O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

Last year I had a dream come true.

But, before I get to that I have to tell you a little story about 2 years ago when my dream DID NOT come true.  We were planning a trip to Idaho to visit Hotsauce's brother and sisters and their families.  Like always, we had not planned for the vacation and had nothing saved up.  So we had a two week long garage sale... well over the course of two weeks we had a garage sale from Thursday to Saturday.

I had posted on Facebook that we were having a sale and a friend of ours said that she had a bunch of stuff that she wanted to get rid of ... if we would pick it up we could have it for the sale.  I was giddy.  She was right, she had a ton of stuff on her porch. 

One item was a 6 foot pre-lit Christmas tree.  The only problem with it was that half the lights no longer worked.  As you can imagine it didn't sell.  When Christmas rolled around we didn't have a tree of our own and didn't have the money to buy a new one.  Oh, how I looked on Craigslist and everywhere I could think of for a 9 foot tree.  There were none in my price range for free.

So S.O.S., Hotsauce and I got out the 6 foot tree and sat on the floor and cut the broken lights off the old tree.  And my holiday cheer was more like a pre-holiday melt down.  Imagine, if you will, a grown woman crying as she violently rips lights off of a tree.  I'm pretty sure that I snapped once or twice at my beloved.

After we put the tree up it looked incredibly silly with four feet of space between the top of the tree and the ceiling.  It was not my idea of the perfect Christmas tree.  In fact, I imagined it more like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.  Hotsauce ended up building me a 2 foot stand to place the tree on and I covered it with old lace curtains.  By the time I wrapped a few presents the stand was covered and I was thankful that wobbly little Mo-Mo couldn't reach the ornaments on the bottom branches.

You may see in this picture "of the tree" that the top of Chubba's head is where the bottom of the tree meets the stand.  You may also see in this picture that Lumpy's past head injuries cause him to growl inexplicably.

Silently I was disappointed in the tree.

Last year though we went to a Christmas tree farm.  And for the first time since I was a young girl I got a real live pine smelling tree.  It was 9 feet tall and fit perfectly in our bay window.  I was thrilled. No, I was thrilledsauce.

But, apparently not thrilled enough to take a picture of the entire tree and just a few snapshots of the kids decorating it.  Actually, Nana S. took a few pictures of us decorating it.

Anyway it was my perfect Christmas tree.  I do believe that I may have silently cried one night after everyone was in bed.  I was in lurvesauce.

Now as we prepare for Christmas this year there has been much discussion about the Christmas tree.  In the beginning of the budget discussions this was an item that Hotsauce promised that we would save for.  I would have my perfect tree and we would still pay the bills.

Last night at FPU we watched the video about paying off debt with gazelle type intensity.  I watched as the CHEEETAH raced after the gazelle and came up empty handed mouthed.  I learned that the cheetah only catches the gazelle 1 out of 19 times... and thought to myself I am not going to be that one!

Can you imagine a gazelle running with a 9 foot Christmas tree dragging behind it?  Wonder which gazelle the cheetah would pick as its next victim?

So the obvious choice is to skip the wonderful nice smelling tree and haul the 6 foot tree out of the storage closet and take another look at the picture above.  I don't have pictures of Christmas trees because that's not what's really important to me.  Those five silly faces are what I took a picture of ... because that's where my heart really is.

I will sing "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree..

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!
For every year the Christmas tree,
Brings to us all both joy and glee.

And it will be true.  Because O Christmas tree tis free and my focus is renewed!  I am excited to put that money towards a snowball and skip the tree chopping!

How's your Christmas shaping up?  What will you be skipping on and what (if anything) is non-negotiable?

Not this time Qubo, not this time!!

We don't have cable.  It's a little hard for us to justify the cost of cable when we are trying to pay off our snowball!  Since we don't have the Cartoon Network or Nick Jr. or any other of the channels marketed towards children we are left with Qubo.

Collect Them All!!! You need these! Or maybe not.

As far as I can tell Qubo is a Canadian network that is filling American children with ideas of what to ask for on their Christmas lists.  They have slippers with ears that cover their eyes.  They have Pillow Pets, Pillow Pet Babies, Pillow Pets that light up and of course, Jumbo Pillow Pets.  They have Bend-a-roos and Floam.  I believe they even have something called Snuggle Up Its or Cuddle Puppets maybe CuddleUppets???... er something like that.


My Turkeys have asked for every.single.one.  There is nothing on this channel that they haven't begged for or sang its jingle non-stop.

Until today.  Today they found the one and only commercial on Qubo that they have entirely rejected.

It was a credit card commercial and I really wish I could remember which brand it was because I would have no problem calling them out.  I think it's disgusting for their to be credit card commercials on this channel at all.  Why do 5 year olds need a credit card?  Probably because while they're dying to have an Obese Pillow Pet and slippers with firecrackers shooting out their backside,  their parents are fed up and keep telling them they can't afford these things.  So the perfect solution is throwing a credit card in the mix!

But, not my Turkey Bottoms... four of the five started a discussion about if this commercial was for a credit card.  They even asked me if that's what it was.  When I confirmed that it was they started booing at the TV!  Mo-Mo of course started booing when the others did, but he had no idea why he was booing!  The Turkey Bottoms also yelled at the TV that credit cards are bad and they will never get one!

Oh, how I love of raising Budgeteers!  :)

But, Dave Ramsey says...

You know when someone shares something really exciting with you... like they bought a new car, or they got a great deal on a washing machine that they got interest free for a year, or they turned in their credit card miles for a new sweater... and as a good friend you're expected to celebrate with them...

Well, I just want to say something like, "Well, Dave Ramsey says, 'You just made a horrible financial decision and here are thirty-three reasons why...'"

I guess you're not really supposed to respond like that.  Apparently people don't want to hear the 33 reasons why they just made a horrible decision about anything.  Who knew?

But, I don't want to glue on a plastic smile and pretend that I'm excited for them.  Because these kinds of things scare the daylights out of me!  It's not that I don't think a new-to-you car isn't exciting, nor do I think that washing machines and sweaters are from the pit of hell ... because I LOVE my washing machine and sweaters are nice too.  I must admit that I have financed a car, bought a washing machine on a credit card and never got the miles to buy a sweater.  And while the car is paid for (and no longer here) and the washing machine is paid for now... it wasn't a good deal.  It hurt us.  Our decisions hurt us. 

Our financial practices were straight from the pit of hell, because they neither glorified God or helped our testimony.  The message of the cross is freedom from sin and a new life in Christ.  The message of a debt-ridden Christian is intentionally yoking yourself to a master of this world. 

So, I need to pray about how to respond lovingly to my friends who are celebrating their new cars, new thises and thats ... instead of silently judging them (or not so silently judging them) and focus on how to be a great friend.  I need to pray that God will give me the opportunity to share how our budget and new money management practices are leading us out of the pit of hell and into a new life and then invite them to join us on this journey.

How many of you struggle with watching your friends make poor financial decisions?  Do you speak up or do you let them make their own mistakes?  Since we've made sooooo many mistakes in the past I also struggle with saying, "Don't do that!!!" when we've been there and done that!!  Do you feel this way?

Thank God Friday - The Little Things

I must admit that I've struggled a little bit with what to write about this TGF.  It's not that I don't have things to be thankful for... heaven knows that couldn't be further from the truth!  It's just that if I write one more blog about how thankful I am for Hotsauce I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to find an app that gives my readers a barf bag at the beginning of each blog!

There are plenty of other things that I'm thankful for... but I'm trying to get focused on the financial aspect of my life since this is a blog aimed at our Total Money Makeover!

Before sitting down to blog I got our mail.  In it was a "Welcome" card from State Farm.  There was a brief note from our insurance guy, two business cards and also two gift certificates for a free 6 inch sub to Subway!  Can you say awesome?  That's a potential date night!  Or lunch for Hotsauce when he's on the road and a couple of hours of peace and quiet for me!  I'm surprised at how the little things make me so thankful.

We've also been laughing and celebrating our never-ending 5 gallon bucket of potatoes!  At the end of summer a friend of mine gave us some potatoes, green peppers and tomatoes in exchange for some curriculum we had. (I love making trades like this, both of us got what we needed and it was a blessing to both of us!).  A few weeks later another friend had a bounty of potatoes and graciously gave them to us.  They went into the bucket and filled it back up again!  This Monday after FPU S.O.S.'s mama gave us more potatoes and a big bag of onions too.  We've had that 5 gallon bucket of potatoes for a couple of months now and it never seems to go empty!  And it's not that we haven't been eating them, because we have!!

I know that none of these things are huge events.  I sometimes think that a more exciting blog would be one that says, "We knocked out $3,000 in debt this week!"  But, I also remember that we have to be faithful in the little things, acknowledging what God has done for us before we can be entrusted with the bigger things. Much like the Parable of the Talents where two of the servants doubled what their master had given them and the other servant hide his away out of fear.  This is what was said to the faithful servants:

 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ -Matthew 25:21 & 23

Dear friends as you go about your journey do not overlook the small things.  Give praise were praise is due and work diligently with that which God has put you in charge of!  Be sure to do a happy dance (real or imaginary) to celebrate the goodness of God!

Noodle soup!

Hotsauce loves Ramen Noodles.  Maybe he just never grew out of it from college?  But, then again he also loves macaroni and cheese with hot dogs mixed in it and tuna fish sandwiches.  I know some of you are trying not to gag right now, but seriously how lucky am I?  I cannot think of three easier things to make and have the end result being a husband who's all googley-eyed and grateful beyond words.  I.am.lucky!

So, for the first time since college we decided to make some Ramen Noodles.  Hotsauce was all giddy with excitement and since I don't remember hating them, I was excited to introduce this uber budget friendly meal to our Turkey Bottoms.

Well, there wasn't exactly cheering.  And no one asked for seconds.  As a matter-of-fact four of our kids shared theirs so we only had to use two packages for four children.  Cha-ching!  But, poor ol' Saucy Pants HATED hers.  There are a few things that she hates... fruit flavored candy (think Mike and Ikes or licorice) and Macaroni Shells and Cheese (as opposed to regular mac and cheese) and now you could add Ramen Noodles to that list.  

She has this thing that she does when she is forced to eat things she doesn't like.  First she whines. Then she starts to turn red and tear up.  Finally she starts to gag.  And on a few occassions she makes herself vomit.  I won't even get into the joy of those nights.

Picture Source

We even tried to "trick" her by telling her that it was Noodle Soup from Kung Fu Panda.  We told her that Daddy had the "noodle dream"  We knew she wouldn't buy it, but the other Turkeys thought that it was completely fun.  Saucy was having nothing to do with it!


I have to admit that I don't love Ramen Noodles.  But, I have learned that if you cut the amount of chicken flavoring down that your mouth won't feel like it's coated in salt.  Plus you'll feel like maybe it's a little more healthy!  Tonight we're going to give it another shot.  I'm going to add some frozen stir fry veggies and see how that works out.

Even though I'm completely opposed to making a separate meal for picky children.  I have some left-overs that the kiddos have been reluctant to eat, so I'm willing to offer those as an option for Saucy... so long as she warms them up herself it won't be any skin off my back and I think it will save us all from a lot of drama.

I.hate.drama.

And having leftovers that don't go to waste makes my budget smile!!

So what are you having for dinner?  How's your grocery budget going... are you stretching it out and making the most of it??

Updates!

 Update #1: The Unauthorized Charge to our Debit Card
Remember when I told you that I had asked a company to take me off of their autoship and they ignored my request and sent me their product anyway?  I was having a lot of trouble and felt like I was getting the run around?

Well, I never did receive that email that I was waiting for from Mike.  And I was never able to send my fax requesting that said company refund the overdraft fee because I had the wrong fax number.

While I was able to refuse delivery when the UPS man came with my package I still hadn't heard anything from the company and as far as we could tell our account had not been refunded the money.  Seriously, so irritating!

I called again today and this time I talked to DeShon.  My end of the conversation started something like this:

"Hello, my name is..... and my customer ID number is ... and a few weeks ago I received an overdraft notice from my bank because your company did an unauthorized charge on my debit card.  I had already asked to be taken off of autoship prior to this happening and for whatever reason that request was ignored.  When I called last time I spoke to Mike who told me that he would send me a confirmation email stating that I have been taken off of autoship and would not occur further charges.  He never did.  He also gave me a fax number where I could send a notice from our bank disputing the overdraft charge.  It was the wrong number.  Now I want to know what you're going to do to make this right."

Pause.

Pause.

More silence.

"Well, um I could send that email to you today..."

I remain silent.

"And I could get you the right fax number..."

Silent still.

"Is there anything else I can do?"

"Can you guarantee that you will never do this again?  Can you promise that I won't have to go through this headache with your company again?"

Let's just say that he gave me a weak assurance that it wouldn't.  I'm not sure that I believe him.  Let's just say I have very little faith in this company. 

Though I will say that I did receive the email from him and the fax number that he gave me went through.  So he's already 2 up on Mike.

Update #2 - Swag Bucks Worth It?

Is it worth it?  I would say with absolute assurance... that it might be worth it! ;)

I spend a good amount of time blogging, reading finance blogs, and researching ideas for Turkey Bottom Haven.  And then there's the time that I spend updating my Facebook status and playing Words With Friends.  So, I'm online a good amount.  And since I'm online it makes sense for me to do Swag Bucks.  I use search engines a lot, so using the Swag Bucks search engine makes sense.  If I get paid to use it, why not? 

I still almost always have at least one tab open with Swag Bucks TV on.  It's not a quick way to earn Swag Bucks, but really, I might as well have it going while I'm doing other things.

I have also had more luck with the Trusted Surveys and surveys from Peanut Labs under the special offers tab.  Also just for reaching their daily goal of earned Swag Bucks you can earn extra bucks.





If I was to cash in all of my Swag Bucks today I would receive $30 from Amazon.  That's a Christmas present.

So all in all, I think that if you're already online it makes sense to use Swag Bucks.  It won't make you rich, but every little bit helps!

Update #3 Fa-Poo!

This was week 2 of FPU at our church.  We were joined by 3 neighbors ... which means that within a 5 house radius there are 5 households in our neighborhood represented in our class.  Imagine how the rest of our neighborhood could be transformed if each of us not only started using our finances God's way, but also reached out to our other neighbors in the name of Christ?

Makes me giddy thinking about it.

 Also this month Hotsauce will receive 3 paychecks instead of 2.  He was also paid for some work that he's done on some of our rental properties and we hope to have an outstanding month with Turkey Bottom Haven.  We are truly seeing God's hand in our finances as he continues to bless us. 

So I believe that's most of the updates that I have today.  So what about all of you?  Update us on your struggles and successes and let us know how we can pray for you!

Thank God Friday - The Love of Money

"But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." - 1 Timothy 6:6-10

We have seen first hand the evil that that the love of money brings.  We have suffered at the hands of greed and evil this week and we are acutely aware of how blessed we are.  

This week we continually thank God for his care and his protection.  We thank Him for peace that transcends all understanding.  We thank Him for Hotsauce's training and ability to perform his duties in a manner that not only glorifies God, but brings him home to his family at the end of the day.  We thank God that even in the darkest moments that we will fear no evil because He is with us, his rod and his staff comfort us.

I pray that each of you will know that "godliness with contentment is great gain" and that while you strive to be a good steward of that which God has given you that you will not lose sight of your true Master.  Please do not be mastered by the love of money... it will bring grief that you cannot even imagine.