Finance Challenge Day 4

Toni's challenge today was to build a debt snowball. Dave Ramsey's technique which she employs, goes by order of smallest debt first because the sense of accomplishment as the debts disappear and your snowball grows keeps you motivated. Which I think is awesome for those that lose steam, but I was already going at gazelle intensity and wanted to save the most on interest that I could, so we tended to tackle the debt with the highest interest first.
We've only got our mortgage, BUT, you're in luck, I actually saved one of our spreadsheets from our debt snowball. It didn't end up working out quite this way, but you get the idea!

Date	Total Debt	Visa (9.00%)		Hyundai (5.14%)		Toyota (6.97%)			Interest
		Balance	Payment	Balance	Payment	Balance	Payment
September 2008	$22,644.44	$1,909.60	$755.99	$2,476.84	$246.00	$18,258.00	$438.01		$119.97
October 2008	$21,324.41	$1,162.14	$755.99	$2,240.26	$246.00	$17,922.00	$438.01		$115.24
November 2008	$19,999.65	$409.26	$409.26	$2,002.97	$592.73	$17,587.42	$438.01		$104.13
December 2008	$18,663.78			$1,416.20	$1,001.99	$17,247.58	$438.01		$101.24
January 2009	$17,325.03			$416.01	$416.01	$16,909.01	$1,023.99		$93.97
February 2009	$15,978.99					$15,978.99	$1,440.00		$77.68
March 2009	$14,616.67					$14,616.67	$1,440.00		$77.95
April 2009	$13,254.62					$13,254.62	$1,440.00		$67.63
May 2009	$11,882.26					$11,882.26	$1,440.00		$61.77
June 2009	$10,504.03					$10,504.03	$1,440.00		$51.89
July 2009	$9,115.92					$9,115.92	$1,440.00		$45.41
August 2009	$7,721.32					$7,721.32	$1,440.00		$37.16
September 2009	$6,318.48					$6,318.48	$1,440.00		$27.93
October 2009	$4,906.41					$4,906.41	$1,440.00		$20.51
November 2009	$3,486.91					$3,486.91	$1,440.00		$11.72
December 2009	$2,058.63					$2,058.63	$1,440.00		$3.66
January 2010	$622.29					$622.29	$622.29		$0.00

Finance Challenge Day 3

Today's challenge is to set up a budget box. Mine is not as pretty and colorful as Toni's but it is functional. The way mine is set up actually came from It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh. Staying on top of mail was (sometimes still is) a struggle of ours.
I have a plain 'ole hanging file box, with folders for every month. In each folder goes the bills for that month and any receipts for major purchases. As I come around to that month again, I shred anything in the folder that is not pertinent to tax info or something. I have a folder for legal stuff, like traffic fines info, birth certificates, marriage license, etc. I have a folder for medical stuff, where our EOB's and duplicates from well-checks and things go. Last is my folder for taxes. I put anything we might need in there, as well as keep last year's return in there. Each return eventually gets it's own folder, and I'll shred it once's it's over 10yrs old.
Ideas I got from Toni that I'm implementing:
1) A separate folder just for pay stubs. I had been putting these in their respective month, but I think it'd be more convenient to keep them together.
2) A separate folder for print outs of our monthly budget. I've never printed these out before, and I think it might make me more goal oriented to have that hard to look back on.

Finance Challenge Day 2

Day two's challenge was to set up an envelope system. Toni over at A Bowl Full of Lemons has five envelopes. I do practice the concept and believe in the principal behind this, but don't feel the need to be so stringent. I have one "envelope" and it's the grocery money. $80 cash per week. Recently, I do occasionally spend some of it on latte's, LOL, but once it's gone, it's gone, so I try to make sure I've got my meals planned out and have the ingredients on hand. Here are my thoughts on the other ones Toni talks about:
1) Gas: I get gas at Costco and you can't use cash. Also, I honestly I can't cut anything from this. I work from home, and I don't make special trips anywhere (for example, I don't just run to the mall. If I don't have a good 2-3 other stops I need to make by there, I won't go). I don't even pay attention much to price increases because I have to go where I have to go, no sense in getting upset about it.
2) Entertainment/Clothing: I do have amounts budgeted for these. Clothing is a revolving fund. I budget so much a month for it, and if it doesn't get spent, it rolls over to the next month. I keep track of that on a spreadsheet and typically shop online for deals so a cash envelope isn't really relevant. Entertainment... I'm good about sticking to a budget here. I would like for my husband to as well, but I'm 99% sure that if he had cash, he would spend that and then pull out his card, because he's likely a little inebriated. He's never agreed to go to cash for that. But the card he carries has a pretty low limit so he can't get into too much trouble with it. And for all of our cards, we pay off the entire balance every month because we're careful not to spend money we don't have. I might bring up the subject of going to cash for this again, since we have so many events going on this year, it makes sense to be a little more strict the rest of the time.
3) School: my oldest is almost 4, so it's not quite an issue yet.

Reading Dave Ramsey's book a few years ago was really my first introduction to the idea that not everyone has to or even does live paycheck to paycheck or that you can live life without debt. It's just not how I grew up and so I just went along with the assumptions of the status quo. For example- I kind of thought I would always have a car note. It never occurred to me to buy a car I can afford and then have a fund for it's eventual replacement where I put the money that would have been going toward a car note. And I also always thought "you have to spend money to make money." Which might be true but, I was subconsciously adding a few words to that saying in my head; "You have to spend money {you don't have} to make money," and that's definitely not true. I spent a lot of money (wracked up debt) on clothing/hair/makeup/photos/gas in my late teens under the guise of needing to in order to get my modeling career started. And I actually would have been okay, if once I'd started making money, I'd paid all that stuff off instead of going on trips and buying even more stuff. But hey, there's another saying, "Youth is wasted on the young." :D

Get set, go!

The first task for the ORGANIZE YOUR FINANCES challenge was to create my budget and track my spending.
Tracking spending is a lot like tracking calories. When you force decisions to be conscious and deliberate, you behave differently.
I immediately regret the large specialty latte I purchased and drank this morning. LOL
I really like this template because it helps you see projected/ideal versus the actual. The site recommends some software to get into more detailed budgeting, but it mainly involves linking up to one's bank account, so while the idea of letting software keep track of my spending for me is appealing, it wouldn't work for me because I rarely use my debit card or write checks. I use my credit card for online purchases and cash for everything else. Plus, again, it's more deliberate to have write it down/enter it myself.
Today I spent $4.27 at Saxby's Coffee and $57.93 at Fresh and Easy on groceries. I'll probably have to pick up more milk at some point this week, but I've got everything for my meals taken care of!

Financial Check Up!

Lately I've been blog-hopping, trying to find my inner OCD housekeeper. I'm one of those people that will be *perfection* at something forever until something happens to throw me off a little bit and then procrastination sets in and eventually you would never know how great it used to be.
During the hopping I stumbled upon A Bowl Full of Lemons. I was perusing posts, finding inspiration for the various projects around the house I want to accomplish, but not feeling like REALLY jumping in.
Until today.
Enter the latest weekly challenge, ORGANIZE YOUR FINANCES. The challenge is based mostly on the teachings of Dave Ramsey, who I already love, and is kind of geared toward those who are in debt. Thanks to Dave Ramsey and The Total Money Makeover, we became debt free when Emberly was a baby (well, until we bought our home). And I became the infamously frugal penny pincher. My husband even has a slur just for me :D
BUT, we do not have a fully funded emergency fund. And I've become a little lax, as proven by the late charge (gasp!) I just had on my gas bill. So I think it's a good idea to revisit my budget and follow along with the challenge anyway, to refresh my penny pinching skills! AND... I totally want to win the Clean Mama Printables gift pack :D

Two and a half weeks

It is amazing how quickly I can build and envision a new life for myself. Two and a half weeks was long enough for me to have a solid plan for how my life was going to be until Emberly starts kindergarten in fall of 2012. Two and a half weeks is long enough to invest a whole lot of love and attachment to that plan. And one day is long enough to turn that upside down and poop on it.
My husband and I had just started discussing whether or not we felt Bauer completed our family. I could definitely have another, but if he was truly happy with two, then I felt I could be too. But he said he didn't know. And it became pretty clear that maybe in a year or so, we would really talk about having another. But good thing we were open to the idea because just a few days later, we were surprised with a big fat positive. Our third child due mid-September 2011. Being that this was at least a year earlier than anticipated, and our July baby still wakes up at night to nurse and is obviously still very much a baby, there was some initial shock to get through. But I pulled out my little budget spreadsheet, I realized that we wouldn't die (hey, it could've happened!), and let myself get excited. I mean, check out my kids, as I've mentioned, they're awesome.
Now, I've had two miscarriages before, so I have all these nonsensical superstitious feelings about what I'm allowed to do and say without jinxing the pregnancy. But that's so exhausting, and not fun. I forced myself to throw those out the window and be happy. Being pregnant again so soon with an infant and preschooler in tow would be stressful enough, without illogical nonsense weighing me down.
Biggest thing, buying something that is only useful with the existence of the new baby. I did that last weekend. I bought a book "Adventures in Tandem Nursing; Nursing through Pregnancy and Beyond," because I had a lot of questions about my nutrition and was very concerned about being able to continue to nurse Bauer, at least through his first year, possibly tandem nursing with the new baby.
Well, Tuesday, I get a call from my midwife, requesting that I go in and get my blood drawn that day, because results from Thursday's blood work showed a decline in my progesterone. My stomach sank. The same nauseating sensation I felt when someone else answered my little brother's phone the day he died. But, trying to be a more optimistic person, I went and had my blood drawn with thoughts of the progesterone rebounding. It did not. AND, my hcg levels had declined. Indicating that over the weekend, the baby had probably stopped growing. I'd jinxed it. I jinxed the pregnancy.
This is different from my previous two miscarriages in that my first indication that it was over with those was spotting and severe cramping. I still have the joy of waiting for that to happen, since it's early blood work that's shown me that it isn't going to progress. *does a sarcastic dance of anticipation*
I wasn't even going to tell anyone besides my best friends and family that I was pregnant before March. But, I felt like I needed to say something here. Now. People- women- don't talk about it enough. My reaction the last two times was to try to pretend I had never been pregnant. To not think about it and move on. But, that doesn't work. I was still sad and I just drowned out the noise of it by stuffing my face at my favorite restaurants and baking up delicious goodies. So, then I was 10 to 20lbs heavier (yes, I gained more weight when I miscarried than I had in my entire pregnancy with Bauer!), and even more sad.
So, this time I'm talking about it. It sucks. Balls. Really. I loved this baby and everything s/he would have been to our family. And that's gone.

Organized!

After a discussion with my best friend about homes and long term financial goals, I reevaluated my thoughts on our only living in this house for less than 5yrs. I'm now thinking at least 10yrs, and my plan is two fold; customize for efficient space planning and keep de-cluttered, a la Peter Walsh.
To that end, we put a series of adjustable shelving and a cabinet in our garage. My goal would be to have this meet all our storage needs. I think that if we start to reach capacity on these, then it's time to go through it and throw away/donate.


The cabinet is empty. I plan to put our left over paint, tools and cleaning supplies in it, which are currently housed in our laundry room and pantry. Right now, baby stuff takes up a good portion of it, which is obviously a finite stage of our lives and can eventually leave to make more room!
Second, we customized Emberly's closet. She has an armoire, that is overflowing with her and her brother's stuff, especially since I tend to clearance shop sizes for the next year. They will be sharing the room, so I really didn't want to get any more furniture that will take up floor space in the room. I divided the closet into thirds. Hang space and shoe shelving on either side, and adjustable shelving down the middle, for toy bins, books and folded clothing. I plan to get her a loft bed, at first with the crib/bed for her brother underneath it, eventually with a desk underneath it. I kept the original wire rack and want to put it in the guest closet for more storage options there too. I imagine that once it's no longer appropriate for a brother and sister to share a room (when Emberly's 7-8, I guess??), one of them will move into the guest room. If we decide to have more children, obviously s/he have to be one or the other sex and so then s/he's share with the same sex sibling. In theory, this 1652 sqft house could house 6, but if we ended up with 3 of one sex, that'd be a crowded little room and I don't think we'd make it 10yrs. But we've previously thought 3 would be our limit, if we decided not to stop with two. And we might, since we have one of each...

We have two coat closets downstairs. I'd eventually like to make the back one into a craft closet, with shelving and drawers to store all my yarn, fabric and crafting goodies. The "loft" (really just a large landing at the top of our stairs) has a nook where we have our little rinky-dink desk. It'd be nice if we could do a custom built-in there too one day. It could be really nice...

Holla!

Apparently someone clicked on an ad on my blog and I've made 46 cents! Shoot, I may just quit my job.

Last Day

Bauer is 2 months and 2wks old today and it is my last day of maternity leave. Emberly will resume her 3 days a week daycare schedule, and I will be working part time to start. I thought I would be anxious about it, but I'm not really. Sure, I'd love to keep spending my whole day every day just playing with my babies, but working while Bauer naps during the week doesn't seem so daunting. At least compared to when I went back to work full time when Emberly was so little and I was struggling getting 8hrs in daily. Though I don't think I was ever a particularly immature person, I've grown up a lot since I was pregnant with her. I'm so glad we budgeted for me to have leave this time. I much prefer fond memories of infancy rather than stressed ones.

That's why Credit was Invented

On my way home from the chiropractor today, I had the radio on. I hate the radio. Too much talking and commercials. Anyway, a lady called in to talk about her friend who she had lent $200 because she was going through a financial rough spot. Said friend then stopped communicating with her, but would tweet that she was at various social hot spots, enjoying pricey leisure time. So she was getting pretty irritated that her friend was doing these things while having trouble making ends meet (hello! Sound financial decisions aren't what led her to borrowing money from friends!).
I am a big believer in the financial advice of Dave Ramsey, so I'm essentially just regurgitating here. Don't lend money to friends and family, please. Don't part with money that you are counting on getting back. It's a recipe for disaster and strained relationships. If you can't just give it to the requester, like as a gift, then you can't afford to help them. If you can, great. And if the requester is then a lovely responsible person and somehow repays you without you expecting it, that's just icing on the cake. But otherwise, that's why we have financial institutions and credit. It takes personal feelings out of the equation. It's business and Bank of America or whatever isn't going to be pissed that you went to happy hour without her because you're avoiding a conversation about borrowed money. And if they can't even borrow money, please, don't cosign on anything! If a financial institution can't trust that person to pay back the money on their own, why should you?? Unless you're completely okay with having to pay that money (which is what you have to do, should the person you cosigned for default!) and never see it again (again, a gift), you have no business doing it.
No one asked me, but that's how I feel about it :D

Income Property

This HGTV show has become a little addiction for me while I'm on my maternity leave. Thick-eyebrowed, long-haired Scott comes to the rescue of homeowners who bought homes with spaces capable of becoming rental suites in their home. Typically basement apartments or triplexes. He then draws out two options for the homeowners, explaining the return on investment for each. I've seen renovation options range from 5k all the way to 50k. And when he's done, and they've staged the space for prospective tenant viewings, it's always ridiculously posh and probably looks better than the main living space.
How great would that be, to have an apartment be part of your home that adds value AND pays your mortgage?! I've always found real estate and being a land lord to be fascinating but overwhelming since all I know about it, I learned from HGTV LOL I have a mom friend in Atlanta that seems to have the most interesting job, buying homes, renovating, building homes, renting, selling. It makes me wish I was still 17 and could spend a summer shadowing her, just learning everything, in a practical environment.
When it comes to our house, I already feel influenced not as much by my own personal taste, but what adds value to the home and would make it a great rental property. Who knows though if when we outgrow this house we'd be able to keep it...