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October 1, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Where I’ve Been….

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Life

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Since I started this blog a few years ago, I’ve never been shy here about life happening.  Life happens all the time.  To pretend that things aren’t happening that can affect our debt free journey would be very naive.  And while I try to take it in stride, I’m aware that when I get overloaded, I need to cut back on things.  Sadly, updating the blog tends to be the first in that long list.

So… what’s the point of all that.  The point is, I haven’t been here since the beginning of May, and here’s why.

 

May

Before May even started, I knew it was going to be a hectic month.  Three kids in soccer, practices 4 nights a week, and games on Tuesdays and Saturdays, things get crazy.  There was also three field trips, an orthodontic appointment, and my oldest also had 4 concerts throughout the month.

But on the first of the month, my Bookworm received a concussion while playing a make-up soccer game.  It was the second game of his season; we had an exceptionally wet April, and many of his games were rescheduled.  This particular game, I had gotten to the fields late because Lady Bug also had a soccer game that day, on the other end of town, and we had arrived at his game just at the end of the third quarter.  I should say I was lucky enough to witness it at the start of the fourth quarter, but what kind of luck is that?

From that moment on, the rest of our month changed.  He was not allowed back on the soccer field until he was cleared by his doctor.  He missed two weeks of school, and when he went back he was under orders for modified school days and classwork since the fluorescent lights and screens were a huge trigger for his headaches.  And I wasn’t allowed to give him any medication for his pain because his headaches were his brain’s way of saying he was getting too much stimulation.  He was not allowed to be in the chorus or band rooms during practice, due to the noise, and you can forget about his concerts.   Everything he worked so hard for all year, was gone in an instant.

By the way, his doctor didn’t clear him as healed until August.  So camp for marching band in July was no longer an option either.  It was very hard to see him be so excited about things he worked hard for, tried out for, practiced hard for, and only to not be able to go through with them.

 

June

When June came around, the kids still had school for a few weeks.  I know some schools have later release dates like this, but for our area it’s a tad weird.  School starts in mid-August and ends at the very beginning of June.  It was mid June before the kids were out of school, and we got right into the summer festivities of attending birthday parties, and a short trip to the beach, along with a trip to see Zac Brown Band… just the Hubs and I.

Bookworm started his orthodontic treatments, and we also took time to go visit my sister, and help her prepare for her first child.  I’m happy to report that my first niece arrived in late June!

Since Bookworm appeared to be on the mend by the end of the month, I had every intention of starting up my blog again in July.

 

July

Not even a week into July, I found out someone very close to me has stage 3 breast cancer.  I won’t lie… it was rough.  Very rough.  I hit what I’m calling, for lack of better wording, as a black haze.  Very close to a depressive state.  Maybe it was, I simply don’t know.  What I do know is that I don’t remember much of the entire month.  A few days stand out to me, but most of the month is gone.  For that reason, I can’t say much about what we did in July.

So straight into August we go.

 

August

When the calendar switched to the first full week of August, I don’t know what happened.  Something in me decided that it was time to “wake up” so to speak.  I’m not proclaiming that I’m on top of things, because compared to some, I am not by any means.  But I’m in a better state than I was in July, and am ready to go about things.

The second week of August our family went to Hershey Park on a three day vacation that we paid for in cash, and the following week school & the fall soccer season started.  Not even a full week into school, and my kids were home again while the district closed for mold remediation.  This wasn’t unusual for this year as there were many schools that closed for the same reasons.  Back in July, our area received well over a foot of rain, and since it was summer time, it went unnoticed for a bit within some of the buildings.  So just like that, the kids were home again for almost two weeks.

 

September

Now September is where I tried to get back into the swing of things.  Having the kids back in school again is helping, but our schedule still changes day to day.  Bookworm has decided to not to soccer this fall, with good reason, so he’s in a Musical Theater dance class.  Lady Bug is also in a tumbling class, and both are loving the change of pace.  Monkey on the other hand, is still in soccer.  I won’t lie, I really like being on the fields only 3 days a week rather than 8 days a week, and only having 1 game each weekend is a dream!  But there’s a smidgen of me that misses it.  A very small smidgen.

 

In the mean time… there’s a lot of things I’d like to get you all updated on, and a lot of questions you all sent in that I need to answer!  And while it seems like there’s a backlog of work, I’m loving it!  I’m loving the change of pace for now.

I’m so excited to get back into this and help keep you all updated, and most of all, show you all that it’s okay to get off track at times.  What’s important is that you get back on your feet, and continue the journey.

 

Do you have any budgeting or frugal living questions you’d like me to answer?  Let me know, and I’ll add it to the list!

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makingcentsmatter

makingcentsmatter
Only you can determine what your financial goals a Only you can determine what your financial goals are. If that means you're adding money to your savings account, or contributing to your retirement, while you are paying off debt, then so be it!⁠
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Do what looks right for you and your personal finances.⁠
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The trick to meal planning is to make it predictab The trick to meal planning is to make it predictable. But predictable doesn't mean the same thing week to week. You could have a chicken meal, a soup meal, a pasta meal, a leftovers meal, a family favorite meal, and so on.⁠
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We always try to go with themed days, but some weeks are so hectic the theme is literally "fast". Thankfully that hasn't been the case lately.⁠
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I can only hear about my extended warranty I never I can only hear about my extended warranty I never purchased so many times. 😣⁠
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March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠ .⁠ House: $51 March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠
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House: $511.13⁠
Citi: $0 – this has a residual $3 in interest charges since payoff, due in April⁠
D NelNet: $100⁠
K NelNet: $100⁠
K Chase: $600⁠
Explorer: $336.27⁠
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Total Paid in 2021: $8,258.84⁠
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Extra Payment: There isn’t one this month since we were $25 away from zeroing out the budget for our February 15th monthly paycheck. That $25, and monies left from our January 15th paycheck, covered our OOP costs for Hubs’ filling. We also have some savings goals coming up that need to be met, making our debt payments a little lower for the time begin.⁠
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The battle for who can charge what tonight is abou The battle for who can charge what tonight is about to begin. 😬⁠
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My kids run off with my charger, plug it into one outlet 5 feet from where they found it like that particular outlet is the only one in this house, and then proceed to fight over who can charge their device first at night.⁠
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Then they get grumpy when it's their turn and it's not the proper input cable. #itwasmychargerfirst #dontlikeitgofindyourown⁠
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A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a bit in our February Budget Check-In about how much of this I think we'll owe, and you can check that out on my YouTube channel if you're interested, but I wanted to say here...⁠
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To the mother with little kids struggling to get your finances in order, it will get better. I wish I could have heard those words years ago.⁠
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Nearly 10 years ago we were facing a $1,400 out-of-pocket portion for A's Phase 1 orthodontic work (I looked it up after I uploaded the video... we had a $1,400 portion).⁠
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It was a lot of money for us at the time. Our kids were 6, 2, and 3 months old. I don't think we even had $500 in savings, and I just left a part-time teaching job because it wasn't paying the part-time daycare bill, so paying our portion in full was just a dream I didn't think was achievable.⁠
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I was even stressing about the monthly $100 payments. We were so strapped. It was our breaking moment to start cutting costs and budgeting more effectively. We've learned a lot in that time period.⁠
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What we've learned is that it does no good to stress about it all the time. Life happens. All you can do is try to plan ahead, and if it's something that's unplanned, readjust. It won't always be easy, especially at first, but it will be worth it.⁠
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Nearly 10 years later, we are still paying off our debts. Student loans suck. But I see this bill as a reminder of how far we have come. Seeing a bill like this doesn't stress me out like it used to, and I know we can easily create a plan that can get it done and out of the way.⁠
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Will it delay our debt-free date more? Yes. But it's not worth stressing over. Life happens, readjust, and continue on down the path. It's called a journey for a reason.⁠
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It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budget It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budgeting categories are working out for the pay month.⁠
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Food is looking good this far into our paycheck, probably because miscellaneous - which includes eating out - took a hit with unexpected purchases. Pet is low for this time of the month, and Household is spot on.⁠
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Fuel looks like it'll be lower than last month (yay for weeks of snow days & delayed school starts), and Therapy had one more appointment than initially planned.⁠
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Garden, Dental, Medical & Propane are not included in these estimates so far because those expenses are coming from sinking funds. Once we're done with the month and review the budget, I'll move over the total amount spent from those sinking funds.⁠
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How's your paycheck budget coming along?⁠
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Automating your finances makes saving money and bu Automating your finances makes saving money and budgeting more convenient, and therefore easier on you. Out of sight, out of mind, right?⁠
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What's one thing you can automate this week to make your finances easier?⁠
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Me? I'm going to set up our sinking fund transfers to automate every payday (the 15th of every month). Our bank set up a feature on their app where we can schedule savings transfers now, and I'm going to take advantage of it!⁠
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#personalfinance #personalfinancetips #budgeting #budgettips #personalfinancemadeeasy #savingmoney #savings #sinkingfunds #cash #frugalblogger #frugalmom #frugalliving #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogess #financialfreedom #makingcentsmatter
Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone a smidgen overboard this month!⁠
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I foresee a goal for March's paycheck to at out less than twice. That's where this category went awry. $99.16 of it went to eating out. 😑 Some of it was avoidable, but not all of it. Having to drive to multiple appointments in one day during snow squalls and rearranging our whole day was one of those unavoidable instances.⁠
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Tracking our expenses - much like a budget review - is vital to sticking to your budget!⁠
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