I fought the urge, but Target won. $31.00. 3 shirts for Lil' DS, 1 shirt for DD, 2 boxes of granola bars, and 1 pack of hair things for DS. Needs? Naw. Darn Target.

I really feel a loss of control right now. Lil' DS is not eating properly, he went to bed at 11pm last night, and we have to wake him up at 6 to go to Daycare.

The kitchen is a MESS. Tomorrow is DD's 9th b-day - I have cupcakes to make.
Couldn't even make myself make dinner, so $15 at Little Caesars.

I know there's a correlation between house and finances... I hate that I failed miserably today. I spent some of our gas money for next week.

I just feel so unorganized. The kids aren't listening, the lil' one is acting silly, and DH is watching the Suns game.

gahahahahahaaahhhhahah!

sorry for the vent...

Okay, this past Friday, was the first paycheck since starting our new budget (it was also the first paycheck of April).

Remember I mentioned we were two payments behind on our car? I have to pay three payments this month. 1 to pay March, 2 to pay April and 3 to pay ahead for May.
I just paid the first of three today!! Wahoo! I have the rest budgeted for this month. It helps that all of the other bills are fine, or paid ahead.

So, today is Sunday - kids go back to school tomorrow. DH is at work (like all Sunday's). So, we had errands to run. It was a hard week of AIMS testing for the kids, so I thought a treat was in order. So, we ran our errands, then went to McDonalds. Each kid got a Happy Meal, and me a meal deal. It cost me $17.59. OMG. How stupid am I? (I normally wouldn't even look @ the total.) Next time, we eat PB&J before we go, then go and get a .59 cent ice cream cone. This was Lil DS's (Nic) first time there since he learned to walk. It was fun! Despite the cost.

One of the errands was to get a B-Day gift for my dad. So we got a gift card and 2 b-day cards - total $30.11.

And finally - I paid the car payment (by Money Gram) - couldn't avoid the fee. Needed to make it pronto. So - 465.95.

Total today: $513.65 (like water, I tell ya).

We went grocery shopping on Friday and Saturday. Our normal budget is:

Food 150 (2x a month)
Costco 180

But because I have to make extra car payments, I had to scale down on the food money. So, I spent:

$19.58 @ Sprouts - veggies and fruit - yummy!

$116.33 @ Costco ($16 over, but I bought some stuff there that I was planning to get @ Fry's).

$123.14 @ Fry's. They were having MAJOR sales (buy 10 and save $5.00) - but I couldn't go over board and stock up like I wanted to. Maybe next month.

All the way through Costco, DH was trying to add things to the cart - which were not on the list. He was mad at me. But I don't care. I am sticking to it this time.

So - total for Food and Stuff: $259.05
Only $9.05 OVER the "fake/temp" budget!! Wahoo! Much better than I thought.

I did realize today that I still need Dog Food and Toilet Paper - so I will be heading to Wal-Mart tonight - I have coupons for both!

I have 200.00 is Savings, 50 in the EF, and 100 in my checking to carry over to next week (for another car payment).

And shhh. Keep this top secret please... I was offered a new job on Tuesday. I accepted - and the pay i$ more! That will help a lot. I will be working for an privately owned, but well known Investment Firm - so I am hoping that, as I continue to work in the finance industry - I will continue to make smart financial decisions! I haven't given my notice yet (waiting on background check) - but I will start May 12).

And finally - I had several dreams last night - that I kept taking pregnancy tests and getting positives!! Oh no! I would love more children, but can't take the risk of another delivery like the last. I guess I got to get that taken care of. Which costs more money... but gotta get it done. So, I will be having the talk with DH tonight!! Wish me luck!

Oh - and our next Pay Day is Tuesday!! Can't wait to pay more bills!!!

This is what my 28 weeker looks like:














(TOLD YOU THEY ROCK!!)



And finally - this past Sunday...



He is the most amazing thing! Praying for your family!!

Oh - and to tie this to finances - He cost me A LOT! lol... =)

How do we move on with our lives?

=D

As I was making DH's lunch yesterday - I realized I could save us a few bucks at the grocery store - if he would just convert to Creamy Peanut Butter.

Doesn't end there, tho.

He's Perserves, I'm Jelly.

I cannot stand whole fruit in my jelly. I think there is a middle ground there - a Strawberry spread (with no whole berries).

We may survive after all.

But - in all honesty, I don't think he will convert to Creamy PB. So I may have to put my big girl panties on and give in to him.

Thankfully, I prolly won't need to make this decision this month. Before SA.com, I had gone to Costco and bought him Crunchy PB and those darn perserves. Two jars of each (they are packaged that way).

In May, things may have to change. Saving money is worth it, right?

So, I just spent the last hour and 26 minutes watching Maxed Out. What a documentary!

I am prolly a marketing firm's best customer. I want what they are selling. I have toned it down a whole lot as of late - but after watching Maxed Out - I am done. (*Note - just cause I wanted it, doesn't mean I got it. =D More than likely, I talked abt it and about wanting it. Word of mouth advertising.)

I cannot believe that people go to great lengths TO KILL THEMSELVES because they are in major debt. The doc showed 3 people... how many more out there have done the same, or have merely thought about it? It's a shame.

I know for the past two years, I having been trying to rebuild our credit. We went from me having 2 credit cards and DH having none - to 5 or 6 each. YIKES!

Obviously, we have made a decision to turn that all around. That's why I am here. But I cannot believe how long we were buying into their scams.

The doc should be shown to EVERY high school senior. Better yet, to every 12-15 y.o. Start it early.

There were some areas that were extreme, all the responsibility can't lie on the government and the card/financial companies... We have to take some too. I signed the application...I hit the submit button... I choose to live above my means.

I choose to say that Debt is Not Sexy... My new friends Mr. Cash and Mrs. Frugal are very sexy. That's the kinda sexy I want to be.

Proof...

Dh's side. lol... Dh is an electronic geek. He loves anything electronic, and anything that goes into electronics.
He's working on the rest today... So many CDs and DVDs.


My side. I wish I took a 'before' shot... it was bad. Piles of paper everywhere.


Note: The glass of Sweet Tea is current. Promise! Got to have my sweet tea! Oh, just saw that the tea bags are 50% cheaper if I buy Wal-Mart brand! Wahoo!

Wouldn't that be nice.
Disclaimer - spelling (errr typing?)never counts!

Grandma to the rescue (even if I don't want her to be).

When we were making a lot less money, and both not so smart abt financial decisions - there were a lot of times my parents had to bail us out. The last several years, we have been financial independent from them!

They used to pay for my kids' birthday parties (which can be anywhere from $150-$250 each). I vowed a few years ago that I would never let that happen again.

Well, her birthday is Friday, the 18th (oops - her being Isabel, my daughter). And I have no money budgeted for it - especially since I do owe a little to the IRS. I told my mom, we would have them over for dinner and a cake.

She grew silent.

Dunt dunt dunnnnn.

She asked if we could revisit my decision. That the rest of the family would love to see Isa on her 9th birthday. I told her that it wouldn't always be this way, just this year. It's budgeted within my Escrow account for next year. I told her that I was making a huge effort for her not to have to pay those things.

She said "Jaime, I am the grandma, I want to, and enjoy doing, these types of things."

So - Isa may get a party after all - but I will try and keep it small, and budget friendly (for my mom's sake - even though they are financially set).

Start as we mean to continue...

I read on someone else's blog - that they wish Payday's were closer together. And can I say? - I agree!

I am so excited about paying bills, but we do not get paid until the 11th (DH) and the 15th (me).

I want to get started on this budget thing! lol...

I was checking out some bills last night, and it seems that a few have already been paid for April - so, they will be paid ahead - which is nice.

I just spent the last several hours cleaning our office. I got our filing system and cabinet all set. I have files for everything, including to help keep track of our Escrow and Misc items.

It is so nice to purge. I have three large bags of PAPER. We never throw anything away... That's going to change. With our new plan, we are going to shred as much as possible.

So, I am stoked. It was hard work - but we got it done.

Off to pay some bills!

I spent several hours today creating our family budget. It's very pretty, and colorful!

More importantly, it seems to be doable. It took some time to figure out what to pay each pay period, based on when the bills are due. We bring home about 1350 each paycheck (I get paid on the 15th and last day of the month, DH gets paid every other week). This amount is after $50 each week gets moved into a seperate Savings Account. So, doing the math - I budgeted every last penny.

In our budget, I included all of the bills, and the following:

Food 300
Costco 180
Emergency Fund 50
Household 40
Allowance 100 (50 for him and 50 for me)
Escrow (the once a year bills) 135
Daycare 300
Gas 400 (we live 30 miles from work)
Collections 100 (to help pay down)
Cards 100 (extra, to help pay down)

So, with all of those bases covered, I felt like we could use up all of the money. If DH gets OT, then that extra pay for that period will be put towards a Credit Card.

DH and I just got done going over our plans - making sure we were on the same page. As I mentioned early, I gave up my Cards and my ATM for my Savings. I will not be incurring debt!

I have cancelled all of our Credit Guard stuff, our home phone (we each have a cell, including the two older kids) and am looking at other ways to save money. I know suggestions were made to cancel certain things or trade things in... but I have a family of 5 - and some of the stuff is just a bill we will have to deal with. I am truly more concerned with the uneccessary spending we do. I can spend money at Target like there's no tomorrow. We spend hundreds of dollars on eating out on certain weekends. That is what I am stopping.

I am very thankful to have found this site. You all offer the best of advice. Thank you! =)

Off to go create envelopes for our new system.

Btw... I am not crazy abt opening more bank accounts - for some of your expenses (Escrow, Gas, Food and EF) - do you just keep the cash locked up @ home?
I know that as some of them grow, I will want to open a Savings account. I work for Countrywide Bank, so we have several products I can choose from... but until then - lock it up?

Thanks!