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Bills Bills and more bills

March 1st, 2011 at 01:53 pm

We all, managed to get the credit cards down to "only" 3 with balances. The balances are scarey with one being almost to the limit. Another is over the limit but I didn't do that. Ah well I'll be the one paying it anyway. I am trying to stay within our means but it took a hit when the car died and we had to get a "new" one. We had to put the down payment on the card. The car company had us over a barrel and I'm still not sure we made the right decision We owed too much on the old one to have a lot of bargaining room. Now our payment is higher than the house payment, something I said I'd never do. Sigh. Still paying more than I have to on two of the cards in the hopes I can get it taken care of in a reasonable amount of time.

Days pass slow but the money doesn't

January 7th, 2009 at 02:25 pm

It is only the beginning of January and already his check is almost gone. It is amazing to me how fast his paycheck can disapear. I am well aware however that a thousand of it is going to credit card bills. I need to pare them down fast. My goal is to pay off all but the Am Ex right away and then sock money onto it but not use it for the rest of the year. I will be putting the tax refund on it as well. It will probably take me till April to pay off the other. There really is only one that carries a balance but there is another that I use when I buy online. I am going to stop using it too. Now if I can keep DH from buying anything!

Pipes

April 22nd, 2008 at 12:31 am

Somehow pipes are just not where I want my discretionary income to go. However after calling a plumber to put in an outside faucet and being told that all the pipes in the crawl space need to be replaced and that he found several leaks (he showed them to my DH) I guess that is where it is going, now to decide copper or PVC. The paper he gave me lists prices for each, PVC is of course cheaper, but only by 250 (only?) but i have to research how long each will last.

Bonus time is nice

April 17th, 2008 at 08:20 pm

but taxes on it arent
DH got a nice bonus. Uncle Sam took half of it! What is cool is that we will get it all back at the beginning of January when we file. It was nice to sign into our account and see twice what I expected. Of course it has to pay off some credit cards from the traveling but at least it is there to do that.

trauma

April 14th, 2008 at 03:41 pm

At least for Mom! I had to send a little one to bed early. They were saying bad things. Why is the potty so funny for a 4 year old? To make things worse, I had to put nasty stuff (worcester sauce) in my 3 year olds mouth for lying to me. It was so hard! I like giving rewards much better! We did have a great school "day" today. We are reading about Pontiac and reached the 4th chapter. Today we made a wigwam, bow and arrow (he got one when he was 6) canoe, net to catch fish and basket of fish. It was fun and the kids learn so much more that way. WE also did several worksheets but those aren't as much fun. WE are going to a movie today. Nim's island. DH went yesterday and I get to take the boys (age 4) today.

Life is Fun!

April 13th, 2008 at 07:15 pm

We had so much fun yesterday and all it cost was a little gasoline for the drive to a friends house. We spent the morning outside playing in the snow (yeah in Wisconsin that Spring thing hasn't quite gotten here yet) and then we went to a friends and played games all afternoon. The 2 and 3 year olds napped so we could concentrate on the gaming. The boys had a blast with the other 4 boys that were there. Then when we came home we watched a couple episodes of the rifleman on DVD. It was fun and the show has a good message. On one of them the father told the story of Job from the Bible.
We have started a ticket brigade. When you do certain things you earn tickets. It is a more visible reward system for the kids than allowance day once a week for a 3 and 2 year old. The 4 year olds love it too. It is amazing how fast a 3 year old in a screaming fit can calm down when all I say is "do you want to lose a ticket?" WOW. At the end of the week they get to spend tickets on prizes I pick up at the dollar store or computer time. I do believe in good behavior being its own reward but when they are that close in age you need a little more ammo! I wonder how the pioneers did it! You also earn tickets by answering questions pertaining to hard stuff like electricity or adding, depends on what we learned that day in school and on what you are having a problem retaining! Questions are asked at meals when I have a captive audience and since I have a couple of finicky eaters (unless a growth spurt is looming) it makes them eat up cause no food gone means no question and that means no ticket! I realize this is way too lenient to some but it works for us. I like seeing the kids try to help each other without answering (cause that would lose a ticket too) and learning to accept a time out gracefully (cause screaming is a big ticket loser at our house.)

Wonder what doubling does

April 7th, 2008 at 06:41 pm

I now have 4 students in my home school. Two of our grandkids have joined our household for a while. Not sure how long yet but at least a month. Lets see when we adopted out little girl my DH said I shouldn't have to do dishes anymore cause I was doubling my work and he took them over (believe me I am grateful, lots of dishes right now) So now that I have doubled again, wonder what he will take over!!
Just invited him to read my blog, and he started laughing, wonder what that means!?

Home

April 5th, 2008 at 07:56 pm

4 little letters that are a big relief right now. We drove from GA with 4 little ones ages 4,4,3,2 with stops in NC, PA, OH, MI, IN, IL, and WI. It was a long long drive. We have been gone for almost 4 weeks. I am really looking forward to my own bed tonight.

long day

August 24th, 2007 at 11:46 pm

We had an appointment with our youngest's ortho today. big brother went along and was an invaluable help. He let the doctor manipulate his leg so our little one not only wasn't afraid but couldn't wait for her "turn". He did that at the place we went for her thumb brace too. Couldn't at the casting place for the brace but stuck close to reassure and watch. I was so proud of him. The receptionist at the brace place told us that she was adopted as well which was cool to hear. Our little one is talking up a storm right now. It is fun to see her bloom. She is so attached right now that if I get out of the car to run in while her Dad stays she cries for me. I have to be gone for a couple hours tonight and three of the family aren't looking forward to it!!!

Inspection

July 25th, 2007 at 04:14 pm

Had the inspection to be liscensed for another 2 years as a "adoptive home" and passed with flying colors. Now we have to wait which isn't my best attribute. Ah well .

paypal money

July 24th, 2007 at 04:04 pm

I have sold several things lately on ebay and as a result have built up a couple hundred in my paypal account. I am not in the market for anything on ebay so haven't used any of it. We are considering buying a laptop for the house and may bid on ebay for one to use up the money instead of some savings.

Amazing

May 26th, 2007 at 03:12 am

I am amazed at the amount of work that can be accomplished throughout the day. I am also amazed at how much I am enjoying this. No not my DIL being in pain. I hate that part and would gladly take it for her. I am loving having two teens, three preschoolers and a almost toddler to take care of. My DH has been great on the nights that the teens don't have to do dishes, he does them. So I am cooking for a crowd and I don't have to clean up, who could ask for anything more? today I changed her bandages, wow I am amazed by the strides medicine has taken. a decade ago they would probably have taken her leg off at the knee or right below it because the break is soooo bad now they have her partially screwed together and pinned and ready to set off metal detectors at a 100 paces. They are going in next week to add more metal.
We brought the dog, an almost 2 year old shepherd and he is so gentle with her. I am delighted to see how nice he is because he has been a jumper and a climber with us. He is sweet with the little ones and the 1 year old adores him. She would let him out of his crate given half a chance. We padlocked it.
Today i did a 100 yard dash. I didn't intend to but it was important. One of the 3 yr olds was down the sidewalk and had wiped out on his bike, bloody nose, skinned extemities etc. So Nana goes running and picked him up. I grabbed the bike and was comforting him on the way back when the second 3 yr old wiped out. I ditched the bikes and picked them both up. My poor DIL was stranded on the porch in her wheelchair almost crying because she couldn't go get them. She pounded on the dor behind her to get me some help and my DH who was doing dishes came out and went after the bikes. I carried one in to my DS when I got them a bit calmer and he was really worried ... about his Mom who was panting from the run still!! Got to get in better shape!! I'm sure the bending and stretching to do laundry (amazing how much this many people can generate!!) will help, not to mention the unpacking of boxes.