpful, but to coupon to this level, takes quite abit of your time. Clipping, organizing and staying on top of things. Currently, I could probably spend about 8 hours clipping and organizing. I am way behind on getting organized....

The truth is in the matter. I have taken our grocery bill/home items from over $400 per month in March down to just $140 for the month of July, and that was accomplished only through the use of coupons, smarter shopping and stockpiling.

I am frustrated with my couponing...

I promised I wouldn't display all of my anger and frustration on my blog, to those in the know....

I had some very bad couponing experiences lately (CVS in OKC) and was feeling awful bummed out. But I also have had some really good experiences with couponing (Walgreens in OKC) so I guess it should all even out, right...

I found that I was becoming very obsessive with my couponing, (I tend to do that with new projects...) and I don't want to throw in the towel, so I am trying to seek some moderation with my savings.

I am working to limit my blog reading to the sites that I have found to summarize and highlight savings and I am deleting the others. I have also decided to limit my daily contests submissions to only one and then maybe none (unless they are for a new car that I like). I have also decided not to fill out every survey that comes my way, I was earning only cents on each survey and my time and patience is more valuable than that.

I am trying to become more skillful in my Walgreens couponing and store shopping, so that I don't feel so dependent on CVS for carrying my budget through for the year. I am also working to limit my coupons to those that I am interested in buying and not just everyone that comes my way. When you are trying to plan and work out 11 transactions at CVS, it takes an enormous amount of time and my family was not receiving top priority on my list of todo's....

So while I will still be developing my skills in stockpiling and maxing out my savings and shopping potential, I will not be approaching it with my typical (go for the throat, no holds barred attitude). I was taking it personally if I was not getting all that I could...get....

So a little time needs to be taken to step back and take a deep breath...

New Opportunities for Increasing Income

Just to updates matters, I got the job!!!! So I will be working to develop 3 or 4 menus to rotate for their meetings, I am thrilled, they loved my fried chicken (it did end up being very, very good, almost as good as my grandma's just not as fresh as hers ((of course she would buthcer her's that morning)), it scared me to death to make it from scratch, but I feel more confident for the future). I think the next menu selection will center around lasagna....

My husband and I enjoy the fact that I am able to stay at home full-time and feel it is significant benefit to our family and myself, so that is a priority.

We have been very blessed that I was presented with the opportunity to pick up a part-time job of cleaning our church a couple of years ago. It has been a blessing, because I am able to get the work done in the evenings after my little one has gone to sleep. The job has also been of benefit to our teenage son, because he has helped me, gets paid half of my fees and is able to save most of the money. His bank account has grown to be pretty significant and we have all learned that he is tight and doesn't like to spend his money (doesn't take after either of his parents...)

We are being presented with another opportunity for me to earn some additional income for our family. The local Lions' club has been frustrated with the inability to secure a steady meal provider for their club... and I guess my husband was bragging on my culinary abilities, so now I will be seeing about starting to cook for the local Lions' Club organization for their luncheon meeting twice a month. It is an opportunity to pick up an additional $100 per month which would take care of our grocery budget.

In reality, my husband and I have been discussing the need for our toddler boy to have opportunities for more socializing. He loves people!!! Just loves being around other kids and people, so there is a need for more playtime with other kids besides the opportunities that he receives at church. So I will cook my first meal for the Lions' tomorrow and if they like it and we can agree on about 3 or 4 meal plans, than I will be in business. I will then call a local mom who does in-home daycare and see how many days I can get for $100 per month. I am hoping that it will allow me to obtain 1 day per week, we'll see.

My DH feels that I and our little boy will be much happier campers to have a weekly break from our home routine and I think he might be right. That would allow me an opportunity for getting my major couponing or shopping, errand running, etc. done without having to worry about being so panicked, overwhelmed and frustrated with trying to get it done when my toddler boy would prefer to be at home swinging from trees and eating dirt.

So wish me luck in being able to win over the tummies of the Lions.