Get FINANCIALLY Fit: Cash Flow

The first part of managing your household budget is analyzing and establishing cash flow.  We have always been pretty responsible spenders, but this...well, this is crazy.

It all starts with income.  And income is tricky.  I have had a full-time job since January of 2007.  My husband has worked various jobs since then - salesman, banker, worship leader, and finally, this summer, engineer.  We always referred to our income prior to this summer as a 1.25 income.  Mine was the 1, and his job at the church was the .25.  Now, I suppose we are a 2.25 income.  It seems like that would mean that we could continue living on the 1.25 income and use the remaining 1 to pay off debt.  But as it turns out, getting a job is a lot like getting older - the more privileges, the more responsibility.

• Child in preschool = $$$
• 120 miles round trip to work in gas = $$$
• 120 miles round trip in toll = $$$

And, I begged for some more grocery money.  My $50/week budget including diapers was killing me.  We upped it.  End result? Extra monthly expenditures.  And when you are maintaining a cash flow plan, you are watching every. single. penny.  It starts with a form that looks something like this:

From Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University

Only this is half of the first page.  Yep...it literally tracks every single dollar you spend.  October was our first month, and I think we redid this form at least three times.  Part of it was because Rick worked lots of overtime this month, and the other part was because unexpected expenses kept popping up.  We had to pay for pest control.  We had to pay more than we budgeted for a cab when we flew to Texas for Rick's cousin's wedding.  We got a bill from Charlie's doctor.  Etc, etc.  The way the formula works is this: you end with $0.  If you do all the math and end with $214, you need to go back and spend that $214 somewhere.  Ideally, you are applying it to debt, or if you're out of debt, to savings, or if you have significant savings, allocated savings.

One of the big keys to making this work is buying with cash.  We are cash people and always have been, so that part wasn't much of an adjustment.  The other big key is balancing your checkbook against the form and making sure all the numbers match up.  That is a HUGE adjustment.  I was once very diligent about my checkbook, but as it turns out, it was one of many things that went bye-bye when I had kids. :/

Anyway, we are excited!  We were able to put a respectable amount on debt this month, which is GREAT, because we have a list of goals:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1.  CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #5. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013.

It's happening!

What's Up with Blogging

Well...I've been busy.  Everyone has.  It's that time of year.  All my favorite blogs are completely stagnant because their writers are going through the same thing as me.

Life.

Ah, well.  I had maybe three or four posts 3/4ths of the way done, so I finished them up and then staggered the schedule so it would look like I haven't been ignoring my blog.  I also have a thing with more than one post on the same date.  I don't like it.

Anyway, today is October 25th - one of the few true days OFF we get during the school year that is not attributed to a holiday.  We get it because we work two 12-hour days in the days prior (though yesterday I worked a solid 13.5).

So while the kids are asleep, I'm blogging.  I would normally clean, but my sweet husband DEEP cleaned the entire first floor this week.  Upstairs is in pretty good shape, but even if I wanted to clean up there I don't want to risk disturbing the kids.

So I'm blogging.

I will try to be better about being more consistent.  I do have several ideas of things to blog - fitness, finance, plans, projects, recipes, etc.  Just need to find the time!

(And to all my blogger friends - please find some time to write some new stuff, too!)

1-Year Anniversary of Homecoming

One year ago today, we brought our daughter home after 19 days in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit.  I wrote about it here.

Today, she is the smiliest, happiest, silliest, giggliest, sweetest little chunk you can imagine.  She loves to eat, sleep, and cuddle.  In fact, picture the perfect baby, and you'll have Lucy.  At her one-year, she came in at the 73rd%ile for weight and 93rd%ile for height for babies born on time.

I am so beyond grateful to God for His provision.  When I think about how fearful I was back in Lucy's first days, I wish so desperately that I could have shown my then-self this post with these pictures.  But on the other hand, I learned so much from the experience about trust, faith, and letting go, that I don't know if I can bring myself to regret it.

So happy 1-year-anniversary of your homecoming, Lucy Jean!

Recipe: Meatballs with Sneaky Veggies

I made this as part of my massive freezer cooking excursion, but they were so delicious and such a good idea that I made them again over the weekend.  Please excuse the poor picture quality...anyone want to buy me an iPhone 5? :)

STEP 1: Ingredients
You will need:

I made a double recipe, so the items pictured are twice what you will need

• 1 lb ground beef, thawed (the leaner the better)
• cauliflower
• carrot
• celery (or cell-er-ee, for Lindsey :)
• for these veggies, you want approx. 1/2 c of each when blended, so eyeball it
• 1 slice whole wheat bread
• 2 egg whites
• fresh parsley

STEP 2: Mix, mix, mix!
Place the veggies and bread in a food processor.  You can really use any veggies you want.  You can see from the picture here that I used green pepper.  I didn't have any celery on hand, so I just used what I had on hand.  You could also use frozen veggies, but if you do, be sure to thaw completely before mixing.

And blend until fine and well-mixed.

Add ground beef and mix by hand...if you can bear to touch it.  I made myself, even though every grain of myself squirmed.  I suppose I could have put it in my Kitchen-aid and used the paddle attachment, but I didn't think of that until now.  And even if I had, you have to touch it in the next step anyway, so I don't know that it really matters...

Add parsley and egg whites and continue to mix until everything looks evenly distributed and there aren't big pockets of veggies or meat.

STEP THREE: Roll
Roll the mixture into balls.  If needed, put some olive oil on your fingers to help shape. Place in a muffin tin or on a cookie sheet THAT HAS AN EDGE!  (The first time I made these I put some on a edge-less pan and then had to find a pan big enough to place under it in case grease dripped down onto the heating unit, which would have caused a fire.  So...don't do that.)

STEP FOUR: Bake
Place in an oven heated to 400 degrees.  Bake for 20 minutes or so, or until meatballs are browned.  Remove from pan and cool on wire racks to get rid of any extra grease.  (Though the leaner your meat, the less grease you should have.)

I didn't take a picture of these with the veggie or whole-wheat pasta and sauce I would serve because they went straight into a bag and to the freezer.  But the first time I made them I fed them to my children.  My 1-year-old will eat anything you give her, so she gobbled these up.  The real test was going to be my uber-picky almost-4-year-old.  I chopped them up and mixed them in with his pasta and sauce...and he ate almost half of it.

Success, in my book.

Lucy's 1st Birthday Party!

We had such a wonderful time celebrating Lucy's first birthday!  She is such a special girl, and we were able to have a very special party without spending much money!  Here's how we did it:

1) We borrowed.  My sister-in-law is Miss Pinterest, and she made a ton of decorations for my niece's birthday party in July with the theme "You Are My Sunshine" in mind...and then she just GAVE IT ALL TO US!  I offered to pay her, but she refused.  It was AWESOME!

2) We asked.  I didn't know this, but Rick's mom likes to do cakes.  She said that when she was young, she wanted to open a bakery and make cakes.  I had no idea, but I was thrilled to discover this, because it meant I could ask her to make the cake and not feel like it was a huge imposition.  I told her the colors were hot pink, orange, and yellow, and that the theme was "You Are My Sunshine."  I let her run with it.  And look!

Also, Rick's grandmother made a pot of chicken noodle soup.  It was SOOOO delicious.  We made our standard black bean soup and veggie beef soup, and then Rick made a pot of chili.  Mom and Dad brought rolls, and Rick's other grandmother made a salad.  It was perfect.

3) We emailed our invitations.  I used picmonkey.com (if you haven't played with this site, it's SO MUCH FUN!) and I think they turned out pretty cute:

4) We had fun. :)

Lucy has so many special people who love her!  A huge thank you to all who came and helped celebrate her first birthday!

Get Fit Lesson 2: Discipline

Allow me to be an English teacher for a moment.

In one of my favorite books of all time, The Horse and His Boy, by C.S. Lewis, Bree, the talking horse from Narnia, Shasta, his rider, and their company are on a mission to escape slavery and arrive safely in Narnia. Throughout their journey, they are pursued by lions.  In one of these scenes, they are rushing to alert the king that an enemy army is on its way. Allow me to quote the passage:

"Quick! Quick!" shouted Aravis. "We might as well not have come at all if we don't reach Anvard in time. Gallop, Bree, gallop. Remember, you're a war horse!"

It was all Shasta could do to prevent himself from shouting out similar instructions; but he thought, "The poor chap's doing all he can already," and held his tongue.  And certainly, both horses were doing, if not all they could, all they thought they could; which is not quite the same thing. Bree had caught up with Hwin and they thundered side by side over the turf. It didn't look as if Hwin could possibly keep it up much longer.

At that moment, everyone's feelings were completely altered by a sound from behind. It was not the sound they had been expecting to hear - the noise of hoofs and jingling armor, mixed, perhaps, with Calormene battle-cries. Yet Shasta knew it at once. It was the same snarling roar he had heard that moonlit night when they first met Aravis and Hwin. Bree knew it too. His eyes gleamed red and his ears lay flat back on his skull. And Bree now discovered that he had not really been going as fast - not quite as fast - as he could. Shasta felt the change at once. Now they were really going all out.

The snarling roar was a lion - Aslan, the Christ-figure.  And when Shasta finally meets Aslan face to face, this is what Aslan tells him:

"I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the horses to new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it cam to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."

I love this passage - and this book - for so many reasons.  But for the purposes of this post, I'm going to focus on the phrase "And now Bree discovered that he had not really been going as fast - not quite as fast - as he could."  How often do I think I am at the end of my rope?  How many times have I thought, "This is good enough."  How many times have I just flat given up?

Too many.

But all the power to complete whatever it is I want to complete - lose weight, save money, be a better wife, be a better mom, be a better servant - it's all within my grasp.  Philippians 4:13 is one of the first scripture verses I committed to memory as a child: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  I have strength.  In yoga, they are always telling us that our body can do more than our brain thinks it can.  And by and large, they are right.  If I simply make my body lean that way, if I simply force myself into that position, I find I can do it.

This experience is spawning others.  We are working on finances.  I am setting small goals in the kitchen and with our grocery spending.  No eating out, but eating at home, and eating healthier.  I'm setting small goals at school.  Spend an extra few minutes and make a positive phone call on my own instead of waiting for team time.  I'm setting goals with the kids.  Instead of rushing around as soon as we get home, take time to just play.  There will be time for rushing around later.

I can feel a shift taking place.  Productivity has been up.  Stress has been down (for the most part, that is).  Things are getting done.  Things are changing.  Things are by no means perfect.  But they are getting better.

It's all about discipline.  I can do so much more than my brain thinks I can.

Get FINANCIALLY Fit: Getting Started

This summer, my big focus was weight loss.  Check.  Now, our big focus is our finances.

To be honest, I'm a little lot uncomfortable blogging about money.  Even if you know me, (and depending on our level of friendship), it's unlikely I have talked to you about our money situation, other than the off-handed "we don't have any" sort of comment.  I sometimes feel more comfortable writing about something than I do talking about it, but in this case, both are equally uncomfortable.  How much money we have or don't have really isn't anyone else's business, and spouting it off can make the listener feel awkward.  In most cases, I would therefore decide not to discuss it.  However, one of the best things about blogging is accountability.  If I lay out a weight loss plan, say I'm going to stick to it, and then don't, I have just shown my entire readership (yes, all four of you) that I am full of hot air.  However, if I say I'm going to do it, I am constantly mindful of the fact that these four people know I said I was going to do it.

It's an accountability thing. That said, I am going to try to be as specifically vague as possible.

In a nutshell, our financial situation is this: we got married debt-free and lived that way for four years.  In the last three, we have added two cars, a house, a (third and fourth) college degree program, and (thanks to an unforeseen loss of income) a credit card.  Translation?  FIVE loans.

This is so depressing.  I hate thinking about how we went from completely self-sufficient to having FIVE loans in three short years.  Miraculously, our debt total is relatively low, especially considering the national averages.  (Have you looked at those?  They are scary.)  So in July, Rick and I sat down and mapped out a finance plan - a way to pay off our debt and save money.

And then we started Financial Peace University at church, and realized our plan, which we thought was so brilliant, was actually crap.  We scrapped it and went with Dave Ramsey's actual plan.  The bottom line is this:

Tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.

Sounds simple enough, right?  Um...wrong.  It's a TON of work.  It's sitting down EVERY WEEK, and some weeks more than once, and going through ALL of it.  It's tracking every single dollar that comes in and designating where it goes before it ever gets to you.  It is a RIDICULOUS amount of maintenance.  And discipline.

But we have a few things in our favor:

1. We aren't starting with that much debt, really.
2. I am the cheapest person alive.  Recently an acquaintance posted online asking for input on which diaper bag she should buy.  The cheapest one was $88 and the most expensive one was a Coach.  She was serious.  I can't imagine spending $88 on a bag.  I wanted to shake her shoulders and say "It's a BAG! Do you realize it's a bag? It's going to hold poopy clothes and bottles are going to spill in it and there will be cheerio-powder in the bottom.  YOU ARE CRAZY?!"  But then I remembered I am the cheapest person alive.  Maybe I'm the crazy one.
3. We don't spend money on stuff we don't need, and for the stuff we do need, we usually get it 2nd hand.  This is a fact that some people might try to keep on the DL, but not me.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this.  Reduce, reuse, recycle applies to clothes, kitchen appliances, shoes, electronics, and pretty much everything else!
4. We are both committed to getting out of debt ASAP and beginning to build wealth.

We have only been in the class four weeks, but we have already crossed a few things off our list and set some goals:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 We already had this in place, but I like to write things down on my to-do list even if I've already done them because it looks like I accomplished more.
2. Pay off Loan #1.  Yep!  We officially own my car as of this month!
3. Pay off Loan #5. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013.

It's going to happen, people!

Kindle Book: Sunlight on My Shadow

 Sunlight on my Shadow

by Judy Liautaud

Length: 312 pages

Format: Kindle book
Price: FREE from the Kindle Lending Library

Author Website: http://sunlightonmyshadow.com/?author=1

Basic Premise: In this memoir, 16-year-old Judy finds herself pregnant in the year 1967.  Her staunchly Catholic family is horrified and go to great lengths to keep the pregnancy, birth, and following adoption secret.  After decades of silence, Judy decides to tell her story, and find her baby.

My Take: 8 out of 10 (scale here)

We do a unit at school over the 1960s, and while it feels wrong to say that it's one of my favorite time periods (given all the civil unrest), it kind of is.  I love the clothes, the music, the hair, the times.  The book begins by setting the stage - her family, the boy, the night, the morning after, and the startling realization that one split-second moment of weakness had altered her life forever.  It follows her to a home for unwed mothers, the hospital, and back home, playing along with the lie her parents told about her absence.  It follows her into adulthood, marrying and having her own children, and then into the search for that first child.

I really enjoyed this book.  I found the premise intriguing, especially given the fact that having a baby out of wedlock means something so radically different now than it did nearly fifty years ago.  I liked her simple, graceful writing style, and the fact that she was so honestly blunt about things other women might choose to exclude.  I felt a kinship with her for almost all of the book (except when she went through her hippy-pot-smoking-God-is-a-sham-and-so-is-my-life phase).  Being a mother, I can only imagine what it would be like to give up that baby.  Your baby.  Ugh.  But a good read, all the same.

Dear Lucy

Last year at this time, I was sitting in the green chair writing this to our as-yet unborn baby girl.  I was full of excitement, worry, and fear - fear about what the next few hours and days would bring.  Would she be healthy?  How long would we have to be in the hospital?  How would big brother adjust?  I wish I could have somehow flashed forward and read this post then.

Dear Lucy,

I can't believe you are already a year old.  When you were first born, you were less than five pounds and would have easily fit inside a shoe box. I was so worried about you, and now look at you!  You are a big, beautiful girl.

Your first year has been AMAZING.  You never cry (unless you are tired or hungry, in which case we simply put you down or give you food), you smile all the time, and you love to talk to yourself.  And you are the best. sleeper. ever.  You didn't even need sleep training.  When you were two months old, it was like you decided, "Hey, I want to sleep all through the night" and then you did it.  It was the best gift you could have ever given to your tired, irritable parents!  You have always been a good napper.  Right now, your favorite thing to do when you go down for a nap is to tuck your knees under neath you, stick your (large) rear in the air, pop your thumb in your mouth, and take all of three seconds to fall asleep.  If we let you, you will sleep until 10 AM, which is a 14-hour stretch!  You love to eat (a family trait, I think) and your current favorites are cheerios, blueberries, and beef!  You are also stinking adorable in no matter what clothes we choose for you.  (I do wish you'd do a better job of keeping the hair band on, though.)

You have the most beautiful blue eyes and such a precious little smile.  People tell me that you look like me, but I don't see it.  I think you are a completely unique mix of secret genetic ingredients that make you stand out.  I think that's what you will spend much of your life doing - standing out.  You did this in the hospital when you were first born, when they couldn't believe how well you were doing, how good your levels were, what a great eater you were, how hard you were working at getting stronger.  You have done it at home, figuring out the spoon and the straw and sign language with less (WAY less) help than your brother got.  And I know you will continue to do it as you grow.

I can't tell you what a blessing you have been to your momma.  I didn't even know how much I needed you before you were born, but now that I've spent an entire year being your mommy, I understand just how perfectly you complete our family.  As you grow and change, I look forward to seeing your gifts, talents, and uniquenesses make themselves known.  I look forward to seeing you and your brother grow together.  I look forward to helping you with your homework and watching you play.  I look forward to baking cookies, going shopping, and talking about boys.  I look forward to helping guide you through this crazy thing called life.

I love you so much and can't imagine loving you more.  You are my sweet, sweet, girl, and will be for as long as I live.

Love,
Your Mommy