How I was awarded the “NOT Mom of the Year” Award (& Week #2)
03 Feb 2011 6 Comments
in Weekly Update Tags: appreciate, children, cleaning, confession, earn money, family, goal, housekeeping, husband, mommy, mother, wife, worst mother
So I felt really good about week #1, and I was ready to go with week 2. I knew it was going to be a tough week because Tuesday was my birthday and Saturday we were gone for a youth retreat. But I was pumped and ready!
When Tuesday came around, I decided to take the day easy (remember it was my birthday). So I didn’t get too much done on my daily cleaning list. Then I decided that I didn’t want to cook dinner (and why should I, again, it’s my birthday). So I loaded up the girls before Matt got home, went to the post office to see if I had any birthday money in the mail to pay for this birthday meal, and this is where it gets bad…
When I got to the post office, I decided to leave the van running. It was cold out and I wanted to give the van a chance to warm up. I got out of the car, closed my door, went to open the side door to get the girls out, and found that I had somehow managed to lock the car! The keys AND THE GIRLS were locked inside.
I was very grateful that the car was still running (although, if it wasn’t I probably would have had my keys and thus not been locked out) and the girls weren’t freezing (the way I was in my flip-flops). But I was still freaking out!
I tried Matt first, hoping he could keep me thinking rationally and maybe help me find the right number to call. But no answer. Next I tried the Rockaway Beach police, but the only number I found for them sent me straight to an answering machine that said I wouldn’t get a call back till the next day. Tried Matt again. No answer. Started crying. Sent him a desperate 911 text. Called 911 (don’t know if this counts as an emergency, but I sure felt like it did). They informed me that if they did anything, it would include breaking a window. But they gave me the number for a locksmith. Tried it. Didn’t work. Looked it up myself. Frantically explained to the lady what was going on. Got a condescending “What? You locked your babies in your car?!?!” (aka YOU ARE A HORRIBLE MOTHER!!!). Gave directions to where I was. Hung up. Cried. Took a deep breath. Cried some more, and waited for the locksmith to arrive.
The girls were fine; Kaylynn was laughing the whole time and even though Kennedy was upset, she was physically okay. Once Matt got home he took us to Arby’s (he doesn’t like Arby’s so he didn’t get anything).
2 hours later, Matt and I were both crawling to the toilet sick. And that is how we spent Wednesday as well. In the time we have been married neither one of us has ever been that sick and definitely not at the same time. Needless to say, I didn’t even look at my list for Wednesday. So now I’m two days behind and I don’t have my normal Saturday catch-up day.
Those are my excuses. Here’s how the goals for week 2 looked:
Add daily bathroom cleaning tasks- I only did this 2 days of the week.
Add tidy up the living spaces daily- this got done once
Create list for ways to appreciate Matt- Thank you for your help!
Start re-learning calculus- I’m gonna update you to the present on this one, but first let me back up a little. I’m sure you are thinking to yourself, why in the world is she doing this! Well, I have always been a math geek. I know, strange, but its true. I took calculus in both high school and as a freshman in college and really enjoyed it. (Okay seriously, I know you are looking at me like I’m crazy. Please stop. I’m sure you have some weird quirks too.)
Anyway, I found a website where I can sign up to be an online tutor and start out getting paid around $9/hr. Everything I read about it sounds legit, but right now they are only hiring for calculus, statistics, and physics. I’ve never had statistics and I’m okay at science but I don’t think I could tutor someone in it. Since its been 8 or 9 years since I took calculus, I’m trying to refresh my memory before I sign up.
My plans to start relearning it was to 1) print off class notes that a university professor has posted online (he has them there so that anyone can learn calculus without having to sit in the classroom) and 2) study for 30 minutes every day.
Well we ran out of ink for our printer, so I couldn’t print it. Last week I got more ink, but when I got the notes ready to print I discovered it was 584 pages! I wasn’t about to use up that much paper and ink, and started looking for other options. I thought about having Fedex or Office Depot print it for me but that would still cost me $35-50. So this week I went to Books A Million and bought the Calculus for Dummies Book and Workbook for $30. And now I have two sources to refer to. If I get stuck in the For Dummies book, I can check out Paul’s Notes for more help.
I started looking at it last night and got through the first 3 chapters. I’m hoping to be ready to take the test at tutor.com in 2 weeks. This will put me a little behind schedule on this goal, but at least I’m still getting it done.
In conclusion…
I had a pretty bad week. But I’m not letting that discourage me. Some weeks are going to be great and some weeks aren’t. I just have to keep going and remember why I’m doing all this. In 6 months, when I look back at this part of my journey, I know that I will be grateful for the lessons learned. Even the moms and wives that I look up to the most have bad weeks and I have to keep this in perspective.
Alright, now I’m dying to know… If you were to be awarded the “NOT mom or wife of the year” award what would it be for?
Budgeting
06 Dec 2010 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: budget, craft, craigslist, earn money, envelope system, family, finance, God, hobby, housekeeping, mommy, save money, wife
So far the majority of my posts have been related to housekeeping because that is the area I struggle with the most and I’ve decided to work on it first. But there is more to being a wife and mommy than keeping a clean house. I have several other goals that I’m working on, too. A couple of those include saving money and earning money.
Budgeting
I’ve learned that no one can do it all and when it comes to making changes you have to take it one step at a time. I know how to really bargain shop. I can match coupons with sales and stockpile when prices are low, making our grocery bills super low. However, at this time I have added real true bargain shopping to my list of things I’m not doing (also on this list is planning creative learning activities for the girls and meal planning among other things). This doesn’t mean that I don’t keep my eyes out for good deals, but I’m not taking the time to clip coupons, make a pricebook, research sales, or shop at multiple stores. I plan on doing these things in the future, but for now I am focusing on organizing and cleaning the house.
However the past few months, our house has added budgeting back in the list of things we are doing. We have gone through Financial Peace University and want to follow Dave Ramsey’s advice for budgeting. It just really makes sense to us.
If you aren’t familiar with Dave Ramsey let me explain his principles in a very small nustshell. Dave wants everyone to live completely debt-free and pay for things with cash. Delayed gratification reaps greater rewards, so if you can save up and pay cash, you end up paying less and you don’t have to worry about creditors knocking at your door later. Financial Peace University teaches you how to get out of debt, budget your finances, and save for the future. Dave’s motto is “If you will live like no one else, later you can LIVE like no one else.”
So, what are we doing right now to be like Dave? Since October we have created a budget where we allocate every dollar we make. Our budget includes all the basic necessities (like mortgage, utilities, groceries, and gas) and other items (like blow money, childcare, and clothing).
In October, our budget was just done in theory. It was made but not really followed. In November however, we started using the cash envelope system. We had 4 envelopes labeled groceries, clothing/diapers, blow money, and babysitter. Each envelope had a weeks worth of budget (in cash) placed in it. When the money ran out, the money ran out. It’s easier to follow a budget when you are only spending cash.
We did pretty good. A couple of weeks we forgot to pull out the cash so we used our debit cards, but we made sure to stick within the budget. And we did make a few big purchases on credit (like a new-to-us minivan and computer). We justified both of these with different excuses and we know Dave wouldn’t like it, but neither purchases were made on impulse and we are aware of the consequences that come with them (like being in debt longer). I have a feeling December is going to be really tough to stay within budget because of Christmas, but we are going to try. Be sure to ask me in January how we did (a little accountability always helps).
Earning Some Extra Money
In my last post, I briefly mentioned how studying for calculus is helping our budget. Let me explain. It is very important to me to be able to stay home with the girls. (Not to mention that paying for quality childcare for 2 under 2 would cost almost as much as I would probably get paid at any job I could find). So I have been doing some research on ways to make some extra income at home.
I came across a website that hires online tutors. Right now they are only hiring for advanced science and math tutors, and since math has always been my favorite subject, I think I would do well as a math tutor (probably not science though). I took calculus in high school and again in college and really enjoyed it. Yes, you read that right, I enjoyed calculus. But, that was 8 years ago and I haven’t needed it since, so I’m pretty rusty. I’ve recently started studying calculus to refresh my memory and to become an online tutor.
I’ve also been trying to sell stuff on craigslist. Check out my listings by searching for “km061409101010″ on the Springfield, MO page. So far I’ve had lots of people interested, one no-show, and one sold item. So its not going too well, but I plan to add more items and it might pick up during this Christmas shopping season.
I also spent some of my Thanksgiving break making headbands and hairclips for babies, girls, and adults too! My mom and I are going to take them to a Santa’s workshop to sell (but let me know if you want to buy one directly from me).
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There are more ways that I plan on bringing extra income to the family, but again that’s not an area I’m focusing on right now, so these 3 things are it for now. They won’t bring in a lot, but every little bit helps.
What is your financial plan? Do you make and follow a budget? Have any creative ideas for bringing in extra income?
