It's been a really long time since I last updated. We found out in the beginning of February that we are going to have another baby in October. I haven't felt very well the last couple months, so getting on here to post just didn't really happen. The news of a new baby took some adjustments, but we are very excited to have a newborn around the house again. The kids can't wait.
We continue to pay down our debt and every month we get more and more excited to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We would've liked to have the Chase card already paid off by now, but with me being sick the last couple months, I haven't been doing as good of a job with making sure we stay in budget. There was a night here and there that I just didn't have the energy to go to the store for groceries or make dinner, so the kids and I had our fair share of Subway and pizza. That added up. I also did not do any daycare in the month of April. The family that I was working for went through a job layoff. I lost at least $400 of income. I did managed to sell a few more things on craigslist (including a few items for my brother) and I also made $560 selling at the Children's Consignment Sale in April. We used part of that money to buy the kids a swing set and basketball hoop. We figured for $250 it would give the kids plenty of things to do while we play outside and it has been well worth it. They LOVE the swing set. They have been so understanding when we tell them no to things they want to do or buy, so this was something they "earned" and have been looking forward to.
All in all, we have still been doing really well. Nothing is going on credit cards anymore and the overall debt keeps going down. We certainly could be saying no to a few more things, which would help the debt go down even faster, but we both agree that life with our little ones will go faster than we realize and we don't want to look back one day and say we wish we would have done more things with them. So, we have 4 camping trips planned this summer and decided that for each of the kids birthday, they will get to pick an activity (mini golf, bowling, a movie etc.) and we will all go out to eat as a family. These are things we are already starting to budget for.
We are slowly adding back to our emergency fund, which needs to be fully funded again soon. And we have a few house and car repairs that need to be done. We also need a new tent for this summer. Our old one was a 4 man tent. It was a tight squeeze to say the least. It was Dan's from college and had seen many years of camping trips. We would have used it again this year, but the poles finally broke when it snowed during out October camping trip last year. Good memories!!!
Our medical bills are really starting to pile up again. We are spend about $225 -$250 each month on those. I have had a few labs and an ultrasound with this new pregnancy. I forgot how quickly medical bills add up. We will soon hit our $3000 deductible and things should be paid 100% after that.
Our goal is to have the Chase card paid off at the end of this month. Then, on to the van loan!!
love
love
love
hi lori,
ReplyDeleteyour blog is so inspirational! i just emailed my husband one of you posts because it has helped me understand why he wants to live more frugally - and why it's not just an i'm-going-to-deny-your-wishes kind of thing. i'm a sahm too and trying to figure out ways to make this work without going into insane debt (at worst) or insane anxiety over making too tight of a budget. so Thank You for such a great and honest account of a real family trying to make it in the real world!
I'm so glad what we are going through can help someone else in a similar situation!!!! There are SO MANY people who struggle with money issues and debt and who feel very alone. It's stressful, draining and can ruin a marriage and a family. Our goal is to take what could have destroyed us and use it to our good. The important thing for us to remember is that we could never accoplish this (or anything else) without God's help.
ReplyDeleteStarting to see the debt go away is awesome, but the biggest blessing out of all is that Dan and I are finally on the same page and working together as a team. It's the best feeling in the world. We no longer fight about anything related to money and we both appreciate each other so much more than we ever have. It's also helping us see how working together and communicating better in other areas of our marriage (cuz we all struggle at times) is the only way our marriage is going to survive. Being stubborn and selfish has not gotten us very far. I am so thankful to finally be at this place in our marriage and I am looking forward to what the future holds for us.