It's amazing how things seem to sort themselves out. I really need to learn to relax a bit more. This whole faith and testing thing is a real challenge for me.
The short version is that the worries I had in my last post seem to have sorted themselves out, somewhat.
Hubby received a FREE iPod Touch from one of his suppliers, because a customer had returned it, complaining because it had a scratch on it. A scratch people. We looked, and looked....and saw a minute little one on the back that we had to SEARCH for. Anyway.
Hubby goes off to work a couple of days ago. One of his clients says, totally out of the blue, not knowing that hubby even owns one, that his son is looking for an iPod Touch, but hasn't managed to save up enough to buy new, and if Hubby knew of anyone wanting to sell theirs, his son would like to buy it.
Hubby sold his iPod Touch today. He hadn't really been impressed with it in the week or so that he owned it anyway. And so we got $200.
Oh yes, and the work van's troubles magically disappeared. So now we have $200 in a fund, put away for a later date when we have a bit more to add to it, so if the trouble resurfaces, we can get it fixed.
And I rummaged around the living room and dug up a few small things to sell and posted them for sale on a group on my computer. Not even 5 minutes after I posted one thing, someone already responded that they want to buy it. So it looks like there will at least be a few things I can sell around the house that will bring in bits and pieces to add to our Emergency fund and all.My problem is that I form an emotional attachment to pretty much everything. But give me time, and I'll have sold so much stuff that the kids will be afraid they are next. (That's a joke)
Oh, and hubby will be heading out of town for another big job, so that will add to the fund, too. A little bit, anyway.
So there you have it. The plan is working, God is honouring our efforts, and things just keep trucking along. :)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Testing...
Lately, I wrote a post in regards to tithing and trust. At the time, things seemed to have a definite answer, a "yes, this is the right thing" feeling, as things seemed to suddenly click into place financially, things suddenly were looking up...
And then the true testing came. And still is here, with teeth. I wish I could see into the future, and into the "why's" of it all. It hit so hard this morning that I hit my knees at the edge of my bed, ground my face into the covers, and cried, and prayed. I don't do so well with testing. I fail miserably when it comes to hard times. Anybody who has known me for any length of time knows that.
I wrote the blog about my van and its flat-tire-turned-nightmare-of-broken-brake-parts and such. And I wrote that it was all working out fine and dandy, it was a big ouch, but hey, everything is A-OKAY.
Nope.
Hubby called this morning to say that his work van is making funny noises and the steering wheel shakes as he drives. Now I know next to nothing about cars, but I DO know that is bad. Very, very bad. And we don't have the money to fix it. At all. And with the two kids and the nature of his job and the schedule he and I and the kids hold, one car just isn't going to do it. But we can't afford to fix whatever horrible thing is wrong with his van. Which means we will HAVE to be down to one van until we can afford to fix the work van. Which means we will be at each other's throats because we are going to both need the van at the same times and it's just going to be miserable because life never works on our schedule we're going to need the other to have the van home at certain times and it's just not going to happen. Oh yes, and now he will be out of town for a day and a half in a few days, leaving me with NO car and two kids...
It's a little stressful.
I know it's a test. I know God is testing to see how seriously we mean to stick to the whole tithing and trusting thing. And I DON'T LIKE IT!!!!!! It would be so easy to just use the tithe, fix the van, and move on. But we won't. We can't. We shouldn't.
I just wish it didn't feel so much like we were being kicked down, and the second we started to get up, repeatedly getting kicked in the head. It really does feel like that. We just start seeing the sunshine and get booted in the gut. Again.
I know hubby won't admit to it, but we are in trouble. We really are. Last month, we pared things down to the minimum. this next month, we've had to pare the minimum down even more...we don't have anything going aside for the kids' summer activities, no summer vacation, no clothes. Nothing. Our menu for the month is going to leave our cupboards looking pretty bare by the end of the month, and they'd better like toast and pancakes this month. And now the van.
Would you believe that as I knelt there this morning, the thought actually went through my mind about how much we could get if we SOLD the bed? I think it is coming to that...hopefully there are people out there who will be willing to buy everything I can get my hands on in the house that we could sell. I suppose it's ONE way to keep the house clean...sell all the contents. Ha ha.
Here's hoping we make it through this testing and reach the other side of this dark tunnel soon. I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck and send lots of prayers.
And then the true testing came. And still is here, with teeth. I wish I could see into the future, and into the "why's" of it all. It hit so hard this morning that I hit my knees at the edge of my bed, ground my face into the covers, and cried, and prayed. I don't do so well with testing. I fail miserably when it comes to hard times. Anybody who has known me for any length of time knows that.
I wrote the blog about my van and its flat-tire-turned-nightmare-of-broken-brake-parts and such. And I wrote that it was all working out fine and dandy, it was a big ouch, but hey, everything is A-OKAY.
Nope.
Hubby called this morning to say that his work van is making funny noises and the steering wheel shakes as he drives. Now I know next to nothing about cars, but I DO know that is bad. Very, very bad. And we don't have the money to fix it. At all. And with the two kids and the nature of his job and the schedule he and I and the kids hold, one car just isn't going to do it. But we can't afford to fix whatever horrible thing is wrong with his van. Which means we will HAVE to be down to one van until we can afford to fix the work van. Which means we will be at each other's throats because we are going to both need the van at the same times and it's just going to be miserable because life never works on our schedule we're going to need the other to have the van home at certain times and it's just not going to happen. Oh yes, and now he will be out of town for a day and a half in a few days, leaving me with NO car and two kids...
It's a little stressful.
I know it's a test. I know God is testing to see how seriously we mean to stick to the whole tithing and trusting thing. And I DON'T LIKE IT!!!!!! It would be so easy to just use the tithe, fix the van, and move on. But we won't. We can't. We shouldn't.
I just wish it didn't feel so much like we were being kicked down, and the second we started to get up, repeatedly getting kicked in the head. It really does feel like that. We just start seeing the sunshine and get booted in the gut. Again.
I know hubby won't admit to it, but we are in trouble. We really are. Last month, we pared things down to the minimum. this next month, we've had to pare the minimum down even more...we don't have anything going aside for the kids' summer activities, no summer vacation, no clothes. Nothing. Our menu for the month is going to leave our cupboards looking pretty bare by the end of the month, and they'd better like toast and pancakes this month. And now the van.
Would you believe that as I knelt there this morning, the thought actually went through my mind about how much we could get if we SOLD the bed? I think it is coming to that...hopefully there are people out there who will be willing to buy everything I can get my hands on in the house that we could sell. I suppose it's ONE way to keep the house clean...sell all the contents. Ha ha.
Here's hoping we make it through this testing and reach the other side of this dark tunnel soon. I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck and send lots of prayers.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
You say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to
Okay. Another round of potato recipes.
My favourite thing to do is to make stuffed potatoes. Cheap, easy, and filling.
Take the size of potato you figure you will be wanting to eat as a meal. You aren't going to want a small one this time, because you need to be able to cut the top off and get the insides out.
So...pick your potato, poke it a couple times with a fork. Put it in the oven at 400F (yes, you heard me right) for between 1 and 2 hours, depending on how crispy of a skin you like. Take it out and (wearing your oven mitts), slice off a thin slice from the top. Scoop the insides into a bowl, and then do one of two things:
If you are picky about the beauty of your meal, mix the scooped out potato with a bit of margarine, spoon it back in, and add toppings.
If you are not picky, mix the potato with margarine and all the fixings you plan to use, then spoon it back in.
I will give you my favourite stuffed potato recipe, but you can create your own. I have a cookbook called Stuffed Spuds in my cupboard...I recommend looking it up if you want more exotic versions than what I make. I will type up a few of the more fun ones another day, ones kids would like.
But as I was saying, my favourite stuffed potato...taco stuffed potatoes.
You need: salsa, sour cream, taco beef, cheese (lettuce and tomato if you want).
As I said before, once you have the scooped up potato mixed with margarine, you can either pile all the above on top,and enjoy, or if you are like me, mix the potato with the salsa,sour cream, taco beef, and cheese, and then put it back in the shell, and top with diced fresh tomato (or I suppose you could even mix that in), and if desired, lettuce.
One I tried recently was a stuffed potato that was essentially scalloped potato with cheese. Cook the potato, scoop it out, mix it with sauteed onions, garlic, and margarine, put it back in, sprinkle (or bury) with cheese, put it back in the oven until the cheese looks as brown as you like it. Enjoy. Or I suppose even mix the cheese in with the potato and then put back in the oven for 15- 20 minutes.
Just a side note: My potatoes are almost gone already! I will have to order more this week. A good sign is that when I mentioned this to my family, they did NOT groan and beg me to stop with the potatoes. They seem to be enjoying this as much as I am.
My favourite thing to do is to make stuffed potatoes. Cheap, easy, and filling.
Take the size of potato you figure you will be wanting to eat as a meal. You aren't going to want a small one this time, because you need to be able to cut the top off and get the insides out.
So...pick your potato, poke it a couple times with a fork. Put it in the oven at 400F (yes, you heard me right) for between 1 and 2 hours, depending on how crispy of a skin you like. Take it out and (wearing your oven mitts), slice off a thin slice from the top. Scoop the insides into a bowl, and then do one of two things:
If you are picky about the beauty of your meal, mix the scooped out potato with a bit of margarine, spoon it back in, and add toppings.
If you are not picky, mix the potato with margarine and all the fixings you plan to use, then spoon it back in.
I will give you my favourite stuffed potato recipe, but you can create your own. I have a cookbook called Stuffed Spuds in my cupboard...I recommend looking it up if you want more exotic versions than what I make. I will type up a few of the more fun ones another day, ones kids would like.
But as I was saying, my favourite stuffed potato...taco stuffed potatoes.
You need: salsa, sour cream, taco beef, cheese (lettuce and tomato if you want).
As I said before, once you have the scooped up potato mixed with margarine, you can either pile all the above on top,and enjoy, or if you are like me, mix the potato with the salsa,sour cream, taco beef, and cheese, and then put it back in the shell, and top with diced fresh tomato (or I suppose you could even mix that in), and if desired, lettuce.
One I tried recently was a stuffed potato that was essentially scalloped potato with cheese. Cook the potato, scoop it out, mix it with sauteed onions, garlic, and margarine, put it back in, sprinkle (or bury) with cheese, put it back in the oven until the cheese looks as brown as you like it. Enjoy. Or I suppose even mix the cheese in with the potato and then put back in the oven for 15- 20 minutes.
Just a side note: My potatoes are almost gone already! I will have to order more this week. A good sign is that when I mentioned this to my family, they did NOT groan and beg me to stop with the potatoes. They seem to be enjoying this as much as I am.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Budget stretcher
I guess my blog is going to be a bit about recipes for awhile. That's okay. :) I love to cook. :)
I just had to take a break from the potato thought, and have something different for you today...
Yesterday I made soup. I made a whole STOCK POT of soup. It was a lot of fun. Actually, it took me two days. Wednesday, I rummaged through my freezer for the big Ziplocs full of bones. This soup very definitely was a kitchen sink variety. Into the stock pot went a ham bone, some T-bones, and a turkey carcass. I covered it all with water, nearly to the top of the pot (not too high or it will boil over), and boiled the living daylights out of them, for a couple of hours. Then I turned off the heat, let it sit for a little bit until it wasn't going to burn a hole in everything it touched, put a piece of foam (thick padding) in the deep freeze, and put the pot on top (so it wouldn't thaw things underneath), and left it in there overnight. Yesterday morning, I took it out, scooped out the frozen fat, brought the remainder to a boil (yes there was some fat left in it), and added spices, 3 onions, some leftover green onions, garlic, 6 carrots, a big sweet potato, a medium turnip (rutabaga?), and 8 breakfast sausages, cooked and chopped up. We had some for supper last night, and it was AMAZING...and if you think about it, really, really cheap...
The bones were free because they would have been garbage otherwise, the spices were maybe $0.10 worth, if that, onions...say $0.50, based on what a small net of them costs, green onions...$0.25, garlic...$0.10, carrots...$1.00, Sweet potato...$2.50, turnip..$2.25, sausages...$1.50.
I may be off a little on these, but not by much, so....for $8.20, I made about 9 meals worth..as in 36 servings. Not bad! About $0.91 a meal. About $0.23/person per meal.
Okay, here's my potato plug....if you need a soup to be even more filling and hearty, add potato and MASH it, or add mashed potatoes! It will thicken your soup and fill you up and make you all nice and warm inside, and happily thinking of all the money you've saved...make your own bread and serve that, and for the whopping total of MAYBE $0.30/person, you've made a filling meal! Need dessert? Apple crisp! That should cost about $2.50 to make. A drink, you say? Make your own hot cocoa...$2.00 for 4 servings. Okay, so now you have soup, bread, hot cocoa, and apple crisp. You have fed a family of 4 for $5.70. You can't even get a meal for ONE for that price at a restaurant!
Now do you know why I don't eat at restaurants much anymore? Seriously. Over the past two months, we have taken our favourite dishes from restaurants, and figured out how to make them at home. I'll give you some examples:
Red Lobster shrimp linguini...made it for about $10, or $2.50/person
The Keg T-bone steak,mushrooms,loaded baked potatoes-made it for about $25, or $6.25/ea
Chilis Nachos Grande...made it for about $12, or $4 each
Lee's :Pork and broccoli,fried rice, and chow mein for about $10 or $2.50/person
Tony Roma's Ribs: made that for about $20, or $5 each
Amazing, isn't it???? You just don't realize how much you spend in a restaurant, over and above what it would cost to make it at home!
Traveling?
I will be away next month for 4 days, and was told that restaurant food was very expensive where I am going? So? I am staying in a hotel with no promise of a fridge. So?
I am taking a cooler. I have planned out what I will eat (while away, I will have 3 breakfasts, 4 morning snacks, 4 lunches, 3 afternoon snacks, and 3 suppers), and you know what? Based on taking a cooler, which I can refill with ice from the hotel ice machines anytime I need to, I can eat VERY well....and it's going to cost me about $60 to do it. That's total...as in $15 a DAY....and I'll likely have leftovers.
So there you go. If you are driving, this works really well, because if you get hungry, you just stop and pull something out of the cooler or bag of dry stuff. If you are flying, see if you can get one of those styrofoam ones at your destination, maybe, and go to a grocery store THERE. It's amazing how easy it is to cut corners, when you need to and want to.
I also like to can things...so far, just jams, jellies, juices, pickles, and fruit....but that's another day's story. :)
I just had to take a break from the potato thought, and have something different for you today...
Yesterday I made soup. I made a whole STOCK POT of soup. It was a lot of fun. Actually, it took me two days. Wednesday, I rummaged through my freezer for the big Ziplocs full of bones. This soup very definitely was a kitchen sink variety. Into the stock pot went a ham bone, some T-bones, and a turkey carcass. I covered it all with water, nearly to the top of the pot (not too high or it will boil over), and boiled the living daylights out of them, for a couple of hours. Then I turned off the heat, let it sit for a little bit until it wasn't going to burn a hole in everything it touched, put a piece of foam (thick padding) in the deep freeze, and put the pot on top (so it wouldn't thaw things underneath), and left it in there overnight. Yesterday morning, I took it out, scooped out the frozen fat, brought the remainder to a boil (yes there was some fat left in it), and added spices, 3 onions, some leftover green onions, garlic, 6 carrots, a big sweet potato, a medium turnip (rutabaga?), and 8 breakfast sausages, cooked and chopped up. We had some for supper last night, and it was AMAZING...and if you think about it, really, really cheap...
The bones were free because they would have been garbage otherwise, the spices were maybe $0.10 worth, if that, onions...say $0.50, based on what a small net of them costs, green onions...$0.25, garlic...$0.10, carrots...$1.00, Sweet potato...$2.50, turnip..$2.25, sausages...$1.50.
I may be off a little on these, but not by much, so....for $8.20, I made about 9 meals worth..as in 36 servings. Not bad! About $0.91 a meal. About $0.23/person per meal.
Okay, here's my potato plug....if you need a soup to be even more filling and hearty, add potato and MASH it, or add mashed potatoes! It will thicken your soup and fill you up and make you all nice and warm inside, and happily thinking of all the money you've saved...make your own bread and serve that, and for the whopping total of MAYBE $0.30/person, you've made a filling meal! Need dessert? Apple crisp! That should cost about $2.50 to make. A drink, you say? Make your own hot cocoa...$2.00 for 4 servings. Okay, so now you have soup, bread, hot cocoa, and apple crisp. You have fed a family of 4 for $5.70. You can't even get a meal for ONE for that price at a restaurant!
Now do you know why I don't eat at restaurants much anymore? Seriously. Over the past two months, we have taken our favourite dishes from restaurants, and figured out how to make them at home. I'll give you some examples:
Red Lobster shrimp linguini...made it for about $10, or $2.50/person
The Keg T-bone steak,mushrooms,loaded baked potatoes-made it for about $25, or $6.25/ea
Chilis Nachos Grande...made it for about $12, or $4 each
Lee's :Pork and broccoli,fried rice, and chow mein for about $10 or $2.50/person
Tony Roma's Ribs: made that for about $20, or $5 each
Amazing, isn't it???? You just don't realize how much you spend in a restaurant, over and above what it would cost to make it at home!
Traveling?
I will be away next month for 4 days, and was told that restaurant food was very expensive where I am going? So? I am staying in a hotel with no promise of a fridge. So?
I am taking a cooler. I have planned out what I will eat (while away, I will have 3 breakfasts, 4 morning snacks, 4 lunches, 3 afternoon snacks, and 3 suppers), and you know what? Based on taking a cooler, which I can refill with ice from the hotel ice machines anytime I need to, I can eat VERY well....and it's going to cost me about $60 to do it. That's total...as in $15 a DAY....and I'll likely have leftovers.
So there you go. If you are driving, this works really well, because if you get hungry, you just stop and pull something out of the cooler or bag of dry stuff. If you are flying, see if you can get one of those styrofoam ones at your destination, maybe, and go to a grocery store THERE. It's amazing how easy it is to cut corners, when you need to and want to.
I also like to can things...so far, just jams, jellies, juices, pickles, and fruit....but that's another day's story. :)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Potato Recipe Time
Somebody requested that I post a few potato recipes...
I'll start with one or two, as I don't have my handy dandy recipe book in front of me.
The neatest thing I've found lately (in terms of recipes) is a lady called Clara. You can find her on YouTube. She has a few clips (she is 94 or something like that, by the way) in which she demonstrates how her mother used to cook when she (Clara) was a child, back in the Depression. Let me just say everything has to do with potato and onion, for the most part. :)
The first recipe we tried of hers was called Poor Man's Dinner. Take as much potato as you think your family will eat (it's surprising how little it takes, actually). Peel and cut into small cubes. Heat a pan with a bit of oil in it. Toss in the potato, do the same with an onion. Fry them up. Cut up some hot dogs, stir it in until things are nice and golden and hot. Add salt to taste. Enjoy. I put ketchup on mine. Like hash browns with meat, I guess.
My 75 pound bag of potatoes is RED potatoes, very juicy, too, so I'm not entirely sure how recipes work/taste with other types of potato. Keep that in mind.
Fries. If you have a deep fryer, fries are always good. Take your potato and cut it into strips. Keep the peel on, or not. I don't peel mine. Take a bowl of water and stir in a bit of sugar. Put cut potatoes in the bowl and swish them around, or leave them in there while the deep fryer is heating. Put them in the basket, but don't pile them too high. Lower the basket and cook 10 minutes. At the end, you will have the most delicious fries EVER.
Potato slices. Made this one up a log time ago. Nothing fancy in this one. Works best if you have a baking stone, but if you are willing to hover, a baking sheet works, too. Slice your potato into thin slices (not TOO thin, but not thick). Arrange on the stone, sprinkle with whatever seasonings you like best. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. If on a baking sheet, turn about halfway through so you don't burn one side black. :) Good for dipping.
I will bring more recipes later, heartier, more complicated ones. I promise. :)
Enjoy these if you wish.
I'll start with one or two, as I don't have my handy dandy recipe book in front of me.
The neatest thing I've found lately (in terms of recipes) is a lady called Clara. You can find her on YouTube. She has a few clips (she is 94 or something like that, by the way) in which she demonstrates how her mother used to cook when she (Clara) was a child, back in the Depression. Let me just say everything has to do with potato and onion, for the most part. :)
The first recipe we tried of hers was called Poor Man's Dinner. Take as much potato as you think your family will eat (it's surprising how little it takes, actually). Peel and cut into small cubes. Heat a pan with a bit of oil in it. Toss in the potato, do the same with an onion. Fry them up. Cut up some hot dogs, stir it in until things are nice and golden and hot. Add salt to taste. Enjoy. I put ketchup on mine. Like hash browns with meat, I guess.
My 75 pound bag of potatoes is RED potatoes, very juicy, too, so I'm not entirely sure how recipes work/taste with other types of potato. Keep that in mind.
Fries. If you have a deep fryer, fries are always good. Take your potato and cut it into strips. Keep the peel on, or not. I don't peel mine. Take a bowl of water and stir in a bit of sugar. Put cut potatoes in the bowl and swish them around, or leave them in there while the deep fryer is heating. Put them in the basket, but don't pile them too high. Lower the basket and cook 10 minutes. At the end, you will have the most delicious fries EVER.
Potato slices. Made this one up a log time ago. Nothing fancy in this one. Works best if you have a baking stone, but if you are willing to hover, a baking sheet works, too. Slice your potato into thin slices (not TOO thin, but not thick). Arrange on the stone, sprinkle with whatever seasonings you like best. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes. If on a baking sheet, turn about halfway through so you don't burn one side black. :) Good for dipping.
I will bring more recipes later, heartier, more complicated ones. I promise. :)
Enjoy these if you wish.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Ode to Daughter
LOL...I intended, when I signed in last, to post something, and totally got off course and into the money post. :)
Daughter has a skill. I can totally see her using this as a career someday....if she wants to, that is. She loves doing this, and her teacher has even said we should sign her up for classes. Which, in regards to the last post, we simply do not have the money to do right now.
But someday we will, because I think she has real talent, and I'll show you why I say this...she did this in about 15 minutes, while at her brother's soccer game on the weekend:
She is just recently turned 8, by the way.
Proud Mommy moment. :)
Daughter has a skill. I can totally see her using this as a career someday....if she wants to, that is. She loves doing this, and her teacher has even said we should sign her up for classes. Which, in regards to the last post, we simply do not have the money to do right now.
But someday we will, because I think she has real talent, and I'll show you why I say this...she did this in about 15 minutes, while at her brother's soccer game on the weekend:
She is just recently turned 8, by the way.
Proud Mommy moment. :)
Money, Money, Money....must be funny
Yeah. I'd like some. :)
Remember that last post, where we had our budget down to a fine science? Well, life happens. With teeth. It does have a semi-happy ending, I suppose, but I have to admit that I will be very happy in a few years, when I am back at work, the house stays clean, the kids are both off at school, and hubby is making multi-millions. Ha ha ha. Okay, I'll settle for us being back on two steady-ish incomes without the need for child care.
In any case...
On Friday I ended up with a major flat tire, as in, the kind where the car goes bumpitybumpitybumpity, you pull over to look at the flat tire, and find it halfway off the rim flat. And my tire iron would not work to remove the partially stripped lugnuts. So I had to walk home, get Hubby's, walk back, and use his to get it off and then get the spare on. Saturday, we got an appointment for new tires. An ouch, but do-able, as we had just built up a $1000 emergency fund, and the tires were going to be about $600. No big problem, we'd just have to rebuild the emergency fund. Right?
No.
They get the van up on the hoists, saying it'll be done in about an hour. Call us about 30 minutes later. Brake drum is shot, brake fluid all over EVERYTHING, not safe, spare is worn down to the core. Okay. Has to be done. Fine. We'll figure something out. While trying to replace the drum, the brake line snaps. Woo-hoo.
So over $1300 later I have my van back. Bye bye emergency fund hellooooo paycheck advance.
This sounds like a bad ending, but it isn't...we had the emergency fund, which is more than we would have been able to say in the recent past, and we will rebuild it, it will just take time...and in our budget, we CAN reduce our payments on a few things to recoup that extra money we technically didn't have. And as we keep on watching our pennies and sticking to our budget as closely as we can, slowly we will get things paid off. Most things will be paid off in about 2 years. The mortgage should be paid off in about 8 years. And then we will be totally, utterly, absolutely debt free. How's that for a concept? I like it.
As Dave Ramsey says (one of my Hubby's favourite authors/radio guys right now) "Right now we will live like nobody else so that someday we can live like nobody else". Get it? :)
And you know what one of the best things about our plan has been? NOTHING has been added to the debt. We paid cash from our income tax return for the new fridge when the old one died, cash for the broken furnace repair, cash for the furnace and vent cleaners, cash for the car repairs (or debit or cheque, but the cash was there, no floating cheques or credit cards or whatever). Nice. As in no interest fees, no waiting for things to appear on a bill.
And I rock with cooking cheaply. 75 pound bag of potatoes from a local farmer =$15
Do you have any IDEA how many potatoes that is, and how many fabulously delicious, filling, satisfying dishes can be made with 75 POUNDS of potatoes? :) Add that to 20kg of flour, farm fresh eggs, and discount meat, you can feed a family for next to nothing. :) Ask me for ideas if you need some...I'm having fun. :)
Remember that last post, where we had our budget down to a fine science? Well, life happens. With teeth. It does have a semi-happy ending, I suppose, but I have to admit that I will be very happy in a few years, when I am back at work, the house stays clean, the kids are both off at school, and hubby is making multi-millions. Ha ha ha. Okay, I'll settle for us being back on two steady-ish incomes without the need for child care.
In any case...
On Friday I ended up with a major flat tire, as in, the kind where the car goes bumpitybumpitybumpity, you pull over to look at the flat tire, and find it halfway off the rim flat. And my tire iron would not work to remove the partially stripped lugnuts. So I had to walk home, get Hubby's, walk back, and use his to get it off and then get the spare on. Saturday, we got an appointment for new tires. An ouch, but do-able, as we had just built up a $1000 emergency fund, and the tires were going to be about $600. No big problem, we'd just have to rebuild the emergency fund. Right?
No.
They get the van up on the hoists, saying it'll be done in about an hour. Call us about 30 minutes later. Brake drum is shot, brake fluid all over EVERYTHING, not safe, spare is worn down to the core. Okay. Has to be done. Fine. We'll figure something out. While trying to replace the drum, the brake line snaps. Woo-hoo.
So over $1300 later I have my van back. Bye bye emergency fund hellooooo paycheck advance.
This sounds like a bad ending, but it isn't...we had the emergency fund, which is more than we would have been able to say in the recent past, and we will rebuild it, it will just take time...and in our budget, we CAN reduce our payments on a few things to recoup that extra money we technically didn't have. And as we keep on watching our pennies and sticking to our budget as closely as we can, slowly we will get things paid off. Most things will be paid off in about 2 years. The mortgage should be paid off in about 8 years. And then we will be totally, utterly, absolutely debt free. How's that for a concept? I like it.
As Dave Ramsey says (one of my Hubby's favourite authors/radio guys right now) "Right now we will live like nobody else so that someday we can live like nobody else". Get it? :)
And you know what one of the best things about our plan has been? NOTHING has been added to the debt. We paid cash from our income tax return for the new fridge when the old one died, cash for the broken furnace repair, cash for the furnace and vent cleaners, cash for the car repairs (or debit or cheque, but the cash was there, no floating cheques or credit cards or whatever). Nice. As in no interest fees, no waiting for things to appear on a bill.
And I rock with cooking cheaply. 75 pound bag of potatoes from a local farmer =$15
Do you have any IDEA how many potatoes that is, and how many fabulously delicious, filling, satisfying dishes can be made with 75 POUNDS of potatoes? :) Add that to 20kg of flour, farm fresh eggs, and discount meat, you can feed a family for next to nothing. :) Ask me for ideas if you need some...I'm having fun. :)
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