I started my day out with a two mile walk. That's my long walk for the week. I could tell that I was walking two miles. It felt different than just doing a mile. When I got home I took a shower and then had my smoothie for breakfast. Today I made it with cherries instead of raspberries. It still was delicious. I shared it with David. He enjoyed it too. I think I'm going to cut back on the protein powder though just to make it last longer. I'll just do one scoop instead of two. I've got to go to Wild Oats and get some more smoothie mix. I only have one left for tomorrow.
David and I sat down and worked on a budget today. Together! We're trying to f0llow DR's plan for financial freedom. It felt good to work on it together. I think we've come up with a workable plan. We'll have to see how our estimates differ from the actuals once we get going. I've already had to make changes to account for RX's for me and Christmas. I'm only budgeting $100 for this year. Mostly just to cover the grandkids. At least I was able to make the adjustments. There was some wiggle room for it. I won't be able to order my meds until Friday but I should have enough to last until then. From this point on, we'll set money aside each month for medical expenses (mostly RX costs). I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting and I'll have to budget those in as we go along, but I have the majority of it in an Excel spreadsheet that I've already printed out.
I haven't done much in the house the last few days. I've been obsessed with the finances again, still. There's just the usual stuff to be done: laundry, dishes, etc. I'll try to get some of that done tonight while David is gone. He has hockey tonight. It's the start of the season. I don't think either of us are ready for hockey season to start.
Not sure if we're going over the Lisa's tomorrow for the 'thing that isn't' or not. I'll have to see if David wants to go. I have the day off from working out tomorrow, so I can sleep in if I want to. I might go even if David doesn't go. I miss being with everyone.
I've been posting on the Flybaby forum (http://flybaby.forumotion.com), the DR TMMO forum (http://www.DaveRamsey.com) and on Mary Hunt's 'Money Rules, Debt Stinks' blog (http://www.moneyrulesdebtstinks.com). I've been busy! I need to work those things into my routine though instead of letting it take up my whole day like it has been lately. Now that I have my subscription to the DR forum I can ease up a bit. I only had a 7 day free trial and I was trying to get all I could out of it in those 7 days. But David and I talked and we decided that it would be worth $10 a month for me to belong to the forum. It will be good for suggestions, encourgement and support. Getting out of debt (including paying off the house) will take a long time and I will need the online support.
My goals this week were to:
* not use the DC
* drink only water (don't buy water or juices)
* make meals from what's on hand in the freezer and cupboards
I used the DC once to sign up for Vonage and I had to use it twice to pay for things that couldn't wait and had to be paid by DC (the online course and David's RX's). David used his DC today to get gas. That was on the list of things we could do this week with the DC. I've been drinking water only (today I did put some Crystal Light in one bottle of water, but that's okay) and eating all meals from what's on hand. All I've had to get at the store is milk, tp, bread, and jelly. That's not bad for the whole week. I still won't need to go shopping this coming week for much. I have a few things to pick up but the majority of the meals will again come from the freezer, fridge and cupboard. I have two packs of chicken left, so that's at least two meals there (plus hopefully some leftovers for David's lunch). I also have mexican rice and refried beans and tortillas and cheese for another meal. There's always eggs on toast for another. So, there is plenty on hand.
Guess it's time to do some laundry and dishes. Up off my franny!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
Focus
I'm not feeling well today but I still went for my walk. I just went a little bit later than usual. I'm glad it wasn't too warm out while I was walking. Today's walk went by really fast. I was listening to the Dave Ramsey show on KRDO AM 1240 as I went around my loop. I just got out of the shower. That made me feel somewhat better. I have a sore throat and I'm fatigued. I wanted to start interval training today but just didn't have the get up and go to do it. But I did get out there and walk. I knew I wasn't feeling good last night because I tried to work on the budget and just couldn't do it. My focus wasn't there. I may try to work on it today if I feel up to it. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep track of finances. I don't know if I'm supposed to enter things into Money and then reconcile it or just download off the credit union site. I'll look into that today. David and I both have are online course completion certificate. I'm glad to get that done. Yesterday I signed us up for Vonage. It's only $25 a month versus almost $70 for Qwest for local and long distance. We'll still have the cell phones with Qwest unless I can get someone to take over the contract. Vonage uses the DSL line, so I'll keep MSN Premium from Qwest. We have a two year contract with DirecTV so that has to stay for now. If I can figure out some way out of it, I might think of cancelling it. I need to do anything I can to pay off debt. If I had found Dave Ramsey's program months ago, we might not be in the situation that we are currently in, but like the FlyLady program, I'm going to just jump in where I am.
I called into the FlyShow yesterday. It was a pretty quick call. I told Marla and Leanne that I was proud of myself for making veggie soup this week. I also thanked Marla for introducing us to Jonathan Roche. I'm pretty excited about the information I heard on Jonathan's show Wednesday. I learned that I shouldn't walk at the same level every day. I need to do the intervals and the strength workout during the week and a longer walk on Saturdays. Marla and Leanne were really proud of me and happy for me. After the call they chatted about my call and how I'm babystepping through my body clutter. I'm trying to take it one step at a time and they could see that over the weeks that I've been calling in.
Brad called yesterday and I told him that we couldn't have him come out here. Financially we just can't afford it. I know he was bummed out. I told him that I really wanted to say 'yes', but couldn't right now. I did tell him that I love him and that I'd help him out if I could. It was hard to say 'no' to him. I'm still feeling bad about it. I worry that he'll get depressed because he has no way out now. He's got to make this work for himself though. Argh! My heart goes out to him.
I sent an email into the DR show and I'll be listening today to see if he answers it. There's a question someone is asking now about how to get the spouse on board. I think David wants to be on board, but just yesterday he asked for my permission to spend money on something. I told him that I wouldn't answer because he knew the answer. He said 'I know, you're not my mother!". I nodded. I also told him that we make decisions together, he doesn't come to me and ask for my permission. He needs to decide whether he wants to spend money on going out to eat or if he'd rather spend the money on groceries and/or paying down bills. He has to be as invested in this as I am. If he's going to want to go and spend money on things that aren't in the budget, then we're going to have problems. He and I need to sit down and work out the budget so he can see just where the money is going. We also need to set some goals to work toward (baby EF, paying down bills, etc.). After those things we can start looking at money for a vacation perhaps. But we've got to pay off the bills and think about paying off the house too.
I'm losing focus so I'm going to go take a rest.
I called into the FlyShow yesterday. It was a pretty quick call. I told Marla and Leanne that I was proud of myself for making veggie soup this week. I also thanked Marla for introducing us to Jonathan Roche. I'm pretty excited about the information I heard on Jonathan's show Wednesday. I learned that I shouldn't walk at the same level every day. I need to do the intervals and the strength workout during the week and a longer walk on Saturdays. Marla and Leanne were really proud of me and happy for me. After the call they chatted about my call and how I'm babystepping through my body clutter. I'm trying to take it one step at a time and they could see that over the weeks that I've been calling in.
Brad called yesterday and I told him that we couldn't have him come out here. Financially we just can't afford it. I know he was bummed out. I told him that I really wanted to say 'yes', but couldn't right now. I did tell him that I love him and that I'd help him out if I could. It was hard to say 'no' to him. I'm still feeling bad about it. I worry that he'll get depressed because he has no way out now. He's got to make this work for himself though. Argh! My heart goes out to him.
I sent an email into the DR show and I'll be listening today to see if he answers it. There's a question someone is asking now about how to get the spouse on board. I think David wants to be on board, but just yesterday he asked for my permission to spend money on something. I told him that I wouldn't answer because he knew the answer. He said 'I know, you're not my mother!". I nodded. I also told him that we make decisions together, he doesn't come to me and ask for my permission. He needs to decide whether he wants to spend money on going out to eat or if he'd rather spend the money on groceries and/or paying down bills. He has to be as invested in this as I am. If he's going to want to go and spend money on things that aren't in the budget, then we're going to have problems. He and I need to sit down and work out the budget so he can see just where the money is going. We also need to set some goals to work toward (baby EF, paying down bills, etc.). After those things we can start looking at money for a vacation perhaps. But we've got to pay off the bills and think about paying off the house too.
I'm losing focus so I'm going to go take a rest.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Getting on track
Wow! I haven't posted for a few days. I'll try to make up for it today. ~lol~ I've been walking every day until today. I'm taking a recovery day off today. I've been busy with the finances again (that online course and the Dave Ramsey stuff) so that's why I haven't been blogging on here. I have everything ready for our meeting on the 19th. David just needs to complete the online course (he'll do that tonight). I'm feeling really excited about following Dave Ramsey's babysteps to financial freedom. Here's what we'll be doing:
BS1: $1000 baby emergency fund (this is where we are starting)
BS2: pay off all the debts from lowest BALANCE to highest (Cork, the Jeep, the house) - debt snowball
BS3: save 3-6 months EXPENSES in emergency fund
BS4: start contributing 15% of paycheck to retirement
BS5: save for kids college fund (since we don't have to do this we can move on to BS6)
BS6: pay off house early
BS7: give and build wealth
There are other mini-steps involved but I won't list all of those here. These are Dave's major babysteps. Basically he wants you to live a debt free lifestyle. Not that you never use credit, but that you don't go into debt AT ALL.
I had David listen last night to a call to DR and he really enjoyed it. I went over the babysteps with him and he agreed that it was do-able for us. So, we stopped the 401(k) contribution for now and we're going to work on building up a $1000 emergency fund (EF). All of this dovetails nicely off of FlyLady's FACEing Finances and the FlyLady system. The important part of doing this is having a written budget. I already have a written budget, but it doesn't include the things that it needs to include (clothing, entertainment, etc.). I've basically said that we have this much money, we have these bills and whatever is left over will go to groceries and gas. No EF allotted for, no plan for flexible or periodic expenses and no ideas for basic needs such as clothing. I guess that I don't really need to worry about getting money saved for these things until after I get the EF going anyway. And until after the debt is gone. All monies should go to the EF and paying off bills (from what I understand) at the start. Every penny needs to be budgeted to a category. No EXTRA money. There is no such thing when you're in debt. I'm listening to the Dave Ramsey show on KRDO right now. It's really interesting.
I've been doing a "Frugal Week" inspired by Mary Hunt ("Money Rules, Debt Stinks"). I'm trying not to use the debit card, drinking only water (no paying for other drinks, such as juice) and eating meals from what we have on hand (no grocery shopping). So far it's going well. I did use the debit card (to sign up for something online) but nothing was charged to it. I did have to charge the online course, but since there is a deadline for that, I couldn't avoid it. However, I'm not going to let that throw me off track. I'm going to keep going through the week to meet my goals. I've saved a lot of money so far by NOT using the debit card. I never realized just how much of a habit it is, using the DC. It's also way too convenient. It's so easy to use it but I'm doing well so far. I actually had a dream last night that I was paying for something for David that cost $12 and I was going to use my DC, but then I realized that I had $14 in cash and I could pay for it with cash. Even in my dreams, I'm trying not to use my DC. ~lol~
FlyLady introduced us to Jonathan Roche, a personal trainer who suggests using interval work outs to lose weight and stay in shape. I called Jonathan's BTR show yesterday and asked him how his plan could help me. He was very helpful. I listened to the show again this morning and took some notes.
Jonathan suggests drinking 64 ounces of water per day. I'm not doing that so far so I need to work on that. He stresses eating breakfast every day. That I'm doing. I'm going to incorporate his 25 minute interval and No Excuses work outs into my week. I sent Jonathan an email and asked him if the plan I was thinking of was a good idea to start out with. Here's the plan:
Monday: 25 minute interval work out
Tuesday: No Excuses Work Out
Wednesday: 25 minute interval work out
Thursday: No Excuses Work out
Friday 25 minute interval work out
Saturday: long walk
Sunday: day off to recover
I asked Jonathan if I should eat breakfast before or after my morning work out. I'm waking up hungry now because my metabolism is 'cranking' (as Jonathan says). I decided to take today off because I've been walking every day for about 2 weeks and I really should have built in a recovery day once a week.
Gotta go run an errand for David.
BS1: $1000 baby emergency fund (this is where we are starting)
BS2: pay off all the debts from lowest BALANCE to highest (Cork, the Jeep, the house) - debt snowball
BS3: save 3-6 months EXPENSES in emergency fund
BS4: start contributing 15% of paycheck to retirement
BS5: save for kids college fund (since we don't have to do this we can move on to BS6)
BS6: pay off house early
BS7: give and build wealth
There are other mini-steps involved but I won't list all of those here. These are Dave's major babysteps. Basically he wants you to live a debt free lifestyle. Not that you never use credit, but that you don't go into debt AT ALL.
I had David listen last night to a call to DR and he really enjoyed it. I went over the babysteps with him and he agreed that it was do-able for us. So, we stopped the 401(k) contribution for now and we're going to work on building up a $1000 emergency fund (EF). All of this dovetails nicely off of FlyLady's FACEing Finances and the FlyLady system. The important part of doing this is having a written budget. I already have a written budget, but it doesn't include the things that it needs to include (clothing, entertainment, etc.). I've basically said that we have this much money, we have these bills and whatever is left over will go to groceries and gas. No EF allotted for, no plan for flexible or periodic expenses and no ideas for basic needs such as clothing. I guess that I don't really need to worry about getting money saved for these things until after I get the EF going anyway. And until after the debt is gone. All monies should go to the EF and paying off bills (from what I understand) at the start. Every penny needs to be budgeted to a category. No EXTRA money. There is no such thing when you're in debt. I'm listening to the Dave Ramsey show on KRDO right now. It's really interesting.
I've been doing a "Frugal Week" inspired by Mary Hunt ("Money Rules, Debt Stinks"). I'm trying not to use the debit card, drinking only water (no paying for other drinks, such as juice) and eating meals from what we have on hand (no grocery shopping). So far it's going well. I did use the debit card (to sign up for something online) but nothing was charged to it. I did have to charge the online course, but since there is a deadline for that, I couldn't avoid it. However, I'm not going to let that throw me off track. I'm going to keep going through the week to meet my goals. I've saved a lot of money so far by NOT using the debit card. I never realized just how much of a habit it is, using the DC. It's also way too convenient. It's so easy to use it but I'm doing well so far. I actually had a dream last night that I was paying for something for David that cost $12 and I was going to use my DC, but then I realized that I had $14 in cash and I could pay for it with cash. Even in my dreams, I'm trying not to use my DC. ~lol~
FlyLady introduced us to Jonathan Roche, a personal trainer who suggests using interval work outs to lose weight and stay in shape. I called Jonathan's BTR show yesterday and asked him how his plan could help me. He was very helpful. I listened to the show again this morning and took some notes.
Jonathan suggests drinking 64 ounces of water per day. I'm not doing that so far so I need to work on that. He stresses eating breakfast every day. That I'm doing. I'm going to incorporate his 25 minute interval and No Excuses work outs into my week. I sent Jonathan an email and asked him if the plan I was thinking of was a good idea to start out with. Here's the plan:
Monday: 25 minute interval work out
Tuesday: No Excuses Work Out
Wednesday: 25 minute interval work out
Thursday: No Excuses Work out
Friday 25 minute interval work out
Saturday: long walk
Sunday: day off to recover
I asked Jonathan if I should eat breakfast before or after my morning work out. I'm waking up hungry now because my metabolism is 'cranking' (as Jonathan says). I decided to take today off because I've been walking every day for about 2 weeks and I really should have built in a recovery day once a week.
Gotta go run an errand for David.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Brad again
Brad called. He hasn't gone in to see his PO yet. He says he's going to do it on Wednesday. I know he's afraid that he's going back to jail if he goes in so he's putting if off. His situation makes me feel sick to my stomach. I want to tell him it will be okay, but I don't know that it will be. He may have to go back to jail. Even if he doesn't, he can't come out here. I'm writing that so I can see it. I want to help him. I want him to come out here. I want to save him. But that's not my job. My job is to love him. That's it. He sounds like he's getting really depressed. He said he was going to go for a walk. I just worry so much about him. If anything happens to him...
I really feel like I let him down tonight. I didn't have anything to offer him. I feel like my hands are tied. How do I love him and support him but not help him out? I asked him about the thing he wanted to talk about regarding Amanda and he said he changed his mind. He didn't have anything to talk about. I think he's feeling let down by me. I usually rush in to save him but I'm not doing that this time. I don't know what to do. I am so frustrated.
He needs help. I'm hoping his PO will be able to help him out. I feel terrible because a part of me thinks that it wouldn't be the worst thing if he went back to jail. Isn't that horrible? I wish I didn't think that way, but I do. I want the responsibility to be put on someone else for Brad. I can't believe I feel this way.
I need to just take this one day at a time. He's not going to know anything until Wednesday (if he goes in) and depending on what happens I may not know what's going on for a while. I need to stop thinking about this now. I'm starting to get very upset. :-(
I really feel like I let him down tonight. I didn't have anything to offer him. I feel like my hands are tied. How do I love him and support him but not help him out? I asked him about the thing he wanted to talk about regarding Amanda and he said he changed his mind. He didn't have anything to talk about. I think he's feeling let down by me. I usually rush in to save him but I'm not doing that this time. I don't know what to do. I am so frustrated.
He needs help. I'm hoping his PO will be able to help him out. I feel terrible because a part of me thinks that it wouldn't be the worst thing if he went back to jail. Isn't that horrible? I wish I didn't think that way, but I do. I want the responsibility to be put on someone else for Brad. I can't believe I feel this way.
I need to just take this one day at a time. He's not going to know anything until Wednesday (if he goes in) and depending on what happens I may not know what's going on for a while. I need to stop thinking about this now. I'm starting to get very upset. :-(
Budgeting
I got up late today, around 9:30am. It was cool overnight so I thought I would walk a little bit later to take advantage of the sun warming it up some. The Stephen King story I'm listening to really has my attention. I look forward to walking every day because I have that book on tape. And the weather is so nice now. I love autumn.
After my walk I broke from routine and went to the store to pick up the food I'll need to get through the next week. I bought some fruit, almonds, raisins and smoothie mix. They only had 5 bottles of smoothie mix at Wild Oats. I'll plan to have a smoothie Monday through Friday. I'll have cereal or waffles the other days. I had some Cheerios Multi-Grain cereal this morning. That stuff is just so good.
I'm thinking that I need to compare prices at the regular grocery store and Wild Oats and see if I can do my shopping at Wild Oats. Their food is organic and healthier. I'm sure it will be a bit more expensive overall but I think I'll save in the long run because I can get what I need for meat instead of having to get a huge package. While I was shopping today I kept wanting to buy things that I already have at home (lettuce, granola bars, cheese). I didn't have a list and I didn't look in the fridge or cupboards before I shopped. That's okay, because this week we're going to make the most of everything we have in the house already. I think we have enough stuff to actually get through 2 or 3 weeks if I can really get creative.
The challenge for the week will be interesting. I'm sure I can get by without using the debit card and with drinking only water, but eating only what we have on hand will be a bit more difficult. I'm so used to going to the store whenever I can't think of something to eat. But I have a lot of meat in the house and I need to use it. I have pork chops, ground beef, and a huge package of chicken. I also have some deli meat so I can make sandwiches for lunch. I need to have a plan though: smoothies for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, fruit and almonds for snacks and whatever is on hand for dinners.
The hardest part will be getting David to not use the debit card. He doesn't use it that much, but I want to stick to the budget. We really need to stay within our allotted amounts in each category. This month we over spent on most things. I hope to do better in October.
After my walk I broke from routine and went to the store to pick up the food I'll need to get through the next week. I bought some fruit, almonds, raisins and smoothie mix. They only had 5 bottles of smoothie mix at Wild Oats. I'll plan to have a smoothie Monday through Friday. I'll have cereal or waffles the other days. I had some Cheerios Multi-Grain cereal this morning. That stuff is just so good.
I'm thinking that I need to compare prices at the regular grocery store and Wild Oats and see if I can do my shopping at Wild Oats. Their food is organic and healthier. I'm sure it will be a bit more expensive overall but I think I'll save in the long run because I can get what I need for meat instead of having to get a huge package. While I was shopping today I kept wanting to buy things that I already have at home (lettuce, granola bars, cheese). I didn't have a list and I didn't look in the fridge or cupboards before I shopped. That's okay, because this week we're going to make the most of everything we have in the house already. I think we have enough stuff to actually get through 2 or 3 weeks if I can really get creative.
The challenge for the week will be interesting. I'm sure I can get by without using the debit card and with drinking only water, but eating only what we have on hand will be a bit more difficult. I'm so used to going to the store whenever I can't think of something to eat. But I have a lot of meat in the house and I need to use it. I have pork chops, ground beef, and a huge package of chicken. I also have some deli meat so I can make sandwiches for lunch. I need to have a plan though: smoothies for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, fruit and almonds for snacks and whatever is on hand for dinners.
The hardest part will be getting David to not use the debit card. He doesn't use it that much, but I want to stick to the budget. We really need to stay within our allotted amounts in each category. This month we over spent on most things. I hope to do better in October.
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