Wordless Wednesday: Sleeping on the Job

Catching Up with Technology

Last week, I sent my first text message.  (gasp)

All you text savvy people can pick yourselves up off the floor now.

My old phone was a dinosaur. A dinosaur I'm telling you.  It didn't have capabilities to take pictures or video and it didn't have a nice little keyboard for text messaging.  

When I switched cell phone companies, I got a new phone.  I am no texting fool but boy have I found that feature convenient.  I need to ask a friend a question who doesn't check their email as obsessively frequently often as I do, I can send a text.   A real time saver during our school day since a quick question could turn into a 30 minute phone conversation.  

Not only am I now a using text messaging, but I am a  skyper.  We are making technological gains in this house people!

My sister in law had emailed me about skype.   Since it is FREE, we signed up.  The kids and I had some fun last week playing with skype and getting to "see" our family.  

Over the weekend, I got a real treat when I was able to "meet" a bloggy friend on skype.  It was so much fun! It is the next best thing to meeting in real life.  We met kids, spouses (hers mine was hunting), and visited like old friends.  I can't wait to do it again.

I am still not very tech savvy, but for a time I am catching up with technology.  

Hair Dilemma

I have very little patience when it comes to my hair.  I have tried to grow it out, unsuccessfully, many times over the years.  I get impatient with the process and having the same style for long periods of time.

I am currently in the "growing my hair out" stage.  I haven't felt the need to cut my hair or change things up until a few weeks ago when I saw the pictures of Victoria Beckham's new pixie hair cut.  

Once I saw the pictures of her new do, I found myself wanting to cut my hair.  I have an appointment this week, so my hair dilemma is: stick with the grow it out plan or just chop my hair and do something fun??  

This is where you all come in -  you can vote on my poll, leave a comment (I want your honest thoughts, feelings, opinions), or both.  I will post pictures on Thursday with my new, same, or modified haircut!

Cutting Back

The desire to live debt free has been growing in my heart for some time.  It is something that seemed like a dream, not truly an attainable goal. 

At least that is how it seemed until we were introduced to Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University.  

After our first session, we were definitely motivated to get rid of our student loan debt and be debt free.  Then we left class and started to second guess our decision to work on becoming debt free.  Should we tighten our budget to pay off loans that are at 3% and 4% or just continue to live as we are today?  As days went by and we prayed about the direction we needed to take with our budget, it became clear to us that we need to be good stewards with our finances. By maintaining the student loans, we were not being good stewards. 

In order to free up money in our budget to go towards paying off our student loans, we had to prioritize and make some decisions about our spending and our future goals.  It wasn't easy and there were many discussions (and there continue to be many discussions) about what we are willing to live without.  The signature FPU quote: "If you will live like no one else, later you can LIVE like no one else!"  is something we repeat daily. Multiple times each day.  It will take a change of mindset and a change of spending habits in order to meet our goal of becoming debt free.  Without a daily reminder of where we are headed, it could be easy to fall into old habits.

What are we doing to get on the road to financial freedom?

1. Cut up credit cards.  Two weeks ago, I cut up all our credit cards except one.  For the past six years we have paid our balance on our credit cards each month but having the credit card makes it easy to over spend. Good bye Gap card, good bye Old Navy, and the most painful good bye Target. I almost shed a tear or two over that one.  I have a major credit card but I am wavering about cutting it up as well. Statistics say that you spend 12-18% more by using a credit card than by paying with cash or a debt card (even if you pay the balance each month).  I am struggling a bit with not having a credit card but I will say I am leaning towards cutting this last one up too.

2. Canceled cable.  Right in the middle of football season, no more ESPN! OUCH!  

3. Canceled Netflix.  The convenience of having the movies delivered to home was wonderful but we just weren't using it enough to justify the payment. Now with Red Boxes everywhere, we can get a movie for $1 when we know we have time to watch one.

4. Canceled Vibe.  For about five years, we have been taking this liquid vitamin.  It is a great product but it is a cost which we felt we needed to give up until we are debt free. 

5. Use cash envelopes.  Even though we use the mvelopes online system, I felt that there were areas where we would overspend if we didn't use cash.  We use cash for dining out, entertainment, personal care, and part of our food/household (Target, Winco, Schwan's man). I can already see a decrease in spending in those areas. Spending cash hurts. It is really really painful.  I can see that I think more about purchases and stick to my list.   

6. Meal Planning.  I have done meal planning in some form over the years.  Now, I am sitting down at the beginning of the month, planning meals, and posting the menu in the kitchen.  When I make our menu I make a list of needed items and add them to my grocery list.   By sticking to the list and purchasing only what I truly need and not what I think I need or I might need in the future, we are saving on our grocery bill.  

7. College funding on hold.  While we are trying to get rid of debt, we have put funding our kids' college accounts on hold.  Once the debt is paid off we will begin contributing again and we will be able to contribute at a higher rate because our debt will be gone.

What we didn't give up:

1. TiVo.  If I don't run outside, I run on my elliptical machine. When I am on my elliptical machine I watch TV. There is only so much of the local news a girl can watch. The TiVo allows me to mindlessly watch a few shows while working out.  It also allows Lance and I to watch a show after the kids go to bed in record time -without commercials. We heart TiVo and were willing to give up something in another area in order to keep it.

2.  Schwan's Man.  I know this was an emotional decision. I have had the Schwan's man coming to my house since I was born.  I really don't remember a time without the Schwan's man. I have cut back significantly what I purchase from him but there are some things that are so good and not just the ice cream.

3. Internet.  No explanation needed!

4. Home phone.  We have discussed getting rid of our home phone numerous times.  But with young children in the house, I just don't feel comfortable not having a land line. I also don't like talking on a cell phone, I prefer a regular old phone.  For now, the land line stays.

I am interested to know if any of you have tips on saving money or things you have cut back on in order to save money.  

On Our Way to Financial Peace

When I was a junior in high school I got my first "real" job, where I earned a paycheck. The first thing I did when I got my first paycheck was to open a checking account.   I wasn't an athlete so I was able to work quite a few hours each week and was making good money.

By the time I went off to college, I should have had a nice fat savings account. Instead, I had a nice fat suitcase with clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc..  If I had money, I spent it. I had not been taught about saving or even creating a budget.

I had some hard lessons to learn about money over the next few years.  Like many young people, I was lured into applying for a credit card.  I thought that credit card would offer me freedom and security (in case of an emergency) but instead it brought shame, guilt, and years of rethinking and relearning how I dealt with money.

Early on in our marriage, we sold the mobile home we lived in while Lance was in vet school. We made enough money on that sale to make a clean break.  We paid off credit card debt and put a little money in savings.  Without a budget in place, we easily fell into our old habits and started to accrue some credit card debit.

Again we were blessed, this time with a tax refund which allowed us to pay off the credit card debt. We were committed to not getting into credit card debt again.  Although we didn't cut up our credit cards (still feeling like we needed them in case of an emergency), we did create a budget and started to live within the confines of the budget.

I won't say it was easy, or that we were very good at it but we didn't accrue any credit card debt.  I took a financial course through our church which helped us to see where our money was going each month and create a more realistic budget.

About two years ago, a friend told me about a program called Mvelopes.  It is an online version of the old "envelopes system".  You assign your budgeted amount to each envelope for the month. Everyday, the mvelopes program downloads transactions from your bank and/or credit cards so that you can assign them to the proper envelope.  I can daily check where we are with our budget for the month. I know if we can take a trip to Target or if we have to stay away for the rest of the month.  Since I am a visual learner, this system has been a great tool for me.   This is when I finally started to really get our budget because I could physically see where our money went each month.  

In September, Lance and I started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at our church.  We had heard about FPU from our neighbors who had taken the class two years ago.  It has truly been life changing for them.  I must say, I heart Dave Ramsey. He is smart, honest, and very entertaining.  I listen to his podcast. every. single day. Even though we have been budgeting and out of credit card debit for six years, there is still so much to learn. We have created a new budget, I carry actual envelopes with cash for certain areas that might cause overspending (this has been so hard - it is painful people oh so painful to spend cash), we are teaching our kids about saving, spending, and giving, and we are working our way to being debt free. 

Tomorrow, I am going to share what we have cut out in order to work on paying off our debt (student loans, Lance's business, and our home) and what things we weren't willing to live without.

Wordless Wednesday: One Tired Boy

Happy Birthday Lance!

A few weeks ago, y'all were introduced to my husband in this post.  Today, in honor of his birthday, you'll get to know him a little better through this husband quiz.  I saw this on a few blogs over the past few weeks. On Tara's blog, she put in her husbands answers as well. I took her idea and asked Lance his answers as well as Morgan and Landon. Enjoy getting to know Lance a little bit better!

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?

Kristen : any sporting event, amazing race, american idol, so you think you can dance, and some of the fix up the house type shows

Morgan: football

Landon: football

Lance: sports

2.  You're out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?

Kristen: ranch

Morgan: ranch

Landon: I don't know

Lance: ranch

3.  What's one food he doesn't like?

Kristen: mushrooms

Morgan: tater tot hotdish

Landon: macaroni and cheese

Lance: venison

4. You go to the bar.(When I asked the kids I asked what he got to drink when we went out to dinner) What does he order?

Kristen: it depends, usually iced tea, pop, or beer

Morgan: it depends: lemonade, beer, water, pop - he normally gets anything

Landon: pop

Lance: beer or iced tea

5.  Where did he go to high school?

Kristen: Rocky Ford, CO home of the Meloneers (his high school mascot was a watermelon)

Morgan: in Iowa

Landon: college

Lance: Rocky Ford, CO

6. What size shoe does he wear?

Kristen: 10 1/2 or 11

Morgan: 11 in mens

Landon: 25

Lance: 10 1/2

7.  If he were to collect anything, what would it be?

Kristen: he is not a collector,  i am so thankful for that!

Morgan: he is a trash can, he throws stuff away

Landon: cows

Lance: nothing

8.  What is his favorite type of sandwich?

Kristen: he isn't much of a sandwich guy but if he had to have one it would be peanut butter and jelly

Morgan: pb & j

Landon: peanut butter and jelly

Lance: i don't have a favorite type of sandwich

9. What would he eat every day if he could?

Kristen: any type of Mexican food

Morgan: a taco from one of the road side stands

Landon: peanut butter and jelly

Lance: Mexican food

10. What is his favorite cereal?

Kristen: Frosted Mini Wheats

Morgan: shredded wheat

Landon: shredded wheat

Lance: I like them all

11. What would he never wear? 

Kristen: anything in a shade of pink

Morgan: a tie

Landon: church clothes

Lance: a dress

12.  What is his favorite sports team?

Kristen: Denver Broncos

Morgan: Denver Broncos

Landon: Denver Broncos

Lance: Denver Broncos

13. Who will he vote for?

Kristen: John McCain and Sarah Palin

Morgan: John McCain

Landon: I don't know

Lance:  not that either is a great choice but John McCain 

14. Who is his best friend?

Kristen: His dad

Morgan: Brett Monson

Landon: Dr. Jason

Lance: Landon

15.  What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't?

Kristen: oh, i think that list would be too long. probably biggest is not taking the garbage out when it is full

Morgan: lean over him when he is on the computer

Landon: play soccer

Lance: vacuum every day

16.  How many states has he lived in?

Kristen: four - Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Idaho

Morgan: four - Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado

Landon: two - Minnesota and Idaho

Lance: four

17.  What is his heritage?

Kristen: He is a mix: Scottish, Irish, English, Norwegien

Morgan: he is from USA and was born in Colorado

Landon: Minnesota

Lance: Norsk

18.  You bake him a cake for his birthday. What kind of cake?

Kristen: He would eat whatever I made as long as it didn't have very much frosting - and he would probably prefer it wasn't chocolate.  

Morgan: he wouldn't care, he would just want cake

Landon: chocolate

Lance: angel food (and that is exactly what he is getting today)

19.  Did he play sports in high school?

Kristen: yes, football, basketball, baseball

Morgan: yes

Landon: yes

Lance: yes

20. What could he spend hours doing?

Kristen: I am not sure his ADD personality could have him doing anything for hours...

Morgan: working or driving

Landon: watching the Broncos

Lance: lots of stuff

21. Does he belong to any men's organizations?

Kristen: no

Morgan: no

Landon: no

Lance: no

Happy Birthday Lance!