Financial Goals Update

I thought I'd do a little update on the financial goals that I have been working on. In my opinion we are doing pretty well,,, we still have a long way to go though. But when I look at what we have accomplished so far it feels good. I would love to say we have did this by saving and scrimping but Ben has been working quite a bit of overtime lately so I have been putting all the extra money he's making towards these bills. Honestly,, we don't really have much wiggle room in our budget without overtime, so its almost impossible to pay extra on things without the overtime. So I've been taking advantage of it while I can!

-Pay off Ben's truck--DONE

-Save enough to buy Ben a new to us vehicle with cash--DONE

-1,000 emergency fund--DONE--this one is hard for me because if we are running short until next payday I keep borrowing from this money, then I have to replace it,,, I need to stop that!

-Pay off Dr. bill #1--DONE

Pay off Dr. bill #2--DONE

Pay off Dr. bill #3--

Credit Card #1--PAID OFF

Credit Card #2--PAID OFF

Credit Card #3--PAID OFF

Credit Card #4--

Credit Card #5--

Pay off Durango--

Pay off House--

So there you have it. The process is going to slow just a little because I have decided that we need to start saving money for our trip to Florida this coming December and we will have to book our resort ahead of time and I want to pay cash for the entire trip. The problem is I have no idea how much this trip is going to cost us, I'm sure it wont be cheap though, because were going to Disney! I know it isn't the smartest thing to go on a big vacation when there is still debt to be paid off, but we rarely go anywhere. My kids deserve this and I want to do it before they get to old to enjoy the magic that is Disney! :) We are already so excited!

Paying off these bills has not been easy at all. Its caused many fights in my household, and also seeing others do things and buy things makes you want to do it to,, but what good is it when you have debt hanging over your head. One day we will be free of it all and life will be very GOOD!
Like Dave Ramsey says....Live like no one else NOW so LATER you can live like no one else .

I'm a dreamer

The rain is coming :( We've been really enjoying being outside the last few days but I guess its gonna be pretty wet around her for a couple days. Emma just loves to be outside and swing,, play in the sand, blow bubbles! All that fun stuff, I enjoy it to, I don't feel stuck in my to small house. I've been feeling the squeeze a lot lately. I'm sure its because I've been looking online at local houses for sale. I found one that's out in the country, same school district that we are in now, and its like 2500 sq ft! It also has a finished basement, 5 bedrooms, 2 baths! I can only imagine how wonderful that would be. The price is reasonable, but still a tad bit more than I think we can afford right now. I just don't think it would be smart to move until all of our finances are where we want them to be, so that means another couple of years in our under 1100sq ft home. Its really not that bad I guess,, some people live in little shacks with dirt floors. (see this is what I remind myself when I start to get down,,,,it could be a whole lot worse!)
But it never hurts to dream! Keeps my eye on the prise, so to speak.

Life is just so darn expensive! Its so aggravating!!! But I have 3 great, healthy children, a wonderful husband who puts up with so much crap at work just so he can provide for us and pay the bills. I get to watch my children grow up and not have to worry about missing a thing because I am home taking care of them... Yeah,, I would say I'm a pretty darn lucky woman.

Easter fun

We had a very nice Easter. Saturday evening we dyed our eggs

And this was our little egg hunt at our house Sunday morning. We had another one at my mom's outside later,,, the kids loved it.

Here's my little southern bell looking all cute in her Easter dress

And here's my beautiful girls all wind blown :)

We had a fun day. We went to moms and had lunch and the egg hunt, then came back home and had steaks on the grill and played corn hole!! It was a perfect holiday weekend.

Simple fun

Here's some pictures today of us just enjoying the simple life WEEEEE............

And here's Ben trying to make his rims on his new car shiny.

I love the simple things in life.

A link

I read something this morning that REALLY hit home with me. This is just what I needed to hear and it really made me think. All of us moms need to remember this when things get us down. We really dont have it so bad and we most of us are so lucky to have the lives we have! Here is the link for you.. enjoy
http://amysfinerthings.com/somebody-wants-what-you-have

I am so thankful for the people I have in my life!

Weekend wrap-up.

What a weekend!!! With all the kids market craziness it flew by like crazy!! I just picked up my check a little while ago though from the items I sold and was very pleased... It makes it all worth it. Plus a scored some nice new toys and summer clothes for Miss Emma!!

Jess was up and down with her ears bothering her last night so I took her into the urgent care this morning and it turns out she has a double ear infection, upper respiratory infection, and a bad sore throat :( Poor girl... She got some meds though so hopefully will be feeling better soon. When we went to fill her prescription the pharmacy didn't even have her in the computer anymore because it had been so long since she had to have meds. So I guess that's a good thing!

Life is pretty good overall. I made a big batch of the laundry detergent today, that was more of a chore than making the little one but I think it will last a long time. I'm gonna mark today on my calender so I can see how long it lasts our big family.
We cant wait til next Sunday when granny comes home!!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Green is the word today!!! Here's my favorite little leprechaun. And for dinner we had green pancakes, green eggs,, and bacon! YUMMY! The pictures don't do them justice, they looked way greener in real life.

I also did some St. Paddy's day worksheets with Bree and Emma today.

Just some small little things, but I think they make our lives a little more fun for the kids to celebrate little things like this. Its fun for me too!