This one hurts a little more,
Didn't think it could happen again,
Going through this breaks me to my core,
Need to find strength-don't know where to begin,
So many questions and no one has the answers,
So much pain and no one has the remedy,
So many tears and no one wipes them away,
So much doubt and no one gives me faith,
I turn to You,
You will not answer my questions, but give me peace.
You will not dissipate my pain, but give me hope.
You will not stop my tears, but give me clarity.
You will not cast away my doubt, but give me courage.
I turn to You.
~Susan
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Lately
I feel like I should apologize for not keeping up with the writing, but I don't think that is necessary. I think from my last post to now I have found a balance. It's not so much of a balance, but rather I have gotten my priorities in order.
I am still interested in Budgeting, but it is not the most important thing in my life. Kind of cliché, but the most important thing in my life is my relationship with God. I realized I wasn't putting Him first, but now I am trying a lot more. One way I am trying a lot more is by reading his Word. Sometimes I get into this routine, but this time it is not only a routine. It is a part of my life. I still have a lot to work on because I would like to be more involved in my church, but I am taking one step at a time. Another way I am trying is by changing a few bad habits. I'm pretty embarrassed about them, so I won't list specifics, but it has brought me closer to God and I am proud of that. It is very late and I need to get some sleep, therefore I am going to continue another day. I will work hard to keep up with this blog.
By the way, our 3 anniversary is coming up, but we haven't made any plans. Any suggestions? Haven't budgeted for it either, so inexpensive ideas are even better. Thanks.
Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend!
I am still interested in Budgeting, but it is not the most important thing in my life. Kind of cliché, but the most important thing in my life is my relationship with God. I realized I wasn't putting Him first, but now I am trying a lot more. One way I am trying a lot more is by reading his Word. Sometimes I get into this routine, but this time it is not only a routine. It is a part of my life. I still have a lot to work on because I would like to be more involved in my church, but I am taking one step at a time. Another way I am trying is by changing a few bad habits. I'm pretty embarrassed about them, so I won't list specifics, but it has brought me closer to God and I am proud of that. It is very late and I need to get some sleep, therefore I am going to continue another day. I will work hard to keep up with this blog.
By the way, our 3 anniversary is coming up, but we haven't made any plans. Any suggestions? Haven't budgeted for it either, so inexpensive ideas are even better. Thanks.
Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Balance
How do you find balance in your life? I am struggling with this question as I sit in bed thinking about how nervous I am about my first actual school day back at work.
First and foremost I need to find more time to be closer with God. I was originally interested in personal finance blogs so I can get advice to cut spending. Then I started exploring other people's reasons for blogging and began questioning how I was spending my time. Somehow I found the Women Living Well blog. After exploring her blog I knew it was time to refocus. With the help of her blog, more through God using her as an instrument, I discovered I was neglecting very important parts of my life- my spirituality and my marriage. It's only been a few days, but I already feel closer to God and my husband. I have much to learn, but with God's grace all things are possible.
Another part of my balance struggle is being a more attentive wife, mother, and daughter. This ties into my first need because I need God to guide me in serving others before myself.
Also, I need to work on my attitude at work. Lastly, I need to work on taking care of my body by making healthy choices.
First and foremost I need to find more time to be closer with God. I was originally interested in personal finance blogs so I can get advice to cut spending. Then I started exploring other people's reasons for blogging and began questioning how I was spending my time. Somehow I found the Women Living Well blog. After exploring her blog I knew it was time to refocus. With the help of her blog, more through God using her as an instrument, I discovered I was neglecting very important parts of my life- my spirituality and my marriage. It's only been a few days, but I already feel closer to God and my husband. I have much to learn, but with God's grace all things are possible.
Another part of my balance struggle is being a more attentive wife, mother, and daughter. This ties into my first need because I need God to guide me in serving others before myself.
Also, I need to work on my attitude at work. Lastly, I need to work on taking care of my body by making healthy choices.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Crash!?!?
No I didn't crash, but I think my work computer did. I was trying to make room in my hard drive, but I think I deleted something important. While it was moving some files to the trash I manually shut down the computer. When I tried to restart it, the computer gave me a kernel panic message- it is a Mac error message. I don't know if anything will be saved from my computer,but I really hope so because I have everything on that computer. Ethan's pictures, videos, music, and our budget. The computer is currently in IT, where I hope and pray my things are saved, but only time will tell.
My week of fun filled activities has been awesome. I am really trying to fully enjoy these last few days. Tomorrow I will go out on a hot date with my husband. I have been looking forward to it all week.
During the week there have also been some not so fun things happening. Our tenant only paid half the rent, so we had to pay the other half. As irised already put up $400, so this month we had to put up almost $1,000. Tomorrow I am going to call our property management company to see if we are going to proceed with the eviction or if they paid the rent. My husband and I are truly considering trying to short sell the property or maybe declare bankruptcy, even though tha is the rt thing I could possibly do. Considering this is a personal finance blog I know I shouldn't even be considering bankruptcy, but there is no way we could afford both properties. I am trying not to stress about it because I know God will take care of it and guide us in the right direction.
My week of fun filled activities has been awesome. I am really trying to fully enjoy these last few days. Tomorrow I will go out on a hot date with my husband. I have been looking forward to it all week.
During the week there have also been some not so fun things happening. Our tenant only paid half the rent, so we had to pay the other half. As irised already put up $400, so this month we had to put up almost $1,000. Tomorrow I am going to call our property management company to see if we are going to proceed with the eviction or if they paid the rent. My husband and I are truly considering trying to short sell the property or maybe declare bankruptcy, even though tha is the rt thing I could possibly do. Considering this is a personal finance blog I know I shouldn't even be considering bankruptcy, but there is no way we could afford both properties. I am trying not to stress about it because I know God will take care of it and guide us in the right direction.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Oh, Happy Day!!!
Yay!!! I finally figured out why our projected budget has been in the negative. It's a very silly mistake, but it is definitely one to be happy about. I mistakenly budgeted our savings two times in our Excel budget. Now I have fixed that mistake and our budget is balanced. I think we will be able to spend less than we earn. In fact, we will definitely spend less than we earn.
Another reason I am so happy is ... I am so BLESSED!!! In my life I have love, family, and my health. I get to spend time with Joey, my husband, and Ethan, my son. The past few days I haven't been the nicest wife in the world, but I have an excuse for that...it's that time of the month. So now that I know why I've been so moody, I can focus on how much of a good husband and father he is. He does so much that I won't try and list the ways.
Only 13 more days of vacation left...BOOOO! Oh well. I have been living the good life and it is soon time to get back to the grind. In a small, tiny way I am looking forward to work, like I said, very tiny!
In the meantime, I am trying to fill the last few days with fun-filled activities. We signed up Ethan for another two weeks of swim classes. It is all new kiddos and their parents. I am happy to report that he is doing very well. A lot of the kids in the class cry and cry and cry and cry, but not my Ethan. He is content in the water and always saying duck because he sees the pool toys. Some more fun-filled activities include a birthday party tomorrow. Watching the Women's World Cup on Sunday. Dessert date with a friend on Tuesday. L.A. on Wednesday. Lunch date with friends on Thursday. Hopefully a date night with the hubby on Friday. Busy, busy, busy...that's the way I like it!
Hope you are enjoying your summer!
Another reason I am so happy is ... I am so BLESSED!!! In my life I have love, family, and my health. I get to spend time with Joey, my husband, and Ethan, my son. The past few days I haven't been the nicest wife in the world, but I have an excuse for that...it's that time of the month. So now that I know why I've been so moody, I can focus on how much of a good husband and father he is. He does so much that I won't try and list the ways.
Only 13 more days of vacation left...BOOOO! Oh well. I have been living the good life and it is soon time to get back to the grind. In a small, tiny way I am looking forward to work, like I said, very tiny!
In the meantime, I am trying to fill the last few days with fun-filled activities. We signed up Ethan for another two weeks of swim classes. It is all new kiddos and their parents. I am happy to report that he is doing very well. A lot of the kids in the class cry and cry and cry and cry, but not my Ethan. He is content in the water and always saying duck because he sees the pool toys. Some more fun-filled activities include a birthday party tomorrow. Watching the Women's World Cup on Sunday. Dessert date with a friend on Tuesday. L.A. on Wednesday. Lunch date with friends on Thursday. Hopefully a date night with the hubby on Friday. Busy, busy, busy...that's the way I like it!
Hope you are enjoying your summer!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Money Envelopes-Update #1
This was our first week in trying out the money envelopes. We went over our budget in 3 of the 4 areas. We are not used to just using cash. Let me recap. For our grocery category we went over $30. I forgot to buy the dog food and we ran out of coffee in the middle of the week. For our dining out category, which is one of our weaknesses, we went over $35. A couple of times I didn't have dinner ready and my husband couldn't wait for me to cook, so I picked something up. For our entertainment category, which is our other weakness, we overspent $23. This isn't so bad, but if we keep overspending in each of these categories throughout the month, we will be way over budget.
One thing I need to revise in our budget is giving Joey and I a little bit of spending money. I don't know where we will get the money because as it is we are over budget, but we definitely need it. I will probably be able to do without it, but I know Joey needs it. So I am thinking $40 a week is sufficient. I won't tell him about it, but I'll have it here at the house so when he needs it, I can give it to him and hopefully avoid using that darn ATM card. We will see how that goes. So for week 2 I am going to keep the same amount of money and see how it goes. I will have an update next week.
One thing I need to revise in our budget is giving Joey and I a little bit of spending money. I don't know where we will get the money because as it is we are over budget, but we definitely need it. I will probably be able to do without it, but I know Joey needs it. So I am thinking $40 a week is sufficient. I won't tell him about it, but I'll have it here at the house so when he needs it, I can give it to him and hopefully avoid using that darn ATM card. We will see how that goes. So for week 2 I am going to keep the same amount of money and see how it goes. I will have an update next week.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Really??!?!
The time will come when winter will ask you what you were doing all summer. ~Henry Clay
This quote sums up how this last week of my summer has been going. I have just been too darn lazy to do anything I set out to do. Let's do a little recap of my weekly goals.
Goal 1- Go to the gym 3 times this week. - Fail- I did not even make it once. I think I use my son and my husband as an excuse. My husband doesn't think I need to go to the gym and so I feel guilty if I leave him for 2 hours. He says that Ethan acts up when I'm not there. I believe him because even if I step out for a few minutes he starts crying. See there I go again making excuses...
Goal 2- Go out to eat only once this weekend. - Check - We went out to a nice little Mexican restaurant. I should have put go out to eat only once a week because we made it through the weekend, but just on Monday and Tuesday -we've eaten fast food.
Goal 3- Make a weekly menu - Fail - I didn't make the menu physically on paper, but I did it in my head and I only followed it somewhat.
So there you have it. My update-more like, my failures. :(
Now I do have something to celebrate. I created money envelopes for the week. Granted we are all out of money in all but one category, but it's a step in the right direction. It really does hurt more when you are spending hard, cold cash. The only thing I don't like is that I started my goals in the middle of the week. So now, I am going to start my goals at the same time that I start my money envelopes for the week. This next week I am going to start on Friday. My husband's days off are Friday's and Saturday's, so I think this will help us know that we have to cutback on our spending so we have enough for the week. One more thing I realized about our budget is that we each need a little bit of spending money that we can spend however we want. I don't know where this money will come from because we are already over budget in our monthly budget. I shall think of something. Wow, I just realized that if we didn't have to pay for child care then our monthly budget would be balanced, but that is only if we would stay within budget. Oh well, I have to figure out where else we can cut back.
How about you, do you have a monthly budget? Are you able to follow it accordingly?
This quote sums up how this last week of my summer has been going. I have just been too darn lazy to do anything I set out to do. Let's do a little recap of my weekly goals.
Goal 1- Go to the gym 3 times this week. - Fail- I did not even make it once. I think I use my son and my husband as an excuse. My husband doesn't think I need to go to the gym and so I feel guilty if I leave him for 2 hours. He says that Ethan acts up when I'm not there. I believe him because even if I step out for a few minutes he starts crying. See there I go again making excuses...
Goal 2- Go out to eat only once this weekend. - Check - We went out to a nice little Mexican restaurant. I should have put go out to eat only once a week because we made it through the weekend, but just on Monday and Tuesday -we've eaten fast food.
Goal 3- Make a weekly menu - Fail - I didn't make the menu physically on paper, but I did it in my head and I only followed it somewhat.
So there you have it. My update-more like, my failures. :(
Now I do have something to celebrate. I created money envelopes for the week. Granted we are all out of money in all but one category, but it's a step in the right direction. It really does hurt more when you are spending hard, cold cash. The only thing I don't like is that I started my goals in the middle of the week. So now, I am going to start my goals at the same time that I start my money envelopes for the week. This next week I am going to start on Friday. My husband's days off are Friday's and Saturday's, so I think this will help us know that we have to cutback on our spending so we have enough for the week. One more thing I realized about our budget is that we each need a little bit of spending money that we can spend however we want. I don't know where this money will come from because we are already over budget in our monthly budget. I shall think of something. Wow, I just realized that if we didn't have to pay for child care then our monthly budget would be balanced, but that is only if we would stay within budget. Oh well, I have to figure out where else we can cut back.
How about you, do you have a monthly budget? Are you able to follow it accordingly?
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