HGTV Observations

Last night I was watching television in lieu of sleeping--I just don't sleep well when Eli is out of town--and I realized I've spent most of my TV-watching time on ABC, USA, and TNT.  It's been a long time since I watched HGTV, and since I didn't want to procrastinate too long, I flipped over to it.  Its 30-minute show lineup is perfect for being productive between shows.

A new show was on, one I haven't seen: House Hunters Renovation.  The gist is that people are looking for fixer-uppers.  I wish I could tell you more, but I didn't end up watching much of it. But, I did hear something for the first time that I've never heard on these house-hunting shows.

House Hunter (paraphrase):  We got approved at [$ amount], but I'm not willing to spend more than [much lower $ amount] because we have dreams and goals and things we want to do when we retire instead of pay on a house.

Wow!  This is very much my attitude toward our little house.  It's a starter house.  We'll have it paid off before Elsie graduates high school.  We will not upgrade or move unless we have to, really.  We could spend more on a mortgage payment, but then we would be "house poor".  We have dreams for our retirement, and a large house with a large payment does not mesh with those dreams.

I see a lot of shows on HGTV where people set a budget and then end up going over.  I don't know if this guy stuck to his guns, but I hope that we can.

Cheers.

October Debt Update

Thank you, JT, for your kind words concerning our progress in our debt reduction. And then it occurred to me that it's already 2/3 of the way through the month and I haven't posted about it yet.

Well, then.  Here we go.

In September, we only paid minimums on our loans (the last of our non-mortgage debt).


 Second 10K Chunk, started 5/1/12

 

Fundraising Thermometer

 
In October 2011, I finally added up how much debt we had left since starting Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps in February of 2008.  We had reached the halfway point, but the last debts were Eli's two massive student loans that totaled more than $50,000.  It was overwhelming to look at that large number, but when someone suggested that we split it up into manageable chunks of $10,000, the debt thermometers were born.  We finished the first one in May 2012, and hope to be done with the second one by the year's end.  We can hope, right?

So, we've been working with these visuals for a year, and we've paid off $16,913.71 in this year's time.  Sometimes it's depressing to listen in on the Dave Ramsey show, and people pay off twice that in a year's time, but then I have to remember that hey, we could have been SPENDING that money and NOT getting out of debt.  Progress is progress.  We have $35,000 left to go.

To just lay it out there for anyone also in our shoes, the longer it takes us to get rid of this debt, the harder it is for me to maintain the intensity.  The upcoming increase on the focus on materialism in our culture (commercial Christmas) is not going to make things any easier for me.  It will only serve to cause me to battle my inner definitions of wants and needs.  The catalogs have already started coming in the mail...

So, if you would keep us in your prayers as we continue this journey to be good stewards of the resources provided to us by our Lord.  We want to eliminate our debt so that we can use these resources to support  missionary friends overseas and in other ways that we feel led to give.

Thanks, guys!

Cheers!

Random Pics Post

S'mores while camping at Paul Johnson State Park in Hattiesburg, MS.  June 2012.

Looking at pictures on the phone, summer 2012 (sometime between the beginning of June and the beginning of July).

Swimming with Mimi, Texas, July 2012.

Family play time with Aunt Julie and cousins:

Goodbyes for Goldilocks.  Oscar was already in bed.

At Bama game, September 2012.

Hopefully, this is enough to give you a quick fix.  :)

September Debt Update

Hello, September!

The back-to-school month of August is always a budget buster, even when I plan ahead.  So, for next year, I need to remember to have funds for several forseeables throughout the year:

1. School supplies -- dry erase markers to start the year, pink erasers, pencil top erasers (200),  markers (one pack thick, one pack thin), BIC mechanical pencils (4 packs), red pens (40), glue sticks (30)
2. Achievers Team lunch -- approx $8 for one day of lunch with my team members during planning week
3. School lunch -- need approx $30 in my account to start the year (would love to have $200-$250 for the year)
4. Clothes -- this isn't a need, but this year I needed jeans since all mine were too big or torn up; next year it might be something else, but I sure would love to take advantage of tax-free weekend if I can (first weekend in August), so approx $50?
5. Team t-shirt -- approx $12 to buy new t-shirt
6. Baby/wedding shower fund -- $40, each team member puts $5 for a gift card per event
7. Birthday lunch fund -- we order in on team member birthdays and pay for their lunch, ~$40
8. Birthday celebration fund -- we celebrate birthdays for students once a month, I'm responsible for snacks for those twice, ~$60
9. Relay for Life Fundraiser Lunches -- $20

Anyway, the debt thermometer this month looks good.  I'm not so sure about the paper budget, but the debt thermometer looks good.  Did I already say that?  :)

 Second 10K Chunk, started 5/1/12

 

Fundraising Thermometer
 

This month is month twelve of the debt thermometers, and I can't wait to share our total at the end of month--how much we have been able to pay off in a year.  It won't be as phenomenal as some people who call into the Dave Ramsey show, but it will still be awesome.  Why?  Because it's money we don't owe anymore!  And we only have ~$36,000 left in student loans!!  Until next month!

Cheers.

Note:  After writing this, I realize that I probably sound like such a dork to people.  Yes, $36k is a lot of moolah, but it's so much better than the $105k we started with in 2008.  I seriously feel like a "debt marathoner" when I say "only" before naming a large amount of money.  Before we started training for our marathon in 2007, we could barely run a mile; after a few months we talked about having to run "only 12 miles" for our long runs, when we worked up to 15-16 miles.  We were crazy.  So, yes.  What we have left is a lot, but it just takes a mental shift in knowing we will overcome rather than be buried by it.  :)

2 Years of O

There are no more babies at my house--today Oscar is officially 2 years old.  I have two little people living with me.  When did that happen?

I crack up at my youngest little person.  He wants to do everything that Elsie wants to do.  If she says something, he wants to repeat it and does, putting "too" on the end.  Makes for some humorous situations.

Elsie:  Mommy, I need new panties!

Oscar: I need new panties, too!

Elsie:  I want to be a princess!

Oscar:  I want to be a princess, too!

Elsie:  I just farted.

Oscar:  I just farted, too!

And yes, we use the word "farted."  That's just life. 

For a while Eli was concerned that Oscar might not have any musical genes, but he has become musical, singing to himself, making up happy songs (particularly when there is cheese involved).  At bedtime, he wants me to sing "Jesus Loves Me Dino" ("this I know" somehow sounds like dino to him).  He sings along loudly.  He love the Sing-a-ma-jig that we have, and can match it tone for tone.  No worries, Eli.

His favorite saying is "Go to bed!  Right now!"  Elsie used to tell me to put him to bed when he was annoying her, and now they tell each other.  It's pretty funny, except not so much when he tells me.

He wakes up earlier than Elsie and loves to just talk talk talk.  The other morning Eli left early, so he put Oscar on the bed where I was still sleeping. He practiced: "Mommy, go to bed, right now!"  "Daddy, go to bed, right now!"  "Eh-see, go to bed, right now!"  And he cycled through again and again.  It was entertaining, to say the least.

He'll frequently tell me "I want to carry you."  I always tell him I'm too heavy, and then we "figure out" that he wants me to carry him.  He's getting clingier and clingier and we're probably going to go through full-blown separation anxiety soon, much like we did with Elsie when she was a little over two.

And recently, he has started telling me that he needs to go potty, and I'm not sure what to do with the information.  Sometimes I set him on the seat, and others I just ignore since he's never done anything on the potty.

But, he's also still so sweet and super cuddly.  Where did my baby go?

Oscar, in the hospital at birth:

My little man, within the last couple of weeks.

Frankly, I'm glad he grew out of his "ugly baby" phase.  Now I just want to kiss his sweet head every time he comes near me.

We will not, however, forget that he is going through a biting phase.  This is a "picture of Oscar's teeth" on Elsie's inner thigh.  Poor girl has been bitten more times by Oscar than by ants, and that's saying a lot.  Thankfully, it's slowing down and happening less frequently now.

As far as birthday parties, we didn't do anything formal.  We spent the weekend at the beach with Eli's mom's side of the family and had cupcakes for him there.  I'm okay with that, I think.  It was just crazy because Eli was gone to drill.

Anyway, that's my little man.  Can't believe my baby is not a baby anymore.

Cheers!