Day 48 and Tom's car is fixed

Well, Tom's car is fixed and the emergency fund is $365 lighter. The labor total ended up coming to $180 and the parts to $185. We were able to pay cash for both of them. It was wonderful not to have to put off paying something else or having to borrow money to get the car running, or put off getting the car fixed for months.

So now we get back to work rebuilding the emergency fund. We're down to $200, so we're not starting completely over.

Day 47 and it's been almost 7 weeks!

As I'm getting ready to write this, I realize that we've been on this journey for almost 7 weeks. It hasn't been easy and it has had it's ups and downs, but most important of all is the fact that we're sticking to it, even when it might seem easier to walk away.

Ok, time to update on some goals.

We are still avoiding Sonic drinks, for the most part. I did stop in there last Sunday when I was sick (after I went to Urgent Care) and bring home drinks for the whole family. But it was happy hour, so that helped. As I already mentioned, we did eat out twice last weekend, but considering how sick that we were and I still managed to cook two meals (Saturday lunch and Sunday supper), I just refuse to be too hard on us. I do think it would be a wise idea next time that I grocery shop to get some items for a "sick shelf". These could be freezer items or pantry items that can be thrown together as a simple meal when we're not feeling well. That might help ease the temptation to eat out. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but we still haven't got the student loan papers filled out and sent in for Tom. I've got the Christmas account set up and automatic transfers set to automatically put money in there.

I almost have the March budget ready so that Tom & I can have our "budget committee meeting".

Day 46 and sometimes things just don't work out the way you think

One of the big selling points for us when we bought this house 3 years ago was that it had a brand new roof with a 5 year warranty. This last summer with all the rain, we started noticing a couple of little leaks, but we had lost the card with the contact info on it and the former owners couldn't find theirs either. Well, the former owner called yesterday, she had found it so I called the roofer today. Turns out that hailstorms in '05 and '06 voided the warranty, but for $150 they'd be glad to come out and tell us if we need a new roof or not. Uh, yeah, I bet they would.I really don't remember any hailstorms that bad in the last few years-does anyone else? So I'm not sure what to do from here. I'm not quite sure what the point of a warranty is if it's going to be voided less than a year after the roof is put on.


I have to confess that I've been feeling really down this week. I know most of it is from being so sick. Even though I'm feeling better, I'm still fighting off this bone deep exhaustion that is making it hard to function. I have had to constantly remind myself of the positive steps we've taken and try not to let the negative stuff get me down too far. Thanks to all of my friends and my darling Tom for encouraging me. You are all a huge blessing in my life.

Day 45 and Update on Tom's Car

Well, the news is in on Tom's car. It needs a rack & pinion, so the parts (with the discount we get at the store-THANKS to Di & Dan for that!!!!) are going to be around $150, and labor we're not sure on yet, but possibly around $100. I had hoped maybe we could just somehow squeeze the money out of the budget and not have to touch the EF, but that's not going to happen, so we have to use part of the EF. At first I was really upset and discouraged, but Tom & I talked about it last night and I felt better. We are not having to put off paying a bill so that we can get the car fixed, we can just get the car fixed. Tom reminded me that we've been able to get the EF built up over the last few weeks, and we can rebuild it.

I've been working on the March budget so that Tom and I can have the budget committee meeting. As I was working, I realized again that we've made amazing progress just in the last few weeks. I paid our cell phone bill today-ON TIME! In the last month, we've made two cell phone bill payments and two electric bill payments so that they are both paid up to date. I seriously think that was the first time since last June that the electric bill got paid on time. Not sure about the cell phone bill. I'm planning to pay the regular phone bill at the end of this week when I get paid and that will be two phone bill payments made this month and that will be up to date. I just have to keep reminding myself of the positive whenever I feel a bit down!

Day 44 and Being sick is BAD for the budget!

Well, now that I'm finally coming out of my sickness fog, I've had to face that being sick (especially Tom & I both at the same time) is horrible for our budget. There was the money for the Urgent Care visit, the medicines (for both Tom & I), eating out Saturday (which was already planned), eating out Sunday (which was not). I would guess that we spent at least $100 in unplanned purchases this weekend. Oh, and we still don't know what is going on with Tom's car, which means he is still driving my van. This would normally be a point where I might throw up my hands and give up. However, that is not going to happen this time. I will work up March's budget and we'll get back on track.

Day 43 and on the mend

Well, Tom is feeling better and I am getting there, as long as I don't need to breathe through my nose. LOL. Seriously, I don't feel great, but I feel better. I was able to finish up my 8-10 page rough draft tonight and get it submitted. Thanks for all the get well wishes! Hope those of you of my friends and family who are sick are better soon, too!

Day 42 and still sick

Well, Tom and I were neither one feeling good today so we missed church this morning and FPU tonight. I went to Urgent Care and have bronchitis (no big surprise there). I thought I was going to be okay to work tomorrow, but my fever started coming back up tonight so I called the parents and let them know I was closed. Thankfully, I've been able to get an extra day or two on my rough draft since I've hardly felt like working on it this weekend.

Tracy