Working Towards Financial Peace

This upcoming year, my husband and I have decided to get down and dirty and work on knocking out our debt to become debt free. We have worked out a plan and if we have no major speed bumps, fingers crossed, we will be nearly debt free at the end of 2011. Our small debts and van payments will be finished in June and the car will be done in December of this year. Then we can start 2012 finishing off our 2 small school loans. Then we are going to kill the mortgage. The goal is to be completely debt free in about 7 years. It will be hard but well worth it. The vehicles are new enough that they will only need repaired from time to time. The hope is to build up a savings account so that in the far future we can buy cars with cash. Then when we get paid we will only need to pay for utilities.

The peace of mind that should follow will be well worth any sacrifice now. I'm tired of worrying about grocery money, gas money, paying bills on time, etc. This year almost all Christmas gifts given to friends and family were homemade and received great reviews. That saved us from going under farther. I only purchased things for my kids for Santa to give. The result was a very relaxed holiday. I highly recommend it.

I am a huge fan of freecycle. It's a great way to give your unwanted things to those who may need them in the community, and also receive items you, yourself might need. This is all done online and is completely free. No money changes hands. Goodwill is a great place for discounted things you may need, but not necessarily new. I like to buy plastic baby toys at 25 cents each and let my dogs have as chew toys. This is a great deal when you consider the price at a pet store is $5 - $10 per toy. The dog will destroy it either way.

The kids are 8, 10, and 12 and have found making recycled crafts to be great fun. They loved making a cardboard city, see previous blog for more info and pics on that. They like to take old hats and clothes that are stained or torn and redecorate them and turn into fun dress up clothes.

So the overall goal is to be creative, put extra towards the bills, and look to the future!

freecycle website

Cardboard city

Life's Stories as told by snowmen

You thought your neighbors were bad? Are you turned off by public displays of affection? Then this should definitely disturb you! Sometimes we don't like what we see because it's inappropriate other times it reminds us of what we wish we had. Does something upset you because you are jealous or is it actually serious?

The predictable thing about kids is that they are unpredictable. Remember to keep your cool because mistakes and accidents will happen.

Always be prepared for the worst. Children don't think ahead so you will need to do it for them. And please don't eat the yellow snow!

Know when to fight and when to give up. Is it really worth dying over? You can replace a lot of things but you can't replace yourself. You only get one body, take care of it and use it wisely. If you put crap in, you will look and feel like crap. If you cherish and care for yourself it will show.

Recycled Cabinet

    I have been recycling and reusing things a lot lately. We recently took out an upper cabinet from our kitchen to open the space. I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I have been tripping on it for quite some time. At the same time I have been trying to rearrange and organize things around the house. Then I found the perfect marriage. I have a cubby from Target that has been used to store shoes in my room but I hate seeing the shoes, so I focused on that.

    The cabinet I took down is 3 ft long and 1 ft deep. I measured the cubby and got the same measurements. Yay! A winner! I decided to stack them. It works out wonderfully. I can now keep the shoes hidden behind doors in the cabinet, and use the cubbies for storage and display. Some of the squares are open in the back so I taped a piece of scrapbook paper that looks like tile to the back. Later I will paint or stain all to match.

Snow Day Activities

   The following is a list of fun things you can do with your kids on a snow day.

• Give them a spray bottle with water and a few drops of food coloring. They can spray paint the snow. Just remind them not to do walkways as they will get icy. Koolaid can be substituted for dye.
• Do you have potato head pieces? They can make snowmen and push in the potato head body parts. Great fun!
• Build a fort or an igloo, show kids how to pack snow into pails and they can make snow castles.
• Play florist or farmer. Give the kids plastic or silk flowers and let them "plant" them in the snow. Can also use fruit and veggies from their play food. Give them some empty baskets to harvest the fields with.
• Snow angels are a classic.
• For older kids, let them build a fort and throw snowballs or take their Nerf guns out and play war games. Better outside than inside. Added bonus Nerf bullets wont get lost behind furniture and the bright orange color is sure to show up in the snow.
• Treasure hunt: kids can make map to find buried treasure. They can count their paces in the snow easily by looking at their footprints.
• Guess the object. Bring out a sack of items with distinct shapes. Have kids cover their eyes. Press an object in snow and then place back in bag. Can kids guess what the object was based on impression in snow?
• Polar Bears and Penguins: let kids run around and slide around like these great snow animals. Remind them that polar bears walk on all fours and that penguins waddle and slide on their bellies.
• Free play with plastic animals and dolls is also fun for kids. Getting to play in the snow is a novelty. Anything they may enjoy doing in sand, they can also try in snow.

Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow, And we, we were children once again. ~Bill Morgan, Jr.

Stuff to put stuff in

    Family:  A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.  ~Evan Esar

    How much stuff is enough stuff? How many dishes are normal? How much clothes do we need? When does a lot become a hoard? Is it possible to have too little?

    My grandmother is a hoarder and so is my mother. I grew up in a house that I slowly watched get more and more filled with stuff. As another child would move out with their belongings, their now vacant room would refill just as quickly with miscellaneous junk. I find that I too have the tendency to want to hoard but being aware of it has made all the difference. I recently closed down my family daycare business of 10 years. There was a lot of toys and furniture involved. I went through and sold or donated most of it and only kept what my own children play with.
   
    My house became a lot emptier, it was nice.  I fell in love with the empty spaces. I had never seen empty spaces before. We didn't have them growing up. As far as toys go, I do believe in a good, healthy amount being available for kids to play with. I would rather trip over the toys they are playing with than have kids glued to monitors all day. Clothes have always been simple for me. I only keep what fits and what I wear. My oldest sons clothes are put in space bags and kept for my youngest. Once my youngest son and daughter grow out of their clothes they are donated.

    I only keep what I can realistically use. Is my house empty? Not even close but it isn't jam packed either. We have bonus rooms that we use for extras. The kids have a music room for their drum set, keyboard, and guitar. We have a very large dining room that doubles as a space for video games. I can see my floor and I can see my walls so I think I'm doing OK.

   The compulsion to try and find a reason to keep things is no longer something I struggle with. It was a burden and kept me from doing the things I wanted to do. It is freeing to throw things out. Do you need to go shopping for stuff to stuff your stuff in?

Gifts are the true meaning of Christmas!

I believe giving of yourself and time is what the heart of the holiday is about. Helping those in need, being with those who have nobody, teaching others through love, and rejoicing in the holy spirit are great ways to celebrate.

My extended family doesn't see it this way. I get grief for not going out of my way to hunt them down so they can throw gifts at us and shove us out the door and consider themselves done with Christmas. I would rather forgo the gifts in exchange for them to spend time with my kids, their grandkids. They do not see my kids except for holidays and birthdays despite the fact that they live within easy driving distance. They decline attending school events, dinner engagements, and weekend visits because they do not wish to spend their time with family. They consider the gifts as a payment to opt out of such events.

My children do understand the meaning of Christmas and have started looking down on other family members. My kids are tired of watching people choose things over time with them. They have developed many coping mechanisms to deal with this rejection and it is very sad to see it has come to this over the years. The heart of a child is pure and they see people clearly for who they are. I am proud of my children for standing tall and sticking with the principles they believe in.

Gifts of love are the true meaning of Christmas, not gifts from a store. If Santa doesn't come, Christmas still does. Being with those you love in comfort and a stress free environment is the true pleasure of Christmas.

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.  ~Roy L. Smith

 

Last Minute Christmas Craft Ideas

    Running short on gifts? Running short on cash? Here are some quickie craft ideas to finish off your gift list.

•  Have any burnt out lightbulbs? Spray paint them and turn them into snowmen, reindeer, or just plain bulbs. Attach wire to metal end and hang from tree.

• Go to your local goodwill, salvation army, or other donation center. Buy some very cheap frames. Even the one with the picture of a kitty doing ballet? Yes, that one too. Take them home and throw out any pics or painings they may have come with. Paint the frame with spray paint or left over wall paint. You can leave as a solid color or decorate by gluing on buttons or other craft items. This would also be a great project for kids to help with. Then when dry, add in a family photo or put in a nice piece of scrapbook paper with a nice printed out quote.
• Cut a posterboard into a wreath shape. Have your child dip their hand into green paint and make prints around the outside and use their fingers as the berries. Add a picture to the center and a ribbon to the top to hang it from. If possible laminate.