Dinner anyone?

Hi!!! I'm just starting dinner. My Dad comes over 4 to 6 nights a week to eat with us. He's been single for 30 years and used to eat at my Grandma's or out. Grandma is 96 now, so I've taken over feeding Dad.

I'll let you in on a little secret, I don't enjoy cooking in the least. My Grandma and all my aunts cooked for a fancy resteraunts for years. That's a lot to live up to. However, I've learned to quit eating/ordering out and make dinner for my family. dad coming over keeps me disciplined. Besides you know your eating out too much when your daughter says, "Do we have to go out again?"

I'm also now, no stranger to Aldi's and places like Erie County Farms. I've also been seen perusing the Sunday paper grocery adds and can save a lot with coupons. Would you believe I actually even feel proud after I've made my family a full meal. This cooking thing is also easier on both my budget and my waistline.

Medical Bill Mania

I sat down to pay bills today. We had over $1400.00 in medical bills to pay that I have been sitting on for months. I know what your thinking and the answer is yes we have insurance. However, insurance today just ain't what it used to be. We're still trudging along.

Frank is a discussion leader for the FPU class at church. I'm kinda of glad to have Dave Ramsey back in our face again. We need it.

They all want money!!

This past few weeks every where I turn I'm dishing out money I don't really have per say. My sweeper broke...I clean houses...has to be fixed. My daughters lunch fund. My husbands annual (Mandatory) banquet for his work...Ticket $40. Toilet paper...it's a necessity. Car Inspection... HELP!!!

I can't wait to have that emergency fund back in place. What a stress reliever and comfort it was to have it there. I just have to find a way to get working on it. I just need to focus. When there's a will there's a way. I've been doing a lot of talking to God about the stress of money lately.

OK. So Frank's family came up from Arizona for 10 days. Talk about a whirl wind of juggling money for entertaining. It's hard to say "No, we can't" when it's their vacation and they haven't been here in 10 years. Thank God for the Peninsula, Asbury Woods, Buttermilk Falls, and the Erie Zoo. I guess sometimes we just have to be humble and say, "I'm sorry, our budget is tight could we do this instead?"

God's been so great this week, a few jobs canceled, but we got a few extra to make up for it. I even found $60 in my car. Yee Haw!!!!

My goal has been to refocus on our budget sheets by the end of the month. So by the start of school we're following "The Plan". Maybe more like the "Path" Paths have more room for movement and grace.

Sherry

Hope

I sat down to pay bills today and I was actually able to pay everything i needed to without being late. Earlier in the week I thought I may have to pay a few credit cards late, but I didn't. Hopefully we're getting back on track after a crappy July.

After taking the Dave Ramsey course it was so much easier to deal with creditors who called last month. He has a lesson on how to deal with creditors calls and it made thing much less intimidating. I felt empowered to actually talk to them.

If you have a chance to take the course, DO IT!!!!!! It is a great course. I hope listening to our journey helps someone out there.

Well, after getting hit with numerous bank charges last week our checking account is now back in the black. Talk about getting kicked while your down. Every time I'd get money to put in my account they would throw another charge on there. OUCH!!!!

Lesson: I tend to be all or nothing with everything. Losing weight, tithing, our finances. I have to stay committed to looking at this money stuff every day. Without ceasing. Also, I learned that when our finances out out of control, I grab at anything else to try to gain control of something. My house, Frank..... anything. I just need a sense of I have something under control.

Here's what I've done on our budget. I made a calendar for every month of when all bills are due and what comes out automatically. This helps so much. I've also been making lists of what we can pay and what will be the most sensible to wait until we get things under control. As, I've learned from Jill and Dave Ramsey: "take care of the four walls around you first."

So, we had a set back. It doesn't have to keep us down. We're back on the trail.

Where's the light?

This has been a rough week. We had overdrawn our checking account. I've spent the whole week trying to come up with creative ways to come up with some cash. Frank took some children's things to a consignment store that brought us a whole $30. We even took some jewelry to sell it for the gold. that brought a whole $163. Doesn't seem like much when it was my mother's wedding set from her second marriage. I have felt very pathetic this week. Why do we keep ending up here.

On a positive note, We handled the week together for the most part. We were a team. There's gotta be some good in that. I took the late calls, and didn't ignore them. I actually talked to those people. I looked at that pile of bills and sorted through it instead of pretending it didn't exist. Frank wanted to borrow money from our parents. I said 'NO". Not because of pride but because that's the easy thing to do. We need to struggle through this and learn new ways. That's what we've done in the past, this is a new day. Sometimes life can really seem to kick you when your down. But I remind myself that this world is temporary, and I have a Savior who loves me despite my shortcomings.

I've heard of so many horrible tragedies this week, many people have lost loved ones and are hurting deeply. Our problems seem so small in comparison.