Forewarning... I'm having a "night" I'm bummed, mad and upset. I can't take anymore "bad" things happening and I need to vent. This is not something I'm looking for to be fixed, or "made better". It's just me an my emotions.
I don't wanna have a house that's a mess
I don't wanna have a fridge that isn't full
I don't wanna have a dryer that needs 4 + times to dry 3 towels!
I don't wanna have boys who are having health problems
I don't wanna have sick family members
I don't wanna have people in my house that can't do things for themselves
I don't wanna have a husband who is the tech guy at our church
I don't wanna have a broken work computer
I don't wanna have lost all of my information from church
I don't wanna have to rebuild all of my work from the past 5 months
I don't wanna have to share my office/workspace with random people
I don't wanna have to leave my personal items from my life out of my office so others can't "use" my office
I don't wanna have to have our boat vacation cancelled
I don't wanna have a dad who has cancer
I don't wanna have dad's cancer be such a concern that they up his radiation
I don't wanna lose my father
I don't wanna see my mom panic all the time
I don't wanna see my parent's move
I don't wanna lose my only "home" I've known since I've been married
I don't wanna go to a cottage for vacation (it reminds me of the last time I was at a cottage pregnant with Otis)
I don't wanna cry so much
I don't wanna be alone so much
I don't wanna have to hide my feelings
I don't wanna keep things inside for fear of making people upset
I don't wanna be left out of choices that affect me even if I'm not full time
I don't wanna be bumped from my schools job placement
I don't wanna be renting
I don't wanna be the "responsible one"
I don't wanna be the one that has to make everything better
I don't wanna be the one that stresses out about everything
I don't wanna be a stress eater
I don't wanna have a "big belly" like my boys say
I don't wanna be lazy
I don't wanna be a slob
I don't wanna be someone who can't lose weight
I don't wanna be on blood pressure meds
I don't wanna have an unmarked grave for my son
I don't wanna use their markers for his site
I don't wanna take up 2 people's "spaces" for Otis and Baby Casey
I don't wanna have babies who are dead
I don't wanna "see them in heaven"... I want them here now
I don't wanna just be a family of "2 boys on earth and 2 babies in heaven"
I don't wanna be "that mom"
I don't wanna be dealing with stress in an unhealthy way
I don't wanna look at the scale every Friday and want to cry
I don't wanna have a husband who spends more time running around doing things for others than spending time with his kids
I don't wanna be demanding my husband spend time with his family
I don't wanna be someone who stresses about money
I don't wanna be someone who can't keep their life in order
I don't wanna have a mother-in-law who has cancer
I don't wanna be here in Ontario and not be able to be there when she has her big appointment
I don't wanna be so far away from all our family
I don't wanna.....
I don't wanna.....
I just don't wanna.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
What a Summer!
I'm sure this is a crazy post to be putting up but I feel like our summer is over! I don't mean like our summer is actually over but it sure feels like it.
Our summer has been a world wind of adventure.
It started the day school was over! Arnold and Quinton headed to Edmonton/Calgary and went to visit family. It's a tradition for our family to go and visit Alberta family. When the boys "Graduate" they get to go. Since there is a graduation ceremony for the kids from SK to grade 1 our boys get excited to go to Alberta.
While the big and little boy were in Alberta I was in Sarnia with Kyler! We had a great few days there. Between playing in the pool, having friends over for Canada Day, going to church and visiting our vacation was packed full.
We came home in time for Kyler to get his first tooth pulled from the dentist and for me to work for a few days.
Kyler and I picked up Arnold and Quinton and our fun began!
We had 2 days as our family of 4 and then the fun arrived!
Amber and Lisa arrived and we started the fun. We did our first week at Forward Baptist Church for Kingdom Rock! It was so much fun. It was a half-day day camp. We got there at 9am and then we were home around noon. The kids had a lot of fun. And cute t-shirts to prove it!
That weekend we chilled out and played at home. Sunday brought us into a new week.
A New week of fun!
We started the Zoo camp. Zoo Camp was for everyone! All 4 of them headed out at 8:25am and I picked them up at 3:30pm. We had a lot of fun. Every day the kids came home with something new they had learned and were excited to start it all over again. They had a great time and really enjoyed the Pandas.
That Saturday morning Aunt B came and picked up the girls. So started our week alone. While it was alone things got crazy! We didn't really get any downtime but hey, that happens, right?
We headed to Sarnia on Friday. Kyler, Quinton and I went to get Arnold from work. Since he works late Monday to Thursday he gets to leave half day Fridays. We were on the road and very little traffic! It was great. We stopped in Cambridge and picked up the girls early and then we were *so* quick that we even stopped and dropped off the coats that needed to be repaired at the Columbia headquarters in London.
The 6 of us arrived in Sarnia in time to see the moving truck moving out the last of my grandparents things from my parents house. While on the way home my mom had texted me and told me they were thinking of moving.
I went into high gear that week. I worked on the basement on Saturday and Sunday and we got the rooms cleaned up, took 4 trips to Goodwill and even got some taping done to paint a few areas in the house. Monday I finished up the rest and got some painters out to work on the house. The Student Painters came out and did our house and I got a "break" on Friday.
During this week the kids were at Temple Baptist Day Camp. This year was so much fun for the 4 of them. I dropped them off around 8:50am or so and picked them up around 4-4:30pm. They had a blast! While we did have to visit the lost and found table at least 3 of the 5 days it was still a great time by all. I really loved hearing the things they had learned and how much fun they had.
By Friday we had a great pool night. The kids played in the pool ALL NIGHT! Finally, after doing glow in the dark time, I kicked them off to bed around 10:15pm or so.
Saturday morning Becca started her trip down to Sarnia. The plan was to do some shopping for the kids. You know... Back to school shopping :) Becca ended up having a tire blow on her van and no spares. We had to send backup (ie Arnold and Dad). They went out and fixed her up. All in all it took about 3 hours more than expected.
Mom had to go to work by then so Arnold, Kyler, Quinton, Becca, Amber, Lisa, and myself hit the malls. We went to Children's place, payless, Wal-Mart, Bonnie Togs, and home again. Lots of crazy times. We got almost everything. I have to say the "Do you really need that? If you buy it Auntie M is getting rid of the SAME out fit you have at home" works :) Got to love carrying the money from mom and dad :)
We got home and showed our treasures off to Nana and Papa. Then Aunt B and Arnold headed out to get our vans fixed. Ours was there but Beccas needed a new tire for it.
All of us headed out that night. It worked out well as my parents listed their house on the Sunday night.
We had a few days to chill and just veg in front of the TV or elsewhere. I think the kids really needed it. This is the first summer things have seemed so hard core. It was great for me as I really needed to get work done and having them in camps during the day was fantastic.
Monday evening (after we had a great lunch with friends) Aunt B brought the girls back over for the week.
This week they are doing Swim Camp. So far it's been a bust but hey! Tuesday they showed up and the pool had no chlorine in it. It was horrible. Wednesday it still wasn't fixed. So I had to sign a waver saying the kids could go on the bus and go elsewhere for their lessons. No big deal for me. Wednesday was ok since they were all out at the Toronto Island. They had a great time.
Lisa and I are chilling. See, she is too little to go! So instead she has hung out with Uncle Jack one day, then a babysitter (Anna) the next. And today we are going to the movies. If only Auntie M could read the right movie theater we would be set. hopefully I've got it right now.
Sunday morning everyone comes here and we do our family day at the zoo. We are pretty excited.
Oh and this week... my parents sold their house and bought a new one! Their closing date for both houses is August 30th. Our last day on the houseboat! Was an exciting week!
Because of the sale being so quick it means that Arnold and I are not getting our week alone with no kids. I have to work (I need the hours as I'm not working the last week in August). So I'm going into work on Monday and Tuesday. Thankfully there is no bulletin to be done so I'm just going to be getting those little pesky things done that need to get done. Hopefully it helps get the office in order.
Right now (which means things ALWAYS change) I'm thinking of heading out on Tuesday around noon or so. I'm hoping it gives me light traffic. I'll head to Sarnia and start packing. I'll pack Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday. I'm aiming to come home on Thursday night and have a half a day with Arnold and no kids. Then we will pick them up in Cambridge on Saturday, as planned.
This is where our family of 6/7 ends. Amber and Lisa get to hang out with their grandparents for a week and our boys are doing the Boys and Girls Day camp at the end of the road. I'm really excited for them. Their adventure is going to the movies!!
During the week I'm going to be working at church (hopefully getting 4 bulletins done in one week) and then, if time allows, decluttering my house!
Becca, Amber, and Lisa arrive on Thursday night! Arnold, Kyler, Quinton and I will be taking Lisa up to the boat and Becca will come on Saturday with Amber and Jack. Mom and Dad will be arriving then as well. We are out on the boat for a bit. Mom and Dad need to come back on the Wednesday. We have the boat until Friday. Then we all head down and help them finish moving.
I believe we are going to stay in Sarnia that weekend and "camp" in their new big backyard! Finally we get to camp AND use the tent we got 2 Christmases ago!! (I'm excited for this!)
We will head back to Toronto on Monday and Tuesday... School starts.
See how our summer seems a bit crazy?
Our summer has been a world wind of adventure.
It started the day school was over! Arnold and Quinton headed to Edmonton/Calgary and went to visit family. It's a tradition for our family to go and visit Alberta family. When the boys "Graduate" they get to go. Since there is a graduation ceremony for the kids from SK to grade 1 our boys get excited to go to Alberta.
While the big and little boy were in Alberta I was in Sarnia with Kyler! We had a great few days there. Between playing in the pool, having friends over for Canada Day, going to church and visiting our vacation was packed full.
We came home in time for Kyler to get his first tooth pulled from the dentist and for me to work for a few days.
Kyler and I picked up Arnold and Quinton and our fun began!
We had 2 days as our family of 4 and then the fun arrived!
Amber and Lisa arrived and we started the fun. We did our first week at Forward Baptist Church for Kingdom Rock! It was so much fun. It was a half-day day camp. We got there at 9am and then we were home around noon. The kids had a lot of fun. And cute t-shirts to prove it!
That weekend we chilled out and played at home. Sunday brought us into a new week.
A New week of fun!
We started the Zoo camp. Zoo Camp was for everyone! All 4 of them headed out at 8:25am and I picked them up at 3:30pm. We had a lot of fun. Every day the kids came home with something new they had learned and were excited to start it all over again. They had a great time and really enjoyed the Pandas.
That Saturday morning Aunt B came and picked up the girls. So started our week alone. While it was alone things got crazy! We didn't really get any downtime but hey, that happens, right?
We headed to Sarnia on Friday. Kyler, Quinton and I went to get Arnold from work. Since he works late Monday to Thursday he gets to leave half day Fridays. We were on the road and very little traffic! It was great. We stopped in Cambridge and picked up the girls early and then we were *so* quick that we even stopped and dropped off the coats that needed to be repaired at the Columbia headquarters in London.
The 6 of us arrived in Sarnia in time to see the moving truck moving out the last of my grandparents things from my parents house. While on the way home my mom had texted me and told me they were thinking of moving.
I went into high gear that week. I worked on the basement on Saturday and Sunday and we got the rooms cleaned up, took 4 trips to Goodwill and even got some taping done to paint a few areas in the house. Monday I finished up the rest and got some painters out to work on the house. The Student Painters came out and did our house and I got a "break" on Friday.
During this week the kids were at Temple Baptist Day Camp. This year was so much fun for the 4 of them. I dropped them off around 8:50am or so and picked them up around 4-4:30pm. They had a blast! While we did have to visit the lost and found table at least 3 of the 5 days it was still a great time by all. I really loved hearing the things they had learned and how much fun they had.
By Friday we had a great pool night. The kids played in the pool ALL NIGHT! Finally, after doing glow in the dark time, I kicked them off to bed around 10:15pm or so.
Saturday morning Becca started her trip down to Sarnia. The plan was to do some shopping for the kids. You know... Back to school shopping :) Becca ended up having a tire blow on her van and no spares. We had to send backup (ie Arnold and Dad). They went out and fixed her up. All in all it took about 3 hours more than expected.
Mom had to go to work by then so Arnold, Kyler, Quinton, Becca, Amber, Lisa, and myself hit the malls. We went to Children's place, payless, Wal-Mart, Bonnie Togs, and home again. Lots of crazy times. We got almost everything. I have to say the "Do you really need that? If you buy it Auntie M is getting rid of the SAME out fit you have at home" works :) Got to love carrying the money from mom and dad :)
We got home and showed our treasures off to Nana and Papa. Then Aunt B and Arnold headed out to get our vans fixed. Ours was there but Beccas needed a new tire for it.
All of us headed out that night. It worked out well as my parents listed their house on the Sunday night.
We had a few days to chill and just veg in front of the TV or elsewhere. I think the kids really needed it. This is the first summer things have seemed so hard core. It was great for me as I really needed to get work done and having them in camps during the day was fantastic.
Monday evening (after we had a great lunch with friends) Aunt B brought the girls back over for the week.
This week they are doing Swim Camp. So far it's been a bust but hey! Tuesday they showed up and the pool had no chlorine in it. It was horrible. Wednesday it still wasn't fixed. So I had to sign a waver saying the kids could go on the bus and go elsewhere for their lessons. No big deal for me. Wednesday was ok since they were all out at the Toronto Island. They had a great time.
Lisa and I are chilling. See, she is too little to go! So instead she has hung out with Uncle Jack one day, then a babysitter (Anna) the next. And today we are going to the movies. If only Auntie M could read the right movie theater we would be set. hopefully I've got it right now.
Sunday morning everyone comes here and we do our family day at the zoo. We are pretty excited.
Oh and this week... my parents sold their house and bought a new one! Their closing date for both houses is August 30th. Our last day on the houseboat! Was an exciting week!
Because of the sale being so quick it means that Arnold and I are not getting our week alone with no kids. I have to work (I need the hours as I'm not working the last week in August). So I'm going into work on Monday and Tuesday. Thankfully there is no bulletin to be done so I'm just going to be getting those little pesky things done that need to get done. Hopefully it helps get the office in order.
Right now (which means things ALWAYS change) I'm thinking of heading out on Tuesday around noon or so. I'm hoping it gives me light traffic. I'll head to Sarnia and start packing. I'll pack Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday. I'm aiming to come home on Thursday night and have a half a day with Arnold and no kids. Then we will pick them up in Cambridge on Saturday, as planned.
This is where our family of 6/7 ends. Amber and Lisa get to hang out with their grandparents for a week and our boys are doing the Boys and Girls Day camp at the end of the road. I'm really excited for them. Their adventure is going to the movies!!
During the week I'm going to be working at church (hopefully getting 4 bulletins done in one week) and then, if time allows, decluttering my house!
Becca, Amber, and Lisa arrive on Thursday night! Arnold, Kyler, Quinton and I will be taking Lisa up to the boat and Becca will come on Saturday with Amber and Jack. Mom and Dad will be arriving then as well. We are out on the boat for a bit. Mom and Dad need to come back on the Wednesday. We have the boat until Friday. Then we all head down and help them finish moving.
I believe we are going to stay in Sarnia that weekend and "camp" in their new big backyard! Finally we get to camp AND use the tent we got 2 Christmases ago!! (I'm excited for this!)
We will head back to Toronto on Monday and Tuesday... School starts.
See how our summer seems a bit crazy?
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
It's almost Back to School!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shopping that is :)
Today the boys and I are going through their closets in an effort to see just what they need for school in September. On Saturday, August 3rd, we are doing our "Big Back To School Shopping".
Our boys are so blessed that every year, just before school starts, Nana takes them shopping and gets them "Set to go" for the year. When they started school it was buying a backpack, getting indoor runners and getting socks, underwear, shirts, pants, ect. The whole list.
Each year things change a bit. I won't let both my boys get backpacks at the same year (mainly cause they are $30.00 and they both don't need to buy one each year). So this year it's K's turn... but both backpacks are good to go so no backpacks this year.
Kyler does need a new lunch bag, but Q's is fine (since this is his first year of doing lunches at school it's barely been used since we got it 2 years ago).
Quinton will need new pants this year, as he has grown like there is no tomorrow.
Kyler need new socks (even though we just got him new ones)
And slowly we will figure out just what everyone needs.
So for now I venture into the boys closets and get their "back to school shopping lists" complete... wish me luck!
If there is no movement from me on FB in a while, sent help!!
Today the boys and I are going through their closets in an effort to see just what they need for school in September. On Saturday, August 3rd, we are doing our "Big Back To School Shopping".
Our boys are so blessed that every year, just before school starts, Nana takes them shopping and gets them "Set to go" for the year. When they started school it was buying a backpack, getting indoor runners and getting socks, underwear, shirts, pants, ect. The whole list.
Each year things change a bit. I won't let both my boys get backpacks at the same year (mainly cause they are $30.00 and they both don't need to buy one each year). So this year it's K's turn... but both backpacks are good to go so no backpacks this year.
Kyler does need a new lunch bag, but Q's is fine (since this is his first year of doing lunches at school it's barely been used since we got it 2 years ago).
Quinton will need new pants this year, as he has grown like there is no tomorrow.
Kyler need new socks (even though we just got him new ones)
And slowly we will figure out just what everyone needs.
So for now I venture into the boys closets and get their "back to school shopping lists" complete... wish me luck!
If there is no movement from me on FB in a while, sent help!!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Oh my goodness!!!
I can't believe how far behind I've gotten! Sorry readers! I'm working on it I swear!
2 weeks ago we had our Kingdom Rock Kids Camp. It was so much fun. The kids loved it and the CD's sent home were perfect!
Last week we had Zoo camp. It was so crazy busy. With dropping the kids off and then coming home and going to work then going back to the zoo updating our blog wasn't really an option. I'm hoping next week, our "down week", is a bit easier to handle!
So for now.
Enjoy your summer!!
2 weeks ago we had our Kingdom Rock Kids Camp. It was so much fun. The kids loved it and the CD's sent home were perfect!
Last week we had Zoo camp. It was so crazy busy. With dropping the kids off and then coming home and going to work then going back to the zoo updating our blog wasn't really an option. I'm hoping next week, our "down week", is a bit easier to handle!
So for now.
Enjoy your summer!!
Monday, July 1, 2013
Marriage Monday ~ HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!
While I have a post that works perfectly for this week I'm posting a picture of my "family" today. Kyler and I are the only ones in Ontario this Canada Day. So we are going to have fun and celebrate the best we can.
He has grown up so much since our first Canada Day!
He has grown up so much since our first Canada Day!
Monday, June 24, 2013
Marriage Monday ~ Money, Part 3
Last month we talked about Grocery Budget and how our family makes it work for us. Not you, but our family. US. It works for US. Please keep this in mind while reading these posts.
This month I'm writing about our budget.
This took a while for it to come about and for it to finally be something that works for US.
When we first started DR (Dave Ramsey) I had SO many things on our budget list. They were a list of:
While there may be "more" lists they aren't as detailed as they were before. We have found some things work better for and some don't. For example... We save about 40.00 a month for Christmas/Birthday. But during the summer months we kinda "lax" on that. Not because we don't want to do it but because we don't have many birthdays or anything to go to or do.
About 2 months ago we added in our "Mental Health" fund. It's $40.00 a month. It's mainly for when I just can't handle cooking, we have nothing ready or I just need out of the house. we use that to help with whatever the cost might be. So if we have 20.00 left in our entertainment/eating out budget that's enough for a babysitter. And Arnold and I can go out on the 40.00 from the mental health category.
We have also switched pays since we started DR. When we had started we were paid on the 15th and the last day of the month. Now we are paid every 2 weeks. This means that there are 2 months where we get paid 3 times a month.
This just happen for us. We were paid 3 times this month. Last year I didn't quite "get" it so this year I was really careful. I put away the 2 weeks worth of grocery money, 2 weeks worth of gas money, part of our rent money and 2 of our things that have to be paid every month. we had enough "left over" to put $500.00 on a CC and $500.00 into savings for this summer's boat trip. And to help this summer if needed.
So here's the breakdown of our budget, so you have an idea:
Rent: Our rent is taken out on the 1st of every month. Our Rent budget include our utilities (which are included in our rent cheque). We save the month before for the next month. For example. This month we have been putting some money away each pay to cover July's rent.
Bank Fees: We pay more than we "should" but this covers anything and everything. We have unlimited bank accounts (we currently have 6); up to 10 e-transfers a month (we use anywhere from 2 to 4 a month); and unlimited transactions.
Offering: We have started to do our churches direct withdraw from our bank account. It comes out on the last day of the month.
These three accounts (Rent, Bank Fees and Offering) are saved for in one account labeled "Rent" in our bank.
Internet: My husbands work pays for a portion of our internet. This is because Arnold is on at least 1 pager rotation a month (prime and secondary) and needs the internet at home in order to keep it working. While it doesn't cover it all it does cover part of it. We have this bill automatically taken out from our CC. This was something that was needed to set it up. And for us, it works well (not recommended by DR). We take the first pay each month and put on the amount of our bill to the CC right away. Then the bill come in and the amount we have put on "credits" the amount that is billed. Then the money we get from hubbys work goes into our budget as well. We have had to upgrade as we host a server in our house and we have enough people using the internet that it's needed.
RESP: We started this when Kyler was born. It's a Registered Education Savings Plan. We put $25.00 per month per child away for this. It's not something that we *should* be doing yet (according to DR) but this was something we needed so Arnold would feel more comfortable doing this program. He wanted to know that even if it took us 18 years to pay everything off our kids would have something for school.
Insurance: We pay this from our bank account every month. It comes out on the 22nd or so. It's for our liability, our car, Arnold's bike, and our contents.
Student Loans: My Student Loans were paid off last year (thank you for all your help!) and now we are plugging away at the loans Arnold has. Which is a lot. These will take us way more time than we want them too but that is ok. We know why we got them and they are a loan we can handle for now. Every few months Arnold does apply for "interest relief" because we can't afford the complete payment. We have been blessed in the past few months to be able to put a little more on the loans. A few hundred here and a few hundred there have helped us to get them down a bit more.
Cell Phones: One thing you will see is we do NOT have a home phone on our bill. When we moved to Toronto we got a home phone and something happen and it fried! So we figured, why keep 2 cell phones and a home phone. So my cell is our "home phone". Arnold's phone is truly the cell phone. My phone doesn't stay at home however. This has been a bit of an "issue" when hiring babysitters. Our Babysitters need to have cell phones or something to contact people if help is needed. We have left one of our phones at home every once and a while.
Mir Visa/Arnold Visa/Arnold MC/Mir MC: These are our credit cards (duh!). We made some serious mistakes years ago and are paying for them now. Truly. We are working on getting them paid off. When we started the DR program we had 6 CC, a family loan and 2 student loans. We are now down to 4 CC's and that's it :) This does make me happy. I realize not for everyone but we are good with this. The DR program recommends that you put your lowest amount CC first. You pay that off then use the payments you would have paid to "snowball" to the next CC and get it paid off asap. While I believe you can "live" without CC's in Canada I feel like we need to each have one. I'm closing my VISA and Arnold will close his MC. This way we have one VISA and one MC. Each, that we are keeping, are the lowest interest rates of them all. However... DH's VISA is our lowest balance. We aren't paying that one off as fast as possible but it is on our list.
Mental Health: As I explained above, this one was just added in to make sure I don't go crazy!
Food: Our Food budget is taken out in 2 week intervals. I used to do shopping once a month (see last post) but now I'm going weekly. This is helping us out a lot more. And it makes me putting money aside for it every month helpful. Our food budget does include things like Food, cleaning products, possible needs for the house.
Gas/Oil/Car: This budget is mainly for the Gas/Oil part. See, we started, what most people call, a "sinking fund" for the Car. We know one day we will need to replace it. For now. We have about $1,000.00 put aside to help repair the car, or help to buy a new one if we need to. We just recently brought our car in to get the AC fixed (cause I don't want to melt in the car) and that came out of our car budget. We will build it back up as "extra" cash comes in. We never let it go under $500.00
Entertainment/Eating Out: I don't know about you but I have never been able to go a whole month without eating out. And with our crazy schedules sometimes it's good to have this as an option. This covers going out to a movie (which we rarely do) and going to have dinner out. If we go as a whole family (5-6 people depending on the day and time) it can cost us anywhere form $50-$80.00. This isn't too bad, but sometimes I'm in shock how much we spend. This helps us to realize we need to pick good days to go out.
Education/Book Orders: We put this in when K went to school. There were so many things I had forgotten about that I wanted to be able to do for K and Q at school. They have a "Nutrition Program" where you pay $2.00 a week (Toonie Tuesday) and we get money to help run the program. I've begun to learn more about it and know that at last 2 people in every classroom NEED this program. They didn't have breakfast or anything so they can't make it to lunch. If they have a lunch. This program helps our kids have food to eat. We also have book orders. Lately we have limited how much we can spend on it each month. One month K picks a book (below $10.00 unless they pitch in their own money) and the next month Q does. It's a great help for keeping the cost down.
Medical/Health: This covers drugs :) I am on BP meds and this covers my meds. I get most of the cost covered by our health plan (taken right off Arnold's pay cheque) but I still have to pay the fee for getting it. It also covers things like headache meds, drugs for my sinus cold last month, the kids meds when they have colds or are sick. That kind of stuff. This is something we do have a "cap" on. We never have more than $100.00 in this budget. It just doesn't make sense.
Christmas/Birthday: This one, as I've said above, is hard. We have K's bday in March, Q's bday in April, my bday in October, Arnold's bday in November. And then Christmas. So we don't "need" money in the summer time for birthdays but it changes now and then. We are also beginning to experience friends birthdays and going to their parties. We have had to increase our budget a bit. We know that at Christmas we spend, maybe more than others. So we take what we spent last year, add about $50.00 (since prices always climb) and we budget that out for 12 months. Then add some extra for birthday times as well. Every year it's different but generally we can handle it. all.
Commuting Costs: This is part of the reason our "Gas" budget isn't as high. And why we only have one "car". Arnold has a bike that is a big part of our savings. He saves about $5.50 a day by biking. While that may not seem like a lot to you, and sometimes to him (mainly on days it's raining) he loves biking. It keeps him in shape, he does something, most others don't and he loves setting an example to the kids of what he can do. In a month, if Arnold bikes every week day, and there are no vacations, we save $110.00 a month. This is in our budget, not as a saving, but knowing that we still need to spend money on it. Arnold's bike needs new things all the time. It's like another car (and sometimes I'm pretty sure it gets more KM's than our car does!). We try to put aside $40.00 a month to help with the costs of repairs. If it's not all used it gets socked away for the Bike Show in Toronto when we go and he gets new shoes/gloves/tubes/ect to stock up at home. He also takes the TTC to get to work in the winter months (sometimes) so we pay for that, which means our costs go up in October until March. They are between $95.00 to $110.00 (depending on vacation times/days).
Anyway... this is our budget. I know there is so much more I wish I could help you understand but I can only tell you what I have done. If you have questions please let me know. I'll do my best to answer them. Remember this is what works for US. Not the whole world but what works for US.
Next month I'm going to write about "sinking funds" and how important it is to have those around. Even if you don't own a home!
This month I'm writing about our budget.
This took a while for it to come about and for it to finally be something that works for US.
When we first started DR (Dave Ramsey) I had SO many things on our budget list. They were a list of:
Groceries
Books
Gas and Oil
Car Repairs and Tires
Clothing – Arnold
Clothing – Miranda
Clothing – boys
Baby-sitter
Christmas
hair care
blow money (spending money)
entertainment/dinning out
church tithing
medical (co pay and prescriptions)
household
Next big thing – Piano tuner
Next big thing – Camera
Next big thing – Computer/Photo drive
NOT included are things like bills/rent/CC's, anything paid for directly from our account
- the last 3 things "Next big thing" were not part of the DR program but I needed themNow our "budget" looks like this:
Rent Bank Fees Offering Internet Resp Insurance Student Loan Cell Phones Mir Visa - CC Arnold Visa - CC Arnold MC - CC Mir MC - CC Mental Health Food Gas/oil/car Entertainment/Eating Out Education/Book Orders Medical/Health Christmas/Birthday Commuting Cost
While there may be "more" lists they aren't as detailed as they were before. We have found some things work better for and some don't. For example... We save about 40.00 a month for Christmas/Birthday. But during the summer months we kinda "lax" on that. Not because we don't want to do it but because we don't have many birthdays or anything to go to or do.
About 2 months ago we added in our "Mental Health" fund. It's $40.00 a month. It's mainly for when I just can't handle cooking, we have nothing ready or I just need out of the house. we use that to help with whatever the cost might be. So if we have 20.00 left in our entertainment/eating out budget that's enough for a babysitter. And Arnold and I can go out on the 40.00 from the mental health category.
We have also switched pays since we started DR. When we had started we were paid on the 15th and the last day of the month. Now we are paid every 2 weeks. This means that there are 2 months where we get paid 3 times a month.
This just happen for us. We were paid 3 times this month. Last year I didn't quite "get" it so this year I was really careful. I put away the 2 weeks worth of grocery money, 2 weeks worth of gas money, part of our rent money and 2 of our things that have to be paid every month. we had enough "left over" to put $500.00 on a CC and $500.00 into savings for this summer's boat trip. And to help this summer if needed.
So here's the breakdown of our budget, so you have an idea:
Rent: Our rent is taken out on the 1st of every month. Our Rent budget include our utilities (which are included in our rent cheque). We save the month before for the next month. For example. This month we have been putting some money away each pay to cover July's rent.
Bank Fees: We pay more than we "should" but this covers anything and everything. We have unlimited bank accounts (we currently have 6); up to 10 e-transfers a month (we use anywhere from 2 to 4 a month); and unlimited transactions.
Offering: We have started to do our churches direct withdraw from our bank account. It comes out on the last day of the month.
These three accounts (Rent, Bank Fees and Offering) are saved for in one account labeled "Rent" in our bank.
Internet: My husbands work pays for a portion of our internet. This is because Arnold is on at least 1 pager rotation a month (prime and secondary) and needs the internet at home in order to keep it working. While it doesn't cover it all it does cover part of it. We have this bill automatically taken out from our CC. This was something that was needed to set it up. And for us, it works well (not recommended by DR). We take the first pay each month and put on the amount of our bill to the CC right away. Then the bill come in and the amount we have put on "credits" the amount that is billed. Then the money we get from hubbys work goes into our budget as well. We have had to upgrade as we host a server in our house and we have enough people using the internet that it's needed.
RESP: We started this when Kyler was born. It's a Registered Education Savings Plan. We put $25.00 per month per child away for this. It's not something that we *should* be doing yet (according to DR) but this was something we needed so Arnold would feel more comfortable doing this program. He wanted to know that even if it took us 18 years to pay everything off our kids would have something for school.
Insurance: We pay this from our bank account every month. It comes out on the 22nd or so. It's for our liability, our car, Arnold's bike, and our contents.
Student Loans: My Student Loans were paid off last year (thank you for all your help!) and now we are plugging away at the loans Arnold has. Which is a lot. These will take us way more time than we want them too but that is ok. We know why we got them and they are a loan we can handle for now. Every few months Arnold does apply for "interest relief" because we can't afford the complete payment. We have been blessed in the past few months to be able to put a little more on the loans. A few hundred here and a few hundred there have helped us to get them down a bit more.
Cell Phones: One thing you will see is we do NOT have a home phone on our bill. When we moved to Toronto we got a home phone and something happen and it fried! So we figured, why keep 2 cell phones and a home phone. So my cell is our "home phone". Arnold's phone is truly the cell phone. My phone doesn't stay at home however. This has been a bit of an "issue" when hiring babysitters. Our Babysitters need to have cell phones or something to contact people if help is needed. We have left one of our phones at home every once and a while.
Mir Visa/Arnold Visa/Arnold MC/Mir MC: These are our credit cards (duh!). We made some serious mistakes years ago and are paying for them now. Truly. We are working on getting them paid off. When we started the DR program we had 6 CC, a family loan and 2 student loans. We are now down to 4 CC's and that's it :) This does make me happy. I realize not for everyone but we are good with this. The DR program recommends that you put your lowest amount CC first. You pay that off then use the payments you would have paid to "snowball" to the next CC and get it paid off asap. While I believe you can "live" without CC's in Canada I feel like we need to each have one. I'm closing my VISA and Arnold will close his MC. This way we have one VISA and one MC. Each, that we are keeping, are the lowest interest rates of them all. However... DH's VISA is our lowest balance. We aren't paying that one off as fast as possible but it is on our list.
Mental Health: As I explained above, this one was just added in to make sure I don't go crazy!
Food: Our Food budget is taken out in 2 week intervals. I used to do shopping once a month (see last post) but now I'm going weekly. This is helping us out a lot more. And it makes me putting money aside for it every month helpful. Our food budget does include things like Food, cleaning products, possible needs for the house.
Gas/Oil/Car: This budget is mainly for the Gas/Oil part. See, we started, what most people call, a "sinking fund" for the Car. We know one day we will need to replace it. For now. We have about $1,000.00 put aside to help repair the car, or help to buy a new one if we need to. We just recently brought our car in to get the AC fixed (cause I don't want to melt in the car) and that came out of our car budget. We will build it back up as "extra" cash comes in. We never let it go under $500.00
Entertainment/Eating Out: I don't know about you but I have never been able to go a whole month without eating out. And with our crazy schedules sometimes it's good to have this as an option. This covers going out to a movie (which we rarely do) and going to have dinner out. If we go as a whole family (5-6 people depending on the day and time) it can cost us anywhere form $50-$80.00. This isn't too bad, but sometimes I'm in shock how much we spend. This helps us to realize we need to pick good days to go out.
Education/Book Orders: We put this in when K went to school. There were so many things I had forgotten about that I wanted to be able to do for K and Q at school. They have a "Nutrition Program" where you pay $2.00 a week (Toonie Tuesday) and we get money to help run the program. I've begun to learn more about it and know that at last 2 people in every classroom NEED this program. They didn't have breakfast or anything so they can't make it to lunch. If they have a lunch. This program helps our kids have food to eat. We also have book orders. Lately we have limited how much we can spend on it each month. One month K picks a book (below $10.00 unless they pitch in their own money) and the next month Q does. It's a great help for keeping the cost down.
Medical/Health: This covers drugs :) I am on BP meds and this covers my meds. I get most of the cost covered by our health plan (taken right off Arnold's pay cheque) but I still have to pay the fee for getting it. It also covers things like headache meds, drugs for my sinus cold last month, the kids meds when they have colds or are sick. That kind of stuff. This is something we do have a "cap" on. We never have more than $100.00 in this budget. It just doesn't make sense.
Christmas/Birthday: This one, as I've said above, is hard. We have K's bday in March, Q's bday in April, my bday in October, Arnold's bday in November. And then Christmas. So we don't "need" money in the summer time for birthdays but it changes now and then. We are also beginning to experience friends birthdays and going to their parties. We have had to increase our budget a bit. We know that at Christmas we spend, maybe more than others. So we take what we spent last year, add about $50.00 (since prices always climb) and we budget that out for 12 months. Then add some extra for birthday times as well. Every year it's different but generally we can handle it. all.
Commuting Costs: This is part of the reason our "Gas" budget isn't as high. And why we only have one "car". Arnold has a bike that is a big part of our savings. He saves about $5.50 a day by biking. While that may not seem like a lot to you, and sometimes to him (mainly on days it's raining) he loves biking. It keeps him in shape, he does something, most others don't and he loves setting an example to the kids of what he can do. In a month, if Arnold bikes every week day, and there are no vacations, we save $110.00 a month. This is in our budget, not as a saving, but knowing that we still need to spend money on it. Arnold's bike needs new things all the time. It's like another car (and sometimes I'm pretty sure it gets more KM's than our car does!). We try to put aside $40.00 a month to help with the costs of repairs. If it's not all used it gets socked away for the Bike Show in Toronto when we go and he gets new shoes/gloves/tubes/ect to stock up at home. He also takes the TTC to get to work in the winter months (sometimes) so we pay for that, which means our costs go up in October until March. They are between $95.00 to $110.00 (depending on vacation times/days).
Anyway... this is our budget. I know there is so much more I wish I could help you understand but I can only tell you what I have done. If you have questions please let me know. I'll do my best to answer them. Remember this is what works for US. Not the whole world but what works for US.
Next month I'm going to write about "sinking funds" and how important it is to have those around. Even if you don't own a home!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Marriage Monday ~ Happy Father's Day!
While we didn't get Arnold anything "big" this year we did spend time together. Check out the men in my life:
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