This message speaks for itself! Enjoy!
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Staying Focused
It has been so hard saying no to my girlfriends that love to shop. We all have kids that are around the same age, so they keep calling me with deals at children’s place, and shoe stores. UGH! So far in my spending fast I have saved $650.00! That is one month’s worth of daycare! I decided to expand my spending fast for another month. I think with this being a leap year and me claiming this year to be my best year yet, I am need to attack that debt with my extra day.
My two-year old will be three in April, so I have him schedule to go to the open house of his new school that he will be attending next school year. He will only be going half a day, but he needs to learn how to follow the rules and classroom manners. I am hoping for a nice little discount from the school, for paying by the year. I do not want to feel the burden of his schooling in the budget and I never want to be in a situation where I am not afford for him to go to school. He deserves the best by any means! Being a young mother there are a lot of things that you have to be aware of especially when it comes to money and your kids. Sadly the world that we live in can not accept me as just being a mother, I will always be labeled a “young mommy” so I try to make sure that my kids are WELL taken care of.
The spending fast is ON! Payday is today and I plan to pay off another credit card! with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I am sure my hubby will be asking for some money buy my gift. Good thing I put it in the budget this month! 
How has your spending habits changed over the years?
1 Down 4 to go
During this spending fast I gain new employment. I am no longer a stay at home mom. 
I miss it, but I want to be debt free. We could have done it with just my husband’s income, but now we can kill this debt with two incomes. I had 5 credit card and PAID one-off last week. WHOOOO!! I’m too excited about that! I am on a mission to have my escrow account current, all credit cards paid off, and 2 retirement loans paid off before the end of this year. IT WILL HAPPEN! 
With the new job its is costing me a little bit more in gas then I would like, but I trust and believe in God that it is going to work out. I kinda want to trade it, but it has all the features I could ever want in the car. It’s just matter of prayer and guidance to see if God wants to me to trade it.
During these pass to weeks I have also became a scentsy consultant. I love smell goods and they just added a to the line so now you can order SCENTED greeting cards WITH postage paid for $2.85 each! They added a fondue machine, and a line of lotions, body washes, body spray, shower gel etc. Bath and Body works do not have ANYTHING on Scentsy! Watch out Victoria Secret!
I learned from the BEST to women bloggers I know. Tara and Alicia are always pushing themselves to limit in life. I am now doing ALL I CAN to WIN in life. My kids I love dearly, but mama had dreams and goals before you got here babies. Sick back and hold on because your mama is about to take on a LONG ride!
Have you paid off anything during this spending fast? Do you have what bills you want to pay off listed with the amounts owed?
Soulfood Sunday 1/15/2012
This Sunday the message is coming from my own pastor Herbert Cooper. He is the pastor of People’s Church in Oklahoma City. We are no one church in two locations and I just love this church. Today he is preaching on the cry of the desperate people. God loves us and wants to bless us. He sees what we are going through and God wants us to be happy.
This video gives biblical reasons on how God hears us and how other people will try to stuck the life out of you. Take your problem to God. Let your haters hate. You are more than a conquer! You will succeed! Take life one day at a time.
Be Blessed!
Let me know how this video touches your life! It gets good at 2:16 minutes into the video.
Your Chores My Chores
I am not superwoman. That is my motto for 2012. I want to work smarter not harder this year. The first of the year I made a chore sheet for my husband and I to follow. I would be burned out by the end of the day and feeling like I got nothing accomplished. I am tired of feeling this way. So I decided that even though I am a stay at home mom I still have school which is a full-time job itself. There is always something to be done at home and I would feel so guilty about my husband working all day standing on his feet, and coming home to a messy house. I made our chore sheet where he has some stuff, I have some stuff, and we share a little bit of stuff together.
Check out my chore sheet:
2012 Chore Sheet
Chris:
- Trash outside everyday
- Take trash to the road every Monday
- Clean tub out everyday
- Bathroom every Wednesday
- Wash your uniforms as needed
- Give dog a bathe one Sunday a month
- Washing and cleaning out both cars once a month
- Feed the dog on Sun. Mon. Thurs.
- Cook dinner and clean the kitchen on Thursdays
- Have 45 mins a day of unwind time
- Get Sakai hair cut as needed
- Cut hair as needed
- Love your wife daily. J
Kanesha:
- Wash a load of clothes or bedding a day
- Make the bed everyday
- Do the meal planning and keep up with stocking list
- Mop kitchen and laundry area on Tuesdays
- Dishes daily
- Cook dinner at least 3 times a week
- Grocery shop when needed
- Take dog for walk 3 times a week
- Mop hard wood at least once a week
- 30 mins of study time a day
- Pay all the bills. DON’T FORGET WATER BILL
- Love your husband daily
TOGETHER:
- Clean bedroom when needed
- Clean living room when needed
- Read the bible together and pray
- Grow our family in the Lord
I even gave my two year old son a night schedule on what is expected of him:
The Boys Bedtime Plan
6:00-6:15 snack time/ feed dog and let dog outside
6:15-7:00 watch tv/ free play
7:00-7:30 dinner
7:30-8:00 clean bedroom/ get clothes out for the next day
8:00-8:30 bathe time
8:30-9:00 story time
9:00 bedtime
To make sure that everyone stays on track and hold each other accountable we made a Did You Check List :
The Did You Check List
DID YOU:
- Let the dog out at 6:00 am?
- Feed the dog?
- Let her back out after feeding?
- Put her in the crate?
- Make sure living room was clean?
- Clean the front glass door?
- Check the mail?
- Kiss your spouse?
- Clean the kitchen?
- When you go home did you let the dog out?
- Did you feed the dog?
- Did you let her back out after feeding?
SAY YOU LOVE YOUR FAMILY TODAY!
I hope my family changes help someone some way. What are you doing this year to make your best year?
Debt is Dumb
We all take out debt at one point and time in lives. We may not have wanted to, but we do. Every student loan, car payment, house payment, credit card all debt. Life happens and we have to do what we have to do to live and provide for our family. I had a HUGE reality check this weekend. We all do things that we are not proud. I experience one of those feelings this weekend. I brought groceries for our house on a credit card. Who finances food?? ME!
Was that the only way I could put food back into my home, probably not. My life experiences have taught me that people do things they would not normal do under pressure. The story starts with Christmas of course. My husband gets paid every two weeks. Since December was 5 weeks we got an extra check and a bonus check for his good deals. Great right? So I didn’t budget that check. Shame on me. So the 5th of the month was payday again. I sat down like I always do to do our budget. I am the budgeter and my husband is the budgetee. He makes the money and I manage it all. That works for us. I do the budget and login online to pay all the bills. My budget says I should have $200.00 to carry over to next payday. Cool, sounds good. Until I wake up Saturday morning and our joint account is empty. WHAT?!?! How did that happen??
Looks like when I made a credit card payment I paid the card OFF! It was a wake up call for me. I have a lot of credit cards. I mean a lot. One for each store, because each store offers a discount on your purchases if you have that stores card. Don’t get me wrong alot of people think credit cards are bad, but to me it is how you use them. If you are carrying a balance every month, but you got a “discount” like I am you are not using them correctly. You are not winning. We want to win. We have to change the method to stop the maddness
How do I plan to fix the credit card issue? I plan to pay off all $3,500.00 I have to get savings up and spending down. I have everything that I need and thank God so does my family, so I won’t be spending money that doesn’t need to be spent. I took all credit cards out of my wallet. No Sunday eating out. No going all out for date night. Its CRUNCH time. I plan to blog every Tuesday on my progress. Its going to be tough, I’m going to cry, I’m going to be frustrated, but I have to do this. 90 days no spending to see where my money is REALLY going. Your comments and support during this time will greatly be appreciated.
Will you join me on this saving challenge?
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