We FINALLY upped our income!!!!!

We've been trying to get some traction on this debt free journey for quite some time and Murphy kept hitting us, plus we just didn't have enough income and with Chris getting laid off it didn't help matters any.

I'm happy to report that he is back to work full time and it's NOT construction work so it's more stable work for this area. He also works a part time job on Saturdays at the local FedEx office driving for them!!!

Myself, I'm still at the hair salon PLUS I'm working part time at a new local restaurant that opened last week!! I really like it, I'm waitressing and it's been a few years since I've done this kind of work but it all comes back to ya and I really enjoy it. Last week I ended up being there everday either day or night or some days were both LOL. BUT it was worth it ... I ended up having an extra $215.00 towards debt to pay JUST from that!! AND the hair salon is picking up as well.

I don't feel like I'm home much and I miss not being home but mostly what I worked last week my girls were at their dads house and Chris took care of our son most evenings. I do miss being here with them, but they all understand that I'm only working this much right now because we have to do this and it's worth it when you know that in the future I can work because I WANT TO not because I HAVE TO!!!!

Well that's all I have time for today, have to head out to work soon. Just wanted to update that we are doing better and starting to see the light!!

OH AND we have a guy interested in buying the house so let's hope that goes through too!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family Decisions & Other Happenings...

So we decided not to move up north. Yes the money would of been great but I was praying and praying about this and felt like God was telling me we were supposed to stay here for now. The job for Chris up there wasn't ready to start yet anyway and kept getting postponed and we didn't really have all the money we needed to get the rental house up there yet.

So Chris started working this week!!!!! He's a Fed Ex delivery guy LOL. It's a temporary position through the holidays but pays good and COULD go full time, although at this point we're thinking it probably won't for us because of their full time delivery people having to buy their own truck and be Independent Contractors and we know that financially we can't do that at this time. But at least for now he has a job and he's still looking for something full time PLUS he's signed up to take some classes at the local community college to work towards a Civil Engineering degree which would greatly help land a great job in this area in the future!!!

So things are starting to look up for us with him starting a new job now and he's still looking for some side work to do as well.

I am still at the hair salon, things are slow right now though. Today I went in and didn't do 1 single client. Which in my case, if I don't have a client I don't have any money so it was a wasteful day but oh well. I have very few of those at the salon since I started there a year ago so that's good. I have still been helping my mom clean houses although that has slowed down too because she's given a lot of them up since she's going to be quitting the business within the next week. This coming week is our last week of cleaning unless we just do a few houses that only want someone like for fall and spring cleaning or when they are on vacation, we'll still try to do those. She is going to be going to work as a manager at a restaurant that is opening here in town around November 19th. I will be waitressing up there with her during the day on Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings. I'm off from the hair salon on Tuesdays and don't go in until 3 pm on Wednesdays, so that will help. I might try to do a couple nights too but we'll have to wait and see how it all works out with child care arrangements and Chris' work schedule.

So I'm currently working on a budget for November. Yes I realize November's already started and I should've of had it done already and I did once but now that Chris has started this new position and my positions are kind of changing I have to rework that plan. Which is why not having any clients today was really bad. I really needed that money this week since he doesn't have a paycheck this week and we have a Utility payment due by Saturday. I'll keep working and praying and hopefully somehow it will appear. God works in mysterious ways so I'm sure it will show up somehow.

The kids are all doing great! Soccer just ended last weekend for my twin girls and now basketball will be starting soon. They are also starting in band in a couple of weeks. Brandi is going to play the drums and Brittany is going to play the clarinet.

Bryar will be starting Pre-School on November 12th. 1/2 Days in the afternoon. It saddens me that he is my last child and growing up so quick but I know I have to let him grow up and I know that this will be a good experience for him too.

Struggling with Decisions made...

Ok so the last post was all about how we've made our decision to move and now you're probably going to be thinking I am being wishy-washy here but I am struggling with this decision.
I love my job at the hair salon here and I know that we NEED to move because Chris is the bread winner of the family and this job for him up there pays way more than he could ever make here plus it's a stable position and with my hair services, I could always offer them practically anywhere! But it's so hard.

This salon I work at, I love it. There is NO DRAMA which is hard to find in a hair salon with women working together lol. I have built a pretty good clientele since starting there last November and I just know I'm going to miss it there. But then there's that chance of finding another salon where I love it just as much and building an even better clientele. I've already thought of some advertising I could do to get people to come to me when I move there (since I'm new and don't know anyone there I figure if I offer great special deals for their first visit and do a good job they'll come back), but I'm still scared to death.

It's not so much about the kids anymore. That sounds bad lol and I don't mean it that way because I do worry about them and adjusting and everything but they are ready to go. They seriously ask me everyday "How many more days till we move?" I still worry about them and being away from their friends and family here but I also know they still have a few friends from that area that they e-mail back and forth with and they are great kids that tend to make new friends easily. The being away from family is going to be hard but I'm hoping that things will be like they were before and my parents will come and visit often like they used to and we'll still come here often too. After all it's only 3 hours away from home.

A part of me is ready to move on knowing that this would be a good move for us and put us in a better situation but the other part of me is scared to death and worried about it being the wrong decision. I have been praying and praying about this for the past few weeks and I keep going back to writing out that check for the rental house and making it a done deal to move!

Alot of people on the TMMO chat say I'm just scared to tell my parents and Chris says that too. That is probably a big part of it and I know it's something I have to deal with. They are away this weekend, due back today so I'll see what kind of mood they are in and then see if I can bring myself to tell them.

We have made a decision...

Ok so for you Dave Ramsey lovers ... I called DR himself on September 24, 2007 and asked him about our situation with needing to move up north and the kids not wanting to. He offered some great advice, you can listen to it on the Dave Ramsey downloadable shows it was in the 2nd hour around 22:40 on the mark. He's a great guy! He really made sense out of it and told me that the kids didn't make the decision, we had to make that decision and if we were making the decision for the right reasons then we should do it. He stated that if we were only going for the money then we would probably already be gone, which is true, and that we needed to pray about it and talk about it to make that decision and that the kids would adjust. Which is the same thing all my buddies in Total Money Makeover chat room had to say as well!

So we went this past Friday and looked at a rental house there and we love it! It's reasonably priced and in a great location and the kids loved it too! They are all excited about moving now, yeah I fretted for months over this and now they keep saying "When are we moving there". LOL KIDS!!!!

So we are listing lots more stuff for sale since we can't take alot of this with us because of the space and we figure what a better time to declutter. We're working hard to come up with the money we need to pay by November 1st. Thats when the house is available and the lady that owns it is super sweet, she's willing to wait until then for us to pay her what we need to and hold it for us. She liked us and we liked her so it all worked out. She had some people lined up to see it next week but has told them it's been rented!! We're all excited about this so pray for us that we will be able to come up with the money we need by then and still stick to the budget. We'd been trying to save up for a house while doing the budget and haven't had much time to save much money so we don't have a whole lot to go towards it right now. I really hope that we get the money we need by then though!

Thank you all for your prayers and concerns with this and I will keep you posted.
Oh and I havent' told my parents yet, I know they'll be against it at first but they'll come around and right now I have to do what's right for my family!!

So watch out DEBT here we come to wipe you away!!!!!!!!!!!!

Debating on a big move in our lives...

So we've been trying to work the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover plan since November of 2006 and as you can see in my posts... Murphy just will not leave us alone and we can't get any traction. We have our house listed up for sale, still after 6 months of having it listed with only a couple of showings and my new realtor that we've had for the past few months is really trying to push it because he knows and understands our situation. We are currently looking into doing a deed in leiu of foreclosure because of our situation.

Chris got laid off his job and they pretty much said it was permanent. They never told him it was but said "If you can find another job you'd better take it cuz we won't have anything until next year" OH great another strike!! So he's been out every day this week looking for work and has some leads, but here's the deal....

He used to work in a laborer's union up north (by Chicago IL) made good money and had great benefits, we lived up there in Manteno Illinois at one point for almost a year. I loved it there and so did he, we were doing good. Now my kids, they liked it there but wanted to be back home by grandma, grandpa and their daddy (who has since joined the military). So we packed up and moved back here, lived in my parents old house for a few years until we bought this house last year. Chris has had a very hard time finding stable work around here. It's hard for everyone here right now. This last job he had was the best one yet, made good money for this area and had some good benefits, been there for almost 2 years. Anyway now that he's laid off, we're wondering what we should do. He can't find a decent enough paying job around here to pay all of our bills and dig ourselves out of debt, and he has an opportunity to go back to work up north where he would be making really good money again with good benefits.

Based on what his income would be up there and what our average place to rent would be up there we would have about $1300.00 a month left over from our budgeted items to throw towards our debt ... meaning we could be out of debt in NO TIME!

Now here's the kicker ... I know money isn't EVERYTHING but obviously in our case it's worth a lot right now to get us where we need to be for EVERYONE not just me ... I try to teach my kids that money isn't and shouldn't be TOP priority but is important and there's such a fine line there. See, my kids don't want to move back to Manteno, they want to stay here. I have twin girls that are 11 and they're in the 5th grade so they have their friends and they have been through sooo much in the last 5 years that I'm so afraid of making the wrong decision. I KNOW that if we move there it would be better in the long run for financial and stability reasons but I'm worried about them and how it will affect them. I keep thinking they'll grow up to resent me for pulling them away from "home".

So I'm praying that God will help us through this and give us the guidance we need.

Short Update

First let me say if you've read any of my pasts posts you'll know that we've been trying to get going on the DR plan since November 06, my DF was reluctant at getting going even though he has never been the spender of either of us he just wasn't too excited about getting on this, or not as excited as I was or needed him to be. Then he FINALLY came around, was looking for part time work and everything and hasn't found anything yet but still was looking. Well 2 weeks ago he got laid off work on a temporary basis and started drawing unemployment, gets his first check this week, plus he helped my brother while he was off do some remodeling and that helped with some extra cash too but then today he gets a call, expecting to go back to work on Monday and nope he was told "We are really slow right now, we've called 5 other people and told them the same thing but if you find other employment you'd better take it because we won't have anything going until next year" (He does construction/concrete work by the way). SO NOW WHAT??? Our house is getting ready to go into foreclosure, the mortgage co is working to see if they can do a remodification of the loan for us right now and we should know something within a few weeks but now with him getting laid off it's not looking good at all!!! Our electric/gas will be getting shut off if we don't get it paid and we have numerous other bills piling up. I am so scared and don't know what to do, I've been crying since he told me about this and don't know where to go what to do or anything. I can't even begin to do a budget right now because I don't know where to start with it. I had the budget all worked out once but well that's not going to happen now. Just wanted to vent. I am seriously so tired of this and thinking maybe this plan isn't meant for everyone. As much as I hate to say that I have to because I know how hard we've tried and we can't get traction!!

Update because Katrina said to ...

Ok so I haven't updated in a while and a TMMO friend of mine insisted that I needed to update, so Katrina here it is (don't kick me off your blogroll lol).

I got all the rooms cleaned in the house and we fired our old realtor and the new came out yesterday so we could sign the contract and get it listed YAYY.

We didnt' get approved for our refinance which is ok with me, currently the mortgage company that it is with is looking to see if they will do a modification on the loan or not can take up to 45 days to decide and in the meantime we're trying our hardest to get out of this house. We are keeping our eyes open to rental properties in the area since in this small town they are hard to come by. I really don't want to have to move my kids out of this school district so we're praying something comes up quickly.

Murphy keeps hitting us though too, Chris' car tire needs to be replaced since the steel belt was showing through it and so I'm hoping to find a good used one to last for a while. My van tires need to be replaced too I'm just hoping that they will last a little longer.

I did get my new online store open http://www.primmypad.com and it's going good so far. I currently have 25 distributors signed up to sell for me and on average am making an extra $70.00 a month right now. Which isn't bad for being a new company.

Things are picking up at the hair salon too, been working a lot more hours which in turn gives me more money to apply towards our debt snowball. I'm hoping to have an update soon on where we're at with the plan. All in all things seem to be going pretty good right now.

The kids started soccer practice this week and we went to the Zoo on Labor Day. Ended up being a really good day that was cheap too. I only took $40.00 cash with us and came home with $6.24 WOOHOO :)

Ok now I'll try to update again soon!

Update since I haven't been around..

Been kinda crazy around here lately. I picked up more hours at the hair salon so that has kept me pretty busy PLUS I just started deep cleaning my house this week room by room. Got both of the kids bedrooms done and finished the big living room tonight. Wiping down walls and all wordwork with murphys oil soap, doing windows and washing curtains YUCK! But it has to be done. And it looks so much better. Now I have another living room, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and our bedroom left. Plan on doing it tomorrow all day hopefully get done!

Ok so I sold one of my web sites this week on Ebay earning over $100.00 YAYYY PLUS I was really busy at the hair salon so my income went from an average of $300.00 a week (after expenses of being self employed) to $400!!! YAYYY.

Chris is working more overtime now but they are talking about cutting back on that so pray that they don't LOL. I don't depend on the overtime in my budget but it sure does help LOL.

We applied with our local bank to refinance our mortgage. I was really expecting a flat NO WAY WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? But I got an email the other day that our online app had been updated so I nervously logged in and it stated it is in still in review and has not been approved yet but it now has a loan number and other information that lead me to believe there was a chance. So I was like Ok it wasn't a no that's a plus. Today I nervously called the bank because I was again afraid of what they would say. She told me that it was in review and that there is a chance they will do it and will let me know next week. SO PRAY HARD FOR THAT!! IF we can get that it will cut our mortgage payment almost in half because of our stupid sub prime mortgage we have now :(

So theres the update. We need lots of prayers this coming week as you can tell!

Are things finally turning around for us?

After trying and trying to get on this budget program I'm feeling like things are finally starting to turn around for us!
I picked up more hours at the hair salon starting this week, before it was really impossible for me to do this but now that my ex is getting the girls when he's supposed to it makes it easier and better for me to do this.
So I started working my night shift again starting tonight. I worked from 3 pm - 7 pm and made $70.00! That's $17.50 an hour so not bad at all.

Plus I currently have $75.00 on the book for tomorrow and plenty of open times for more clients :)

Also Chris has been working lots of overtime now, last week there were 3 days where he went in at 6 am and didnt get home until 9 pm and today he did that again. And the local hardware store called him today for an interview for a part time position there, he goes there tomorrow night so I'll let you know on that.

So hopefully things are starting to take a turn for the better for us and we'll be on our way to financial freedom soon!
I'll keep you posted.

Why is the "B" Word such a bad thing?

So the "B" word can be frightening to most people and there's reason behind it. BUDGETING is a scary thing to do because not only does it mean you're getting older and wiser it means you are actually taking control and SEEING where your money is going each and every month. To make a budget work though takes hard work, determination and persistence.

Dave Ramsey recommends doing a new budget each month so that you actually have control. Think about it, if you did a budget for a whole year chances are it won't work because you forgot to budget for grannys birthday gift one month in your yearly budget, but sitting down and reworking your budget each and every month helps you to gain control over unexpected expenses that you might have forgotten about had you made a yearly budget.

Also budgeting each month helps keep up your motivation to get out of debt! If you budget for a year or even 6 months at time you tend to stuff it in a drawer and forget about it, kind of following it but yet still doing your own thing. Wasting away a dollar here and a dollar there. Whereas you budget monthly you stay motivated and strive to stick to that each month in hopes of making it through succesfully.

So how do you get up enough nerve to actually sit down and rewrite your budget each and every month? Or start a budget from scratch if you've never done one before? You tell yourself "I AM IN CHARGE NOW" You get determined and set a goal and you TAKE CONTROL! Just keep in mind that it typically takes an average of 3 months of budgeting for it to flow smoothly. So don't give up too easily, hang in there and it will work!

When you first start budgeting on a monthly basis it's a good idea to allow yourself a little room. You should however account for every dollar that comes in ... give each and every dollar a name and tell it where to go!! Be sure to allow yourself some blow money because even the people who don't make enough to cover their living expenses WILL blow a little money each month and if you're giving each dollar a name and telling it where to go and don't allow some blow money for yourself to buy a coke every now and then, or pick up a snack or whatever you want to use it on then you're budget WILL NOT work!

Also if you don't make enough to cover your living expenses, then first and foremost start looking for ways to up your income. Get a part time job delivering pizzas, sell stuff on ebay or craigslist, have a rummage sale... There are a number of ways for you to earn a little extra cash and each dollar you earn is a step closer to financial freedom! However, in the meantime while you try to dig yourself out of the hole you've created of debt, be sure when you are budgeting that you cover the 4 walls first ... HOUSING/UTILTIES, FOOD, TRANSPORTATION AND CLOTHING!

Think about this, you need shelter and you need running water and electric and gas there right? You need food to eat, you need tranportation and gas to get to work to make money and you need clothing! That's why it's the 4 walls ... the necessities of life!!

So quit being afraid of the "B" word and start doing it! It will work wonders for you and you will not only dig your way out of debt and take control of your finances, you will take control of your LIFE and gain complete satisifaction from doing so!

Check out Dave Ramsey's Free financial forms here for you to download: CLICK HERE

Picking up More Hours

Well since the whole Part Time position didn't work out and the restaurant isn't open yet, i will be picking up more hours at the hair salon and praying for walk ins lol.
Here's my new schedule:

Mondays 11AM - 4 PM
Tuesdays (help my mom clean houses for 5-6 hours)
Wednesdays 2-7 PM
Thursdays 9 AM - 4 PM
Fridays 9 AM - 5 PM
Saturdays 9 AM - 5 PM

That should help a little until the restaurant gets open then I can fill in there and work around my hair salon schedule. I figure if I work nights and weekends at the restuarant that's when I'll make good tips!

Update..

Thought I would update on some things since I haven't posted in a few days.
First of all we FINALLY got out bathroom floor laid today. We weren't planning on remodeling this at all at this time but when we went to Chicago, to Chris' parents for a few days and came home to our faucet busted and water everywhere, we decided to go ahead and get it done.
So that job is done!!

The hypnosis thing didn't work :( I was craving cigs even more than before so I am going to start the new Chantix pills this week. You start this pill and then set your quit date for 7 days and quit smoking on that date...so HOPEFULLY this will work!!

I have also decided to start my own business. I know I'm in debt what am I thinking right? Well I have had an online business before where I had representatives, over 200, selling for me and I LOVED it, plus it was decent money. I gave it up because I was actually making the product for that business and I didn't have the time I needed for that so I sold that business. I have been looking for a company that does wholesale where I could sell their products. I FINALLY found one and am getting my site up and running this week :)
I'm excited about this because I can make some extra income without having to have too much overhead or start up costs to get it going! So keep your eyes and ears open, I'll be posting more soon about this.

That's about all going on right now. I will be posting an update on our finances very soon since it's nearing the end of the month!!

Quitting Smoking

Ok so I've been wanting to quit smoking for quite some time now. I seen an ad in the local newspaper about a local group hypnotherapy program coming to our town for 1 evening. It only costs $5.00 donation and yep you guessed it, it was tonight!

So my mom, my aunt and myself decided to go, why not we really wanted to quit smoking and we were only out 5 bucks if it didn't work. This program was also for weight loss so YAHH we were really in, I dont' really need to lose weight but they both wanted that part too.

So we went and it was a nice 2 hour meeting. The first 60 minutes was him talking to us explaining the idea of hypnosis and so on and he also put us into a hypnosis but not a deep hypnosis yet. We then took a 25 minute break and then proceeded into the 2nd session which took about a 1/2 hour.

This is the session where he puts you into that deep hypnosis and speaks to you about your "Disorder" which in my case is smoking! It's interesting because you don't really feel different afterwards and during it you just feel like you're sleeping although you can still hear everything he says and my eyes started fluttering, so I thought I wasn't hypnotized but then when we woke up he asked who had fluttering in the eyes and we all raised our hands. He said Good that's a good sign of hypnosis! I was like WOW.

So on the ride home normally we would've lit up as soon as we got in the vehicle and smoked at least 2 on the way home but none of us did and we all said we didn't have that craving.

Now here it is 1 1/2 hour later and I'm on the computer and I keep reaching for my cigs and lighter which aren't here. (Habit). I'm not really craving them too bad or else I would've been up to the truck stop by now and buying a pack but I really don't crave them too much. Yes I miss the habit of sitting here at my pc smoking while I'm on here BUT then I think of the money I'll save... Let's figure this up:

I smoke USA Gold Light 100's (or used to lol) they cost me $3.15 a pack. Now I normally would buy 2 packs a day so that means I would've had to been smoking almost 2 packs a day, because I would usually have some left in my pack when I went to buy more. But since I was actually spenind $6.30 a day on 2 packs then we'll use that for my example!

Ok $6.30 (2 packs a day) X 30 days = $189.00 A MONTH
$189.00 (amonth) x 12 months = $2,268.00 A YEAR
K now I've been smoking since I was 15 and I"m now 30 years old so that's 15 years of smoking and yes I realize back then cigs didn't cost as much for the packs and I haven't always smoked the same brand but we're going to estimate and say I was spening an average of $2300.00 a YEAR on Cigs

$2300.00 (A YEAR) X 15 (Years I've been smoking) = $34,500.00 in my lifetime spent on smoking!!
WOW that's a lot of money to spend on such a bad habit that isn't too safe in the first place... hmm.

So here's to quitting smoking!

Some Good News.. Some Bad News...

Ok so first things first, the part time job didn't work out. The guy said he was willing to work with me on working only 3 days a week so that I could keep the hair salon job as well until I showed up for work. He kept hounding me about going full time or at least 4 days. I explained to him I thought we had this all worked out and that I couldn't ever commit to going full time because doing hair is my passion and I"m not willing to give up my clientele and then have to start all over if I decided to go back to doing it later. This was supposed to be a part time job to help us get back on our feet and get out of debt. After talking a while and seeing that he wasn't going to let up on the full time thing I told him it wasn't going to work out. He tried to call yesterday and today but I wasn't home and he never left a message. Until he calls back and says he wants me to work and I can do the 3 days a week I'm not doing it. I NEED the money for my bills but I also NEED my clientele to help pay the bills too. I do have an offer at a local restaurant opening in my hometown soon so I'll hold out for that if I have to. Chris is back to working full time with overtime so that will help too.

Now onto the next thing, I called the mortgage company last night and asked for an extension on paying my forebearance agreement which was due July 31st. They gave me until the 10th of August, which is good they gave me a few more days but bad in a way because then I have my next payment due on August 30th. So I'm busting it now trying to sell sell sell stuff on Ebay, check out my Auctions here: EBAY LISTINGS and I'm doing more offers at Cash Crate as well! Chances of me coming up with what I need by the 10th are slim to none but I"m willing to try and I'm praying and praying that I soon will have it!!

I know if I could come up with this money that we could make it from here on out because we are really busting it to make it happen. I'm just hoping it's not too late :)

The good news ... I still have my family, friends and others whom I care about and care about me! I still have my religion and I still have my faith! So it's not a total loss.

Good News...

Well FINALLY I got some good news LOL.
Awhile back I was offered a position as an office manager at a local monument company. I struggled about taking the position though because I knew that he wanted someone who would eventually go full time and I knew I couldn't commit to that because I am a cosmetologist too and doing hair is my passion! But I also knew the extra income of starting pay of $9.00 an hour to move up to $11.00 shortly would be a great thing to have to put us closer to getting out of debt ... part of the intensity in me lol.

So I turned the position down, the owner was out of last week when I called and talked to the secretary and explained. She called him and explained then called me back and said he would call me when he got back in town. He called today and asked me what I was looking for and I told him about 3 days a week for now and possible 4 days after school starts but only wanted to commit to 3 days a week right now. I explained to him how I wanted to be honest with him from the beginning and not lead him to believe that I had an intention of going full time permanetly but didn't mind working more days some weeks when needed and if I knew in advance.

He stated that he felt like he could work with that and liked my honesty about the situation. He said I had the computer skills he was looking for and he wanted to hire me at the 3 days a week. So starting tomorrow I work at the monument company on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 am - 4:30 PM and I'll work at the hair salon on Wednesdays from 11am - 7pm Fridays 9 am - 5pm and Saturdays 9 am - 3 pm.

Now as most of you know I also help my mom clean houses which I used to commit to doing on Tuesdays. I talked with her about this because I felt bad for taking a new position and not being able to help her out when I know she needs the help. BUT she is ok with it because they need the money too so if I'm not helping her that's more income for her, it doubles her income on that day because we always split what we made that day. So that's great news too!

So now I'm finally starting to see the light and hoping that things work out for the best this time!! OH and Chris has been applying at pizza places to deliver pizza and local retail stores to work part time while he still works for the concrete business during the day. So hopefully he'll hear something back and then we'll really be on our way :)

Some insight into my mind..

Alot of things are weighing heavily on my mind right now so where I'm going with all of this might not be a very short writing lol.

First of all my girls had their 11th birthday on Friday. They're growing up so fast and I pray that even with all the bad choices and mistakes I've made in my life that God will work through them and let them shine for him! And that they'll understand and know how much I love and care for them.

Bryar stayed the night with my mom and dad on Friday night while we had a girls sleepover for their birthday. Mom said he was "good as gold" which was great to hear because now I know that even though he can be a little terror when he wants to be, we must be doing something right because he can also be "as good as gold" when he wants to be.

Chris and I never talked much over the weekend, we haven't fought either so I guess it's not all a bad thing to have some quietness but I miss how we used to talk as friends and share that closeness. Part of it is my fault though, I'm so caught up in needing and wanting him to work the debt plan alongside me that I guess I just have this wall up that I won't allow him to go through until he shows me he's trying and is intersted. I have wanted nothing more thatn to have him as my partner in The Total Money Makeover program and to be as excited and intense about it as I have so that not only can we dig our way out of debt but we could share in that joy together and build our relationship up again both emotionally and spiritually.

This debt program has done a number of things to my ways of thinking, but one of the most important things it has done is helped me spiritually! I understand better as to WHY God wants me to be out of debt and what his purpose of my life is, and I want more than anything to fulfill his plans and have then one man I love, Chris, right there beside me not only supporting me but helping to lead me.

He is doing better at showing an interest and is still looking for some part time work to do while we dig our way out of debt, but he also still isn't as intense as I am about this! So should I keep this wall up against him? Probably not but it's so hard for me to swallow my pride and give in. So starting last night, I prayed God would not only help him to come around but to help me take down the barricades I have up against him and give me patience for God's will to be done. I have no other choice, which should've been my first choice, than to put this situation in God's hands and let him take control of it and have faith that God willw ork on his heart and allow him to see why we need this and why we need to work together. I mean this is the man i want to spend the rest of my life with and want to married to so I know that God will on him and me both to make that happen, I just need to have patience and understanding as to why it has to be done when God says, not when I say!

I have also asked God to save Chris. Not that I believe that someone can be saved as a Christian by not asking for themselves but I have asked him to send the Holy Spirit to send a conviction upon him. I know that Chris has often times questioned himself as being a Christian. He was not raised in a Christian home or church and has asked quesitons about Christianity usually after a sermon on the drivehome and maybe he's already asked God for forgiveness and became a Chrisitan??? I honestly don't know and I understand that when you do that it's between you and God but i wish he would be able to share that with me and let me know as the one he loves because I do care and would love to share in that joy with him!

And if he hasn't, I just pray that God will lead him through that and that he'll be able to come to me as his future wife if needed and when he's ready.

All in all I'm happy with my life, my kids, my fiance', my parents, my Christianity. I just want and need financial peace and comfort in knowing that I'm not doing it alone and have someone to work as hard as we need to get there! So that one day we can look back and say "We lived stupid back then, but then we got smart and alongside God to get where we're at now ... LIVING SMART WITH FINANCIAL, PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND SPIRITUAL PEACE!" And to help others gain that kind of peace just as we had help along the way!

Trying new ventures..

So I've heard of people talking about using online resources to make extra money.
I joined the bandwagon and am testing it all out. I joined CASH CRATE and have already gotten over $10.00 in the confirmed offers. I have somewhere around $7.00 in unconfirmed as well. Haven't requested payout yet but will soon and will keep you updated.

I have also joined CAFE PRESS where I have a store called DEBT PEOPLE and sell apparel and other items with imprinted designs. Check it out!

I also have my own web site specializing in home made Bath, Body and Home products. I don't make these personally though, I am a representative for a company that is AWESOME! Check it out here: Delightful Treasures & Gifts I've actually had this store for almost 2 years but am trying to revamp it and get it marketed more to make more sales. Oh and check out my links page there for other companies I sell for as well.

With my donations recieved this month (from adding my donations link on here) and all these other sources I'm hoping to really up my income. I don't EXPECT a donation though so please understand that, just having you ready my blogs is good enough for me BUT I do have to say that this month is going to be a good end of the month posting about our progress from donations already received.. THANK YOU * You know who you are :)*

WOW What is wrong with this picture?

Ok so tonight I sat down and really figured up our income and our debt. I've done this before but I felt I needed to do it again so that I had it fresh in my mind because ya know sometimes you just kinda forget the little things.

Here I am thinking it's really bad and I'm not going to say it's not bad but it's not as bad as I really thought it was PLUS I think I've figured out what's really wrong with this picture ...

Ok so our total income (not counting any Overtime that Chris works and basing my income kind of low since I'm self employed) is right around $45,000. 00 Our total debt, NOT counting the house it right around $25,600.00. Add the house onto that which is right around $72,000.00 and you're looking at $97,600.00. Now it looks bad again LOL but with Dave Ramsey's teachings you strive to become debt free on everything BUT the house in "Baby Step 2" then you work on paying off the mortgage at a later time in his program.

So looking at this big picture here, we're really not too bad off with only $25,600.00 in debt we should be able to get out of debt in NO TIME.However, here's what's wrong with this picture....

THIS HOUSE IS KILLING US. Our payments that we have aren't too far off on the scale. Dave Ramsey says no more than 25% of your income on your housing. We are around 28% BUT with our other debt we have a debt ratio of 44%. This is due to STUPID TAX as Dave Ramsey calls it.
We have a personal loan that we owe around $2100.00 on and I have a student loan that I owe around $4,000.00 on and then we have our daily living expenses on top of that and they are kind of high. Of course one thing I've realized is I NEED TO BE MORE WEIRD> I LOVE having my cell phone and they are convenient but do I NEED it?

Ok so we have the house listed for sale and have had for 2 months and have not had 1 single showing on it. I'm going to keep praying though that we can sell it although it's not really the major thing holding us back I still feel we would be better off getting out from underneath it and renting while we get out of debt then going back to buying a bigger better house that isn't a curse but a blessing to us!!

Donation button added..

So I've added a donation button to the site here on your right. WHY? Not because I'm begging for you to get us out of this mess we created but because I know that some people believe in helping others and because that's what Dave Ramsey teaches. So I thought to myself, "Hey why not add it?" Plus there was a suggestion about it in the Total Money Makeover chat tonight and it got me thinking that it doesn't hurt to add it on here.

So please don't be offended by seeing the donation button listed on here. If you don't want to give or can't give, that's not a problem and I hope that you will continue to read my postings here.
If you do want to give then by all means go ahead and click the Make A Donation button to your right. I will post updates on here about donations we have received and where we are at in getting out debt (without mentioning names of course).

Just please know this ... I believe in the PAY IT FORWARD program. If you donate to help us then when I am able to I will pay you back by donating to help someone else in need! Until I am financially able to help others, I will continue to help others in any other way I can.

Thank you and take care..

AND A BIG THANK YOU TO THE ONE THAT RECOMMENDED ME PUTTING THE DONATION BUTTON ON MY SITE!!!!!

So here it is..

So we were in trouble last month and had to have a certain amount paid to our mortgage company by the end of the month plus we had other bills piling up and didn't know where to turn. We were both working alot of hours and trying really hard to make this work but of course Murphy hit us a lot too (you can read about this in previous postings below).

An "angel" came to us and helped us out with what we needed and we were astounded. We were ready to get the ball rolling and thought we really could do it.

Well here it is now almost the end of the month and guess what ... Yep Murphy is still here and we aren't any better then where we were last month. We got out water bill from the leak we had plus the cost of filling up the pool and it is over $200!!! And we don't have the money we need for our mortgage payment due by the 28th of this month YET. I'm still praying and hoping that something will come up.

Chris went and applied at a lot of places this week to work in retail, deliver pizzas, anything we could do to make it.

I think I've just come to realize we can't afford this house. I realized it a long time ago but we've had it listed for a month and a half now and NO SHOWINGS YET!!! The market is really bad around here right now and I'm thinking that we have it listed too high but we had to do that to be able to walk away from it without having to pay anything (because we can't afford that either). The mortgage company won't work with me anymore on this, if we default on this months mortgage payment then that's it the agreement has been broken and they won't do a new one.

I KNOW this Dave Ramsey stuff can work and I"m trying my hardest to be as gazelle intense as I can be right now, I'm just at a loss as to what to do now. I have 8 days to come up with this money and it's not looking good at all.

So thought I'd vent here before I head off to bed.

I'm going to go pray that our house will sell quick or that we'll get a part time job offer to make this work!!

Becoming Debt Free and Enjoying Financial Freedom … Examining Dave Ramsey’s Principles!

In today’s world it seems that more people are living paycheck to
PAYCHECK, getting nowhere but deeper into debt as they use their
credit cards to [PAY FOR, WITH MONEY THEY DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE] the DAY-TO-DAY OCCURRENCES THAT WE CALL "LIFE" at the time they occur.
What if you knew of a way TO STOP, to get out of debt, which involved changing the way you live and actually TELLING YOUR MONEY WHAT TO DO INSTEAD OF WONDERING WHERE IT WENT (WITH KUDOS TO ZIG ZIGLAR). DO I DARE SAY THAT doing the dreaded “B” word … BUDGETING...IS FUN? YES I DARE! Would you be willing to do it if it meant financial freedom, which in turn gives you peace and a stress-free life?

I have been working on a plan that is truly awesome in the way it works...AND IT WORKS EVERY SINGLE TIME! It’s not a get rich quick scheme, or MULTI LEVEL MARKETING. It’s YOU taking control of YOUR LIFE!

Let me introduce you to Dave Ramsey and The Total Money Makeover! Dave
Ramsey lived the life of buying and selling real estate and was making
good money but he was living "NORMALLY"; LIVING the life of denial. He
was in DEBT! He went bankrupt and then decided enough was enough and he was going to change his life. He opened his company in 1988 to counsel others who were hurting
financially and has since WRITTEN a lot of books and HOSTS a national
radio show where he counsels and offers advice.

When you first realize there is a problem with your finances you have
to have a plan and following Dave Ramsey’s plan will help you achieve
that goal by giving you a plan. Now, each situation is different so you’ll have to make some minor ADJUSTMENTS but following the order of the plan is very important!

If you and your family are serious about getting out of debt and
living the life of FINANCIAL freedom, you WILL LOVE Dave Ramsey and
The Total Money Makeover. This will change your life and your whole
way of thinking.

Don’t hesitate on THE PATH TO changing your life and becoming debt
free so you can enjoy the PEACE that comes along with it!

(thanks pb for the help with this one)

Getting going on the dumping debt..

Well let's see it's been since November 2006 that I've been TRYING and TRYING to get started on the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover plan. It seems like when I get 2 steps ahead I fall about 3 steps back. :( Things don't always go as planned I guess.

But I sit in the chat room and read on the forums and on other people's blogs all the time how they "found" extra money in their budget once they started doing an actual budget.
I have been budgeting now for a few months, and I have yet to find extra money. We barely make enough to cover our 4 walls of expenses. I know it's time for another job but that's easier said than done too. Of course Dave Ramsey never said it would be easy at all but I get so frustrated at how I just can't seem to get ahold onto this BUDGET!!

I'm not sure what to do, which way to turn anymore. We've cut back on a lot already and there's really nothing else we can cut back on. I feel like when I tell people about my situation they assume I'm not really trying as hard as I say I am.

Guess it's more of a feeling sorry for ourselves thing but it just really isn't a good feeling at all and I really need to get control here!

I'm NOT giving up though! I'm going to beat this feeling and I'm going to beat this debt and I'm going to work it and work it more until I get there!!

God Won't Ask..

I found this poem today and just thought I'd share it with you:

God won't ask what kind of car you drive but he will ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.

God won't ask square footage of your home but he will ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

God won't ask about the clothes you have in your closet, but he'll ask how many otheres you helped to clothe.

God won't ask your social status: He will ask what kind of class you displayed.

God won't ask how many material possessions you had but he will ask if they dictated your life.

God won't ask what your highest salary was, but he'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

God won't ask how much overtime you worked but he will ask if you worked the overtime for yourself or your family.

God won't ask how many promotions you recieved, but he will ask how you promoted others.

God won't ask what your job title was, but he will ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

God won't ask what you did to help yourself but he will ask what you did to help others.

God won't ask what you did to protect your rights but he will ask what you did to protect the rights of others.

God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, but he will ask how you treated your neighbors.

God won't ask about the color of your skin, but he will ask about the quality of your character.

God won't ask how many times your deeds matched your words, but he will ask how many times they didn't.

God won't ask how many friends you had. But he will ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

Amazing how God works...

So yesterday I posted in my first blog of the day about how I needed Chris to understand we need more money without fighting about it. Well today we went to Church and usually Chris stays in with Bryar our 2 year old in his sunday school class because he's a daddy boy and won't stay by himself. But today my mom went and stayed with him so Chris could come to the adult class. (My dad was teaching lol).

Well anyway, our sunday school lesson was on how we act with our worldly possesions and one of the main things that kept coming up was MONEY. So the funny thing is that it really hit Chris I think because tonight I was talking to him about what needed to get done tomorrow while I was at work and he said he had some places to go tomorrow but he'd get them done. I asked him where he had to go and he said... pizza places, restaurants, etc.

So, something happened and he's ready to get going on this budget and getting out of debt program!! YAYYYY

Prayers work and I know that all my Total Money Makeover friends were right there praying along with me so THANK YOU!

Living MY OWN life..

So tonight in TMMO Chat we talked about a friends sister who isn't taking responsbility for her life. I started talking about my own life and then decided to write a blog on it because it really hit me and I realized that I really had a good posting to do lol.

So here it is ... My story about how and why I decided to live my own life!

I was married at the age of 18, fresh out of high school, got married on July 15th and then had twins of July 20th of the next year. We were doing pretty good financially when we first got married, or so we thought lol, then when I got pregnant with the twins I was taken off of work. I worked in a factory with my husband and the dr didnt' want me standing on my feet on a concrete floor since I was having lots of problems (contractions at 24 weeks). So I tried to work at various other places where I wouldn't have do as much manual labor but the dr still said no and that I needed to just stay home and take it easy. PROBLEM... that doesn't pay the bills!

So we went under really quick becasue you guessed it as a young married couple prior to getting pregnant we were living stupid. We had bought a brand new car, had personal loans out with those high interest rate creditors and had a few credit cards. Of course with my income gone and only his income this was a real hardship on us.

The car quickly got reposseed, which my mom ended up paying to get back for us then we owed her on top of everything else. The bills quickly got behind and we were sunk!

Now fast forward to after delivery. I delivered the girls on July 20th 1996. Returned to work about 4 weeks later with my mom watching the girls. I worked 2nd shift back at the factory because they let me come back at my same pay and seniority. The bills were still hard to pay and we were still living stupid! We thought since I was back at work that things would get better and yes they would have except we kept going farther and farther into debt.

We filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1998 then started over .. still not learning anything from this deal. We lived in his parents rental house when they decided to sell out on both homes and buy a different home for themselves, we had no where to go and we were scared again. This happend when the girls were about 2 years old. My mother bailed us again, there was a nice house up for sale in our town that was an old rental house and the guy that owned it had passed away, his wife was selling all his rental homes. We made a low offer of $15,000.00 and it was accepted (They were asking $30,000.00 because it needed some work). We took the deal with my parents purchasing it and the bank said if we made the payments for 3 years then we could refinance it into our own names after that.

Trying not to bore you too much so we'll fast forward, let's just say we still lived stupid! The day the girls started Kindergarten I started at the local community college to fulfill my lifelong dream of Cosmetology. This was a full time school Monday through Friday from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm so working on the side wasn't really an option to me. Well I probably could have but at the time chose not to because remember I was till living stupid! So I finished school. went to work at a salon and things were looking up. Then my husband and I got a divorce in 2002. I won't go into the details of that but things just didn't work out and we basically took the high - road out.

I met Chris, my fiance' in 2003 and we moved into together shortly after that, the girls and I relocated up by Chicago because he had a good job there and we thought we could make it. Things were so expensive there and the girls missed our hometown, so we moved back here after 6 months, Chris moved here with us and had a hard time finding a job. We lived in my parents old house because they had bought a new house and we were struggling. In 2005 Chris got offered a good paying job in Concrete/Construction which was his line of work. Also in 2005 Chris had to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy because of some stupid things he did with his money when he lived at home and let's just say his mom didn't help any lol. He had a 2003 Dodge Ram with a Hemi engine that he just had to have and it got repossessed.

In 2006 we decided to follow our path of stupidity and got approved for a mortage loan. We bought our house in July of 2006 and we were way over on our budget for this (if we would have had one). THIS was one of the stupidest things we ever did, because we were pretty much living rent free in my parents old house and yet we decided to get a house of our own??? Doesn't make much sense does it?

So I gave you this run down of my life so you understand this, I started out young and stupid and stayed in that rut for many years! I was always living my life trying to please others, buying the big expensive things to flaunt the money we "didn't" have! I always thought of myself as a caring person who cared more for my family and friends then I did myself .. then in November of 2006 my brother introduced me to Dave Ramsey and his Total Money Makeover. My life was going to change!!!

I am still on the Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover plan and it is a struggle but it has made me realize some things about my life. I have changed my whole way of thinking, not only financially but emotionally and spiritually. I've done a lot of soul searching and realized that even though I THOUGHT I was living my life to please others before myself, I was actually still only pleasing myself. The one thing that my parents, my family and my friends wanted was for me to take care of myself and to become independent! The only real kind of peace of mind I could give them was to take control of my own life and yet I was going about it all the wrong way.

So A BIG KUDOS TO DAVE RAMSEY AND THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER AND ALL MY FRIENDS IN THE CHATROOM THERE! For making me understand and realize what I need to do to be able to finally get control over my life while at the same time pleasing myself, my kids, my family and my friends and most importantly GOD!!!!

Having difficulty trying to explain myself...

Well today wasn't a good day at all. I woke up in a bad mood because I didn't get hardly any sleep last night. Couldn't sleep for some reason. So of course I start yelling at Chris, Yes I know i shouldn't of done that.

Then I went to work and came home and decided I'd just not say anything because silence is better than fighting or starting a fight. I came home laid down for a bit, fixed some cheesy potatoes to take to my dad's birthday party dinner we had tonight and then on the way home we ended up into it again. This time about the budget and all the things we SHOULD be doing. I get tired of explaining to him that we HAVE TO HAVE more income.

K now let me say this, he wants to be debt free as much as I do or says he does. But I haven't seen any action out of him. We both have our faults, I am the spender so sticking the budget for me is hard work but I on the other hand am ALWAYS online researching ways to make more money. I'm the one working on the budget everyday for hours.

Here's a little background on how this has been going:

He WAS working 60 hour weeks then 2 weeks ago got laid off for 2 weeks, well he ended up working all this past week but is off on Monday now due to lack of work. So things are just iffy right now. Ok so he does make good money when he's on unemployment.

I work the following: Self employed at a hair salon and work Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I also help my mom clean houses on Tuesdays and most Wednesdays. Then just last week I got offered another part time job working 3 days a week at an office at starting pay of $9.00 an hour and soon will go up to $11.00. To do this though I'd obviously have to rework my schedule and give up housecleaning. That is no big deal but this would take away from my salon which I don't want to do because I am trying to build a clientele and I am starting to get one as well. So if I give up some hours, my clientele would probably go somewhere else. This company for the office position would like to have me full time eventually but I didnt' commit to that yet because of the salon deal. I NEED the money BUT I also NEED to be home with my children too.

And maybe part of me is just being stubborn because I feel like why should I kill myself to work 3 or 4 jobs while he works 1 and then sits at home on unemployment. We have talked about this and yes he can't really work in the evenings during the week because he never knows what time he'll be home from work when he's working and if he works too much he won't get his unemployment either, which remember is a good pay check too. BUT I say what about weekends? Deliver pizzas, work in a restaurant, work at Wal-Mart. I DONT CARE JUST DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!! I'm just tired of eeling like I am doing it all and I don't know how much longer I can stand to run around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to make this work.

I love him to death and want this to work out but I can't get it across to him how I feel without arguing about it and I'm at my wit's end about it.

What I learned from listening to Dave Ramsey Today...

I listened to the Dave Ramsey show today on my way to the Doctor and again on my way to Menards to get my flooring for my bathroom. Usually I'm not able to listen in my vehicle because I either forget what time it is on or I am not in my vehicle at the time so I usually have to wait and listen at night through the Total Money Makeover site.

So today I listened and it's amazing that feeling you get while listening to him! Listening to the people call in and yell WE"RE DEBT FREE!!!!! is a great feeling to know that someday I too will be able to do that. I get such of feeling of intensity when I listen to his show and pick up on some good tips as well.

Ya know in the past I had heard about get out of debt programs and was keen on the idea but not ever was I so intense about it until I heard about Dave Ramsey! He really puts things into perspective and sets it in you in a way that no other person could do. IT MAKES SENSE!

So today I heard him talking about banks and how they are making a TON of money off of overdraft fees from their customers. THIS is ridiculous in my opinion and as I listened to Dave Ramsey it became more clear as to why it is ridiculous. He says on the radio show, "Here's an idea... if you don't have money in your account DONT write checks or use your debit cards"
Now this seems like a no brainer right? But think about it, the banks are making MILLIONS off of this business, so obviously us American's just don't get it!

Dave said "AMERICANS ARE JUST BEING LAZY"
It only takes what like a maximum of 30 minutes to balance your checkbook?? So why pay all those overdraft fees when all it takes is 30 minutes out of your precious time a month to balance your checkbook??

Now I used to be like this and not worry about balancing my checkbook and just living off what the bank said I had in there... UMMM WRONG!!! You learn real quick that those overdraft fees will eat you alive and before you know it you're sunk in debt!

So please take the time to balance your checkbook and get control of your finances. GET ORGANIZED .... it pays off in the long run!!

How do you save money for your Emergency Fund?

Saving money for an emergency fund is hard to do especially when you're not used to having a savings. We live paycheck to paycheck and saving our $1,000.00 for our Baby Emergency Fund as suggested by Dave Ramsey was a struggle for us but it is a necessity!

In the previous post I talked about Murphy hitting us. It's funny how when you start to try to take control of your money, little things happen that cost you big time and then before you know it your budget is more like a fudget. Thank God for our emergency fund which pulled us through and it was so hard to let that money go on emergencies that we even looked for the cheapest ways possible to make it through, whereas prior to Dave Ramsey we would have just bought and bought not even thinking of the consequences.

Now you're wondering, how can I possibly get $1,000.00 saved up to go to my BEF (baby emergency fund) when I can't even pay my bills each month, hence why I'm here and trying to dig my out of debt! Here's a few tips for ya and some insight on how we did it... and believe me if we can do it ANYONE can do it!!

SELL SELL SELL!! Go through your whole house, your clothes, your kitchen, your office even your bathroom!

List things to sell on http://www.craigslist.com for your area, posting pictures is always a good idea as people like to see what they are getting.

List on E-Bay. Set up an ebay account if you don't already have one and start listing items for sale. Be sure you take into consideration for shipping, either have it weighed before the listing so the customer can figure out exactly what will cost or just set a standard flat rate, but be sure not to cut yourself short. (Hint: Most people on ebay are used to paying a little more shipping if the price is lower on the actual item.)

Do a search in the Yahoo groups for buy, sell and trade boards in your area. We have a local one which I have sold LOTS of items on. Just join the group then list your items for sale with your contact information. The groups usually let you post pictures in the photo album of the group itself so that people can look at it.

Other ways to get your BEF:

If you can write a simple article on anything that interest you check out Associated Content:
Check it out here and sign up under me if you're interested: http://www.associatedcontent.com/cmbb2003 My username for referral is cmbb2003.

It's a great place to earn some extra cash and write on things that interest you plus meet lots of new people!

Set up your own blog then ad some advertising spots on it through places like google adsense. Earn a little extra money that way as well.

Deliver pizzas. Delivering pizzas is a good way to earn some fast cash.

Take on a part time job or two. I am currently working part time as self employed hair stylist, help my mom clean houses 1 day a week AND am starting to work in an office next week! Doing what it takes to get out debt.

Your main focus when you start to take control of your money is to get GAZELLE INTENSE!!!

Good luck on your journey!

So how many times will Murphy hit us?

So we started the Total Money Makeover journey in November of 2006. We had our Baby emergency fund in place and then was ready to go, intense as ever! So then Chris' truck decided to break down and we used some of the BEF to pay for repairs, got it running at least for another few months then all of a sudden it broke down again, only this time it was worse. Was going to cost too much to fix and wasn't really worth it as it was a 1986 Ford. Repairs would cost more than what it was worth. So we decided to sell it for junk, use that money along with the money from another old junk vehicle we had sitting here to buy another and start anew. We had to! So a good friend that Chris works with had a good car and we bought it. Runs good and all so our BEF is tapped out, and we were really sinking fast.

On top of all of this we had to pay our mortgage payment to avoid foreclosure. We had to have this money by the June 20th and on the 15th I knew we wouldn't have it so I called them and canceled that arrangement, had a confirmation number and all of it being canceled. Then on the 22nd I was $1200.00 overdrawn! I got he printout from the bank and yep the mortgage company had taken their money out anyway. So I called them next, they of course couldn't do anything about it so I had no choice, put a stop payment on it costs me $20.00 but better than being overdrawn $1200.00!
So the mortgage company ended up letting me set up a new payment plan that was due by the 30th, which I would have had but then we had Murphy hit YET AGAIN! My kids needed money to go to church camp and my child support stopped coming in AGAIN! So we didn't have all we needed but we were close.
Along came a great person sent from God who helped us out to get past that mark!! I am so thankful!!
Then everything was done, we were on our way, we went to Chicago to Chris' parents for July 4th and when we returned on Thursday, I heard this awful squealing sound when I walked in the house. I went to our bedroom and looked in our bathroom where the noise was coming from. One of our faucets in there had busted and water was going EVERYWHERE! Now this bathroom had carpet in it, which I didn't like anyway, but it was soaked!!! So we ripped the carpet up and then decided before we put new flooring down we would paint and put up new border. Ended up not spending too much on that but I really wouldn't of done that yet had the water not ruined the whole room.
So we're about done remodeling that room now, but I hate to see my water bill from the faucet leaking!
So after all of this I'm wondering how many times will Murphy hit us before we can finally become debt free? We're working hard and staying strong and praying alot so hopefully Murphy will pack his bags and leave our house for good SOON!

An Introduction to Debt Beaters

I started this blog to share with others on our journey of becoming debt free! We joined Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover in November 2006 and have been trying to get going on it since. We FINALLY made it past Baby Step 1 of having an Emergency Fund in place and am now working on Baby Step 2 where we pay off our debt!

It's an exciting journey and I enjoy talking about ways to get out of debt and share with others about our journey because it not only helps in keeping us motivated but it helps others as well AND we all learn new things in sharing our ideas.

So stay tuned for lots of interesting things to come! We'll be sharing our journey and giving lots of great tips and advice on how you too can become debt free!

In the meantime, check out http://www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com to see how you too can get started!