We really did it! We paid off our car this morning! Boy did that feel good! :) It probably won't really sink in until we get the title in the mail in a few days.
So.... next up is our $1,000 Emergency Fund. I know, I know, we're supposed to have done that FIRST, but that thing was causing us a lot of problems, so we decided to skip ahead, pay off the car, and then do the $1,000 Emergency Fund before hitting the student loans extra hard. So... that's the plan!
We're also looking forward to a PAID FOR vacation, date nights and giving a little bit more money away. That's the plan for now anyway! :)
Oh... and Daniel is getting his wisdom teeth out in June, and his dental insurance should be covering most of that. That's the biggest reason why we were able to pay off the car, since we didn't have to hang on to extra to pay off the oral surgeon.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
I'm back!
Bet you all thought I was gone for good, didn't you! Well... I'm back now!
Life got crazy busy for us there for awhile. We were sick, which I why I wasn't blogging at first. And then my piano studio went crazy. I picked up a bunch more students (four last week alone) and now I have 16 students each week! Yikes!
The adventures in gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free eating continue. I just started a loaf of french bread in our bread maker. This is the first time I've used the bread maker since last summer. I'm hoping the loaf turns out okay. I'm still trying to figure out the best egg substitute for various items. I'm using Ener-G egg replacer in this bread mix. I guess we'll see what happens. :)
Our car is getting older. We're going to have to do some repairs on it next week. We're hoping that will be it for awhile, but it sure is discouraging watching our savings disappear into yet ANOTHER repair bill. :P
Speaking of savings... we're still trucking along, trying to get out of debt. I think it has helped that we're getting really close to paying off the car, so it's giving us that extra little bit of excitement that we've been missing. We'll probably have the car paid off by August, if not before. Then it's on to the student loans! :)
That's the update from us! How are all of you doing?
Life got crazy busy for us there for awhile. We were sick, which I why I wasn't blogging at first. And then my piano studio went crazy. I picked up a bunch more students (four last week alone) and now I have 16 students each week! Yikes!
The adventures in gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free eating continue. I just started a loaf of french bread in our bread maker. This is the first time I've used the bread maker since last summer. I'm hoping the loaf turns out okay. I'm still trying to figure out the best egg substitute for various items. I'm using Ener-G egg replacer in this bread mix. I guess we'll see what happens. :)
Our car is getting older. We're going to have to do some repairs on it next week. We're hoping that will be it for awhile, but it sure is discouraging watching our savings disappear into yet ANOTHER repair bill. :P
Speaking of savings... we're still trucking along, trying to get out of debt. I think it has helped that we're getting really close to paying off the car, so it's giving us that extra little bit of excitement that we've been missing. We'll probably have the car paid off by August, if not before. Then it's on to the student loans! :)
That's the update from us! How are all of you doing?
Friday, January 25, 2013
There's a First Time for Everything
Today I'm filing business taxes for the first time ever. *gulp* I'm a little nervous about it. I was REALLY nervous about it until yesterday when I called the Department of Revenue and a nice lady there walked me through the e-file process and helped me to figure out exactly what categories I needed to file under. I'm so proud of myself that it looks like I collected enough tax to cover what I owe! :D
So, yep, first time filing business taxes. Fun stuff. :)
Friday, November 16, 2012
Faithful Friday
Fridays are a day we can look back and see what God has done in our lives over the previous week.
The verse (or chapter) that meant the most to me this week was Hebrews 11, the "faith chapter". How much more difficult were the trials they faced, than the little trivial things I have faced in my life! If they had such great faith, why can't I trust that God will do what He says He will do in my life?
I think it's because North American Christianity is pretty cushy compared to the situation that those mentioned in Hebrews 11 faced. Now, most of us draw a regular paycheck, we have a roof over our heads and food to eat. Then, they didn't have the assurance of getting paid on a regular schedule, their houses didn't protect them from the elements like ours do, and they didn't have modern conveniences to help keep food longer than a day or so! And those are all material things. What about trusting that God will work in hearts, or that He knows what's best for us? I think North American Christians tend to take for granted the blessings that God has given us, and continue on down the path to worry, stress, and doubt. We just can't see that even though we're the ones spending the money from our paychecks, God is the one who provides those paycheck. What would happen to the average North American Christian if they went into work today and discovered they had been let go from their job?
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
*UPDATED* 11/6/12 Managing God's Money--Car Maintenance, Take 2!
A few weeks ago, I wrote about looking for new tires. Well, yesterday morning... our car died.
Daniel left for work but came back almost immediately, reporting that the car wouldn't start. He was positive he didn't leave the lights on, and all our neighbors were already gone to work. He had about two minutes to get back out the door and catch the bus.
We think it may be the battery (hoping!), so we're just going to move the new tires and alignment up to today, and get everything done all in one shot. But, here's where things get really fun.
Once I realized the car would need to go to the mechanic before we could get the new tires put on, I realized that the Discount Tire in Pasco (our original plan) was now further away from the car's location than the Discount Tire in Richland. So, I called the Discount Tire in Richland, to find out if they had the tires we want in stock. The man who answered the phone turned out to be the husband of a friend of mine from church. When I explained the situation, and which tires we want, he said he didn't have them in stock, but he could give us better tires for the same price. So, instead of 40,000 mile tires for $430, we're getting 65,000 mile tires for $422.04. Did you catch that? That's 25,000 more miles, for $8.00 less than what we'd expected to pay.
And shortly after I got all that arranged, a lady who just moved to town from Arizona called to see if Daniel could design her a website. I'm not sure how that's all going to pan out, but I'm choosing to take great solace in the fact that God had that lady call on the very day our car died. :)
*UPDATE* 11/6/12
We got the car towed to the shop this morning, where we found out it was indeed the battery, and the starter. $700 later, our emergency fund is empty, and we had just enough miscellaneous cash to cover the rest. So... no new tires or alignment for us today. I'll call Discount Tire tomorrow (the guy I talked to wasn't going to be in today) and let them know it may be awhile before we can come in for tires.
We're just amazed that we were able to pay for today's repairs without having to go on a payment plan. We'll just keep being faithful and frugal, and trust that God will provide the funds for the tires and alignment when He decides it's time to do them!
Daniel left for work but came back almost immediately, reporting that the car wouldn't start. He was positive he didn't leave the lights on, and all our neighbors were already gone to work. He had about two minutes to get back out the door and catch the bus.
We think it may be the battery (hoping!), so we're just going to move the new tires and alignment up to today, and get everything done all in one shot. But, here's where things get really fun.
Once I realized the car would need to go to the mechanic before we could get the new tires put on, I realized that the Discount Tire in Pasco (our original plan) was now further away from the car's location than the Discount Tire in Richland. So, I called the Discount Tire in Richland, to find out if they had the tires we want in stock. The man who answered the phone turned out to be the husband of a friend of mine from church. When I explained the situation, and which tires we want, he said he didn't have them in stock, but he could give us better tires for the same price. So, instead of 40,000 mile tires for $430, we're getting 65,000 mile tires for $422.04. Did you catch that? That's 25,000 more miles, for $8.00 less than what we'd expected to pay.
And shortly after I got all that arranged, a lady who just moved to town from Arizona called to see if Daniel could design her a website. I'm not sure how that's all going to pan out, but I'm choosing to take great solace in the fact that God had that lady call on the very day our car died. :)
*UPDATE* 11/6/12
We got the car towed to the shop this morning, where we found out it was indeed the battery, and the starter. $700 later, our emergency fund is empty, and we had just enough miscellaneous cash to cover the rest. So... no new tires or alignment for us today. I'll call Discount Tire tomorrow (the guy I talked to wasn't going to be in today) and let them know it may be awhile before we can come in for tires.
We're just amazed that we were able to pay for today's repairs without having to go on a payment plan. We'll just keep being faithful and frugal, and trust that God will provide the funds for the tires and alignment when He decides it's time to do them!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Managing God's Money--Grocery Shopping
Previously I've talked about the importance of getting out of debt, and making wise, educated consumer decisions. Both could be (and probably should be) considered important line items in a budget.
Another important item in a budget is groceries. Everyone has to eat something! Grocery shopping is something that I've struggled with for awhile. In my opinion, it's a necessary evil. We have to eat, so we have to shop. But, if I develop a plan before we go to the store, it generally goes a lot better, and we stick to our budget.
When I was in college, I lived off-campus for two years, so that was when I figured out how much it cost to feed one person for a month. I found that it's about $100/month to feed one person, so when Daniel and I got married, I just multiplied that by two. We've always tried to spend about $200/month on groceries, which for us includes all our paper products, toiletries, and cleaning supplies. Generally, we've been able to stick fairly close to this amount, unless we had to stock up on a bunch of staples all at the same time.
When we were first married, we generally shopped at WinCo, which is one of the cheapest grocery stores in town. WinCo doesn't offer store coupons, but I found the prices to be reasonable, and we were pretty much always able to stick to our budget when we shopped there. Two years into our marriage, we moved across the river, and our shopping pattern had to change. We tried shopping at Wal-mart for awhile, but it was pretty expensive, so we worked out a way to get back to shopping at WinCo.
Then, this summer, we found out about all of Daniel's food allergies, so our plan had to change a little bit. Now, we can still get most of our shopping done at WinCo, but we also pick up a few things (like gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free cheese; egg-less mayo; and bulk quinoa) at Yoke's, which is much more expensive than either WinCo or Walmart. I was worried that this would increase our budget significantly, but to my surprise, it hasn't! In fact, we're pretty much done our shopping for the next two weeks, and we still have some money left over for more produce.
Trying to maintain a "normal" diet while going GFCF is very expensive. By choosing to eat naturally GFCF foods, we cut down our budget. A good example is GF pasta. Daniel and I can both eat rice, so at first, we had been buying the specialty labelled GF pasta. But, then I was over at the MTHFR family's house, and discovered that they eat rice pasta. We were in WinCo a few days later, so I decided to check the Asian food section, and sure enough, I found white rice pasta in the Asian food section for much cheaper than the labelled GF noodles!
I know most of my readers probably don't have to worry about eating GFCF, so, in conclusion, I would just encourage you to think about what you're eating, what you should be eating, make a meal plan, and stick to it. I think you'll find that it makes a big difference in how much you're spending on groceries!
How do you manage your grocery spending?
Another important item in a budget is groceries. Everyone has to eat something! Grocery shopping is something that I've struggled with for awhile. In my opinion, it's a necessary evil. We have to eat, so we have to shop. But, if I develop a plan before we go to the store, it generally goes a lot better, and we stick to our budget.
When I was in college, I lived off-campus for two years, so that was when I figured out how much it cost to feed one person for a month. I found that it's about $100/month to feed one person, so when Daniel and I got married, I just multiplied that by two. We've always tried to spend about $200/month on groceries, which for us includes all our paper products, toiletries, and cleaning supplies. Generally, we've been able to stick fairly close to this amount, unless we had to stock up on a bunch of staples all at the same time.
When we were first married, we generally shopped at WinCo, which is one of the cheapest grocery stores in town. WinCo doesn't offer store coupons, but I found the prices to be reasonable, and we were pretty much always able to stick to our budget when we shopped there. Two years into our marriage, we moved across the river, and our shopping pattern had to change. We tried shopping at Wal-mart for awhile, but it was pretty expensive, so we worked out a way to get back to shopping at WinCo.
Then, this summer, we found out about all of Daniel's food allergies, so our plan had to change a little bit. Now, we can still get most of our shopping done at WinCo, but we also pick up a few things (like gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free cheese; egg-less mayo; and bulk quinoa) at Yoke's, which is much more expensive than either WinCo or Walmart. I was worried that this would increase our budget significantly, but to my surprise, it hasn't! In fact, we're pretty much done our shopping for the next two weeks, and we still have some money left over for more produce.
Trying to maintain a "normal" diet while going GFCF is very expensive. By choosing to eat naturally GFCF foods, we cut down our budget. A good example is GF pasta. Daniel and I can both eat rice, so at first, we had been buying the specialty labelled GF pasta. But, then I was over at the MTHFR family's house, and discovered that they eat rice pasta. We were in WinCo a few days later, so I decided to check the Asian food section, and sure enough, I found white rice pasta in the Asian food section for much cheaper than the labelled GF noodles!
I know most of my readers probably don't have to worry about eating GFCF, so, in conclusion, I would just encourage you to think about what you're eating, what you should be eating, make a meal plan, and stick to it. I think you'll find that it makes a big difference in how much you're spending on groceries!
How do you manage your grocery spending?
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