Category Archives: Budgeting

5 Ways We Are Preparing for Unemployment

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  1.  We decided to sell your Toyota Minivan.  We were planning to keep it as an extra vehicle and  to use for trips with my Mom.  After much discussion and given the fact that unemployment will be less than half of Matt’s normal salary. We decided to go ahead and sell.  We got an online offer from CarMax and made an appointment. We spent a total of 1 hour for the entire process in the store and walked out the door with a check for $10,600.
  2. Paid off every little last debit, we could find or knew about for the next six months. This included things like garbage bill, taxes, tags and inspections as well as a couple of small medical bills. We also went ahead and paid all of the credit card balances to zero. I have been using some of the no interest promos combining with paying off the amounts as they come due.  I felt like by going ahead and paying everything to zero, it would be easier to start and use a cash only system. We will continue to use our Sheetz card for gas as it reduces the cost by 8 cent a gallon. We have a set amount of $500 to pay each month on this.
  3. Finished purchasing Christmas presents. I actually already had 3/4 of it completed but this was the push I needed to finish.
  4. Took inventory and completely stocked up on groceries. We added items for appetizers and things we might only use for the Super Bowl as well to this list.  I need to make a Dollar Tree run for body wash. We will still need to purchase bread, diary and vegetable items.  My goal is to reduce the grocery budget to $300 a month which is half of what we currently are spending.  In reality, I may be able to reduce it down to $200 a month after November.
  5. Established an emergency fund. This is placed in a money market account which is still easy to access but separate from our normal savings accounts.

Thankful Thursday

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I so enjoy the month of November. It is uplifting and inspiring to hear and express gratitude.   I have tried and failed in the past with posting a thought each day of thankfulness both on line and on the blog. This year, I am going to keep it simple.  Of course I am very thankful for my family and friends.  I am thankful to see and spend time with my Mom on a regular basis.   I really enjoy modern conveniences such as central air and heat.   But this year, my goal is to post a thankful thought each Thursday of the month. And it can not be the simple things already listed above!

Today, I am thankful for the financial blessing that we have received and enjoyed over the past year. They have help us pay of debit expand our lifestyle a bit and find ways to spend quality time together. But today, I am thankful for these financial blessing because they have allowed us to face and work around an expected job loss with minimal changes to our lifestyle.

Matt’s last day of employment will be next Friday November 12th. The current plan is for him to start tackling a long list of task and repairs that need to be completed.  He will also be looking for another job but he is not forced to accept anything and we fully anticipate his unemployment to last around a year.  But of course our prayer is that God will direct our paths and present a job either today or a year from now that will be the perfect fit.

Tuesday Thoughts

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  • Lily was rear ended on Friday while driving her car, unfortunately the person who hit her did not have license, insurance or a tag.  She is very shaken up and we are now trying to figure out what and how to fix her car.  She loves the car and wants it to be perfect. So this will be a huge balancing act.
  • I have declared November to be a no spending month.  I have even gone so far as to tell both Matt and myself that we do not need anything from Amazon!   I have gotten into a bad habit of eating breakfast out 2 to 3 times a week, in addition to my 2 or 3 days of lunch out.  I am definitely cutting back this month. We have been gifted 3 to 4 dozen eggs so it is much easier to find a different way to eat an egg for breakfast every day this week.
  • We have given in and turned on the heat on October 28th was the official date.  We should experience out first freeze this coming week.  The temperature today was a cool high of 59.  I am not ready for winter in fact, I would love to move to a spot with summer all year long!
  • The kids all did awesome during the first grading period of the year. Lily has all A/s even in her college classes. Kendall has all A’s and Zach has all A’s and B’s.
  • The past several weekend have been spent relocating the garden beds in order to expand the driveway.  Hopefully during the next 2 weeks we will be able to start some seeds in the green house.
  • We have harvested our sweet potatoes. This year was a very small harvest of sweet potatoes but small is better than no harvest at all.
  • Tonight for dinner, I took out our entire green bean harvest for the year, and it was all eaten. Again one family serving is better than no servings.

Sunday Catch-up

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October has historically been one of the two busiest months of the year for us.  This year has been no different. I did make the decision last June that we would not continue piano lessons after the summer.  This has freed up one evening a week but I honestly miss hearing the kids practice. Hopefully maybe even next summer they will be interested in resuming but time will tell.  I am the only one who is missing it. The kids all had a teacher work day last week so they feel like they have gotten caught up on sleep which is great for them.

Zach has been playing baseball. Last week due to rain we had three games Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Each game started around 7:30 which gave us time to eat as a family but most night we got home around 9:45pm.  This week we have games only on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Lily chose not to participate in the Youth Theater but she is going to youth group on Sundays and also helping with the nursery on Wednesday night. She has complete her first 9 weeks of both high school and college.  I know she has been spending alot more time on school work than in the past . I am also very proud and excited to say that currently she has a 4.0 average!

We continue to sneak in an hour or so each Saturday to work on the green house. I am disappointed in how long it is taking to actually get plants started in there but once we get everything working properly it should be well worth the trouble.

Last weekend we purchased a travel trailer/ camper. We have spent several hours getting it all cleaned up and also trying to get it set up the way we want. Currently we are expecting to take ownership of the Tahoe toward the end of the month. We are starting to plan a couple of small trips to make sure we have everything we need. First we plan a 3 day trip to Asheville to visit the Biltmore house right before Christmas.  In January we hare headed to Myrtle Beach to shop and go to a show. This will be a longer 4 day trip as well as a longer drive pulling the camper as well.

I have been working in Guam several nights a week. My goal is to reduce my hours again to around 7 hours a week and a maximum of 2 nights.  I actually have only 1 night this week but it is a VERY long night!

Hopefully more updates and picture will be posted this week!   I am looking forward to slowing down and having more time at home in the next several weeks.

Spending Our Inhertiance

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It was a very sad day in January when we learned that Matt’s father had passed away. The week that followed which included a trip to Florida was honestly probably one of the hardest weeks we have ever faced. We left all the kids here and it was a struggle as none of us are used to being separated that long or being that responsible for that long.

We are very fortunate that Matt’s dad had done lots of planning for not only his retirement but for his children’s and grandchildren’s future as well. He left all three kids with a small college fund that continues to grow each year. In addition to that we will receive 3 payments over the next year.  We received our first check in August and should receive a second check this month.

I have been really hesitant to share about this as it is a very private and sensitive matter but it also has some financial benefit and changes for us as a family.  I am going to share how we are planning to share the money without the exact amounts.

The first 10% of these check will be given to charity. We have chosen to make the donations to Envision Atlanta. This is the organization that we have volunteered as a family with and also one that we feel is doing the most to further the Kingdom.

Next we decided that we should make a couple of adult choices: paying off debt and medical bills. As part of this we paid off the car we purchased in November.

Last but not least for this round of checks fun! We  purchased a camper to use as a family. We ended up buying 2018 Grey Wolf camper home.  We have spent the afternoon cleaning and re-arrange items inside. And in turn “If you give a mouse a cookie” fashion.. we needed a place to park the camper so a driveway extension is already scheduled and we needed something to pull the camper so we are in the process of buying a new Tahoe.

Hopefully I can share some of our adventures soon!

5 Things Friday

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  1. We have been slowly working on the greenhouse since we got the plastic roof on!  Today we have finished the watering path. We ended up purchasing a pump to place in a old trash can that will be used as a rain barrel.  I wanted to have 4 separate watering zones. One is specific for the shelf that will hold tomato plants in the spring.  Matt needs to construct the platform for the final zone. He has plans to add electricity to the greenhouse tomorrow!
  2. I am struggling with work life balance yet again. I ended up working 30 hours in Guam after decreasing my caseload to 4 schools approximately 20 students.  I am going to have to learn to say no and stick to it!   October should be slightly less around 20 hours is where I want to end up.
  3. The girls and I are headed to Durham tomorrow to go wedding dress shopping. Haley has already started her count down.
  4. Food prices are on the rise!  I am working very diligently to keep us on budget. I do have plans to stock up on a  diet coke sale this weekend but the goal for October is the keep the budget under $300.
  5. We have final turned off the air. We are still having days in the low 80’s but between working and baseball games, we have managed to survive a full 2 weeks without air conditioning. I would love to go the entire month of October without heat or air but I seriously doubt that is possible!  My current goal is October 20th!

Meal for under $5

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I wanted to share a meal that cost us a total of $4.75 plus tax and made 7 meals. All five of us ate dinner. Kendall does not like meat so we placed her brat and some left-over corn in a lunch container. I added some pepperoni from the fridge and a tomato to the remaining pasta salad for my lunch tomorrow.

Brats, these were found on sale for $2.75 for a pack of 5. Each time I stop at the grocery store to grab milk or veggies, I always walk down the meat section just to see if I can find anything reduced.  I think these were purchased last April or May. They were in the freezer until yesterday.

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Suddenly Salad- I usually stock up on these when I find them priced at $1 each.  We often make 2 boxes for a meal or use for our lunches.  I still have around 8 boxes in my pantry for future use. Kendall  made this while I went to the store for produce.

 

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Corn on the cob!  I have been watching prices this summer in hopes of stocking up on these but since this is the cheapest I have found all year and the freezer is full. Guess we can enjoy now! We placed these in the shucks on the grill and man did everyone enjoy!

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Saving on Saturday- Upcycling a Playhouse

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The project for this weekend is to upcycle the old playhouse into a greenhouse.  The playhouse is at least 30 years old if not older. The kids are all to big for it.  It is very small inside so I wanted to make the most use of space available.

Before pictures….

The inside..

First thing was to remove the roof….

Stage One complete…

Next we added planters and shelves to the inside…

A shelf for new plants and for storage was also needed…

Finally we added plastic to cover the top..

We have spent $0 at this point on the green house. The plastic and wood to secure the plastic were purchased with swagbucks gift cards that we earned. Matt and I decided that we we go ahead and purchase a watering system to use. We already have the rain barrel and by using rain water only we will basically save the cost of the system within a couple of year!

Can you tell how excited I am?

5 Things Friday

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  1. Today starts our last full week of summer break. Next week will be filled with last minute appointments and some extra fun if we can arrange it.  Braxton will also be with us for the entire week.  Today is a pool day so we plan to spend most of the day at the pool.
  2. I had a huge food waste fail this week- We had an entire watermelon that had not been cut go back and spilled on the floor. I have definitely become a little bit more aware of our food following the clean up.  I did manage to make half a squash casserole with the remaining squash.  I am also beginning to use dill and basil that has been previously frozen in dishes.  I had forgotten about these treasures until we attempted to organize the freezer. Since I was unable to grow either this year, I am thankful to find them.  I did cook our first official meal this summer that include several items.
  3. Tomatoes are continuing to produce.  I had hoped for much more but I do realize that this summer has not been the best for tomato growing.  We have been able to freeze enough spaghetti sauce for the year in addition to eating several times. I should be able to continue to make a batch a week which means at least 4# of tomatoes.
  4. I talked with the neighbor and will start using goat manure to improve the dirt in my square foot garden. I am hoping that with this and more worm casting next year it will support and grow a garden full.
  5. We received our school supply list. I am excited that we need only to purchase a couple of notebooks and clear water bottles. I have been trying to stock up on items as they have been on sale. I anticipate less than $50 for all supplies for all 3 kids!

July in Review

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July the official shortest month of the year is now gone!  We spent a week at the beach and last week was probably the single busiest week of the summer with orthodontist appointments, appointments for mom and VBS every evening!  We start back to school in August so I am hopefully to enjoy some less busy weeks before school!

Groceries– budget amount is $650.   We spent a total of $693.49 I have completed my stock up. My goal is to only buy perishable items such as milk, bread, fruits and eggs until December.

Auto/ Gas / Insurance: . My goal is  $400 a month. $414.40. Gas prices are rising! This also includes our beach trip!

Cash Envelope system-  I am going to say No to this.  It is hard to use cash on vacation. Hopefully we will be back on track in August

Goal #4- Blogging- 15 post per month.  This is post number 9. Did I mention that last week was the busiest week of the summer.

Goal # 5- Fitness– Goal is to exercise of some type at least 10 days a month.  At least there is improvement this month. I managed 6 days of 30 minutes of exercise this month!

Goal #6 – Bible study- Goal-  Read or Listen to the entire Bible in a year. I have finished the bible podcast. On hold until school starts.

Earnings– Zero

No Spend Days-Zero. We are enjoying the summer with extra ice cream and other fun!

August should be interesting to say the least!