My Sunday morning weigh-in showed a gain of 0.6 lbs. and I was SOOO HAPPY!!! I know this seems odd, but let me explain.
Last week was a tough week. Lots of BIG changes and epiphanies in my personal and professional life. On top off that I had quit smoking on the 10th and then decided to quit the nicotine patches on the 16th. All of this accumulated with a BIG binge on two separate occasions, the last being on Tuesday the 16th.
I woke up Wednesday morning feeling incredible crappy both physically and mentally. I jumped on the scale to a 4pd gain caused by hamburgers, French fries, and chocolate milk shakes. I was set to just except my fate, I would eat healthy the rest of the week and plan for a few pound gain on weigh-in day.
Then something happened! I wish I could go back and pinpoint what caused the sudden change in mood, then I would bottle it and sell it for millions. All I know is that I decided that I wasn't going to sit quietly and except my fate, I was going to work my ass off to make the gain as little as possible. I am still a big girl with a lot of foot pain so extreme exercise is out for now, but I can walk. I walked and walked and walked and walked. We went to parks, swamps, playgrounds and local shops. I even made Rosie walk around the neighborhood with me for 45 minutes in the rain just to hit my step goal.
So when it was all said and done, I gained 0.6 lbs. I couldn't be happier.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Monday, February 22, 2016
Coming Together
Things have been coming together for me.
I was offered a position at the 'New Job' on Thursday. They are still interviewing people but my test and interview scores were so high that they hired me before the rest of the interviews were done. I technically had enough time to give 2 weeks notice to my old job but REALLY wanted a break in between. I ended up giving my work 9 days notice instead of 14.
I was nervous that today they would have told me they would accept my resignation early and today would be my last week, but they are allowing me to finish out the week. While I am bummed not to have almost 2 weeks off, my budget is happy that I want be loosing a full two weeks of income.
I received another letter from the tax advocate's office this morning. They are successfully advocated my case with the IRS. The IRS should be mailing the check for $2771.00 today. I am overjoyed and immediately wrote a check to our attorney for $1,500 for DS2's adoption in 2013. I also wrote a note apologizing for the insane delay in payment.
We are buying my old sister's car with cash in the next few months but we had to make a decision about a 2nd car. Our current mini van is a mess and the FIT we purchased brand new 8 years ago is nearly at 100k miles and has some issues. We needed to decide to invest a bunch of money into repairs or pay a whole lot of money for a new car. As much as I crave a new car, we decided it made financial sense to just throw a few grand at the FIT to get it in tip top shape and hopefully last us for several more years. I am going to have Rosie schedule a appointment for a mechanic next week so we can get an estimate on repairs. Rosie softened the blow by stating she would start driving the FIT and I could drive the new Mini Van from my sister. YAY!!
I have adjusted the budget so that we are putting a little additional money aside for a new car. If we are forced to buy a new car next year, we will have 9k to put down. If we push it to the following year, we can make that 15k. I would love for the mini-van and the Fit to last us for 3 years so we can just buy a car cash. The fates would really have to be in our favor on that one. Just to be safe, If both cars are still in good shape come Feb 2017, I will give my dad the 9k I had saved and then another big chunk ever six months so that I don't touch it. I still have trust issues with myself and money.
I was not impressed with myself with how I handled February's budget. We splurged on 3 occasions. I used the excuse that it was our treat for tax season but it ended up being over $540.00. I could enthrall you with a justification why each item was 'needed' but it all boils down to that I have very little self-control when I have money laying around. This is why I ALWAYS struggle with budgeting/savings. If I have 5k in savings then what is this small $75.00 going to matter...unfortunately $75.00 turns into $750 and within a few months I am broke. I need to stop this cycle.
My goal for March is to not go over on any of my budgetary lines....not even a cent. This will be tough because I have to budget for DS1's birthday, Easter, down payment on my sisters car and repairs on the FIT. I can do it!!!
I was offered a position at the 'New Job' on Thursday. They are still interviewing people but my test and interview scores were so high that they hired me before the rest of the interviews were done. I technically had enough time to give 2 weeks notice to my old job but REALLY wanted a break in between. I ended up giving my work 9 days notice instead of 14.
I was nervous that today they would have told me they would accept my resignation early and today would be my last week, but they are allowing me to finish out the week. While I am bummed not to have almost 2 weeks off, my budget is happy that I want be loosing a full two weeks of income.
I received another letter from the tax advocate's office this morning. They are successfully advocated my case with the IRS. The IRS should be mailing the check for $2771.00 today. I am overjoyed and immediately wrote a check to our attorney for $1,500 for DS2's adoption in 2013. I also wrote a note apologizing for the insane delay in payment.
We are buying my old sister's car with cash in the next few months but we had to make a decision about a 2nd car. Our current mini van is a mess and the FIT we purchased brand new 8 years ago is nearly at 100k miles and has some issues. We needed to decide to invest a bunch of money into repairs or pay a whole lot of money for a new car. As much as I crave a new car, we decided it made financial sense to just throw a few grand at the FIT to get it in tip top shape and hopefully last us for several more years. I am going to have Rosie schedule a appointment for a mechanic next week so we can get an estimate on repairs. Rosie softened the blow by stating she would start driving the FIT and I could drive the new Mini Van from my sister. YAY!!
I have adjusted the budget so that we are putting a little additional money aside for a new car. If we are forced to buy a new car next year, we will have 9k to put down. If we push it to the following year, we can make that 15k. I would love for the mini-van and the Fit to last us for 3 years so we can just buy a car cash. The fates would really have to be in our favor on that one. Just to be safe, If both cars are still in good shape come Feb 2017, I will give my dad the 9k I had saved and then another big chunk ever six months so that I don't touch it. I still have trust issues with myself and money.
I was not impressed with myself with how I handled February's budget. We splurged on 3 occasions. I used the excuse that it was our treat for tax season but it ended up being over $540.00. I could enthrall you with a justification why each item was 'needed' but it all boils down to that I have very little self-control when I have money laying around. This is why I ALWAYS struggle with budgeting/savings. If I have 5k in savings then what is this small $75.00 going to matter...unfortunately $75.00 turns into $750 and within a few months I am broke. I need to stop this cycle.
My goal for March is to not go over on any of my budgetary lines....not even a cent. This will be tough because I have to budget for DS1's birthday, Easter, down payment on my sisters car and repairs on the FIT. I can do it!!!
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
New Job
Tuesday I had my 3rd and last interview with the new job. They said I should hear their final decision either this Friday or Monday of next week. The sooner the better, because I would like to give my current job at least one weeks notice because I will desperately need a week off between jobs.
There are many pros to this new job but many glaring downsides. My current job has maximum flexibility in schedule. You can come in anytime between 530am - 9:30am. They don't get when you take your breaks and lunches as long as they follow state/federal guidelines. My new job has very strict start times and breaks. Being more than 2 minutes late is an occurrence. You 'shift' changes every 6 months with shift bids that are all based on seniority. I have dealt with this before at a previous job. Luckily this job hours is 7:30am to 6:30pm... unlike my other job which was 24 hours.
I also will no longer be working from home. I realized early on that going in to an office each day is better on my overall health, there are some things I am going to miss such as wearing yoga pants every day and being able to start laundry throughout the day.
I will have to start commuting but luckily I live fairly close with tons of backwards. My interview was at 8am, the height of commuter traffic and I still got there in 15 minutes.
The biggest pull to this job would have to be the pay. Starting off is 2 dollars more an hour than I am making now. You are guaranteed a raise at least twice year. My little sister starting at PSE 4 years ago making 13 dollars an hour and now makes $30.00. Granted she has been promoted a few times but still!!! I use to be an admin at my current job and I was filing paperwork for people who had been with the company for 25 years who made less than my sister.
I feel pretty confident that I got the job but I won't know until later in the week......so I will sit in limbo until then.
There are many pros to this new job but many glaring downsides. My current job has maximum flexibility in schedule. You can come in anytime between 530am - 9:30am. They don't get when you take your breaks and lunches as long as they follow state/federal guidelines. My new job has very strict start times and breaks. Being more than 2 minutes late is an occurrence. You 'shift' changes every 6 months with shift bids that are all based on seniority. I have dealt with this before at a previous job. Luckily this job hours is 7:30am to 6:30pm... unlike my other job which was 24 hours.
I also will no longer be working from home. I realized early on that going in to an office each day is better on my overall health, there are some things I am going to miss such as wearing yoga pants every day and being able to start laundry throughout the day.
I will have to start commuting but luckily I live fairly close with tons of backwards. My interview was at 8am, the height of commuter traffic and I still got there in 15 minutes.
The biggest pull to this job would have to be the pay. Starting off is 2 dollars more an hour than I am making now. You are guaranteed a raise at least twice year. My little sister starting at PSE 4 years ago making 13 dollars an hour and now makes $30.00. Granted she has been promoted a few times but still!!! I use to be an admin at my current job and I was filing paperwork for people who had been with the company for 25 years who made less than my sister.
I feel pretty confident that I got the job but I won't know until later in the week......so I will sit in limbo until then.
Paying it Off!!!
The 2015 tax return was deposited on February 10th. It is now February 17th and most of the money is gone but the choices we made took us in a more positive direction.
$2,490.00 - Paid off the smallest of our two credit cards. This freed up $75.00 dollars a month. I hide the credit card so it was not readily available. I really wanted to cancel it but I need some available credit hanging around to help bring up my credit score.
$1,601.00 - The mini van is paid off. We now own both of our cars. When Rosie called me with the pay off balance, I was surprised as I had estimated it would be between 2-3k. Because of the savings I decided to make some other pay offs.
$1675.00 - This went to our discover loan. About 2 years ago Rosie lost her job for 7 months. During that time we could not afford to make all of our minimum payments and we stopped making payments on the Discover loan. Once Rosie was employed we started up the minimum payment of $564 a month but we still had an outstanding payment of $3,000 caring over each month for the months we did not pay. The additional funds I added is helping us to get caught up because the loan matures in July of 2017. I am hoping to get read of it by tax season of next year. I also increased our month payment to $600.00 even to help out a bit.
$1,500 - To pay of our attorney for DS2 adoption in 2013. I hate that is has been so long. We had always planned to pay him when our 2013 taxes came in (which we are still working on) and finally decided to just pay him and get it over with instead of waiting on the IRS to move their ass.
$94.00 - Received a letter from a creditor saying they will take the payment of $94.00 for a debt of $250.00. We jumped at the change. I really need to pull my credit because I know we probably have a several hundred dollars worth of this type of debit that need to be dealt with.
$260.00 - Rosie went the dentist and needed a crown put in. Luckily we have very good insurance but it ends on the 26th if everything goes well on this new job. The dentist isn't sure if the crown will be available in time so we might need to shell out a bit more for 'Installation'.
I am still waiting on the $2400 dollars for the 2013 taxes. My tax advocate promised to get back to me on the 10th. On the 11th I called and left a VM but didn't hear back. I received a letter on Monday that apologized that out advocate was unable to get back to us but she will contact me by February 22nd,
I am trying not get frustrated as common sense tells me that something happened unexpectedly like an illness or death in the family. At the same time I have been waiting 3 stinking years and I am getting irritated.
Moving forward, by the end of March I will be writing a check for $3000.00 to my older sister for the down payment on her car. I will pay her the remaining 2k in June. She just borrowed our elliptical machine to 'try it out' and if she likes it I might be able to sell it to her and deduct it off what I owe on the car.
That is it for the big pay offs for 2016. The rest of the year is to stay on budget, keep making payments on debt and do not add any new debt. The only exception is that I have a feeling we are going to need to buy a second car this year. I budgeted for 3k down payment plus trading in our two current cars (not the one I am buying from my sister). That should lower my payments and then I budgeted to completely pay it off the beginning of 2017.
If all goes well the Discover Loan will be paid off in January of 2017 and the Discover Credit card the beginning of 2018. Then I will use the first few months of being debt free to search out and pay off all the little things that have gone to collections and the first time since I was 20 years old be 100% debt free!!!
$2,490.00 - Paid off the smallest of our two credit cards. This freed up $75.00 dollars a month. I hide the credit card so it was not readily available. I really wanted to cancel it but I need some available credit hanging around to help bring up my credit score.
$1,601.00 - The mini van is paid off. We now own both of our cars. When Rosie called me with the pay off balance, I was surprised as I had estimated it would be between 2-3k. Because of the savings I decided to make some other pay offs.
$1675.00 - This went to our discover loan. About 2 years ago Rosie lost her job for 7 months. During that time we could not afford to make all of our minimum payments and we stopped making payments on the Discover loan. Once Rosie was employed we started up the minimum payment of $564 a month but we still had an outstanding payment of $3,000 caring over each month for the months we did not pay. The additional funds I added is helping us to get caught up because the loan matures in July of 2017. I am hoping to get read of it by tax season of next year. I also increased our month payment to $600.00 even to help out a bit.
$1,500 - To pay of our attorney for DS2 adoption in 2013. I hate that is has been so long. We had always planned to pay him when our 2013 taxes came in (which we are still working on) and finally decided to just pay him and get it over with instead of waiting on the IRS to move their ass.
$94.00 - Received a letter from a creditor saying they will take the payment of $94.00 for a debt of $250.00. We jumped at the change. I really need to pull my credit because I know we probably have a several hundred dollars worth of this type of debit that need to be dealt with.
$260.00 - Rosie went the dentist and needed a crown put in. Luckily we have very good insurance but it ends on the 26th if everything goes well on this new job. The dentist isn't sure if the crown will be available in time so we might need to shell out a bit more for 'Installation'.
I am still waiting on the $2400 dollars for the 2013 taxes. My tax advocate promised to get back to me on the 10th. On the 11th I called and left a VM but didn't hear back. I received a letter on Monday that apologized that out advocate was unable to get back to us but she will contact me by February 22nd,
I am trying not get frustrated as common sense tells me that something happened unexpectedly like an illness or death in the family. At the same time I have been waiting 3 stinking years and I am getting irritated.
Moving forward, by the end of March I will be writing a check for $3000.00 to my older sister for the down payment on her car. I will pay her the remaining 2k in June. She just borrowed our elliptical machine to 'try it out' and if she likes it I might be able to sell it to her and deduct it off what I owe on the car.
That is it for the big pay offs for 2016. The rest of the year is to stay on budget, keep making payments on debt and do not add any new debt. The only exception is that I have a feeling we are going to need to buy a second car this year. I budgeted for 3k down payment plus trading in our two current cars (not the one I am buying from my sister). That should lower my payments and then I budgeted to completely pay it off the beginning of 2017.
If all goes well the Discover Loan will be paid off in January of 2017 and the Discover Credit card the beginning of 2018. Then I will use the first few months of being debt free to search out and pay off all the little things that have gone to collections and the first time since I was 20 years old be 100% debt free!!!
Friday, February 12, 2016
Staying Positive
I weigh myself several times a week. The WW plan recommends only doing it once a week but I was watching a video on The Great Course Plus app called "Scientific Secrets for Self-Control" By Professor C. Nathan Dewall. The professor states that people who monitoring daily (whether it be your weight or you finances) have better odds of meeting their goals then those who weigh less often.
I have been weighing about 3-4 times a week. I can see why WW says to only way once a week cause it can be a bummer when you see the scale up a pound even though you have been so good. This morning I was down 0.8 which isn't awful but I was really hoping to break into the 240s. While I weight every day I don't official track my weight until Sunday's so I still have a few days to lose at least another few ounces.
I have my testing for the job I am up for today. On the phone on Tuesday they said it was just for the testing and then they would schedule in person interviews later. The email I got yesterday stated that a in person may directly follow the testing if time allows. This meant I had to rush to the mall last night to get some appropriate interview pants as I don't think Yoga pants give off the level of professionalism I was looking for. Before WW, my size 20s were getting a bit snug, and yesterday I was able to purchase a size 18. They were a bit snug but fit well. I should be able to wear then for a few more months before they get to big.
I was going over my new budget with Rosie. She was super excited that we could be out of debt and have a 10% downpayment for a house in 4 years. We started looking at house in our price range and I was pleasantly surprised what we can get in our price range. We are living in one of the fastest growing areas in the country so prices can jump in the next 4 years but I am still hopeful.
I really need to get our spending under control. We are only on the 12th of the month and have gone through about 3/5ths of our budget. Everytime I say "we aren't spending any more" I have to get new pants for an interview or the kid's need to bring something for the Valentine's Day party. Seriously, how to others budget for these random things that pop up!!! My short term goal is to not go over our budget by a single dollar this month. It will be tough, especially in the grocery line but I think we can do it.
Well, I should probably get off. I have to work, get ready for my interview, make a grocery list, have my testing/interview, go grocery shopping and then visit my dad. The day is going to be long for sure!!
I have been weighing about 3-4 times a week. I can see why WW says to only way once a week cause it can be a bummer when you see the scale up a pound even though you have been so good. This morning I was down 0.8 which isn't awful but I was really hoping to break into the 240s. While I weight every day I don't official track my weight until Sunday's so I still have a few days to lose at least another few ounces.
I have my testing for the job I am up for today. On the phone on Tuesday they said it was just for the testing and then they would schedule in person interviews later. The email I got yesterday stated that a in person may directly follow the testing if time allows. This meant I had to rush to the mall last night to get some appropriate interview pants as I don't think Yoga pants give off the level of professionalism I was looking for. Before WW, my size 20s were getting a bit snug, and yesterday I was able to purchase a size 18. They were a bit snug but fit well. I should be able to wear then for a few more months before they get to big.
I was going over my new budget with Rosie. She was super excited that we could be out of debt and have a 10% downpayment for a house in 4 years. We started looking at house in our price range and I was pleasantly surprised what we can get in our price range. We are living in one of the fastest growing areas in the country so prices can jump in the next 4 years but I am still hopeful.
I really need to get our spending under control. We are only on the 12th of the month and have gone through about 3/5ths of our budget. Everytime I say "we aren't spending any more" I have to get new pants for an interview or the kid's need to bring something for the Valentine's Day party. Seriously, how to others budget for these random things that pop up!!! My short term goal is to not go over our budget by a single dollar this month. It will be tough, especially in the grocery line but I think we can do it.
Well, I should probably get off. I have to work, get ready for my interview, make a grocery list, have my testing/interview, go grocery shopping and then visit my dad. The day is going to be long for sure!!
Thursday, February 11, 2016
DEBT
RANDOM UPDATE!!
I was looking at my old posts and in my intro I said we were sitting on around 40k debt. I added up the numbers and the end of this month we will officially be only............21K in debt. That number is a lot less overwhelming than 40k.
THE END
I was looking at my old posts and in my intro I said we were sitting on around 40k debt. I added up the numbers and the end of this month we will officially be only............21K in debt. That number is a lot less overwhelming than 40k.
THE END
It Has Been a While
It has been a long month full of changes. I have a few other posts saved on my desktop that I wrote offline, but I thought I would start fresh.
1. MOVING
Things fell through with my MIL again so we decided to move forward with an apartment. With us giving our foster care license up and losing a roommate, we are still a family of 6. We NEED a 4 bedroom apartment to make it work. Luckily, so I thought, their have been about 6 new apartment complexes with 4 bedrooms that have been built in the past few years with 10 miles of our house. Easy, right? Well APPARENTLY all of them are part of an affordable housing initiative. The get big subsidies from the State and Fed to build as long as they follow certain guidelines. One of those guidelines is an income cap. We have to make less than 62k a year to live in them and we make 67k.
There are no 4 bedroom apartment complexes in the area that aren't part of this initiative so an apartment was out. I started looking at houses. The cheapest I could find would be only $300 dollars less a month and we would not be able to bring all of our dogs with us. When I did the math, it would take over 1.5 years to recoup the money we spent to move. Why put in all that work to move if it is going to take years to see any results.
So I did the math, and we decided to take the money we had saved for moving and we paid off a credit card and the car payment. We ended up savings $375 dollars in monthly payments. I forecasted until the end of 2017 and if we stay on budget we could buy my sisters car with cash, put a sizeable down payment on another (keeping the monthly payments down under 150) and free up another 900 dollars a month by the end of 2017.
If we continue with that goal, we should be able to put a 10% payment down on a home by summer of 2019. I think that is a pretty good plan. I am sad we are not moving because there is a TON of stuff I don't like about this house, but not having the pack clean, unpack, clean and resettle the entire family is a plus.
2. WEIGHT - Rosie, DD1 and myself are still going to strong on weight watchers. As of last Sunday I am down 13.8 pounds. The eating habits are becoming second nature. My head still swims when I realize I still have 115 pounds to go, but I got this. Rosie and I got Fitbit Charge HR's. My daily steps is pitiful. I was working on bring it up, but am giving myself a break for reasons you will see in the next paragraph.
3. CIGARETTES: Yesterday, I bit the bullet and put on my first nicotine patch. It has been 24 hours and I admit it has been tough. I was successful 2 other times with quitting smoking (5years and 1 year) and I don't remember it being this hard. DD1 was so nice to comment that it was probably because I was getting old. I am staying strong and am hoping that this will pass quickly. I am still getting the nicotine so right now I am just fighting the physical act of smoking and the jump in nicotine when times get stressful. Once I have those under control, I will start lowering the strength of patch. I am hoping by March to be completely nicotine free.
4. BUDGET: I talked a lot about this in the moving portion of the post. I have to revamp how I handled savings at the end of the year because December was a mess. I didn't watch our budget at all in January and had to get a small payday loan to get through the end of the month. With our tax return I have a chunk in savings to make sure that doesn't happen again.
I finally got paid for the side job. It was about 3 hundred less than expected, but I made it work. I got a tax advocate for the 2013 taxes. She was suppose to call me yesterday with an update but still no word. She did say we should have this all taken care of by the end of the month. that 2.7k would definitely help boost my savings account.
5. JOB: I was so sure I was going to get fired the beginning of February but they gave me another month. I got a phone interview from my little sisters work and am going in for basic testing on Friday. The following week will be an in person interview and if that goes well a drug test (which I will pass). They said they would start training on March 7th. I am hoping they will offer me the job before the end of the month so I can give myself a week off in between jobs.
Another piece of good news is that the insurance kicks in the 1st day of the month after you are hired. Only have 1 month of no insurance relieves a lot of stress. I am nervous that the insurance rate to cover the entire family will be to high. Currently I work for a health insurance company so I have the entire family insured for very little compared to most companies. All of my kids, except my eldest, have state insurance as part of their adoption agreement so I may only insure Rosie and myself if the price is to high. I really like having the kids double insured but it may not be financial feasible right now. DD1 would qualify to get state insurance on her own so everyone would be insured.
That is life for now. Plans will change at least 100 times before my weight, smoke free, debt free and buying house goals are done but, right now, I feel like I am on track.
1. MOVING
Things fell through with my MIL again so we decided to move forward with an apartment. With us giving our foster care license up and losing a roommate, we are still a family of 6. We NEED a 4 bedroom apartment to make it work. Luckily, so I thought, their have been about 6 new apartment complexes with 4 bedrooms that have been built in the past few years with 10 miles of our house. Easy, right? Well APPARENTLY all of them are part of an affordable housing initiative. The get big subsidies from the State and Fed to build as long as they follow certain guidelines. One of those guidelines is an income cap. We have to make less than 62k a year to live in them and we make 67k.
There are no 4 bedroom apartment complexes in the area that aren't part of this initiative so an apartment was out. I started looking at houses. The cheapest I could find would be only $300 dollars less a month and we would not be able to bring all of our dogs with us. When I did the math, it would take over 1.5 years to recoup the money we spent to move. Why put in all that work to move if it is going to take years to see any results.
So I did the math, and we decided to take the money we had saved for moving and we paid off a credit card and the car payment. We ended up savings $375 dollars in monthly payments. I forecasted until the end of 2017 and if we stay on budget we could buy my sisters car with cash, put a sizeable down payment on another (keeping the monthly payments down under 150) and free up another 900 dollars a month by the end of 2017.
If we continue with that goal, we should be able to put a 10% payment down on a home by summer of 2019. I think that is a pretty good plan. I am sad we are not moving because there is a TON of stuff I don't like about this house, but not having the pack clean, unpack, clean and resettle the entire family is a plus.
2. WEIGHT - Rosie, DD1 and myself are still going to strong on weight watchers. As of last Sunday I am down 13.8 pounds. The eating habits are becoming second nature. My head still swims when I realize I still have 115 pounds to go, but I got this. Rosie and I got Fitbit Charge HR's. My daily steps is pitiful. I was working on bring it up, but am giving myself a break for reasons you will see in the next paragraph.
3. CIGARETTES: Yesterday, I bit the bullet and put on my first nicotine patch. It has been 24 hours and I admit it has been tough. I was successful 2 other times with quitting smoking (5years and 1 year) and I don't remember it being this hard. DD1 was so nice to comment that it was probably because I was getting old. I am staying strong and am hoping that this will pass quickly. I am still getting the nicotine so right now I am just fighting the physical act of smoking and the jump in nicotine when times get stressful. Once I have those under control, I will start lowering the strength of patch. I am hoping by March to be completely nicotine free.
4. BUDGET: I talked a lot about this in the moving portion of the post. I have to revamp how I handled savings at the end of the year because December was a mess. I didn't watch our budget at all in January and had to get a small payday loan to get through the end of the month. With our tax return I have a chunk in savings to make sure that doesn't happen again.
I finally got paid for the side job. It was about 3 hundred less than expected, but I made it work. I got a tax advocate for the 2013 taxes. She was suppose to call me yesterday with an update but still no word. She did say we should have this all taken care of by the end of the month. that 2.7k would definitely help boost my savings account.
5. JOB: I was so sure I was going to get fired the beginning of February but they gave me another month. I got a phone interview from my little sisters work and am going in for basic testing on Friday. The following week will be an in person interview and if that goes well a drug test (which I will pass). They said they would start training on March 7th. I am hoping they will offer me the job before the end of the month so I can give myself a week off in between jobs.
Another piece of good news is that the insurance kicks in the 1st day of the month after you are hired. Only have 1 month of no insurance relieves a lot of stress. I am nervous that the insurance rate to cover the entire family will be to high. Currently I work for a health insurance company so I have the entire family insured for very little compared to most companies. All of my kids, except my eldest, have state insurance as part of their adoption agreement so I may only insure Rosie and myself if the price is to high. I really like having the kids double insured but it may not be financial feasible right now. DD1 would qualify to get state insurance on her own so everyone would be insured.
That is life for now. Plans will change at least 100 times before my weight, smoke free, debt free and buying house goals are done but, right now, I feel like I am on track.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Dreading it
My dad requested to 'Chat' tonight. I am not looking forward to it. I had to give him some bad news a few days ago and after a few days to 'Chew on it' I know I am going to get an earful. No yelling but just a long long LONG lecture about how he feels about the situation while completely ignoring, disregarding or just plain shitting on the reason my sisters and I came to our decision.
I was going to explain the whole long history put two pages in I was only half way into the story it was getting to wordy. Here is the quick version.
Several years ago my dad started a family vacation tradition with his 3 daughters and their families. The first few years he paid to rent condos at the ocean. My family had a BLAST but my dad didn’t feel like it he got what he wanted out of it. Add to that drama between him and my older sister, he decided he didn’t want to pay for those expensive trips.
He then high-jacked our family camping trip Rosie and I take with our kids every year. Those vacations were tough enough with 6 special needs kids, but add 7 more people and it was miserable and I left crying. The second year I requested he find a location with cabins my family could rent (at my cost) to make it work, and being ignored by my dad; I put my foot down and said NO MORE CAMPING!!
Dad countered that we could plan something else but we would have to chip in for the accommodations which we all agreed. I soon realized that his version of “Chipping in” meant we all paid are equal share. I officially lost it last weekend after a conversation with my dad.
He called, checking in, and I explained my concerns about find affordable housing options for 2 nights. He responded that he was actually hoping for 3 nights and not 2. I explained that since I was having a hard time finding reasonable accommodations for 2 nights that 3 was off the table. He then suggested that we go to a water theme park that was an entire state away. WTF!!!
This 2 day trip would use are entire summer activity budget and I we would be miserable most of the time. So after talking with my sisters we decided that a fun filled day trip would be a better option. I spent a lot of time and thought and planned a day trip that would be fun for everyone. It was still expensive but doable. (anything times 8 is expensive)
I called my dad on Sunday night. I explained with the dynamic of my family and the costs, that an overnight trip wouldn’t work for us. I explained that I understand his reasons of not wanting to pay for the trip himself (which was kind of a lie since he is loaded). I stated that I LOVED his idea for vacation away and maybe we can address it again in a few years when we stop doing foster care, are kids are older, and we have made more progress with the kids traumas and triggers. I gave him my alternative ideas, explained that they had all been approved by my sisters and that we could all pay for these things ourselves.
He kind of went all over the place with his responses. It was so confusing!! The only feeling I could get of him during the 45 minutes “conversation” was that he wasn’t impressed with my day trip idea. So he said he would chew on it and call me back. UGH!!
I was going to explain the whole long history put two pages in I was only half way into the story it was getting to wordy. Here is the quick version.
Several years ago my dad started a family vacation tradition with his 3 daughters and their families. The first few years he paid to rent condos at the ocean. My family had a BLAST but my dad didn’t feel like it he got what he wanted out of it. Add to that drama between him and my older sister, he decided he didn’t want to pay for those expensive trips.
He then high-jacked our family camping trip Rosie and I take with our kids every year. Those vacations were tough enough with 6 special needs kids, but add 7 more people and it was miserable and I left crying. The second year I requested he find a location with cabins my family could rent (at my cost) to make it work, and being ignored by my dad; I put my foot down and said NO MORE CAMPING!!
Dad countered that we could plan something else but we would have to chip in for the accommodations which we all agreed. I soon realized that his version of “Chipping in” meant we all paid are equal share. I officially lost it last weekend after a conversation with my dad.
He called, checking in, and I explained my concerns about find affordable housing options for 2 nights. He responded that he was actually hoping for 3 nights and not 2. I explained that since I was having a hard time finding reasonable accommodations for 2 nights that 3 was off the table. He then suggested that we go to a water theme park that was an entire state away. WTF!!!
This 2 day trip would use are entire summer activity budget and I we would be miserable most of the time. So after talking with my sisters we decided that a fun filled day trip would be a better option. I spent a lot of time and thought and planned a day trip that would be fun for everyone. It was still expensive but doable. (anything times 8 is expensive)
I called my dad on Sunday night. I explained with the dynamic of my family and the costs, that an overnight trip wouldn’t work for us. I explained that I understand his reasons of not wanting to pay for the trip himself (which was kind of a lie since he is loaded). I stated that I LOVED his idea for vacation away and maybe we can address it again in a few years when we stop doing foster care, are kids are older, and we have made more progress with the kids traumas and triggers. I gave him my alternative ideas, explained that they had all been approved by my sisters and that we could all pay for these things ourselves.
He kind of went all over the place with his responses. It was so confusing!! The only feeling I could get of him during the 45 minutes “conversation” was that he wasn’t impressed with my day trip idea. So he said he would chew on it and call me back. UGH!!
Friday, January 8, 2016
Lost some weight and gained some family drama
I weighted myself today. I know I am only supposed to once a week but DD1 did it so I had to, right?
I AM DOWN 3 POUNDS!!
I know the first few weeks you drop dramatically so I am not expecting these type results going forward, but it feels good to making progress so only on.
I work from home and DD1 stays home and watches DS2 as he was struggling in a daycare setting. DD1 needed the income and it has worked our wonderfully. DD1 and I brainstormed some lunch and ideas and together we made chicken salad sandwiches. We added non fat mayo, ½ oz cheese, cucumber, celery, carrots, pickle relish and some salt and pepper. We used some small pita wraps and we have ourselves a 6 point mega sandwich. I am so proud of us.
Last night was a tough one. We received a call from Rosie’s brother that my MIL was passed out drunk in the hallway. She has been an alcoholic the 13 years I have known her but the last year it has been really bad. She had a stroke the day after Thanksgiving and will all the meds we were on we decided to call an ambulance.
She lives about 20 minutes away so by the time I got there she was being moved into the ambulance. I tried to get the full story of what happened from my BIL, MIL’s roommate and some random chick who was there as well, but it was pretty obvious they were all fairly drunk themselves. I ended up heading to two hospitals (she wasn’t at the one the ambulance driver told me there were going to) and stayed with her until I could drive her home at 2am.
She tried to tell the doctor she had only 2 drinks t 2pm but at 10pm her blood alcohol level was 3 times the legal limit so we knew she was full of it. She was belligerent and annoying at first but I drew the line quickly of what I would put up with and she calmed down. I requested a social worker and she was able to provide me with some resources on detox/impatient/outpatient/al-non options. By the end of the trip MIL seemed to be on board with getting help, but I told we would talk again when she was sober as she tends to change her mind.
Tonight Rosie and I are meeting BIL for dinner to really discuss how we want to deal with MIL. We need to help her but need to keep boundaries to keep ourselves sane. BIL is as much of an alcoholic as him mom so I am not sure he can be as much help, but as least he will know the game plan and won’t throw a fit that he wasn’t included.
On a lighter note, I get to babysit my friend’s 4 week old baby tomorrow morning. I am so excited!!! DD1 came to us at 13, DS1 at 3, DD2 at 2 and DS2 at 16 months so I have never really had much baby time.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
I missed blogging!!
I so missed blogging!! My vent yesterday got me motivated to call out Rosie and DD1. They both stepped up and we got a killer grocery list made. DD1 went shopping with me and Rosie and I prepped food and snack baggies late last night.
I was able to get a discount for WW through my work so could afford to sign up both Rosie and I. I weighed myself at was at a staggering 266.6. UGH!!! I won’t post Rosie’s or DD1 weight for privacy reasons but we are all in the same boat. My weigh-in date is on Monday, so I will keep you posted.
On a financial note, I am taking the new year to clear up some financial lose ends. I have been fighting with the IRS for years on an adoption tax credit for DD2 that was posted on my 2013 tax return. My accountant is USELESS, so I finally contacted a tax advocate and they accepted my case. When that comes through I will be $2,800 richer and can pay off some lose bills that have been hanging over my head.
I am also waiting on a paycheck for around $1,200 for one of my side jobs. I was promised it back in November and still haven’t seen it. The new promise from my employer is to have it before he leaves for a business trip at the end of this month. I am not getting my hopes up but that could really help kick off my 2016 budget.
I am trying to get some services for my foster son. He needs to be seen at the ADHD clinic and get mental health services. I followed up with his teacher on the ADHD clinic forms I sent her in September and filled out an application to get approved for mental health services through the state website. When I started foster care 7 years ago, this was usually all done by the social worker but apparently they are now putting it in my hands.
In my intro post I talked about us retiring from foster care this summer. The sibling set we have now have been in care for 1 year and have been placed with us since June of 2015. The state is taking the first steps towards terminated parental rights but it still up in the air whether their will go up for adoption or be reunified to their parents. I have a feeling it will go towards adoption but until the judge decides it can go anyway.
Rosie and I have decided that we cannot be an adoptive placement for the kiddos. While we adore them, we already have 4 kiddos with various levels of special needs and we really need to focus on them.
People always comment about how hard it must be for them to go home. Honestly, kiddos going home is easy. We as foster parents, the state and the parents did their part and it is a great feeling. The hardest part is when they become legally free and you cannot be the one to adopt them. We have only had this happen once before and this was a kiddo we had off and on for 5 years. We loved him so much but his behavioral issues were off the charts. The school called the cops on him when he was in Kindergarten, if that gives you an indication of his behaviors. Towards the end we had social workers living with us day and night to help with him and still had the cops called twice. He was only 8 years old. He is in a residential treatment center and we visit monthly.
So, my heart breaks when I realize we won’t be adopting our foster son & daughter but I found a perfect alternative. A friend of my Dad (Papi) and Stepmother’s are becoming licensed to be foster parents. Once they are licensed they are going to meet with us and the kiddos. If things go well, I will approach the social worker about considering them as a possible adoptive placement.
Have a great day!!
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers
The plan was to start on January 4th. My oldest daughter (DD1) and I planned this weeks ago after a heart to heart on the drive home from therapy. So why haven’t we started yet? Prepare for a rant y’all.
The moment Rosie caught wind of our weight loss plan she wanted to join. This is great except that I had budgeted for 1 membership, not 2. That’s fine we can’t join until the end of the month, but it doesn’t mean we can start eating healthier. We have been on WW before so we have a general idea of how many points we can eat, and we can use DD1’s points calculator when she signs up.
So last week, I told Rosie and DD1 to please come up with dinner, lunch and snack ideas so I can make a grocery list. I know what I like to eat but I have no idea what they would prefer. This is what I got back
- Salad with stuff in it
- Flat wraps and hummus
- Seafood
- Do I remember those snacks bags we eat last time that were really good….remember!! The ones with all the stuff in it.
- At 7 am this morning, before caffeine or a cigarette, I was wresting shoes on one of my 4 year olds and trying to get my 6 year old to stop screaming bloody murder when DD1 shoved a video in my face about making omelets in a cup with 3 ingredients and a microwave. Well she called in an omelet but it looked more like a cake, I am not quite sure.
I know what they want me to do. They want me to plan all the meals myself and then tell them what they can and cannot eat. They want me to diet for them and I am not having it this time around. I sent a text to each of them stating I need an adequate list of snack and lunch items they want as well as some dinner ideas or I am shopping for myself only. This should be fun!
Carmel Here
Hello!!! Carmel here.
Welcome to my first post. In the past my blogs have been about one specific area of my life. This time around I am writing about everything in one place. If you want to read about getting debt free, weight loss, marriage, foster care, adoption, parenting or dealing with chaos of life; you have come to the right place.
I am 33 years old and live in the Seattle area. My wife, Rosie, and I have been married for 10 years. We have been foster parents since 2009. We have foster 22 kiddos and have adopted 4. I am sitting on about 40k of debt and about 100pds overweight.
This is a year of changes:
- My wife, oldest daughter and I are starting weight watchers this week. We have had much success in the past so am hoping for a positive experience again.
- We made the hard decision of retiring from foster care this summer. Our family will decrease from 8 to 6 permanently. I am not sure how I will maintain a clean house without the monthly social worker visits to motivate me.
- I have been working a budget for several months now, but now it needs to go into over drive and really work on getting out of debt .
- I am changing jobs and am hoping to do the SAHM thing for a few months to get our life on track.
- DOWNSIZING (and I just don’t mean my butt). We live in a huge house to accommodate our huge family, but with a new budget and smaller family size we need to downsize to smaller digs.
If you want to see how we accomplish all of this and more without falling into the pit of chaos….stay tuned.
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