Box of Chocolates

We went 8 1/2 years without a kid getting stitches.  Not bad.  I hope that average gets better with time.  Nathan crashed Sunday in the indoor playroom at church.  He was riding a four wheel push car and he described the accident as, "I was going really fast and tipped over."  He now has four stitches to prove it.  I wanted to post on FB but figured it might be a bit gross.  I had to post it somewhere. He had to go to urgent care and the doctor was great with him.  Recited 10 little monkeys with him to calm him down with a story about his own son jumping on a bed.  The doctor talked him through the whole process before hand and then told him what he was doing as he did it.  Nathan was awesome.  No one had to hold him down.  I have heard so many stories from parents how it took both parents and three nurses to hold them down for stitches.  Okay maybe I went a bit far with three nurses.  Regardless, he was an awesome ...

I am amazed at the impact a dog can have in your life.  Delta was over 13 years old.  We aren't really sure how old she was because when we adopted her in 1998, she was full grown.  Mark and I got her from the Humane Society after Hurricane Georges. They sent a truck of dogs from Mississippi to our local Humane Society.  One reason why we called her Delta.  We paid $35 for her because she weighed more than I think 30 lbs.   I thought it was funny the bigger the dog the less expensive. We had her in our lives for 12 1/2 years.  Needless to say today is different.  She will be missed greatly.  She had bone cancer and yesterday was her last. I learned a lot about my kids yesterday.  I waited until the girls got home from school to tell all of them at once.  All three had a different reaction.  Madison wears her heart on her sleeve and between sobs wanted to know "more information" and then in the very next breath said, "can ou...

Okay so it might be a streach to list the 104 things I learned from not having electric for 104 hours (4 days 8 hours) but here we go...... 1.) Always get gas before a storm that is predicted to be bad. 2.) The first couple of days are the worst. 3.) Do a load of whites when you know a storm is on the horizon. 4.) An 80 gallon water heater will keep lukewarm for about two days. 5.) Empty milk jugs and rubbermaid bins make pretty good water heaters if the sun is out. 6.) A small child only needs 2 gallons to bathe, a woman 3 and a man 4. 7.) Use your iphone sparingly. 8.) Have unused craft projects on hand always. 9.) You will still try to turn on the lights on day 4. 10.) A tent will not keep your kids entertained as long as you would hope. 11.) You can brew coffee without electric (not good coffee but keeps the headache away). 12.) Have a stash of cash. 13.) You can cook eggs on a gas grill in your glass pyrex 13x9 pan. 14.) Buying in bulk can save you or sink ...

EEKS!  I finally decided to read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.  I'm not seeing the end result being one we can achieve unless I go back to work.  Mark and I have worked our way to zero car payments, we have been and continue to be credit card debt free.  We refinanced the house for 15 years and are actually saving money monthly but paying off the house faster. I can dig the step 1, step 2 (because I don't need to do them) Step 3 is taken care of, Step 4 is not what Dave says it should be but we are making contributions to 401k and we have a Roth IRA and saving for retirement.  Step 5 is a thought we have on occasion, saving for the kids college fund.  Step 6 is more appealing than the college fund, paying off the house.  Step 7 is give, give, give which I can totally dig.   After reading the book I am feeling pretty good about our financial state.  Mark and I are NOT normal.  Weird is okay for me in this area.  The st...

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...