Juliet's Christmas Dress 2011

With a budget of around $10 I whipped up a new Christmas Dress for the resident fashionista.  The red dress came from a dress from two years ago that I restyled and re-hemmed for an all new look.  The waist got made over with a rhinestone strip for about $2.  The white faux fur jacket was about $3 for the fur and $2 for the white lining.  We had the black tights and the shoes where $2 from a children's  consignment store.  We found the headband on sale at the Gap for a couple bucks.  She looked stunning for Christmas Sunday church!

Custom Burp Rags from Cloth Diapers

I've had so many babies now that all the cloth diaper burp rags have become cleaning clothes.  I use them with harsh chemicals and do not want to get them mixed up with the ones for the new baby.

Beach Baby Carrier Canopy

I had never seen such a thing as a baby carrier canopy with my last 3 babies but I love the idea!  Baby can sleep in peace without suffocating.  Getting closer to being ready for the baby.  If he came tomorrow, I think we'd be alright, but I still want to make him a small quilt for in his carrier and a larger quilt for his bed.  I still need to dig some stuff out of the garage and do a little scrubbing.  (The swing, baby bouncer, bath tub, high and exersaucer)

Beach Baby Car Seat Carrier

Aloha baby!  Beach baby's car seat is finally done-  Whew!  People ask why I don't make and sell car seat covers.  The reason is - IT IS SO MUCH WORK!  I will sell you this one for $1000 not a penny less.  I'm figuring that this will be my only baby born at the beach so I should have some fun with my beach baby theme : )

My Notes from reading Financial Peace

Dave Ramsey Financial Peace

1. Avoid worshipping "stuff"

2. Donate $ to a good Cause

3. Develop my Power over Purchase

4. Live Substantially below our income

5. Sacrifice now, so we can have peace later

6.  You can ALWAYS spend more than you make

7.  The borrower is servant to the lender; so beware!

8. You must save money

No Way Around It-

Figure out our actual income and proceed to live far below that mark.  It will take some time to undo some of the messes we have gotten ourselves into.

I have counseled people who make $200,000 Annually and people who make $20,000 and they both spent it all.  Yes the guy with $200,00 had bigger toys and more sophisticated bad investments, but the both had the same result --b-r-o-k-e.

Proverbs 21:20 "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but the foolish man devours all that he has."

How many times have you gone out to eat or bought clothes or even taken a vacation that you could not afford and you borrowed the money through plastic purchases?  This is bad, bad planning and use of your funds.

Plastic Surgery

Cut [credit cards] ups.

You do not have to borrow money to buy a car.  Pay cash for one that is not quite what you want, start saving the equivalent of a car payment a month and very soon you can drive whatever you want.

In order to get out of debt: quit borrowing more money.

Dump debt using the debt snowball from the small debt to the largest.

You need to get mad.  First, you need to realize that you can stop borrowing.  You can get out of debt.  You can have a happy and better life.  It takes a lot of willpower, but it can be done.  First lean to stop borrowing.  Second, apply every extra penny we have each month to a certain bill.

You and your spouse set your goals, work hard, work often, live on little and get out (of debt) so you never have to talk to people whose sole job is to technique you again.

Pile up plunder.  Save money.  Have a goal of saving 10% of you take home pay.  Save 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings.  Never has a couple come to me for financial crisis counseling that has an emergency fund of 3-6 months worth of expenses.

The safest way to double you money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket.

Disciplined savings will outpace any investment scheme.

First you have to do the written plan.  When you write down what you are going to do with money, you are making it and you behave.

Plan Your Escape!

The problem with prison breaks in they take a long time -- too long.  Digging a hundred year underground tunnel over a five-year period with a spoon sounds like it takes too long and is too hard. Yet a bold plan requires a blueprint, tenacity, checking and rechecking every detail, thinking, praying , and digging every day.  Sounds too tough, but on the day that you are free and the sun of liberation hits you in the face when you finally reach the end of the tunnel, you will forget.  You will forget all those damp nights with the spoon and the dirt, you will forget the hopelessness you had to fight through. You will forget all the "friends" who said it couldn't be done. You will be financially free.

Write down spending every month before it happens.

Work everything with a five- and ten-year view; it is the only way to keep you momentum when you are digging with a spoon.  I don't think I can overemphasize that the written plan gives you power over the money that you have.  The written plan is money empowerment.

Get yourself in great financial condition; get rich so you can help the ones you love.

Step A: Keep your checkbook properly recorded and balanced.

Step B:  Write out the details - basically lay it all out and see where money is going and budget.  Envelope system- when we started using the envelope system for food, our expenditures on food dropped by over $100 per month.

Step C: Commit to plan for 90 days.  If you will stay with the 90 days, I promise that you will work the kinks out and you financial life will never be the same.

Baby Steps

1.  Pay minimum on everything until you have $1000 emergency fund.

2.  Kill all debt.  Get mad and stay mad until you get out.

3.  Save rest of emergency fund (3-6 months worth of expenses)

4.  15% income to retirement plan.

5.   Start college funds for kids

6.  Pay off your house early

7.  Get Rich, Personal finance is not a microwave, but a crock pot.

Lovin' Disney

Camping In

Charleston Dahhhrling!

Wilmington, NC - Roadtrip!!!

 I  used to think I wanted to live in Wilmington, NC.  It was where I wanted to settle down and build my dream house.  No- I'd never been there.  Now I have.  While it was great visiting our dear friends the Makepeace family, I'm not ready to pack up and move quite yet.  I learned that Atlantic Beach is more of my dream town than Wilmington will ever be. 

 

Run for it!

We had a lot of fun hanging with my BFF Stephanie and co. this last weekend in Vero Beach.

Poor Brock

Poor, poor Brock. 

He is having such a hard time being the only one not going to school.  He cries every morning when Juliet and Cougar get out of the car.  This morning he was up early packing his lunch box with a granola bar.  He must have decided that the reason he doesn't get to go to school is because he doesn't have a lunch box with him. 

So we go to the car drop off and the safety patrol kid opens the car door.  Brock, with his lunch box in his lap, yells, "I come!  I come!" 

Juliet and Cougar hop out of the car and shut the door.  Brock was devastated.  He cried all the way home.  What am I going to do???

Happy Birthday to Me

I guess 34 is the year that you no longer need anything new.  I have always struggled with buying my grandparents gifts because they have either already had it and thrown it away or they don't want it.  This year as I surveyed my birthday gifts, I noticed that each and every one of them was a replacement for something I already had, but has either broken or run out.

My ice cream maker of 11 years finally bit the dust this summer, my mother got me a new one just like it.  Hopefully it will last another 11 years.  We love us some homemade ice cream! 

My ipod car radio adapter busted, so Chad got me a new one.  Now he just needs to replace my blown out speakers so I can really enjoy it.

I ran out of perfume, so the kids got me a new bottle. 

What a treat to know that I don't want anything.  But I do have a long list of things I want fixed or replaced!!!!

The Calm Before the Storm - Hurricane Irene

 The skies deceive us this morning.  The blue skies teasing us with an innocent looking rainbow.  The promise of peace....

By Tuesday of this week the shelves were getting bare at the store as we stocked up for the worst.  This is just a sneak peak at the supplies we gathered.  We've printed off our evacuation directions.  We are headed off to my aunt and uncle's home in Georgia.  Hopefully our preparation will result in nothing happening!

Little Pink Beach School

 

Juliet has been dying to go to the Pink Beach School since the day we arrived in Florida.  Her big chance finally came.  Cougar was so excited for his sister to start school with him that he ended up late to class so he could walk her to Kindergarten.  So sweet!   

We figured out that this will be the only year the two of them will get to go to the same school so they are going to try to really enjoy it.  They are so excited that their lunch times cross over so they get to see one another during the school day.

Clutter update: I'm still getting a bag a day out.  I have gotten out all I want to throw out, and have moved on to donations. 

30 day clutter clean out

Daddy don't look.  You can't handle it.  My goal is to get rid of a trash bag's worth of clutter everyday for a month.  Starting with video tapes.  I have a ton and no VCR = clutter.

I'm attempting a hard reset.

Everything I have will have to be moved to DC in a year.  I have no money to move with and will likely have a home so tiny in DC that I would have no place to put anything.  So the goal is to seriously par down.

I want to get rid of ALL clutter items and sell all of my someday I will need this tag-a-longs.

The 25 Year Quilt

This quilt has been in the works for 25 years and today it is complete!  My mother started making this for me when I was a little girl because I loved purple.  After a while she gave it up and I picked it up.  Whenever we would have a car trip or I'd come to town I'd pull out the quilt and work on it for a while.  I am proud to announce that the project is finally complete!

Let Brock Eat Cake

Caught in the act.

Let me take a moment to explain that Brock is celebrating his birthday in his diaper because we had just come home from a long day at the beach and the pool!

Daddy's Gift - He loved it

Mommy's Gift - He loved it too.

His favorite gift was his cars book full of cars

First year to blow out all the candles!

Pepper gets new digs

Pepper's house was... just unacceptable.  So we got her a new fancy place to call home.

Ichetucknee Springs

 Imagine a chilly icy spring water river under our rafts and tubes. 

 It really was a super fun time with the kids.

 Honestly the best thing I have found to do on a hot day in Florida outside.

 Brock was born to float down a river.

 Juliet could wait to be done only to beg to start over again.