Credit Card on Ice

Who? What? Where? When? Why and How??  Yes, I froze my Visa card at the start of 2014 after a frustration at the hard to move balance lingering for years.  We'd pay it down, buy tires, pay it down, emergency this or that...I am so done. So here is my solution...We haven't used it in months, but could thaw it out in case of a real true emergency. Our goal is to pay this down ASAP, and ultimately, NEVER need it again!

What To Do With a Windfall

This post is, of course, assuming you will get a windfall.  Perhaps not a windfall in the thousands of dollars, but I do think all of us get those unexpected "good" money surprises.  The American way is the consumer mentality..."Oh, yay! I have extra money! What can I go buy?"  but our family is still focusing on debt-reduction (due to years of the "Oh, yay! I have extra money!" mentality that put us in an unfavorable debt-to-income ratio)  Surprisingly, we have been working hard at this for over six years, and progress has been made.  But, we have a long road ahead as well.  We have decided to implement this strategy in 2014 and I have been very happy with the results thus far.  This is my creation, as far as I know, so I get to name it!!!! I probably need a catchier name if I really want it to catch on, but in our home, we have been calling it the "thirds".  Every windfall is divided into thirds.  We take 1/3 and pay it as extra towards debt; 1/3 into our savings account to reduce the likelihood of needing to take on more debt in an emergency; and 1/3 we get to use for some wiggle room in our budget (AKA, spend)  I am hoping to revisit this post at the end of 2014 with amazing news of just how much debt was paid off this way, and let me know if you think your family would like to try this too!

March 1st, 2015 Update: This strategy helped us pay off over $6000 in debt in 6 months from May 1st to November 1st, and save over $5000 in our savings account! We plan on picking this up again for 2015 but are in a holding pattern to pay off another debt and replenish our savings account after purchasing a car for cash in February so our teenager could have her own transportation. We also have a senior in high school graduating soon which means we may be waiting until June before we get back to a normal budget.

Home Theater

I love the joy this simple activity brings to my little kids along with the fact I can do it without budging my bank account.  It is Friday night here....LOVELY! Technically it is payday, which should afford a splurge. However, my paycheck was splurged on a large medical bill from delivering my son nearly 4 years ago (with insurance! I have been paying $125/month for YEARS! But it is paid off as of today....) So rather than taking the family out to eat or visiting a movie theater, we made our living room a home theater.  The kids ate corn dogs and fries and picked out a movie from our collection.  A dollar bag of candy and some leftover Valentines helped the fun feel. The lights are off and we are snuggled up. Fabulous Friday without forking over our hard earned pay! I'd love if you would comment below your favorite Friday night family fun on a budget!

Birthdays on a Budget

36 is my new number. Age, that is.  A far cry from the excitement of 10 (double-digits), 12 (traditional pie-in-the-face birthday), 16, 18, 21....but in my kindergarten class, turning 36 rivals them all.  The excitement my kids felt was contagious!  When I put up the February calendar, there was my little birthday photo sitting on Feb. 26 all month long, so there was no escaping it.  Even when I realized at 9:30 p.m. the night before I had promised my kids at school a special treat for my birthday coming in the morning.  (It had been a busy day, with work, workout, dinner, AND a church meeting...I was not sitting on the couch watching TV or anything relaxing like that!) I ran into Target to pick up cupcakes and that could have been the end of this story. Until I saw the $15.99 price tag. According to my husband, we are either poor or cheap depending on which week it is.  This week it was both.  Hmmm...I am sure it wouldn't take long to make some box mix cupcakes, and at only $1.20 a box?! Frosting $1.57. Yes. Sold.  At this point I am feeling victorious, awesome treats for $4 and only an hour or so of my time.  But as the night goes on, time gets late, I realize this is not an hour ordeal, there are dishes to do, and 12:30 a.m. rolls around. I have GOT to get to sleep.   18 kindergarten kids will eat me alive if I arrive to teach tired.  Then, a brilliant idea forms in my mind.  I will and I can go to bed now.  All I have to do bring the frosting, my elaborate sprinkle collection, and plastic knives to school. The kids will frost and sprinkle their own cupcakes.  I wasn't completely committed to the idea, but thought it could be fun. It turned out to be such an amazing time for the kids! They absolutely LOVED it.  I will be following this tradition for the next ???who knows how many until I retire??? years.  Cheap, easy, AND fun.  I call that a little kid, little money, and little time triple threat!  So moms/dads, you know your kiddos want you so badly to send in treats for the class on their special day, but they can really add up, maybe this could work as a good "celebrate birthdays at school on a budget" solution for your family, too.

One of the few things that are NOT little in my life...

Well, looking at the last date of posting, obviously, there is still little time in our family of five.  At work, I moved from teaching 4th grade to kindergarten. I LOVE it, but it has certainly consumed a good chunk of nights and weekends while I organized, learned, and planned.  Our bank account has significantly changed, debt payoff  is priority, yet somehow there is still too little money. Little kids have grown a bit bigger at ages six and three (big kid at seventeen!) but still quite little.  So I still have plenty to say about life with little (time, kids, and money).

However, there is one thing that is NOT little. The number on the scale. Eeek.  I have been trying to reel it in for a while now, and began running about a year ago.  I am down 10 pounds and a dress size, but I need to pick up the pace as time is going to make this battle harder each year.

Possible solution?  T25.  T25 promised gym results, in only 25 minutes a day.  I saw it a few months ago but shook my head when I saw the nearly $200 price tag.  Boo.  Ironic most of us have 25 minutes a day we could dedicate to exercise but not $200 for the pricey program.

Is there another way to get your hands on this?  Buy used, like Craigslist? Borrow from a friend? Show up when your best friend is doing the workout?? All of the above will work.

I managed to get my hands on it without paying retail due to a friend prepping for her honeymoon. Yesterday, I attempted to complete workout number one. Dinner was cooking, kids were calling, and ultimately I made it a T18 quitting 7 minutes early to make sure I didn't need the fire department ( I didn't) but I will assure you, my bottom can feel all 18 minutes.

Today, I did workout number two---all sweet T 25 minutes of it!  I was impressed with the quality of the 25 minute workout!  Who knew there is no need to spend an hour at a gym?? I am planning on going the distance and completing the entire 4 month program. Maybe I will even post my before and after.

So if you are like me and have that one big thing in your life of all these little things, I strongly recommend trying to get your hands on T25---just never feel you have to pay full price. Or take the 25 minutes to move your body the best you can with the time you got.  Remember, taking time for yourself is not selfish, it is a NECESSITY of a sane, happy, and healthy mom who will be putting her kids first the other 23 hours, 35 minutes of the day.

What Time Is It???!!!? It's Time to BLOG!

Who is still here? Who is still interested??? Since I still have a life with little (little time, little kids (6 and 3 now) and little money (still!!??) I might as well still blog on it!

Patience Pays

    Our lives are ridiculously fast-paced in the time of wi-fi internet,smartphones, online banking; it seems many things that require patience are antiquated or nearly obsolete.  A younger neighbor of mine actually laughed that I still had (and used) paper checks. And my lack of commitment to my extremely inexpensive pre-paid cell phone is practically unheard of, prompting many strange looks.  Sometimes it feels like I am living in the wrong time period.
    But patience is a virtue and it can truly pay off!  My son's 3rd birthday is nearly here.  I have known for some time the gift of choice would be the LeapPad2, after suffering through many arguments between my two youngest children over the Explorer my daughter currently has.  For weeks, I have been browsing the web, just waiting for the time to strike.  Yesterday, it finally happened.
     Toys R Us had a fabulous coupon for $25/$100, so I thought $75 for the $100 toy = PERFECTION.  However, when I began the checkout process, I realized the price wasn't budging.  Reading the tiny, little print; I learned the reason why "excluding learning system".  Grrr.  So I pressed on through the website and quickly after found this:  http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13343517
    The LeapFrog LeapPad2 Explorer Crayola Creativity Bundle for $130.  For about $30 more than the price of the toy I knew he wanted, I was able to add on the green gel protection skin ($10 value), Crayola Art Adventure game ($25 value), Crayola removable sticker skins you color your own (small value), set of Crayola Pipsqueak markers ($4 value) as wells as 5 free apps (which normally come with Leap Pad, but this promotion includes one of his choice--so I am not sure is this really increases the value of the package or not).  The box "claims" it's a $190 value...That seems a bit steep.  But for us, this seemed like a great opportunity to get his birthday gift with a few free perks included.
    However, as much as I love the toy, of course, I will keep the receipt JUST IN CASE a better deal comes around before birthday time!!!
 
  The next time you have a purchase that can wait, try to have a bit more patience. Make yourself look at a few websites or stores before you pull the trigger.  You may be very happy that you did and your bank account may be a little less little, too.