FYI

Just wanted to let you all know that we are still alive here. Though I do not have a "job" for next school year, we are making the best of the situation. I am working on starting a home based business. What kind of business, you may wonder?

Well, it seems to me that many people enjoy homemade crafts, but most of these people either do not like to or don't know how to make things. So, my idea is to create some crafts, such as knit and crocheted items, as well as some other items, and sell them online. I plan to have items for baby, children, and adults, as well as holiday and home decor items. I am working on a web site to sell things from, as well.

We are still working on a name, however. Does anyone have any ideas? It needs to be usable as a URL as well.

I have been working hard on creating items to sell over the past couple of days. I have a few already, too! I am hoping this idea works well, but we will see what time brings.

In addition, I plan to substitute teach this school year. That should keep me pretty busy!

How to Survive With What You Already Have

Jennie has a good thread going over at her blog, and I just had to add to it.

A lot of our culture today is based on "have it now". We definitely have entitlement issues. After several years of marriage, many of us have the same lifestyles of our parents, often with bigger homes, newer cars, and more fashionable clothing. The trouble is, they can afford their lifestyle after 20+ years of working hard for it, and we can not. So we go deeply into debt for it. Add to that the fact that we have to "keep up with the Joneses", and you have a surefire recipe for disaster.

So were does all that lead? It leads to fear, arguments with your spouse, and a general discontentment with the things we have. Isn't it time we stop this insanity? But how can we do that, you may wonder?

First, make it a point to communicate with your spouse about money issues. Paul and I had a hard time with this at first. I had been taking care of the money for so long, I was a little scared to tell him exactly how much we had (didn't have was more like it) and how much we owed. But it wasn't that bad once we actually had the talk. It seems he was thinking things were much worse that they were.

Second, sit down together and spend EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR on paper before the month begins. You know how much you make, you know how much you spend on your "necessities", and you should have at least an idea how much you spend on food and gas. When we did this, we noticed that we spent a ridiculous amount of money on paying back our creditors. It was almost a third of our take home pay, actually. Once you have this taken care of, you can see where you can trim your budget. We chose to suspend our DirecTV service for 6 months to add that $65 to our payoff plan. We also use cash now for food, gas, and clothing purchases. According to Dave Ramsey's research, people spend between 12% and 18% more when using a card of ANY type for these purchases, and I would have to agree.

Finally, learn to tell yourself NO. This is where the contentment comes in. If you really look around your house, how many things do you have that you truly love? Probably not as many as you would think. I can look around and see many things I would love to get rid of. Have a yard sale with all of the junk you don't love. Then, you have to be able to say no the next time there is something you just have to have. NO IMPULSE PURCHASES. If you want something bad enough, it will still be there tomorrow.

For more information on how to take control of your finances and become content with what you have, click on the "Family Tree" banner at the top of my page. It will take you to Dave Ramsey's site. I think you can learn a lot there.

Job Update

Well, it didn't happen. I was e-mailed this morning and told that the positions had both been filled. I have to say that I am a bit disappointed. I thought things were looking good for this one.

I am not sure where to go from here. I am feeling a little lost. I need to find my way.

More later.

Notice Anything New???

Money from Heaven

It is funny how, when you have a budget, money seems to come out of nowhere. We received an $850 check from Publix yesterday. It will put us about 2-3 months closer to getting out of debt! It is truly heaven sent.

Yard in Progress - Before and After

Paul and I (emphasis on Paul) have been working on the back yard the last 2 weekends. I have to say, it is coming along. If you have been here recently, you would remember the mish-mosh that was our back yard. The paths had grass and weeds growing on them, they were strewn with pots, and the berry bushes were perhaps a bit overgrown. The other paths were partially covered with gravel, with a healthy dose of weeds growing in it. And, you really could not walk on them for all of the pots in the way. It looked like this...

Now, after a lot of hard work on Paul's part, it is looking much improved! Paul spent quite a few hours removing the weeds and grass from the path. Then we both placed pavers on the ground to make stepping stones on the path. We also moved the fire pit to a more usable location, surrounding it with a paver patio and using some of that gravel underneath (my idea!!). Finally, we laid cedar mulch down on the path. The result is quite attractive, if I do say so myself!

What a difference!!!

It's Independence Day!

On this day in 1776, our forefathers saw fit to declare independence from Great Britain. It is in these words that we have since lived our lives.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, tha all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

To those of you who have valiantly fought to preserve these freedoms, and to the families of these brave men and women, we can never thank you enough.


Happy 4th of July!