Snowball Day!

I got paid last night from my job so we got to make our debt snowball payment today!!! Yeah!! After a month of really pinching pennies we paid one credit card off, (will close next week) and made such a substantial payment to another we will pay it off next month!!!

When Kelly and I met we had six cards between the two of us. After we went to a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace (almost a year ago) we quit using them and in March we will have ONE! Because we pay our debts smallest to largest we won't get to that last one for a little bit but the progress we are making is awesome.

We will adjust the budget next moth looking at all of our categories and readjusting, every month with the budget is a learning experience!!!

Daryl has a new game. The kids at the daycare have been turning over the toy bins and making a game out of it. The sitters tell us they just laugh and laugh and take turns turning them over. So at home he now turns over anything he is taller than. We have a hard time getting mad about it because it cracks him up so much!! The house looks like a tornado has hit it but it doesn't take much time after he goes to bed to put it back together. If only we could be so easily amused!! :)

Family Time

Had a great family dinner yesterday! Good food and good conversation hit the spot to a so so week. Not that we had a bad week we just didn't have a chance to do anything or get anything done. I think that always tends to happen after you've had a holiday.

Anyway back to the great family dinner. D got to see all of his cousins and at first he did not like the crowd. Then he was a little miffed that his grandma was holding another baby. He soon got over it and realized there were plenty of adults there to pay attention to him. He likes to be the star of the show and I think soon that will come back to get us.

But one party hat and a few sips of pop later and he was back to his silly self. And hopefully next time we get to play with Baby Dominic D will be a little nicer!! We shall hope!!

Reality Check

This blog is keeping me honest about my new habit of not buying things I don't need. But I need to repost the numbers because some money has been spent from the last time I posted.

Blow Budget $50

Spent $22

I wasn't planning on spending any of our blow this month but a friend needed a bus pass. To me and kel that no longer fell into the category of frivolous purchase. We bought it with cash and it felt good.

Restaurant Budget $150.00

spent $47.03

I'm happy with this number. Most of the time we go over on this category so being $100 bucks under is good. If we don't spend another dime in this category we will have a nice chunk to throw on the debt snow ball.

Clothes Budget $50.00

Spent $0.00 YEAH!!!!! Lets keep this one zero shall we?

Gas Budget $250.00

Spent $111.52 Again I'm happy with this number. We keep our gas budget so high in case we decide to go west at any time. Don't think that will happen this month so we will just put the extra on the debt snow ball.

Groceries Budget $400.00

Spent $298.16 This whole category will most likely be spent. In fact we need to slow down a bit to get thru our last two weeks. Going over is not an option this month!!! Even if it means grilled cheese and PB&Js!

I'm not going to lie. This month has been tough. But next month we are going to loosen up a little bit and actually spend our categories of our budget. But before the month begins all the categories (besides groceries) will be getting reduced. Because now we know we can. The ultimate goal is I would like to be debt free and as soon as possible! Kelly in on board with that game plan. We still plan to live while we do this, but we shall live on cash and we will always think twice. I'll let everyone know how big our debt snow ball got this month. I'm super geeked about it!

For MLK day we spent the day in Holton with Grandma and Poppa Meerpohl! Momma Meerpohl opened up her beauty salon (kitchen) and did three haircuts and a color! Talk about a life saver she saved us about $90 right there. And we love her for it!

Daryl was struggling a little bit not to have temper tantrums but kel and I are slowly realizing that this is a phase of life he is in and it doesn't mean we are doing anything wrong.

But if anyone has tips for us on how to defuse a meltdown all suggestions will be considered!! :)

Being Pushed Is Not Cool

I made it half way thru the month sticking to my strict no spending budget. We are doing great and we are now on the downhill side!
I had today off of work so this afternoon we took D for a walk around the mall. He loves people watching and we were having a good time. We stopped at the little play area they have for all the kids. D really likes it because they have a slide he can climb up himself and slide down. Really makes him happy.
Kel and I were watching from the side and all the little ones (under two) were taking turns and having giggles. Then a bunch of other kids (unsupervised) barreled in to the slide. It was Daryl's turn to go up the steps and an older boy leaped over him and pushed him down the steps!
Daryl was not hurt but shocked. He started to cry and Kelly told the other boy (told/yelled) not to push. I picked D up and gave him a hug. Got him back on the steps and he slid back again. He was soon over the whole thing.
I wish I could have gotten over it that fast. This may have happened many times at daycare but it was the first time I saw my little guy's feelings hurt. I was sad for him and angry at the little kid who didn't have anyone watching him. I know things like this will happen from time to time but it stinks, and for the record I wish my little guy would never get hurt.
On a happier note his cold is getting better. And he is doing his breathing treatments with no fuss now. It has been five days and he needs to do them for a week so we are almost done with those. Yeah!!

Resolutions kept 12 days in!

I think this is the longest I have kept a resolution! Maybe its because it has nothing to do with losing weight! LOL
12 days into the month I have not bought a yard of yarn, no clothes, and we have not eaten out once (w/o a gift card)! We are cooking with gas (figuratively b/c we have an electric stove)!
Its great how it works out when I'm tired and ready to go out to eat Kelly is strong and says he will cook and when he is ready to eat out for lunch I'm the one who is supporting him.
I am making a list of things that I want to buy as the month goes on, not to actually buy those things in Feb. but to see how I probably won't need any of them in the end.
I'm trying to retrain myself from always thinking I have to get that right now. If I wait and think about it I just might decide I don't need it after all!
I'm knitting on a scarf right now for a couple of reasons. One when it was really cold I wished I had a pretty scarf. I have some regular store bought scarves but I know I can make better. Secondly they take a LONG TIME to knit. And that is what I need so I don't skip from project to project buying more yarn.
This scarf is Cora and it has really big cables knit into it that make it kinda bunchy. I like it!
Daryl is having a rough day. He woke up not feeling good so we went to the doctor. He has some junk in his chest and is not sleeping good because he is coughing at night.
He got some medicine so we can do some breathing treatments. We had to do them last year so hopefully he will be feeling better soon. No one likes a sick cranky D around the house. We like Happy D!

Boredom is thy enemy!!

People have triggers that make them practice their bad habits. Some smokers have to smoke if they are drinking. Some people on a diet can't resist over eating at a restaurant. Well for a spender like me having nothing to do makes me want to go shop, or even worse shop online!

So I'm compiling things I can do while Daryl is napping or when we are home alone. Cleaning is a logical option. After all I don't think I've ever cleaned so much there is nothing left to do! LOL

But I'm more likely to knit. I've started a lot of new projects this month to keep me inside and interested! So I am going to knit myself thru this month (and clean a little)! Can't wait till tomorrow then I will be 1/3 of the way thru January!!

Here is the current stats:

Eating out Budget:

150.00 We've only spent 17.81

Gas Budget:

250.00 We've only spent 40.00

Grocery Budget:

400.00 We've only spent 149.83 (We'll probably use the whole amount this month b/c we are trying not to eat out)

Blow (Usually Spent on Yarn):

50.00 We've spent NOTHING!!

All of the leftover in every category we will add to the debt snowball payment on the last day of the month!! I'm hoping for a lot leftover!!

For the fans here are now some cute pictures of Daryl!! LOL

So far So good

It is the sixth of the month and my little spend no money experiment is working. I have been taking my coffee cup everywhere with me and D and I spent our two days together at the house. With the cold weather I thought about taking him to the mall to cruise in the stroller and then I realized that would be too tempting to spend!

So we limited ourselves to the library and then one errand run to the grocery store. I pondered for a long time if buying donuts at the grocery store was cheating but then I went ahead and got the day old kind and told Kel they were only for breakfast.

I've already packed my lunch today for work so I don't have to be tempted by a lunch run. I also packed my water bottle and made sure I don't have any change for the pop machine.

Wish me luck!

Daryl is modeling his new shirt from Grandma Korf. His step stool from Grandma Meerpohl is in the background. He has been carrying it from room to room with him all week. He can't be without his stool! What a ham!

New Year New Habits

I finally got Kelly a knitted gift he will actually use. I made him a hat with this lovely Noro yarn and it turned out really great. It was the first time I used Noro and now I see why everyone loves it! The stripes are beautiful.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to stop mindless spending. I tend to shop without thinking and it can really kill the monthly budget Kel works so hard to keep straight. I've done a lot better since we got married but I want to try a little experiment this month.

Kelly and I are keeping track to see how much extra money we will have at the end of the month if I keep my money in my wallet. We do the debt snowball ala Dave Ramsey and I want to see how big our debt snowball can get without me spending it all!!

I have promised Kel that this month I will not spend any money without consulting him and the budget first. I will also not eat out on my way to work or stop for my frequent coffees.

Four days in and so far so good. I've been taking my coffee travel mug with me everywhere so I don't have to buy any. I also told all my coworkers at JoAnn to not let me get anything. They are all doubting my self restraint but that is ok. As a former supervisor once said about me "Just tell Candi it can't be done then get the he** out of her way!"

I'll keep you all updated on my one month experiment!