Day care expenses

  $428
+  $30 fire extinguisher
  $458
+ $50 emergency physical**
  $508
+ $37 gas to Lansing
  $545


The Dr.'s office wouldn't accept my physical from last month and the first appointment was next Tuesday. Since I needed to get my physical to turn in my day care paper work, I had to get this done ASAP!!

Day care expenses

  $375
+  $45 CPR Class
  $420
+    $8 Safety handles/door stops
  $428

Today I need to pick up the fire extinguishers which will be another $30.

Day care expenses

So I finally found my check book. On top of the $20 on a changing table and $40 on two cots for kids to sleep on. I spent $225 on the house inspection. My total so far is $285

Ugly Stuff

On one of the blogs that I read daily she had a link to a post some one else had written about their UGLY stroller. It had been through a few kids and they thought about buying a new one. This post really hit home for me. My stroller is now 5 years old. I had a car a while back that I really had to shove the stroller in because the trunk was so little. It really beat that thing up! The shade doesn't work any more, and the pocket on the bottom is ripped. I wanted SO badly to get a new stroller but for once my normally free spirit, money spending husband said no. At first I was surprised then I got a little ticked! So I asked him why not? And he said our old one works fine. Yes... Yes it does. So we ended up keeping our old stroller. I still love it and I use it all the time. Sometimes when I am with a group of friends I get embarrassed by my used and abused stroller then I remember how much money it saved me just to keep my UGLY one through another child.

Financial Update

Jimmy's student loans are Killing me! I just want to get them gone. I asked him in our last budgeting meeting if we could focus on paying off his student loan. We have got just over 3 grand left. I am proud to say that we are putting $600 towards reducing that this month! It was a great month for us. Jimmy got a small bonus that we weren't expecting, I sold some stuff on craigslist.com, and we budgeted about $300 from our monthly income to go towards this. So Hooray! Except.... we can't pay it. Why you may ask? Because when we got out new payment stubs a few weeks ago, they don't have a date til January 2012. We were very confused so I made Jimmy call and ask them what was up! They said we were so far ahead in our payments that they didn't need us to pay til January so they didn't send us any stubs for until then. LOL Well they obviously don't know us! We ended up having them send us some new stubs so we can get rid of this!

My house is really starting to eat up some cash. About $200 in the last few weeks so far. We got a quote from the carpet men and it'll cost us $697 and change to buy and have them install carpet. It's a big room but Really??? Not totally looking forward to that. We also found that we need to re-do the windows. I had those priced out a few summers ago and because they are custom sized windows, it'll cost us a few grand to replace those. So I went to Home Depot and brought in a window and the guy taught me right then and there how to re-caulk the windows. It's going to take just about forever but well worth the time spent vs. the money that I could be spending.

Jimmy has been selling parts of his scrap car to make some extra cash for us. Also we sold the Jeep today for $1,300. The random guy that saw the sign in the car window and bought the car from us ended up being a guy I went to high school with. I hadn't seen him in 7 years or so. That was kinda nice. Ok, getting back on track now, we had sold the Sable a while back as well and Jimmy had kept that money safe too. So between the Sable, the Jeep, and selling those extra parts we have $2,703! Jimmy is already looking to buy a new van so we can get rid of the Escort. We are looking into getting a van because I am that much closer to being a stay at home mom / day care! I need a van for sure if I am going to have kids over.

So far I have spent:
$20 on a changing table
$40 on two cots for kids to sleep on

Life at home

Sorry that I haven't been posting tons. I have been trying not to even check out the deals (sad, I know)! They really bum me out since I am still on bed rest and unable to score any of them. So I have simply been steering clear! And truthful, I have felt tons better about what I am able to do this way.

So I do have a few updates on life at home:

It's been exactly 3 months today since I started bed rest!! It's been a tough road emotionally but have made it through. That being said, it's been 3 months since I have any income... and we are still holding STRONG!!! It's been amazing what God has done for us! We have still not touched our emergency fund or our savings!!

Baby will be here in just 2 short days. Wednesday March 16th, 2011 around 8:30 AM! Super excited about that too. I got an amniocentesis done on Friday and I am waiting to hear the results back from that. The amniocentesis was done to be sure that the baby's lungs were fully developed. Dr's pretty sure that they are being I am 37 1/2 weeks but just has to be FOR SURE.

OMGosh. I think I just totally figured out how to post a link with out posting the ugliness of the link! May have to research this a little further today :)

New Car!!

So I know this post is a little late but I thought it was worth posting. We got a new car!!! I totally forgot to post it before but we got the car a few days before Christmas. We asked Jimmy's brother to come with us to get the car so that I didn't have to drive at all. I just sat in the car while the two of them checked out the car. The gentle man was asking $990 on craigslist. I could tell Jimmy was really interested in this one because he was checking the blinkers and wipers!! You know that's a clear sign that he's interested. :) So then Jimmy came back and said there was a little dent and the no seat belts in the back seat. Other than that, the car was in great shape. He counter offered at $850. The guy agreed to it! Oh happy day! We had ourselves a car. Jimmy went inside to sign some papers and get everything together, and he came back out looking happy. I was happy too. A little Ford Escort Hatchback that drives. It was inexpensive and we are all about never having a car payment. So this worked out great in the budget. When Jimmy came back out, he said to me the guy took it for $750. I asked Jimmy why he would ask for it to be lowered?! The guy had already given us a great deal! Jimmy said that the guy had decided that he liked Jimmy and after hearing our story, he figured we could use the $100 more than he could! What a blessing! Even as I am typing this I start to tear up (I am pregnant, so it could just be the hormones) but really, the guy did something really kind for us. I have to let you know, that hundred dollars isn't being wasted! It went towards the seat belts for the back seat and a new transmission for my sable. Jimmy will hopefully be fixing the sable this winter so we can sell it sometime this next summer. The money we sell it for will go into our savings or... if we are financially stable enough by that point, it will go towards Jimmy's student loans! I am so glad we have Dave Ramsey around so we know how to barter and save save save!

Dave Ramsey update and Sorta what I did this week

Just wanted to Jabber on about my day. This morning Jimmy woke up not to his alarm but to my mom texting me at 7:20. Keep in mind, Jimmy leaves for work at 7:20 on a late day. So there was no way he was going to be able to bring Caleb to my moms for me. He left for work and I went back to sleep. Fast forward an hour and 25 min later. I woke up, not to my kid but to my mom :) :) texting me at 8:45. lol Then the kid came in. Well, I wasn't getting back to sleep but sleeping in was really nice today!! Yesterday was a busy day for me, Jimmy was home, my son was home, my sister and her mom came over and made cookies, also got a bunch of surveys done!, got some coke rewards put in (I have a box full), some bills paid, and a few other things too. But with paying bills, that means you must have money in your bank account. Well, we didn't! I am a Dave Ramsey gal. So all our money is at home. So I had Jimmy bring money to the bank.
Also, my home mortgage needed to be paid, so this morning I went and paid my mortgage for Feb. Yes, Feb. I am a month ahead. I know. Not really a Dave thing. But it's a Jessica security thing. And truthfully speaking, when we get to the baby being born, our wedding, our honey moon, ect. I want to make sure that those are being paid! And if I don't have time or money to do so, then we will have an extra $500 that month to work with. I am classic for "hiding" money and this is another way I do it. Jimmy and I both pay a little extra on our mortgages. Again, not quite a Dave thing but I never claimed to do EVERY THING his way. I owe $474 on mine and we pay $500. He owes $598 and we pay $650. I have a 15 year mortgage but Jimmy has a 30 year!! When he got the house a year and a half ago, we were seeing each other but we weren't seriously seeing each other. But I told him to get a 15 year. He didn't listen.
As of July 1st this year, we still have $4,964.12 to pay off of Jimmy's student loan in his name. That student loan started off at $6,147 which means that Jimmy has been paying on his student loan since the beginning of 2007 and has only paid off $1182.88 as of July. YIKES!! Since we have Baby step 1 completed ($1,000 in the bank) This is baby step 2 for us.
Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball. This is semi on hold right now as we are just trying to get by these next 4 or so months til I can go back to work. Also, we have a honey moon semi paid for already. We are going to Hawaii. I know, for some one who is in debt we shouldn't be going. We typically aren't big spenders and we want to make the best of this honey moon. I am a panic queen when it comes to money. I am the Nerd in the family!! But this is something that I want to do. For once in my life, i want to spend money on something. It's just going to happen. I am just going to deal with the criticism.
Along with Jimmy having a student loan out in his name, his mom also has a student loan out in her name for him!! The original balance was $17,305.61!! And four years later it is at $15,718.04. Yup, he's paid off $1,587.57. This is the second item of Debt snowball that we are trying to attack!

He has paid out roughly $11,380 and paid off $2,770.  Thank You Sallie Mae for picking up our slack! That's the new of the day for me :)

Gazelle Intense Saving!

So with everything that's been going on with the baby, we needed to make sure we had enough money for our honey moon to Hawaii, a car, and the baby coming home!! We started to save and decided we were going gazelle intense on this one! We saved just about any spare penny we could. In just a few months, we scrapped together $2,010. Obviously that is nothing compared to what we need but it sure is an awesome start. I am one for "hiding" my money. I don't really hide it, I kinda just store it someplace I don't often go. So I opened up a bank account at PNC bank. It has a savings program and interest is 1.1% I think. Although this isn't a great deal of interest, I knew that it was something that we could put in and take out at any point in time. It isn't something that is stuck someplace for the next 6 months before we can take it out with out penalty. And it is also a new place for me to "hide" money. : ) Little did I know that just 2 days later I would be on Strict Bed Rest! Finances will be tight for sure for the next while but I will be doing everything I can to sell stuff, do surveys on-line, sign up for freebies on-line, and coupon like I never have before! We have also got out $1,000 emergency fund in place. And we have a little extra money in our bill binder because we haven't been using as much water, gas, heat, or electricity as before. Praying daily that god will provide a way for us. That way may not be a paved road, and it might feel all up hill, but he will provide!

Dave Ramsey

I have been doing the Dave Ramsey budgeting plan for roughly 11 months and Love it so far. We are a little relaxed sometimes compared to his teachings but I find that if I am uptight about money, it makes me want to spend more!! A coke from McDonalds here or there is ok as long as we budget it into our blow budget. We have our $1,000 emergency fund in place and are working to become debt free!! We have 2 student loans to pay off, equaling about $20,000. And we own 2 homes. Other than that, we have paid off 7 credit cards in the last year or so! So that is good motivation to continue. I am also hoping for this blog to be an accountability tool. Even if no one in the world reads this, then I will know what I have set forth to do and I will have written it down for the world to see :)  And I certainly can't go back on my written word!