Tuesday, May 24, 2011

It Is Actually Happening!


We get paid on the last business day of each month. Getting a paycheck only once a month was tough, at first, because if money runs low, there is no more coming in a couple of weeks later. On the other hand, it makes budgeting a lot easier, and we don’t have to juggle which paycheck will cover which bills. During the first week of each month, I update Quicken for all of our various accounts. This month I was updating balances in our debt reduction plan and I looked back to this time last year.

We spent a lot of time in the last year feeling frustrated because it seemed like the balances never went down. Well, I am happy to report that despite that frustration, we have eliminated $12,000 in debt in the last year! I believe the true total of what we paid off is actually $19,600 because we had financed a few things that were not included in last year’s totals. Some of what we financed was what we consider necessary, like vet bills, some was justifiable, like my stand mixer that allows me to make all of our bread, and some of it was just frivolous, like tickets to a show.

So, despite a significant amount of slip ups in our plan, we have lowered our total debt by a very large chunk in just one year! It can actually be done, even on one income, even with four kids. If you are trying to pay off debt, don’t get discouraged if your balances don’t seem to be going down. If you make a mistake and purchase something you shouldn’t, don’t give up. It really can be done, and you don’t have to be perfect, or live Little House on the Prairie style to do it.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

While I fully acknowledge that Mother’s Day is essentially a contrived Hallmark holiday, and that good mothers should receive thanks and appreciation every day, I still love Mother’s Day morning.

This morning I awoke to the kids doing their Sunday chores early so that the rest of the day would be free to do whatever I wanted. Seriously, the chore charts are really helping, I highly recommend them! Mike went and got donuts (at my request, he wasn’t being lazy) and helped keep the kids focused on their jobs. At breakfast, I was showered with the wonderful things the kids made for me at school. Actually, M gave me her gift the second she got off of the bus on Friday, but she re-presented them this morning. 

 
Mom's Day loot!
Pot decoration from my oldest
Mike went out to trim the hedges and mow the lawn and O brought me some of the clippings as a flower bouquet, which you can see in the vase with M’s hand print flowers.
As an added bonus, I looked at the garden to find that our artichokes are coming in! 
Check out the free and all natural pest control!


Later, I will be going to my mom’s for a bit. Her gift this year is that I am finally transferring all of the kids’ and grand kids’ height marks from the hallway at my house (my childhood home) to her new house.

I hope all of the great moms are having a good day, and that your kids give you one day of NOT reminding you why some animals eat their young.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Shocking May Challenge Update!

Yesterday was the first day of the kids' new responsibilities. We kept our expectations pretty low because the kids had a sitter and we weren't home most of the day to supervise. Last week I talked to the kids about needing their help around the house, and let them know about the new chore charts. Before we left on Sunday morning, we reminded them that they had chores to do and we expected them to by the time we got home. If the chores didn't get done, they would have to finish them in the evening, and there would be no TV for that child the next day. When we got home, all of the chores were done! Since we weren't there to show M how to empty all the trash cans, N did it for her (it used to be his job) and then had M and O help him clean the living room. That's right, my seven year old son did an extra chore to make sure it got done.

I have been a mom long enough to know that this success is in no way a guarantee that next week will go so smoothly, but it is nice to know that they can actually do it. Now, if they struggle one week I don't have to question whether they are capable of doing the chores I assigned. It gives me hope!