It's Thank God Friday!

It's Friday again!  I really truly lurve Fridays!

It's the last day of homeschooling for the week!  While I love being able to home school the Turkeys we are all ready for the weekend when Friday rolls around!  It also means it's usually the last day of the work week for Hotsauce!

There are so many things to be thankful for in this world. Even as I sit here and type I am "weeding" out the things to mention on this Thank God Friday!

Yesterday I posted that we may have squandered some of God's blessings away.  You can read about that here.  I don't know if you've ever felt that way before.  The deep regret of wastefulness.  The crushing feeling as though you've let your God and Savior down. 

This journey for us is two-part.  The first part is that we feel we must honor God with the way that we spend (or don't spend) our money:

 

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:16&17

 

If we believe that every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father, then we must strive to please Him with the gifts that He has given us.

 

Secondly, we believe this is a journey to financial freedom.  We no longer want to be enslaved to our lenders, but to have the freedom to use our money to give to others, to invest in our future and finally to have lots and lots and lots of fun!

 

And so as I reflect on these goals and the feelings of failure and regret for going out to eat instead of putting the money towards paying for "the cow" I am reminded of this:

 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:1

 

 

This verse is such a freeing verse!  In the end of Romans 7 Paul says, "When I want to do good, evil is right there with me."   Even Paul, the greatest missionary and church planter that ever lived, found that even his best work was met with temptation and short comings.  And his conclusion was "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"!

 

And that is what I am most thankful for this week.  For the grace of God. The One who didn't send   his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it!  He is abundantly patient with us, desiring good for us and not ready to zap us when we get off the path! 

 

I am also very thankful to many loved ones who rallied around me and lifted my spirits!  You are all so loved and appreciated! 

 

So as you reflect on your week what are you most thankful for?  Did you struggle this week like I did?  If so how did God meet you in the midst of your struggle?

 

Once a Fiscal Misfit... Always a Fiscal Misfit?

On Tuesday, I sold some things out of my online store Turkey Bottom Haven, and received a huge $260 blessing!  This of course was irregular income that we couldn't predict having with our cash flow plan (aka budget).  Though it was planned for in our list of what we would do with extra income.  You may remember that the first item on that list was a cow.  We buy a whole cow every year.  Our Turkeys eat a lot of beef. ;)

So after dropping off the items we sold we immediately came home and put the extra money into our "cow" envelope.

Or not.


Um, um...We may have gone out to eat.  Whew!  There I said it.  Please don't hate me.

Of course it didn't cost the entire $260 to eat out.  But, there are 7 of us so it was a costly event. 

The last few days haven't been fun for me.  I regret that decision.  Big time.  It was nice to have someone else cook.  It was nice to have someone else clean up after us.  But... what do we have to show for it now?  Eating out is one of the reasons we find ourselves in this situation.  It's mindless spending.  Much like sitting down with a huge box of buttery popcorn and watching a movie and gorging yourself without even realize what you're doing.  And suffering from that awful sick feeling when you're done.  There's no excuse for it, but it's just what you do when you watch a movie. 

That same thing happens to us when we get extra income in ... we go out to eat.  And then for the next few days we suffer from that awful sick feeling of regret.

I hope to remember this feeling.  To burn it into my memory so that when temptation strikes next time I will remember that a few hours of mindless spending results in regret and feelings of failure.  I also hope that I will give myself a little grace.  That instead of replaying it in my mind that I will admit my failure and use it as an opportunity to grow.  We're still new at this and we will make mistakes a long the way.

So there.  I dreaded admitting it.  Really truly thought that it was no one else's business and that it could be our little secret.  But, when things are brought to light, God begins working in us to make us a new creation.  He's so good to us!

How are you doing with your budget?  How do you react when you fall off the wagon?  Any advice for a fallen Fiscal Misfit like myself?

Our Sample Budget

As requested I am showing off a couple of spread sheets of how we budget.  Take a look and see the magic unfold!  Then pull your hair out, cry and throw things when it doesn't work the first, second, third or fourth time!  But, don't give up!  And honestly once it starts coming together it will make you as giddy as a group of 5th grade girls at a Justin Bieber concert!  Do I get bonus points for all that alliteration?  I should.

The very first thing that you will need to do before deciding how to spend your money is to determine how much money you have coming into the house during the month.  You will want to make sure that you name every dollar that comes into the house.  If you cheat, you are only cheating yourself.  So be as precise as you can and make sure that you account for every dollar that comes in.

I am including a link to show you possible income sources and what it should look like on your spreadsheet here.  This list is no way exhaustive, but should help you get some ideas of where potential income comes from.  I listed 2 places for a salary, but if you're married and one or both of you have a part-time job you will want to add another place for Salary 3.  We have some irregular income that I will talk about later, so for now just stick with the income that you can predict with a reasonable amount of certainty.

Once you've decided the amount of income coming in you will then determine how to spend it.  I'm including a link based on someone who has the expected income of $4,000 in a month here. For the purpose of this blog I used nice round numbers that will never happen in real life, but made it easier for me!  Again this sample is not exhaustive, so if you pay a cable bill every month, you will need to add that onto your budget.  You may also want to add things like restaurants or toiletries.  I don't list food and toiletries/cosmetics separately, but you may want to - especially if you buy your cosmetics from a company like Mary Kay or some place other than your grocery store. 

When we figure out our monthly budget we wait for the very end to enter an amount into the Emergency Fund, because our other bills must be paid first.  Also if you don't have $1,000 in your Emergency Fund you shouldn't be paying anymore than the minimum payments on those bills.  Once you've got a $1,000 then you can start paying more on those debts.  But, that's another blog post for another day! 

You will notice that I have a slot for a tithe. A tithe is the money that we give to our church on a monthly basis.  If you don't tithe, you may want to change this category to "charitable giving". 

OK, now what about those of you who have an irregular income?  You will need to make a list of all of your bills, food, personal items etc. in order of priority.  I would suggest that tithe, food and shelter should be at the top of the list.  Next (in my opinion) would be your utilities and transportation.  Then from there you can decide what's important to you... I'll allow you to make some of your own decisions on how to spend your money! ;)  As you make your list include how much each item will cost you.  When you get to the end of your money you've paid as much as you can on the list. 

We have both regular and irregular payments during the month as I have mentioned before.  So we always have a list of priorities for extra income.  I would suggest that you do this even if you don't expect extra income.  I believe that God blesses those who desire and work diligently towards being a good steward of your money and He may surprise you with extra money along the road!  Also make the list extra long so that you're not tempted to squander your blessing!

When Hotsauce gets paid we sit down and write out checks for things that we can't pay in cash.  Our natural gas and electric are normally paid online and our cell phone is paid over the phone.  We do this because it doesn't cost us extra, if it did we would pay via check.  We have some payments that are automatically withdrawn every month too.  For all other things we use cash and tuck them in envelopes.  I would love to buy an envelope system from www.daveramsey.com , but I haven't budgeted for them yet!  So we've been using regular old white paper envelopes, but for those that I use frequently, I've been frustrated because they rip and fall apart easily.  So Hotsauce sat down last night and made me new ones from pages out of a magazine and then used painters' tape over the top of it.  Here are two that he made:

Yes, I know!  He giggled like a little school girl for at least an hour over the gas one.  Of course since he pumps the gas I usually go inside and pay for it.  So embarrassing!  But, secretly it makes me giggle on the inside, but don't tell him that.

Here's a tip.  Have a "blow fund".  We don't have an entertainment fund, because right now our entertainment comes out of our blow fund.  Our blow fund currently allows each of us to have $25 every 2 weeks.  I believe this could be called our "sanity fund".  We don't have cable.  We don't have a restaurant fund right now either.  Our extras come out of the blow fund.  This money is spent however you choose.  I don't tell Hotsauce how to spend his and I'm not accountable to him in how I spend mine (assuming that it's legal and glorifying to God the other spouse is hands off).  You don't have to spend your blow fund each month, you can save it up for something bigger... which is my plan.  Or you can nickel and dime it away on Mt. Dew and donuts.  No one judges here. ;)

Last thing... remember that if you're married you both have to agree to the budget or it's a no go!  I am 100% serious here.  You must both be involved and have a voice or it will never work! 

***It should be noted (just in case I don't mention it in every other breath) that I am not financial expert, nor do I play one on TV, and that these ideas are from my understanding of Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover which you can need to purchase online at www.daveramsey.com.

Anyone else have suggestions for simple budgeting?  For those of you who are new to budgeting what things overwhelm you?

Join The Fiscal Misfit Movement!

I've been overwhelmed and completely humbled by the comments that I receive from people who are following this blog!  I'm thankful for the way that I have seen God move in the lives of those who have read it and for the encouragement it has been to those who are already on their own Total Money Makeover journey.  I have received text messages, Facebook messages, phone calls and face to face conversations with so many different people sharing their appreciation, their cheers, their advice and their questions.  People are pouring out their best frugal tips and the websites that they follow regularly!

You guys inspire me to keep going!

Please take a moment to join the Fiscal Misfit Movement.  On the right hand side of this page you'll see a button that says "Join this Site" and I would ask that you would click on it and follow this page on a regular basis.  Why?  Because I really believe that God is using this blog to change lives.  And I believe that He's going to do it by developing a community of people who haven't yet started their journey to financial freedom, as well as those who are on the journey and those who have achieved financial freedom.  It's my experience that those who are new are usually those who are the most excited and enthusiastic.  And also those who are the most in need of guidance and direction.  Those who are further along can provide the wisdom that they need while renewing their enthusiasm.  We need each other.

Take this moment to join the Fiscal Misfit Movement  and commit to helping others along the journey.  Introduce yourself and let us know where you are on your journey!

 

The Nanny is Coming, The Nanny is Coming!

A good friend of ours will be moving in this coming weekend.  When she was praying and seeking wise counsel about whether this move would be right for her, over and over again people mentioned the fact that we have 5 Turkey Bottoms and she would be a "built in babysitter".  Which, of course was one of her main concerns when we were discussing how her moving in would work.

I think I mentioned before that I brainstormed this idea of her moving in.  With our desire to pay off debt quickly we needed creative ways to bring in a little more income.  I stay at home with the Turkeys and home school 3 of the 5 of them.  Hotsauce is a police officer and works 3 weeks of days, followed by 1 week swing shift (10am -6pm) and then 1 week of 2nd shift (2pm-10pm) and every 5 weeks he works the weekend.  Because of his wonky shifts it's hard for him to get a regular part-time job.

So here's the plan I came up with.  "Nanny" (I love that nickname!) could live here if she paid rent.  We figured out how much she already paid in rent and utilities and divided that by 2.  She will live here at half the price she was paying for her one bedroom apartment and we would add a good amount of money to our income every month.  She will also buy her own groceries and do her own cooking (she has a special diet, aka, she doesn't eat anything yummy).  She will also buy toilet paper, dish soap, laundry soap, dryer sheets, Kleenex etc. as needed for the household to share.

Now, if you think this is something that might benefit you I would caution you to consider how living together may effect your friendship.  People are real great until you see them every day... then some of the sparkle wears off and you can become blinded by their annoying little habits!  I know this because Nanny lived with us once before!  Man, was she ever annoying!  And man, did she ever find me annoying!  Which I think is just plain weird!  I'm so lovable. ;)

This time we have a much better plan in place.  Most of our issues from before have been resolved.  We are not naive and fully expect more issues to come along the way.  Pray for us daily.  Hour by hour.  Minute by minute!

With only a week before she moves in we have been rearranging and moving things of this room into another and then into another room.  There are so many things to consider.  For instance, is there enough room for 3 adults and 5 children to sit and watch TV?  There's plenty of room at our huge farmhouse table that Hotsauce made for us. 

And since the Nanny will be moving into the girls' old room everything needs to be cleared out and moved to their much smaller room.  Which has required us to make a toy room on the main level. 

Also I would like a space just for Hotsauce and I to go... a place where we can cuddle and watch TV all by ourselves so if we need some alone time we have a hideaway.  This is vital for me.  I NEED quality time with just the Hotsauce and me.  It cannot be our bedroom because if he lays down he is guaranteed to fall asleep. 

So here's a photo of all of our progress so far!  I will also just mention that we are in the process of turning a duplex into a single family home, so there are a lot of construction projects that need to be completed!  You may see a little evidence of those projects in the pictures.  Enjoy!

 Plenty of room at this table for the Nanny to squeeze in!

 One of the three rooms that the Nanny will have to stay in.  The crib will be moved out of there shortly!  Though it's mildly appropriate for the Nanny's quarters to have a crib in it, right?

 The second room for the Nanny!  Just a few things that need to be taken off the walls!  Hope she likes pink!  Bahahahaha! ;)

 Another room for the Nanny.  All three rooms are connected.  This room has real pale pink walls.  Bean and Saucypants picked the colors out themselves.  They always wanted pink rooms.  Hope the Nanny feels the same way!  As you can see she's already started moving boxes in!

 Just a little left to go!  The girls and Chubba worked on this so hard today and I was very proud of all their efforts!  They didn't even have to be told to work on it this morning!

 Oh!!! Now I get it!  Here's their new room!  They made a lot of trips from the old room into their new room just to throw it on their floor and beds!  I should have known it was too good to be true!

 So this was (and still is at the moment) Hotsauce's and mine "walk-in" closet.  We took this nursery sized room and put our dressers and hung bars for clothes.  This photo was taken after I moved my dresser into our bedroom.  This is the future sight of our hideaway!  We will put our love seat, ottoman and a TV in it.  The TV that we will put in there needs a converter... but we don't have one.  So in order to get any use out of the TV we will have to move our DVD player up there when we want it!  But, it's better than nothing!  And as Dave Ramsey says, "Live like no one else so you can live like no one else!"  The vacuum still in the middle of the room is a dose of real life!

 This is the "new" TV room.  Formally the sitting room!  We can fit the couch and the chaise lounge in here.  Hotsauce will also get to have his chair (middle) in the room he spends most of his time in! Most everyone can watch TV in here without having to sit on the floor!

 Another view of the TV room with the fall decor out.  The mirror above the TV won't stay there.  I have lots of plans floating in my mind!

 This is the old TV Room that is now more of a Reading Room.  I think we will use this room for when the kids have tests and get distracted at the Dining Room table!  Also a nice quiet place to read!

 I have always loved this sign.  How true is it for a father of 5?  But, we're hoping to fill up his pockets a bit with the help of the Total Money Makeover!

Another view of the TV Room. 

Another view of the Reading Room. 

 

 

So, it's been a lot of work and preparation getting ready for the Nanny!  She really hates that nickname.  And since she's really not here to watch the kids it just makes it that much more fun for me!  Who else has been working their way out of debt?  What types of creative things have you done to bring extra money in?  I would love to hear your ideas!

The "B" Word

The "B" word.

You know the one.

Budget.

Do you have one?  Do you follow it?  I mean with serious-passionate-puppy-dog-loveness?

When we decided that we would make a budget the first thing I said to Hotsauce was, "I'm not selling my house.  I'm not moving."  That thought was nowhere on his radar, but I thought for sure that we would sit down to work out the budget and realize that we couldn't afford our house. My stomach was in knots and I was sure that this Mama Misfit was going to lose control of everything that I held near and dear. 

Turns out that the "B" word isn't something to fear at all.  As a matter-of-fact I had to stop blogging to help Hotsauce tweak budget numero uno for October.  I have to admit that I get a little giddy looking over it.  I almost feel like a responsible adult instead of a fiscal misfit!  Next month we will have extra income coming in from renting a couple of rooms out to a good friend.  She needs a nickname for the purpose of this blog... I like "Nanny" but I doubt she would agree.  But, anywhoo that extra income will make our budget even more fun and doable!!

Our budget hasn't been restrictive at all.  Now that we've planned for our budget we have more freedom than ever.  We have a "blow fund" which is like an allowance for each of us to use however we see fit.  I don't remember the last time I had my own money.  Usually when I want to buy something I end up thinking of the million of other ways the money should be spent and buy something for one of the Turkey Bottoms.  Or if I do buy myself something I usually go overboard and walk away feeling guilty and just plain horrible.  I find myself being very frugal with my blow fund and find it very hard to "blow my blow fund".

Here's what we do:
We start our budget out by predicting our monthly income.  For instance, Hotsauce gets paid his salary bi-weekly and at the beginning of the month we will have the "Nanny" money.  Though Hotsauce's paychecks may be slightly different due to reimbursements we know with a reasonable amount of certainty what he will get paid.  Now we also have irregular payments from managing a few rental properties, from Turkey Bottom Haven and I'm also planning a garage sale the first weekend in October.  We have no way of knowing how much these "extras" bring in, but we will still plan for that added income. 

Once we know the amount of our certain income we begin to name each dollar:
$30 - trash
$119 - cell phones
$80 - school supplies/curriculum
$95 - water bill ... so on and so on.

We do this until every dollar is accounted for and we have a "zero balance" at the end of the month.  Remember if you don't tell your money where to go you will quickly lose track of it!  Now what about any extra money that will come in?  This is where we plan for those irregular payments that I mentioned before.  We make a list of things that didn't make the first part of the budget.  Ours looks something like this:

1. A cow - $1,250
2. Butchering - $350
3. House repairs - $300
4. New tires for the Suburban $400

Now it will have to be one heck of a month to bring in an extra $2,300, but after last month anything can happen right?  We also make this list extra far out there, so that if something HUGE does happen and we find ourselves with a large surplus we aren't scrambling to decide what to do with that money.  Translation = we cannot be trusted in the heat of the moment not to waste the blessings! Also no budget can be approved without both of us in 100% agreement.  If we're not both on board with the budget we are setting ourselves up for sure failure.  So even though Hotsauce is the one that sits down and writes out the budget, I get a chance to make changes.  Usually I just remind him of the things that he's forgotten, like babysitter money.  Once I suggest a change I also have to help decide where the money will come from.  It's a team effort at the Fiscal Misfit home!

Now after you've planned for every dollar here is the all important part.  You must follow it with serious-passionate-puppy-dog-loveness! In the beginning when you're cutting out all of the extras you may have to be a little creative with how you'll spend your time since you won't be spending every Monday, Thursday and Saturday nights at Chik-fil-a (I bet you thought I was going to say HuHots didn't you?).  One way that Hotsauce and I spend our time is dreaming about the next steps.  We have a few teeny-tiny a lot og big dreams.



Like taking our family on a vacation.  I vote St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands where on the other hand, Hotsauce votes Alaskan cruise.  But, a perfect compromise would be both right?

We'd also like to buy an acreage and build our own house and have some horses.

Perhaps our greatest desire is to adopt from Haiti or Ethiopia.  Not just one child, but perhaps three! I know we're crazy!  Will our hands be full?  Yes, but our hearts will be fuller!  How could you honestly tell this baby face "no"??


Photo Credit

Do you have a debt-free dream?  Or maybe like us you have a lot of dreams?  What's your heart's desire?

Thank God Friday!

We've all heard of the saying TGIF, which, of course, means Thank God It's Friday.  But, I would like to make it a habit on Fiscal Misfits to make it Thank God Friday!  In other words Friday is the day that I will Thank God for his many blessings on our journey to becoming debt-free.  It's a reminder to me (and to my readers) that apart from God this journey is not only hopeless it's also in vain. 

Since this is my blog and I have total control (MUAHAHAHAHAHA!) I reserve the right to thank God for whatever I want, even if it's not directly connected to my Fiscal Misfit Recovery. 

I'm wondering if it's legit to have an evil sinister laugh inserted into the middle of a sentence about thanking God.  Which also makes me wonder if it's legit to say that "I have total control" when in reality I believe in the sovereignty of God.  But, since this isn't a blog about theology we'll get back to the reason we're here... gratitude!

* Hotsauce and I are still talking to each other!  We even like each other a little bit more since we started our Total Money Makeover 4 weeks and 1 day ago!  God is continuing to shape us into the people that He would have us be and teaching us new ways to communicate to one another.  We are not only making choices on how to be more wise with our money - we are learning the ways that our Fiscal Misfit tendencies effect us as individuals and how the other can rightly respond to the other's needs and fears.

 * I'm very thankful for the way that God is teaching us how to manage the money that He has given us. Last night we paid our property taxes for half the year.  That's a $699 check, paid in full for the first time ever!  No late fees. No penalties.  No way!!!  Hotsauce dropped the check in the mail and there was a glorious high five that followed!

* God has given us a real freedom to be honest about the journey that He has given us.  The freedom that we have to share with others has not been the "shameful" thing that we had feared it might be.  Instead we are finding that our openness and honesty is inspiring others.  It's building relationships with people we've known for years as well with acquaintances.  God has blessed us richly through the ability to share our experiences with others who are struggling in the area of finances.  It's truly humbling.

* I'm also thankful that God strengthens my heart when I'm weak and when I would love to fall back into areas of temptation!  For instance, Hotsauce got paid yesterday and I would have done anything to go out to eat... specifically at HuHots.  It was a long day and I hadn't planned anything for supper.  It was getting late and I was on the verge of whining to my hubs.  In the past I would have and he would've felt bad telling me no because he knew it was hard and busy day for me.  At the very least I would have gotten a pizza out of the deal.  But, I looked around and saw a big 5 gallon bucket of potatoes that God provided (through a great trade that I made with a friend) and I knew that I wouldn't whine.  Children whine.  Adults delay satisfaction and practice discipline!  Ugh.  I hate being an adult sometimes!  Besides I knew I'd have to admit it to the rest of you and I don't like the thought of that one bit! 

*Finally I'm glad that God saw it fit for me to be an American.  To live in the land of the free and the home of the brave where Hotsauce and I have the opportunity to change things around!  It's such a blessing to have the opportunity to strive for the "American Dream"... the one that says if a man works hard, manages his money well, cares for his family and seeks God that there's nothing he can't achieve. 

**Update**

 

After finishing budget number cinco, cinco, seis we had planned on having $315.66 in our Emergency Fund.  

Hotsauce and I just finished paying our bills for the month.  We are breathing a huge sigh of relief knowing that we are all caught up and that the weight of those property taxes are off our shoulders!

Anything leftover goes into the Emergency Fund. 

Guess how much is leftover??

More than $315.66!  Actually, more than double that!

We're at $634 in our Emergency Fund!  That's 634 reasons to thank God!  That's 634 reasons to have Hotsauce do his super embarrassing imaginary ballerina style happy dance! :)

So what are you thankful for on this Thank God Friday? 

Why it's working!

I know that you've heard me say that we've tweaked our budget at least 5 times.  I say we've done 6 budgets, Hotsauce says only 5 for the month of September.  So in the spirit of compromising we will say that I am totally right we've done 5.5 budgets this month. 

Why so many?

Because we've never, ever, ever, ever done this before.  Sure we've Hotsauce has sat done and wrote out all the bills that we owe on. Ugh!  Is that ever daunting?!  Then we have the "talk".  The we're never going to drink another Mt. Dew or go out to eat or even breathe until all this debt is paid off.  Any bets on how long the "no-more-Mt.-Dew" budget lasted?  Any bets on how long it took me to stop crying?

Those talks were always stressful.  Hotsauce starts off frustrated because he sees this pile of despair and knows that as the man of the house he needs to be the provider.  He has worn a coat of inadequacy and failure for far too long and he has no idea where to go for help.  On the other hand, where he knows exactly how bad it is, and that it's only get worse. On the other hand, I am forced to pull my head out of the sand.  My natural tendency once my head is out of the sand is to be a cheerleader... to try and rip that horrible awful coat off of Hotsauce.  But, I still have no desire to work on making things right.  My head is only out of the sand because I'm pretending to be an adult for a few minutes.

Before I continue, let's get this straight:

My husband is not inadequate.  My husband is not a failure.  He works hard and as a matter-of-fact he works harder than most men I know.  I will not have him or anyone else say any different.  If you have the *a-hems* to say that he is any of these things you will have a battle like nobodies business in the form of a scrappy little fireball, known as me!

That being said we found ourselves enslaved to our debt.  As Proverbs 22:7 so aptly points out,
"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender". Were we ever in chains to our lender! We had no training, no plan and no hope to ever find ourselves walking in freedom.  That's where "The Total Money Makeover" has made such a huge difference in our lives.  It gave us a plan.  It opened our eyes to our immediate need to tell our money where to go instead of wondering where it all went!  

I have made a promise that I will no longer follow my Ostrich Approach to money.  Hotsauce has promised to make me a part of the conversation instead of giving a semi-annual state of the union address.  We are a team.  We will act like it. We will sit down and discuss where are money is going and agree on the plan together.    Furthermore, we will stick to the budget.  We will stick to the budget. We will stick to the budget!

And in the short time that we've stuck to the budget we've found money we never knew that we had!  For the first time in our married life we will pay the total $699 of our property taxes in the month it's due, no late charges here, not this time!  Who knew that we had that kind of money?  In this first month we will also be caught up on all of our bills and won't have to decide if we're going to pay for gas in our Suburban or gas to heat our house.  How exciting is that?  Did I also mention that we've given ourselves an allowance too?  So for the first time in I don't know how long, I can buy what I want to buy without feeling guilty (as long as it doesn't exceed my "blow fund").  Because I know my bills are getting paid and these Fiscal Misfits are on their way to freedom!

How many of you have a working budget that you follow?  If you're married do you and your spouse agree to it?  If you've never used a budget or have gotten off track are you willing to commit to getting back in the saddle?

                                                                                                  

 

More Happy Dancing... Embarrassing and Imaginary!

We are still scratching away and trying to get our bills up to date and our Emergency Fund in place.  Let me tell you that I am having fun.  I have opened a new online shop called Turkey Bottom Haven.  Turkey Bottom Haven is a small shop full of home decor and other items that I just lurvesauce (translation: love on steroids).  It will soon have other vendors, including some of my Turkey Bottoms who are cleaning their rooms and finding treasures they would like to sell.  They are hoping to buy a Nintendo DS and are brainstorming ideas to earn the money to buy it themselves.  Turkey Bottom Haven has brought in $285 in the few weeks that it has been opened.  =) I'm also in the middle of a custom sign job that will bring in another $65.  Raising the total to $350. 

We also sold our firewood for $300.

And don't forget the laptops that we sold for $75.

That's an income boost of  $725 this month alone and it's not over yet!  Let's take some time to imagine Hotsauce doing his embarrassing imaginary happy dance. 

 



Yes, that's more like it. Well, without the swing of course. But, still a big ballet type finish all the same. Ah, can you imagine what the embarrassing imaginary happy dance will look like when we are debt free?   It.will.be.glorious!

 

I'm still giggling at Hotsauce!  But on to more serious business!  We had a bit of a scare last night while driving home from dropping off a load of firewood.  Hotsauce's phone rang and it was from the farmer that we usually buy a whole cow from ... mmmmmm beef.  ;) He was wondering if we were planning on buying another cow from him this year and to let us know that he plans on butchering in the next few months.  When Hotsauce was finishing up the phone call Farmer W mentions that we still owe him over $500 from the last cow we bought.  Shut.the.front.door.  Panic strikes.  Here we've been gaining ground only to find out that we have this outstanding bill.  Hotsauce swears we paid him the money and quite frankly I'm thinking that we intended on paying the Farmer, but probably never did.

 

Because Hotsauce is OCD about saving every bill, every bank statement and every checkbook duplicate that we ever had in our possession he ran into the house and grabbed his box of doom.  He started wading through bank statements from one bank and then another.  He's searching through one checkbook, then the next, then the next.  He's asking me if I remember the date we got our tax return money and I'm being very helpful and answering, "Um, sometime between February and April?"  Turns out that it was May.  Who knew?  Well, after about an hour of searching and a little bit of huffing and puffing he found the bank statement he was searching for which lead us to the check number and sure enough... Hotsauce paid Farmer W months ago!  Woo-hoo!!  Praise.God.from.whom.all.blessings.flow!

 

And to wrap this post up I have been scouring the Internet for ideas on how to save money, earn extra money and ideas on how to be more frugal than we've already become.  I'm having a hard time finding any truly helpful sites.  I know they're out there and was wondering if any of you had your favorite websites that you could share with me?  If you have the link please include that in the comment section! Thanks, fellow misfits!



 

Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro, Cinco, Cinco, Seis

That's right, uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, cinco, seis... making it six and a half budgets for the month of September. With only uno fighto about mula! Actually our fighto wasn't about the mula, so much as we weren't listening to what the other person was saying - which was the exact same thing the other person was saying only lost in translation from blue microphone to pink hearing aids.

The last time we had to "re-do" the budget was thrilling for us! All 12 pages of it was a joy! Here's why... We have a big old house. It's leeeeeakkkkkkyyyyy! Around this time last year we had some insulation guys come in and run a test on the house. They close all the windows and doors and put a huge 'ol fan in the door and with some sort of meter doohickey jobey deal and they give you a number... I don't remember what number our house got or what number is good. What I do remember is that our number was bad, bad, bad. In fact, we were told that we had the 2nd leakiest house that they ever tested. Uh-oh spaghetti-o! We already knew that we needed to re insulate, but were hoping to score a bit higher on the meter doohickey jobey deal. ;) Long story short it took many weeks and some odd encounters (for another blog another day) and our house was done... kinda. We have lots of construction projects left that need to be finished up and then we will have a tightly sealed house.

So what does this have to do with our thrilling budget you may ask? We have been on even pay with Alliant Energy since we moved in and we pay a lot... and by a lot I mean we pay A.LOT. Not quite so bad as we did when we lived in the old farmhouse in Arlington and paid $1,000 a month for propane in the winter, but still we pay A.LOT. So Hotsauce, the resident nerd, was paying bills via the phone and was told by the Alliant lady that we had a credit with them... our even pay was too high and we had something like a $500 credit with our name on it waiting for us to cash it in. So cash it in we did, which left us with $79 for next month. AND our even pay was lowered! Woot wooters! We may have done a happy dance!  Actually I calmly sat by and watched Hotsauce do a little diddy.  It was strange.

I was embarrassed.  My face is turning red just thinking about it now.

OK. OK. I made that whole dancing thing up.  But, I bet my face is actually turning red right now.

So, anywhoo we had to reallocate a little over $400 to other areas of our cash flow plan and that was a pure joy my friends! Pure.joy.

There have also been some small victories that make me giddy too. Now, I'm the free spirit in our house which means that I like to spend ... but I have nerd tendencies too... and I love a good deal. I will be the one who wheels and deals and waves the cash around a store saying, "That's not good enough." Well... someday when I have cash to wave around I will! Never mind that for now, here are  my small victories for the week. We have 4 of our 5 kids needing new shoes. And it's always a stressful thing to come up with the cash to do that in one month. But, we budgeted for it and I came in under $35 of our budget for the shoes and did another happy dance jumped up and down inside my head!! Now, this next one is not going to sound very exciting, but it put a huge smile on my face. We drive a Suburban and filling the tank is enough to give anyone a heart attack. I know, Dave, we should drive the van... but it has issues. Well, I always forget that we have a coupon to get 5 cents off per gallon if I drive to a less convenient gas station. But, I finally remembered to bring the coupon and after filling up I saved $1.32! If I keep this up in 3 years we will get a free tank of gas! ;)

I know you're shaking your head right now... but that $1.32 is an indication of the change that is taking place in my heart and in our lives. That $1.32 means something to me.

Just the Beginning!

Are you tired of hearing about this yet?? Well, then it's time for you to move to another blog, because this is all apart of The Chronicle of the  Fiscal Misfit and our journey to financial freedom!  You know, if you would just read "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey already, then you might share in my excitement and be able to start your own blog! ;)

Dave (yes, we're on a first name basis) outlines in his book 7 Baby Steps. The first one is to have a $1,000 in an emergency fund. I was telling a friend this the other day and she exclaimed, "THAT'S A BABY STEP??" I completely understand.

So how do you get $1,000 in your emergency fund? Well, you can either bring in more income, save it by cutting out extras, or by selling things you already have. Well, I mentioned that Hotsauce and I are praying about one of us getting a part-time job... but in the meantime we are digging through our stuff and looking for things that we can sell. Dave says that you should sell so much stuff that your kids start to wonder if they're next! Now, there's a good idea!

Any idea what this is? That's 3 20 dollar bills and 3 5 dollar bills. 20+20+20+5+5+5= Just the beginning. We sold an old laptop that's been laying around collecting dust. It needed a new motherboard and we had already "had it fixed" twice. So when I came across a guy on Facebook who said that he bought broken laptops I thought, we have one of those! And I sold it. And it felt great. Now, maybe we could have gotten more for it and you're going to try to burst my bubble and say that you know a guy that would have given me twice that much. Well, maybe so!  But, here's the thing. We stopped talking about starting the TMM and we have begun our fund.

Now, $75 isn't exactly a fortune. But, it's preparing me for letting go of things that I really want to hold onto. I want to get start pushing the snowball and not running from it! So this is our first success and we will celebrate it!... and not by going to HuHots (Oh, how I love you!) and wasting it!


Here's another look at our new beginning!!

And with a Sepia tone!

Actually we're celebrating by watching the Financial Peace University DVDs that a friend lent to us for the long Labor Day weekend! And you know how the rest of you are enjoying a 3 day weekend? Well, Hotsauce worked today... yep, OVERTIME BABY! :) Normally I would be whining and crying and kicking and screaming because he had to work and I wanted him to be home with me. But, now I realize it for the gift that it is... another blessing from God that is going to push that snowball! So that money will make it's way into the emergency fund too. I can almost hear Davey (yes, he likes that nickname, but only when I say it) cheering us on!

I'm also excited that some friends are asking about reading the TMM or asking if I know where they can the FPU class. Well, let me say, I've got the wheels turning on that class thing...

Stay tuned for many more success stories coming your way!

A Call For Future Generations

Perhaps you remember seeing these faces before...



Chubba, Bean, Mo-Mo, Saucypants and Lumpy

Or really their faces usually look a little bit more like this:

Oh, these Turkey Bottoms keep a mama on her feet I tell ya! I could post far more "silly" pictures than I could ever come up with pictures of all five of them looking at the camera, smiling without cheesing, all eyes opened and no one crying. You'd think it was torture?! Speaking of torture (and trying to get back on subject) you know what I am really very fearful of? I'm fearful that my bad habits will pass from me to these adorable Turkey Bottoms. It's one of the reasons that I keep running even though I hate it... because when I come home from a run every.single.one.of.them will ask me how far I ran and if I ran fast. I want them to be healthy and I feel it's important to model that for them... and if I end up looking like a model in the process, well then woot woot Fiscal Misfit Mama! ;)

I believe that God has called us to run another race that will require more perseverance and more mental strength then a 5k or even a marathon will ever require of us. It's the race to get out of debt. It's the race to redeem the time and blaze a trail for our Turkeys that will teach them that God has a plan for all parts of our lives, including our checkbooks. I also believe that the way a person chooses to spend (or not spend) their money reveals the state of their heart. For instance, if I make a choice to go to McDonald's or even HuHots (Oh,how I love you) instead of paying off debt I have made a choice that reflects what's important in my heart...

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8

I want my children to know that God intends for us to be free of debt. That we don't have to live a life of slavery to our debtors. And even more than that we want to use money to bless others. We want to be able to give to those in need, we want to support our church in ways that we can't with debt, we want to be prepared for emergencies, invested in our future and we want to have lots and lots and lots of fun and do things that we currently can't do!

I'm sure we all know that statistically the number one thing that married couples fight over is money and finances. It's also one of the major contributors to people getting a divorce. And while divorce is NOT AN OPTION (Hotsauce is stuck with me and I with him) we have had a minor tiff once or twice about money. ;) Actually this isn't something that we fight with each other over much, but there is stress because of it and there is definitely a weight that Hotsauce carries because of it. Imagine a home free of financial stress? Imagine a lighter Hotsauce! Whew-wee that would be a great environment to raise kiddos in!! And so we strive in our Total Money Makeover not just for our own freedom, but to pass this legacy on to future generations of Turkey Bottoms.

A Call For Freedom!

Debt enslaves so many Americans from living the life God intends us to live... a life of Freedom! According to www.americandebtadvisor.com 80% of Americans carry debt with them. Hotsauce and I have been burdened by debt for 10 years now and it.is.not.fun.

I honestly didn't know that you could go to college without getting a loan or having rich parents. Hotsauce worked his way through college (thankfully we never had to worry about paying off his student loans, while mine never seem to go away). And when I landed on the UNI campus I was offered a "free" UNI T-shirt if I would sign up for a "UNI" Mastercard! I was the first sucker in line! And so I began my debt path...

Hotsauce and his friend had a great money making idea when they found out that they were being deployed to Saudi Arabia ... they would buy a cheap home and fix it up. While they were deployed the Army would pay the mortgage and they would save money for the repairs. When they returned state side they would finish the house and sell it for more then they bought it for... it would be the perfect flip. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans! And so Hotsauce began his debt path...

When two soul mates meet on the debt path it's always a recipe for success disaster! I'm not even going to mention the timeshare that we were literally suckered into buying on our honeymoon... boy did they see us coming a mile away... and before I go further into details that would utterly embarrass both of us, I will simply say that you can see where this story is going. Now, factor in five kids and one income and you can see where we are living a life of slavery of our own making. Oh, if I could go back and tell us as young people what we were getting ourselves into...

A few years ago, my good friend, Angie, went to Financial Peace University. And she talked about it All.The.Time. She used his envelope system and would constantly say things like, "Dave Ramsey would be proud." Ugh! It's hard to be drowning when your friend is succeeding. Not that she was bragging or prideful, I just knew my own heart and my own situation and thought that we could never experience the freedom she found.

Other friends and family have either gone throw FPU or have done the Total Money Makeover and when finances came up they would mention that we needed to go to the class or read the book. Well, during a recent family reunion (where it comes up every year) our debt slavery was discussed. Later Katie told Hotsauce that she reads The Total Money Makeover every.single.year.   She believed in the principles of the book so much that she promised to mail the book to us when she returned home. True to her promise it arrived about a week later. Hotsauce was the first to crack it open and we decided that he would read at night while I read during the day when he was at work. We may have fought over it at times when I didn't keep my end of the bargain and would read it when he was at home...

We have both completed the book and Ben has started to reread it!  We finished our first budget that we have ever both agreed on in 10 years, 6 months, 1 week and 3 days, no exaggeration. We are on the same page and we have the eye of the tiger! I am hands down the most competitive person I know and I am looking forward to defeating this thing called debt! I would also say that for the first time in 10 years, 6 months, 1 week and 3 days we have a real sense of hope. We've had the desire for a long time to get out of debt, but we never had a plan and now that we do there is a call of freedom that rings deep in our souls.

My hope is to keep you posted as a form of my own accountability. I know I will have no problem celebrating with all of you... hopefully I will be able to share struggles too. Please ask us how it's going from time to time! Below is a list of ways that you can pray for us if you choose to do so.

Prayers:
1. We put that house that Hotsauce and his friend bought (11 years ago) on the market yesterday. This will be our 3rd time trying to sell it. The realtor seemed very positive that we have it priced well and that we should be able to sell it this time! Please pray that we do sell it and for a fair price.

2. We have offered to let "Layner" move back in with us in October. The situation will be mutually beneficial financially, but will come with its challenges. Please pray that as the 8 of us make adjustments that God will be glorified and that we will act in love. Pray that each of us get the privacy that we need.

3. I have been planning on selling a few items that I have worked on for awhile... a small online shop called Turkey Bottom Haven. Please pray that it will be well received and that it will be a benefit our family.  If you have a chance check out Turkey Bottom Haven here.

4. We are also praying about whether Hotsauce or I should get a part-time job to help get the snowball rolling a little faster.

Well, that's about it for now! If you haven't read Dave Ramsey's book I would highly recommend it. We hope to watch the Financial Peace University DVDs soon!

Introducing the Fiscal Misfit ...

Welcome to The Chronicles of the Fiscal Misfit!  Within these "pages" I will take you on our journey from living paycheck to paycheck and coming short every month into what we hope will be financial freedom and the building of wealth! But before we get into all that perhaps I should introduce myself!

I am the Fiscal Misfit!  I'm also a 30-something mother of 5 wonderful children and wife to Hotsauce.  Hotsauce has filled my life with laughter, love and challenges!  I will try to avoid all things sappy, but will say that I wouldn't be me without him and that I praise God daily for him.  "Bean" is our oldest and at the age of 9 she is my biggest helper.  Bean's nose is almost always in a book and being a typical first born she desires perfections in all areas of life.  Next comes "Saucypants" and at the age of 7 she loves all things beautiful.  Beautiful, but not necessarily matching or with brushed hair.  She's also developing a love of reading and has the gift of encouragement and is the family cheerleader!  Our first born son is "Chubba" who had very chubby cheeks as a baby, but has "outgrown" the name and into a string bean!  Chubba is my 6 year old  wrestling, Wii playing, TV watching, freckled nose boy!  Next in line is "Lumpy" who found his nickname through many bumps, lumps, bruises and all boy accidents.  At 4 years old he has had more injuries then all 4 of the other Turkey Bottoms combined.  He has huge blue eyes and long eyelashes that are to die for!!  Finishing up the line up is "Mo-Mo" our joyful bright-eyed 3 year old.  Mo-Mo is our "afflicted" child and while the nurses in our local ER know Lumpy for his need for stitches, Mo-Mo is known for his battles with RSV, Pneumonia, and every other respiratory problem known to man.  Mo-Mo is a very smart, joke telling toddler who is well loved by all of us!

Chubs, Bean, Mo-Mo, Saucypants and Lumpy!

Why a Fiscal Misfit?  I will unravel my story through my posts, but I will just say that I never had any training in fiances and what little training I did receive I thought was boring and didn't pertain to that part in my life.  For instance, I remember a few lessons during high school math and economics that taught how to balance a checkbook.  But, I didn't have a checkbook to practice with.  When I finally got my first job and my first checkbook, I didn't have enough money coming in or going out to "need" to balance my checkbook!  Ugh!  Was I ever wrong!

I was 23 when I married Hotsauce.  Prior to us getting married I had 3 student loans (one in my mom's name) and a credit card that carried a balance around $4,000.  That $4,000 consisted of eating out, buying shoes and clothes to match, entertainment and gas.  You know, the necessities of college life!  I rarely paid the balance on that credit card, because I hardly ever knew how much money was in my checking account.  Also I thought if I didn't open the envelope with my credit card bill then essentially I didn't owe them money.  I call it the Ostrich approach... as long as my head is in the sand and I never told anyone ... I was safe.  Ugh!  Was I ever wrong!

Now I can give you a trillion gazillion examples of "Ugh! Was I ever wrong!" when it comes to money (and marriage, and parenting, and my walk with God and well let's just say life!).  But this blog is not about glorifying my wrongdoings so much as it is to give you hope!  It's to inspire you as you walk with us out of our current fiscal misfit status into recovered fiscal misfit!  As I have shared with friends and families the things we are learning I have been amazed at the number of others who find themselves drowning.  It's not as though we wanted to find ourselves in the place that we are in, it's not as though we hadn't cried out for God's help time and time and time again... we just didn't have a plan.  We didn't have the "skillz" to claw our way out!

So we are calling on our Fiscal Misfit friends to join us on our journey, to learn the things we are learning and together let's live the way God intended us to live!