Yay One Better On Our Credit Debt

When we paid some debt off with our tax return we paid off two of our credit cards. I wasn't sure that we were going to keep these cards open since they were charging a $39 per year membership fee. I called today to ask them to remove the fee and they did without any fight. It is only for one year but I can call again next year and ask them to waive the fees too. If they don't waive the fees then we can close the accounts but for now they are just in case of an emergency. We shouldn't have to use them because we have also put a little money in savings in case of life's little emergencies. I spent a total of 15 minutes on the phone and I saved us $78.00 this year. Yay I can put that money towards some other debt.

So Proud!!!

Since my oldest moved into 4th grade they have been giving out A-F grades at school. I got to go to the honor roll assembly at the school today. My oldest was on the A/B honor roll for the second time this school year. I am extremely proud of his accomplishments and hard work. I being the proud mommy that I am tried to take pictures of him but the way the children were situated on the podium there was a girl in front of him that was much taller than my son and I was only able to capture the top of his head. I will take pictures tonight to send to the grandparents so they can relish in the moment too. Great Job S!!!!!

My Struggle As A Stay At Home Mom/Housewife

I struggle almost daily with being a stay at home mom/housewife. Before I was a stay at home mom I worked in a hair salon 5 days a week and my oldest son had to go to daycare or an after school program when I worked. I actually enjoyed working other than the old lady boss who needed to retire. I would see probably between 10 and 30 customers per shift. It was always something different. I always had immediate feedback and I would get compliments on my quality of work often. I knew I was good at what I did. When The Man asked me to stay home when I was pregnant with number 2 I fought with the idea in my head and in my heart. I wouldn't have to miss my kids milestones or most of their days any more but I would have to have more duties in the house and not very many opportunities for adult interaction. I reluctantly agreed with The Man after talking to him about my concerns. I am not the perfect housekeeper and I can be quite unorganized at times. I find I will start one task and half way through sometimes I will walk away to do something else and totally forget what I was originally doing. It really takes a toll on me because I really cant figure out a GOOD daily routine that allows me to get everything done and entertain the kids all day as well. One thing I discussed with The Man before I started staying home was that I knew I wasn't going to be great at the housework and that I could not be the only one responsible for all of the housework alone. I understand that The Man works hard and brings home the money but I don't think he understands how hard it is entertaining, trying to teach the kids, and cleaning house all day. He thinks that I get to sit and watch TV and play on the computer all day. I rarely ever have the TV on since I find most of the shows a little absurd and the extra noise is just a headache waiting to happen. The Man used to be a real huge help around the house when I first started staying home but recently has started to lay more in my lap. It is difficult for me to confront him about this issue as I get quite angry and lose my words easily and cannot explain my feelings eloquently. I feel strongly about helping my two little ones learn the basics they would learn if they were attending a preschool since they are home with me all day and do not have the option of daycare to help them learn. I love watching them learn new things everyday. There are days like today when I really would like to scream at The Man and put the kids in daycare and go back to work but, where would that get me? Not very far as the daycare here is quite expensive and I most likely couldn't make up the cost of daycare as well as my cost of clothing and other job related expenses like new tools and such. I really do try to cherish each and every moment at home but today I am having a hard time with that.

Meatloaf- The Bombdiggity

Before The Man and I got married I was a single mom living on not much money and barely made ends meet. Because of this I find that I am a crazy woman when it comes to keeping my pantry stocked and having tons of food in my house. I stock up on sales and use coupons as best as I can. I have a tiny pantry closet in the kitchen as well as one cupboard I dedicate to food storage. This was not enough so we went to Costco (yes, they have Costco in England) and bought a freestanding shelving unit. The man put it upstairs in our one decent sized storage closet and I use that area for stocking up on food as well. I also realized that the price of meat here is OUTRAGEOUS. I had to figure something out to help with our grocery budget. I have found a new love for lentils. I have found I can hide them in a few meals and am always looking for more. So far I have managed to hide them in meatloaf, chili, and taco meat. The kids have not even known they were in there. This helps to extend my grocery budget and meat filled meals. Last night I wanted meatloaf for dinner. I decided to try to hide some lentils in it to see if I could get the kids to eat it. I mixed 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb ground pork, 1 egg, old fashioned oatmeal, about 2 cups of cooked lentils, diced onion, garlic salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce. I cooked this on 350 for about 40 minutes then spread ketchup over the top and cooked for about another 15-20 minutes. I loved this mix, the boys loved this mix and then after The Man got home from work in the middle of the night he came to bed and told me my meatloaf was the bombdiggity. I had to laugh half asleep because he eats almost everything that is served to him but this one was something new and something that was good enough for a compliment.

Tax Return- Debt Repayment

Being of a lower income and having 3 children we have been getting some pretty hefty tax returns since we have been married. We enjoy this extra money because it helps us get closer to our goals. With this tax return we were able to pay off 2 of our 4 credit cards and pay my mother back. Paying off the credit cards is nice but paying my mother off money that I borrowed more than 5 years ago feels even better. I feel so lucky to be able to repay her and not owe her anything any more. We have two more credit cards and our van to pay off to be completely debt free. I figure that the other two credit cards will take about a year to pay off and the van should be within the year following that. I really wanted to be debt free by January 2011 but I have come to more of a realization that while we are living in England we need to experience the country as well as repay our debts. With our enjoying England and repaying what we owe I think It should only add about 6-9 months of payments to my original January 2011 date. This will also be paying our van off about 3 years prior to the original payoff. I must say I feel really blessed that life is going great and that even though I was scared England was going to leave us totally broke, it hasn't and we actually have more now and new experiences.