I have been asked this question alot lately...

By DH and all the kiddo's.

I have told them all...

I want a day without housework or cooking.

I want time with each to enjoy being a mom.

I would love a sunny day, not too hot...to sit outside and enjoy the blooms everywhere.

As far as gifts, there is HONESTLY nothing I need...so please don't spend your money on gifts...

I have beautiful flowers in the yard, so please don't buy cut flowers...

But if you'd like...a strawberry pie would taste great, along with some sun tea.

And maybe some bar-b-que for dinner...out on the back porch.

If you really are ambitious, my car could use a bath.

I am lucky enough to have a healthy family..(Thank you Lord!)

I don't really need anything else.

I was looking through a pile of mail for our car insurance bill and found, what looked like junk mail...but it was our two Great Fun gas cards $10 each.

I have tucked them away to use on our vacation to the coast at the end of the month.

Just one more savings made from all of your advice!!

Happy Dance...

I am taking DD3 (14) to a specialist this afternoon that I did not think would be covered by our insurance. (She is going to need to wear a special item of clothing until she can have surgery in 4 years)

When i called to make the appointment, they suggested calling the doctor and getting a 'prescription' for the appointment/purchase.

I called our insurance company, and sure enough...because it will be prescribed, our insurance is going to cover...about $100 saved...(although I would have spent this money anyway.)

DD3 is so excited!

Still need that whoopin stick...

Box just delivered...

A purchase from one of those catalogs that clogs up the mailbox each day...

Their health won't allow them to go shopping...but NO PROBLEM, they can shop right in their home...flipping pages..."ooh, I NEED this" "I could use this" "Oh Bill, look at this"....

Their little home...that they have no room left in...because of all the stuff they buy from the *#)&%*$ CATALOGS.

This is the third such box in as many weeks...

On their limited budget...

What's a girl to do?

On one of the discussion boards there was a question about "Healthy lessons you learned from your mom"....

DO NOT REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF YOUR PARENTS. That is my lesson....

Off to find the brick wall (again)

My challenge money is at $190.06 (thanks to another week of stairs and interest)...next week I will top $200!! yesssss!

That's what I need to borrow....

You got one???

Must be strong enough to whoop two parents....

Seniors...

Limited budget...

live month to month...

and often do not have any money the last week of the month due to a very limited budget....

but yet find logic....

in spending almost $300 for 3 pair of shoes while their daughter (ie ME) is off camping for a few days...

If you have one...(whoopin stick) please reply....

I will pay shipping expenses....

and will return when Im done...

thank you...now I am off to beat my head on a brick wall! or something....


arrrghhh...

I read this book over the weekend...and I was dissapointed to find that we are way outa whack....

We do not spend anywhere near the 30% for wants...and we overspend on the must haves.

Then I started thinking about our life.

We have a home in the country that we adore...which is what tilts the balance. Last year, we had to refi in order for me to stay home and care for my parents..and so the payment now is a little steeper. (we rolled all other debt into this one to do so)

And I kept thinking...we eat well, we save, we have clean (yet not new) clothes, we have lots of family time, we get a small allowance each, we camp , we have satellite tv for entertainment...and we have $$ set aside for vacations....but we do not spend very much each month on wants.

I had cracked this book hoping to find some great advice for making things better...and ended up realizing that things were pretty good already....even if we are a little off-kilter....It made me proud to think that we had come up with a plan that allowed us to feel 'rich' in love...without feeling 'poor'in things. and I guess thats about all we wanted/needed. Am I crazy to not want more for wants??? we seem pretty darn happy here....deprivation? whats that? lol

Because of my newfound focus and blogging here on a routine basis, I just enetered my first month of having an ENTIRE MONTH worth of bill$$$ saved up in my bill pay account and am ready to pay all my bills at once!!! (hooray!)

Ordinarily I have to use a little out of each weeks checks to stay up...but we are finally ahead of the game!! (Where is some wood to knock on!!...I guess my head will have to do)

DH has been working alot of OT and I have just left that in the bill pay account...which is a primary reason that we have enough there now! (woo-hoo)

I hope to stay on this path through the summer and hopefully get at least three months worth saved in that account.

I owe the strength to get here to the support from all of you...in the past, I have been working kinda blind...but I really have found my focus!!

Happy May Day to you all!

Just got hame from our camping trip ---and we had such a nice time!

The original couple that we were going with had to back out at the last minute...so it ended up being us, and all the kids and their families.

The weather was great. The food was wonderful...(potato packets are well worth the effort!!) Everyone had a great time.

I was up there all alone for about 6 hours on Friday and I read the Nickled and Dimed book...I enjoyed most of it and the overall message was good.

Friday night...it started to get dark...and no one had shown up yet...now mind you, I am alone...back in the woods (very remote)..no car, no cell reception...and visions of wild animals and axe murderers start running through my head...and my new best friend is a bumble bee more interested in me than I was in him....

Luckily, just as the sun said it's last hoorah, DD1 and SIL show up (hallelujah)...and the rest of our time was a campers dream...everyone went home exhausted yesterday afternoon except DH and I...we stayed and enjoyed the SILENCE!

A great weekend!! I hope all of yours went eqaully well....it is nice to be home again...and I can't wait to catch up on everyones posts!