Box of Chocolates

I first want to say I am not cheap!  I don't buy the cheapest item just because I want to save money.  I do like finding a good deal on things that are high quality.  I don't like sacrificing quality for price.  I try to never pay full price for anything.   When I say our spending it intentional what I mean is that Mark and I sit down around November and hash out the budget.  Some things are constants in the budget.  Mortgage, phone, insurance pretty much stay the same.  Some vary like gas, water, electric.  After years of budgeting we can average out what we spent the year before and add if needed to the new budget.   Here is what we do know we have to pay something first so they go in the budget first.  Then what is "leftover" is up for dividing.  This is not a fool proof plan. Medical never gets budgeted enough money.  Which is why you should have a savings account.  Every category gets a set amount of money tha...

What I have learned in the past few years I wish I would have known before I got out of high school.  I wish I was smarter about money from the beginning.  Would I have listened?  Probably not.  I do have to say I am very thankful for my mom that although didn't explain to me the way credit works entirely she always said to me, "you don't need a credit card it will only get you in trouble."  That is the fact for 9 out of 10 people in my age group that are in debt. Which apparently are the most in debt group in history. I think when Mark and I got serious about debt we really started to understand what you pay for the convenience.  For too many years I thought of things as the lowest monthly payment.  What is the most we can have for the least amount of monthly expense.  Not thinking about the long term cost.  Let me run some numbers for you.  In 2008 the average house cost $292,600 dollars.  The best rate in 2008 was about 5% so I...

A penny saved is a penny earned, a fool and his money are easily parted, laugh all the way to the bank, money doesn't grow on trees.   I'm sure you see where I am going.  I am kinda nerdy when it comes to money.  I love budgets, saving money, doing without to save, and being debt free.  Let me just say this up front, I am not CHEAP! I am intentional about my spending. Dave Ramsey is kinda my cheerleader.  Although we don't follow his baby steps we are somewhere in the step 6/7.  7 is the last step ~pay off the house.  I haven't even read his book, yet.  I know enough by listening to him and reading articles about money to know we are doing okay.  The stats that Dave Ramsey's staff post on FB are mind boggling.   I am amazed at the debt of this country and saddened all at the same time.  Let me share some statistics.... 27% of Americans have no personal savings and 34% have nothing saved for retirement. – Harris Poll (27% is...

Today Mark and I celebrated our 13 wedding anniversary.  He took the day off to spend with just me.   He took the girls to school and Nathan to Nana's for the day.  He finished a small project at my parents house this morning.  I had a car circle free morning and the house all to my lonesome for a couple of hours.  It was lovely. When he got home this morning we had breakfast alone. Talking about this and that.  I was telling him how much I got done without Nathan here this morning.  Kids create a lot of interruptions. Have you ever really thought about the interruptions in a day a child creates?  I love my kids but they need a lot of attention during a day. Don't get me wrong I don't mind the work my kids create because life without them is unfathomable.  I just realized today that in the hustle and bustle of the day I am interrupted from my mom tasks often. The interruptions are welcome at times. The ones that required me to read me a b...

Lately I have been reading several teacher resource books.  Mostly to get jazzed up to get certified to teach next year. Believe me I need some intrinsic motivation so I started to read about teaching. In my reading I realized that I have my work cut out for me.  I have been busy being mom and not keeping up with the professional me for too long.  I have let some thing slip into an abyss in my brain waiting to be recalled.  One of the skills in the abyss is writing. I have blogged for a few years now.  At first I did a couple of entries a week.  It then turned into trying to blog at least once a week.  Then maybe, just maybe once a month.  I think I demand an audience. What I mean is we all write to be read.  It is sad but true as the blogging fad faded with some of my friends so did my audience. As my audience faded so did my entries. Some of this is not entirely a subject of interest because of my pending search for a job.  I would...