CASH

I suppose this post has been four-five years in the making. Maybe longer. I believe it begins in our Colorado days if I'm not mistaken.  B-man first started listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio when we were stationed at Ft Carson. Dave Ramsey is an author and talk show host and his expertise is money. Specifically, he advises his listeners on a no nonsense approach to getting out of debt, saving for retirement, and building wealth to that end. He is also a Christian and applies his Christian values to his lessons on finance.  This was huge for me.   We both really enjoyed listening to his show, but B-man was really the one who listened the most. I can only stomach so much talk radio. But, anyway, we started taking inventory of our debts and assets, etc and made a plan to start paying off our debt, which I'd say was about 90% in car payments. Ugh! So, although we had some debt, we felt pretty good about it b/c it was mostly just car debt. Dave, on the other hand, would not feel good about car debt...at all. And I'd say that we're coming around to that position as well. We will probably never buy a car outright, but we will definitely be making wiser decisions on car buying in the future. Anyway, we eventually paid off our debt and I'm happy to say that we are DEBT FREE and have been for quite a while now! Right, honey? Am I missing something? Lord knows I've not been thinking straight lately. Lol!

When we lived in Arkansas, good ole Dave was offering a free online version of his Financial Peace University to members of the military. So, together, B-man and I watched all of the lessons online. Afterwards, we were all about taking the steps he outlined in his plan. We set up our retirement accounts appropriately and starting saving for Boo's college. The one thing I dreaded doing was making a monthly budget. I didn't want to do this at all. Ever. I don't know why. It just felt like it would be a total drag, I guess.   Alas, I did it and talked it over with B-man. We agreed on our budget and put it in play. As the months wore on, I could NEVER make budget. I admit, I was overspending. Not beyond our means...just beyond what we said we were going to spend at the beginning of the month. There was always something big...birthdays, Christmas, road trips, etc that I wasn't accounting for each month. I just hated being restrained by this budget.  And I wasn't really tracking my spending until the end of the month when I'd have a pile of receipts to enter into our worksheet. I'd type away and hope to have made budget when I hit the bottom of the pile. So, you can imagine, that did not work.  As part of his plan, Dave also recommends a cash envelope system  for maintaining your budget. I admit, I HATED this idea too! When your envelopes of money ran out, that was it, you were out of money in that budgeted category...for the rest of the month. Gasp! I felt like it was a slap on the wrist for some reason.  But, I did try the envelope method once. And I really don't even know what happened to it. Did we move and I never got back on track? Was a child born? I really don't know. I just know that I was always entering in our, (okay, mostly my) purchases into our budget worksheet and I was never making budget and I wasn't using cash for purchases. Just the debit card.   Again, let me say...I wasn't spending beyond our means, just not the way we had planned. I also think our saving goals were pretty lofty. We wanted to save, save, save. And we still do, but in a more realistic fashion.

Fast forward to now. Since B-man is deployed, he will be earning a few entitlements to his paycheck. We want to make sure we use that extra money wisely. SO, I revamped the budget with our new monthly income and what I hope to be realistic monetary limits on our budgeted categories. AND, I'm doing the cash envelop system again. I ordered some Laminated Cash Envelopes to put in my wallet. Somehow cute laminated envelopes makes it better, right?  And I'm so happy to report that we stayed within our budget for the month of February!!! Woohoo!!  I LOVED the cash system (I'm telling you...cute laminated envelopes...). It really made a difference in my attitude as I went through the stores. I felt like it was a competition...how much can I get and how little can I spend to get it!!  I only went to Target ONCE in February. Usually you can find me there once/week and with more in my buggy than what was on my list. Way more.  Using cash also decreased my trips through the drive through! That's a win win...for our wallet and my waist! The main thing that using cash does is makes you aware of what you are spending when you're spending it...not at the end of the month when it's too late! I loved paying in cash too. There's something empowering about it.

So, I encourage you to take a look at Dave's website and consider going green! Cash, that is.

I should also mention that I tweaked his plan to really fit my life and personality. For example...I don't use cash for gas. I'm not getting out of the car with two kids in tow to go in and pay for gas with cash, when paying in cash makes no difference to me in this situation. I'm buying the gas. Period. And, I'm enjoying the convenience of paying at the pump. That being said, I do use the fuel perks reward at the grocery store and I saved $6.80 on gas in one trip to the pump last month! Woohoo!

Also, I do still shop online. for some things But, I immediately take that cash out of my budgeted envelope for that category so that I don't overspend. Those online purchases sneak up you.

I'm not sure how we'll integrate this into our lives when we're both in the US and both spending, but this is a start. Now, where should we put the money we save? We're still trying to figure that one out!

Another Retraction

It was brought to my attention that Jesus most probably DID have a moustache. And then I started thinking about it and did a Google image search of Jesus. And then, I had to laugh, because there are no pics of him without a moustache!! Now, I know these are not real pictures of him (I haven't totally lost my marbles), but I thought it was funny that I thought of him without one. Ha, what was I thinking??

Considering the Jewish laws regarding facial hair, I think he probably did, indeed, have a a moustache.

Funny Friday

Lil Bit decided to put her bowl of mac n cheese on top of her head.
Thanks Lil Bit! I guess we will take a bath tonight! Lol.

She is ADAMANT about feeding herself. She will not eat ANYTHING if I try to feed it to her. She saw this sand rake on the table the other day and thought it was a fork. She  was begging for it in her cute baby way. I knew what she was thinking and I wanted to see what she would do with it. So, I gave it to her. She immediately started using it like a fork! She was serious and I was just laughing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funny things Boo has said...

1. I was letting him lick the beaters from the cupcake mix last week:

He looked and me and said, "Mama, this takes like.... um....it tastes liiiiiiiiiike...GOOD!"
Me: "It tastes like good?"

Boo: "Yep, it tastes like good!"

2. At the kitchen table..."Mama, I want a pickle in the flat green bowl today."

   Me: "Um, what flat green bowl? We don't have a flat green bowl. "

   Boo: "I want the flat green bowl."
   Me: "We have a red bowl that is flat on the bottom. Do you want that one?"

   Boo: "No, I want the flat green one."
   Me: (trying to think of what he could be asking for when it dawns on me, he means a plate, a flat green plate) ..."Do you mean a plate?" 

   Boo: "Yes, the flat green bowl."

   Me: "This is called a plate!!!"

3. I was explaining to him that he and Dr. Seuss shared a birthday. I told him that the man who wrote all of our Dr. Seuss books would also be celebrating his birthday (if he was alive...). Boo's response was, "Oh, why did he want to write me all of those books for my birthday?"
Our Boo...still thinks everything revolves around him! I guess even having a little sister can't mess with that! ha!

4. And the winner for random question of the day goes to ...Boo!

Out of the blue today he just asked me, "Mama, did Jesus have a moustache?"
Me: "No, he didn't. Well, I don't think he did. Probably not. Yeah, he didn't have one!" Lol.

Where does he come up with this stuff!? He definitely keeps me on my toes. Nothing gets by him!

Lil Bit at the Lil Gym

What a wonderful little morning Lil Bit and I had at the Little Gym today. Part of her Christmas gift was a 4 week session of gymnastics at the local Little Gym (thanks to Groupon). She's finally out of her two naps/day phase, so we've been able to take advantage of that extra time to get out and about. Boo was at preschool and we went over to the Little Gym for her first class.  She was in heaven! She had the TIME of her life!! She is our climber! She recently busted her lip after going face first off the side of the couch onto the hard wood floor. And just yesterday she was climbing onto a kitchen chair making her way onto the kitchen table!! Boo never did any of this! She's a mover and shaker for sure! I can't tell you enough how much she loved climbing on everything. I loved watching her be so happy! It was a nice gift for us both. It was so nice to spend some one on one time doing something age appropriate for her. So fun!

I had to add this one!
First she brought me her dino tail to put around her waist.
Then, she went to her room and brought me her tutu to put on as well.
And of course, it was down the runway after that. Lol. 
Soooo cute!

Plan B Birthday Bash

Boo wanted a dinosaur party this year. And he wanted a bouncy house. And me, being the awesome Mom that I am, was able to find a dinosaur bouncy house from a party rental place in town. Score!! I reserved it last month and thought, eh, surely it won't rain. These things always work out. Well, as we got closer and closer to party hour, it was clear...the weather was not going to cooperate with our outdoor party plans. It rained all. day. long! So, I cancelled the bouncy house and plan B was hatched. It was still a great time and a perfect little 4 year old bday party! Here are some pics from his bday week!

Making cupcakes to take to school.
Lightning McQueen, of course.

I saw an idea on pinterest to put balloons in your child's room so that when they wake up on their bday morning, their room is full of balloons! I was so excited to do this! He was calling me from his room... "Mama...why are their balloons in my room?" It was so cute! And when I told him they were for his bday, he was super excited.

We kept a few cupcakes out from the box to take to school to eat on his actual bday.

Lil Bit enjoyed hers and is asking for more by opening her mouth as wide as she can!

Our big 4 year old...nice and neat!

Bday party day!
The guest of honor and his mom!

A friend of mine from high school made his cake. It was yummy!

I made these dino tails for the kids to wear and to take home after the party.
I loved them! I think the kiddos enjoyed them too. They were another pinterest inspiration.

Diggin for dino bones...on the porch...b/c of rain.

A Pteranadon!

Pin the head on the dino!
Look at how close he got!
I'm skeptical...I think he could see...

Miss E was not so close...that's hers on the door!

Lil Bit had a turn.

Miss C modeling her dino tail.

Cute-asourus.

...

Replacing a bouncy house with a book is pretty lame but it was a sing along book about dinos and pretty much all we could think of at this point.
It sort of kept their attention. I skipped forward a lot, but it filled the time.

I lost these dinos during the book reading. ha!

Dancing to "them bones..."

We had hotdogs and chips.

And cake, of course!

Sweet Miss H! So glad to be able to share Boo's bday with our friends and family that we don't usually get to see on his bday.
Obviously, we missed B-man tremendously, but this is as good as you can get if your Dad can't be there.

Present time!



And here's one video!
These dinos are the cutest!!

I know, this is alot of pics. But B-man wasn't able to be there...so he has to see everything this way!!

A HUGE thank you to all of our friends and family for helping me pull off this party!! Everyone stepped in and helped from the planning, the execution, to the clean up, to the watching of Lil Bit, etc. I couldn't have done it without you all! And thanks to B for taking pictures. They turned out great. Boo's already talking about his 5th bday party...oh boy!

FOUR YEARS OLD!

Our Lil Boo is getting bigger by the minute! He turned four years old today! He's been asking me everyday for weeks now if it was his birthday yet. And finally, the day has arrived!  I have a few pics and videos to share, but that will be for another day...after the party tomorrow. I did want to share at least one photo of him on his big day.

This picture is of him playing with his new space shuttle while talking on the phone with DaDa wearing his new Army uniform hat. He had fun playing all day long.

Our Lil Boo is the reason I became a Mama in the first place. I can't believe it's been 4 years. I feel like I've known him my whole life. Hasn't he always been with me?  Gosh, he really is a sweet boy and loves to be loved on! Who doesn't though, right? He can be a little self centered too, which I guess has more to do with his age than anything (I hope).   We've been talking a lot about thinking about others lately. His love languages are quality time and words of affirmation. If you spend time with him and encourage him, he's golden. You can see him transform right before your eyes.

He's very curious and inquisitive and wants to know how and why, why, why everything works the way it does. I know he at least gets part of that from me. I'm sure it comes from B-man as well. But, I always wanted to know how things worked. I needed to understand the reason behind things. Part of the reason that I wanted to be a PT was to learn  about how the body worked. It's pretty fascinating, just FYI.

I must admit, we butt heads over his "need to know", but I'm trying to get better about nurturing him the way he needs to be and realize where he's coming from. And sometimes, things are the way they are just because they are (or because we're 10 minutes late for swimming lessons and we don't have time to discuss where the water goes when it drains out of the sink into the pipes and under the house and down the road...). And that's okay too!

I know I already said it, but he can be so sweet. He's been known to come over to me and give me a squeeze (hug) or a kiss, just because. And that melts my heart.

He really has grown so much in the last 6 months. I feel like we're on the verge of having a real conversation and everything not be taken literally. Just the other day we were both able to laugh at Lil Bit b/c she thought his swim suit was a bag and was carrying it around the house on her shoulder by the strings. It was nice that he could see the humor in that and that we could share that together. It really was pretty funny.

We just love our Lil Boo so much and I'm so looking forward to our next year together. I think it's going to be a great one!

I kind of don't want to stop writing about him. I just love him so. I think I will stop though, and go sneak in his room and give him a kiss on the head and watch him sleep for a minute or two.

Dinosaur party tomorrow! Pray for no rain!