Hey everyone. Where are we all at?

Now that Dave's back at work, this Friday will be his first real paycheque in 6 weeks, so we're looking forward to that. The good news is that we're still in okay shape and are on track with keeping our bills paid and not adding to our debt. I've been really resourceful and friends blessed us with gifts of groceries and stuff too. So food hasn't been an issue, which is great.

Okay, I don't want to show off, but:

Since April we've paid about $1200 onto debt and are now at about $1500 total consumer debt! I'm so proud of us. We've always been good about debt and it was all money we've spent on investing in our home that we bought last year that was in bad shape. But we're getting there. Once the line of credit is paid off ($1100 right now) we'll be adding an extra $100 a month to our van payment. And I'd like to put $100 a month into an ING-type savings account too so we could use that as short-term cash when the cars need work and stuff like that. ($400 was added to our line of credit a couple of months ago to replace the van brakes.)

You know what? I'm feeling pretty-d@mn proud of us for doing all this on an income of about $36K a year. We have four beautiful kids, own our own home and two cars, and almost have no debt aside from our mortgage. Our total financial position is that, including our home mortgage which we could now sell for about $250K, we only owe $115K.

Also, I found a great collection of articles here that keep me enthused and thinking outside the box: http://www.stretcher.com/menu/topic.htm

Kerri

I'm glad everything worked out well for you all Kerri. I'd been thinking about you and wondering if he was able to go back to work yet. :)

DH was on the verge of signing his military re-enlistment papers and we decided to take one more look around to see what's out there. The very next day some things happened and we did a complete 180. :heart: He's been accepted to school, we found a tiny little house we're moving into. It's just down the road from family, a great price and has a huge yard so we can garden. There's a clothesline (hooray!). Between DH's GI Bill and disability we'll have just enough to pay the bills- that's the scary part. (The TWG has been by my side since we found out- gleaning every idea I can! LOL) We're not sure what we'll do on months he's not in school- because it means no GI Bill those months. We plan to do a bit of the woodshop and family members are already talking up DH and his handyman skills so he can get work on the side. :) We leave here in October and DH starts school in January.

Right now we're stashing away every penny we can for months that we have no anticipated income. Our garden is doing well. In the past two weeks I've spent under $100 on groceries. We were given even MORE fence and a friend gave me a huge stash of fabric, yarn and even some oak wood for DH!

Needless to say I'll be sticking around this forum. LOL

I'm having a very hard time right now. We *should* be doing great, but we've overspent drastically getting this house set up - I don't even know what the heck we've spent money on! We should have over $1200 a month for food, clothes, gas, etc after paying bills. We have *never* had that much money. I am not sure what the heck is going on, but we've drained our checking and savings and spent our deposit from our rental and we're struggling with finding the money for the rest of the month for groceries. In fact dh and I just had a big fight about it.

I am really feeling like I have lost all control of the budget. I think what's happening is that we have been spending an insane amount on food and going out to eat and trips for ds' medical care. It feels like there is a huge hole in someone's pocket, LOL. I know some of it was big-ticket purchases like the lawnmower, camp gear and summer clothes for Katie, some clothes I bought for myself, and a combination of a huge electric bill from our old house (over a month's worth all at once) and a crazy electric bill from the new house (not sure what is going on, but I think the dehumidifier is costing about $50 a month to run!!!). But it still has me completely over the edge as far as feeling like we have racked up consumer debt that will take us a while to pay off, and we have no cushion of savings now.

So I know that with that kind of money each month, $1200, we *should* be doing awesome. It is more than we have ever had, and we've done it on $400 a month for long stretches without feeling deprived. I just hope dh and I can come together, do some meal planning and grocery shopping, and make it happen - I want to pay off the debt we've acquired as quickly as possible. I have considered selling our car and buying one outright with the $5k or so we'd end up with (how is it that we put $11k cash into this car and it's brand new and we'd only end up with $5k if we sold it? sigh), but it seems like that $200 a month payment is the least of our worries right now, and having one dependable vehicle will be very important this winter.

Anyway...thanks for listening to me vent. I haven't been here much, I have been so busy, but I sat down today and nearly had a panic attack when I looked at the bills and how I can't pay any of our credit cards off this month, plus have no money left for groceries for the rest of the month!!! The big part of this is dh is NOT on board and everytime I tell him we don't have money for something, he tells me that I should get a job. Grrrrr!!!! I think that the problem is that he has a fantasy that I could just walk in somewhere and get a $30k a year job...we live in the boonies and I'd be lucky to find one that paid half that for full-time work within a reasonable drive. And right now we get a little money for Jake's care and I can't see being able to make more than that in the short term. It's just depressing that dh doesn't want to see how we *can* make it on $32k a year (his salary before taxes) but wants to spend spend spend and have me work outside the home - which limits a lot of the things I do now to *save* money. I want to work writing articles from home for money but I had decided to take the summer off due to the move so he just sees that I'm "not working."

Okay, shutting up now. I think dh is actually coming around, but now the situation is so dire that it's going to be super tight for a while, which will mean he will feel more deprived...then he'll feel we don't have enough money coming in, when the problem is the debt we racked up overspending this summer. ARGH!

We have been in a similar situation. We have a lot more income but have been doing some expensive things we had put off (like new tires for the car $600, medical bill from ds's birth that we just got, $575, luggage for dh's business trip, $100). It is really easy to spend money. Sigh.

I am really feeling like I have lost all control of the budget.

I am with you, even with the DH not being on board part. I work part time, teaching online, but I'm off for the summer, so there is money not coming in right now. The hard part is that we had a huge tax return that precipitated our losing control. Now, it is compeletly gone, and we have very little to show for it. What is worse is I discovered that one of the big purchases DH made that I thought was cash, he put on his credit card...He has no problem charging stuff all over the place if it's something he wants.

Then, we found out I am pregnant, and I think that sent DH into a mid-life crisis of sorts;). Fortunately, the result is an expensive mountain bike(not the most expensive, I am told) and accessories and him getting in better shape and not something more serious and expensive, I guess. But, that makes it even more difficult to suggest we should be living on a shoestring, YK? He was looking forward to me getting a full time teaching job at some university in another three or four years, and now it will be at least another 8 before I'm bringing in any "real" money.

I was sick for 3 months. I am finally getting my life back in order. I am slacking and stalling on the budget, but as my house gets in order, I am making slight progress and getting closer to feeling ready to tackle it. Having the house not falling down around me makes it a little easier to focus on stuff like saving money, planning meals, etc., eh?

Hi there!

I'm new here, but I understand living on a shoestring.

My son and I live with my boyfriend who is a PHD student and TA. My ex-husband and I each have children to care for ( he has the 2 teenage girls and I have the 5 year old "special needs" boy), so there is no child support between us (it comes out even). I am laid-off for the summer from a job as a teacher's aid. My boyfriend has also been asking when we can have a child together, since he is 42 and has no children of his own and is very good with kids. He even has a "working title" for this hypothetical child, "Zardoz".
If I get pregnant, I will not be able to work after the first 3 months, because I have difficult pregnancies.

Thes last few months have not gone as I'd planned. LOL We were supposed to be out of debt except for the mortgage by now, but it didn't happen.

We had been putting so many things off and some of them finally HAD to be done, like Van tires and work etc... Then our medical bills have been crazy this year. We also had to pay the midwife in full when William was born a week and a half ago.

I'm not complaining, because these things would have had to be done anyway, just not in the order I'd planned. :lol:

We are down to $1,150.00 in CC debt and that's it. :) It won't take long to pay off and we've done well..... paying 24K off in 10 months. We still need to do more van work and then the truck is next, we still have some medical bills coming in and need to replace our savings.

With the baby born, I'm starting to feel better and have more energy, so I'm looking forward to being able to practice more frugal habbits and hopefully by sept. we'll be back on track. I really need to get our grocery bill back down and work on our electric bill. Those will probably be my main focus for the next few months, as well as continuing to aviod eat outs and staying home as much as possible.

Aileen

Aileen - congratulations! I didn't know your baby was here! (I have not been online much.)

I think you should celebrate all you have achieved. What you have left is not that much. You will get there!

Welcome, Aidansmommy!

we've racked up some credit card debt and i'd have to look into it/ask dh more about it to know why. but i opened the bill and put it in dh's bill pay spot, and it's more than i ever thought. but i feel really proud that we are putting the tax return and something extra dh got at work on that card, and it will be down a lot. just sucks that the extra couldn't go to a special memory or something else fun. oh well...our own fault, i'm sure.

in general, doing well. dh takes care of all of our finances, and we were talking recently about all the things we *could* cut back on and how much it would save. most of the bills are all in like close to $50 increments...cable, cell phone, water, telephone and dsl. besides our mortage, of course, and the darn credit card payment, the big ones are the electric bill and our awful student loan payment. can't do anything about the student loan except hope for some large lump of money to fall out of the sky, so i think i'm gonna really focus on trying to get the electric bill down. and i want to focus again on being simple and thrifty so that i'll have leftovers in the money i get for gifts and groceries and that sort of thing in order to put it towards that darn CC and eliminate that payment.

Hey... I was just talking about cutting cost with my best friend on the phone yesterday. Am I nuts to say I get an adrenaline rush when the rubber hits the road? Let me try to explain...

When we are in a comfortable phase; it is easy to become complacent- even lazy. I don't focus on meal planning, organization or conservation. I am a very conscious person but on those late nights it easier to "not cook" and opt for take out or a crappy frozen burrito for dinner.

When the money crunch is on, it is a different story. I am up, organizing, catorgorizing and planning. I soak the beans and rotate the left overs. I hang the laundry and make an extra walk-through to turn off the lights. I plan a trip to the library on the way to the grocery store for free movies, instead of that extra trip to the video rental shop.

I just get in gear when I know my "talents" are in high demand. I pay attention, I am busy and productive in the kitchen as well as the rest of the house.

I have always told myself when I "get older" I wouldn't cultivate hobbies that cost money just to busy myself. So when I am living an active, frugal lifestyle, it seems that those future (boring) golden years are farther and farther away....

Hey... I was just talking about cutting cost with my best friend on the phone yesterday. Am I nuts to say I get an adrenaline rush when the rubber hits the road? Let me try to explain...

When we are in a comfortable phase; it is easy to become complacent- even lazy. I don't focus on meal planning, organization or conservation. I am a very conscious person but on those late nights it easier to "not cook" and opt for take out or a crappy frozen burrito for dinner.

When the money crunch is on, it is a different story. I am up, organizing, catorgorizing and planning. I soak the beans and rotate the left overs. I hang the laundry and make an extra walk-through to turn off the lights. I plan a trip to the library on the way to the grocery store for free movies, instead of that extra trip to the video rental shop.

I just get in gear when I know my "talents" are in high demand. I pay attention, I am busy and productive in the kitchen as well as the rest of the house.

I don't really have much to say except that I'm TOTALLY like this! When I know I have to get serious, I look at it like a survival game and make it work. And it has a righteous pioneer-spirit about it. The rest of the time I am frugal and use extra to pay down debt, save, etc. But when I have to cut back (like right now because Dave's paycheque was about $600 less than usual, which is a bit of a pinch) we do it. I stretch every last penny and it works out somehow. Interesting. Motivation is important I guess.

Kerri

Hey... I was just talking about cutting cost with my best friend on the phone yesterday. Am I nuts to say I get an adrenaline rush when the rubber hits the road? Let me try to explain...

When we are in a comfortable phase; it is easy to become complacent- even lazy. I don't focus on meal planning, organization or conservation. I am a very conscious person but on those late nights it easier to "not cook" and opt for take out or a crappy frozen burrito for dinner.

When the money crunch is on, it is a different story. I am up, organizing, catorgorizing and planning. I soak the beans and rotate the left overs. I hang the laundry and make an extra walk-through to turn off the lights. I plan a trip to the library on the way to the grocery store for free movies, instead of that extra trip to the video rental shop.

I just get in gear when I know my "talents" are in high demand. I pay attention, I am busy and productive in the kitchen as well as the rest of the house.



:ditto: I am right there with ya, mama! During the summer, I have no income (during the "school" year, I babysit for another family) and my dh (who is a teacher) does not get paid from the school during June and July when school is out. While he does work a summer job, the income is less than half of what we're used to! But, somehow, it always works out! I'm much better about couponing; being thrifty, etc. when I absolutely have to!

Kerri- That is amazing! You should be beyond *danm* proud! What you've done is inspirational. I would not have been able to do this. Truly. You should write a book!

Kerri that is WONDERFUL! Great job!

As for the rest of you, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your honest posts. This last three months has been SO hard on us in the money area. I have been SO sick and dh is just domestically useless... so we have put way more on credit than we have in the last two years and it makes me feel sick to think about.

The main trouble is that we are at RIGHT where we need to be with Don's new paychecks. Nothing more, nothing less. It makes us in the "working poor" category and it is SO hard on dh because he has worked really hard to get here and it feels like no where good. We make under $500 a month more than we need for bills, and without me cutting strings and moving things around, shopping around to get the best deals and menu planning, and making sure I know about every little thing, well you can just imagine that things have gotten out of hand.

This last two weeks I have felt better... but now my mw is saying that I am due in Dec and not Jan and so I feel as though I have lost an entire month and am in shock. We get the u/s tomorrow and we will get to see if Little truly is a Christmas baby or not. I don't know either way... but it is more stress right as we got some relief. lol... Alex will be gone for the next 5 wks, and Don will be working CRAZY hours because of Lake Fair and a few other things going on downtown (he is a cop) and so it shoud even out with just me and Cyan at home. Hopefully. I can wish right?

Val

Whoa, Val, that has got to be a shock! Although it does seem to make sense with what you said about how it all happened...right? You had a positive very very early on?

Just hang in there...it will even out. I came to post that we're getting back on track ourselves...still have some penny-pinching to do but we're close to our budget now.

Yeah I did, but I also had a full blown moon on April 14th - 16th. So who knows... I guess we will find out tomorrow. My guess is my dates are dead on, I am due Jan 18th and I just happen to have a tall uterus like the rest of me. lol...

Right now I think that all those drs and midwives are full of crap and everything sucks. I feel like sh*t and just want to go to sleep and not wake up until 20 wks when this ms will be long over. At least I am not puking anymore right? Ugh.

I feel like sh*t and just want to go to sleep and not wake up until 20 wks when this ms will be long over.

Ahhhh, to sleep until 20 weeks....;)

Yesterday, my kids were so crazy, I decided if I didn't get them out of the house they were either going to kill eachother or I was going to go crazy...So, we went to Pear Vision to get DS's glasses adjusted and the nose piece replaced (earlier wrestling had broken it), and then we went to Target because I had been seeing all kinds of mentions of great clearance deals. So, we spent money that shouldn't have been spent, though most of it was kid's allowances. I did get a couple packs of Crayola crayons for 20 cents and a couple packs of colored pencils which the boys will need for school for 50 cents each. But, other than that, nothing we needed. Then I took them for lunch at Bennigans.

So, obviously, not getting better.

I know how hard it is to keep everyone entertained over the summer! It's so hot and they can't play outside for long, but inside they either watch tv or fight, neither of which I like. So we've been going out just for entertainment, too. I totally hear you. I bought some clearance stuff yesterday too, but I was worse and put it on a store credit-card! Ugh.

Kerri

Oh yeah, and now I have to put another $300 on my MasterCard tomorrow. I really want to cry. The kids were playing softball and couldn't find a ball, so used a ROCK and smashed out the rear windshield. Boo-hoo. The $300 is the deductible on our insurance because to pay out of pocket it would be about $700 because it has heating in for the defrost and is tinted and everything. Ugh. This is why I want to be debt free and get that minimum $1000 savings account everyone says we need to cover things like this. I'm pretty bummed out right now. And Dave's not home and will be extremely unimpressed with this when he finds out. Ugh. I guess I should be grateful it's covered by insurance. I am grateful. It can always be worse.

Kerri

The kids were playing softball and couldn't find a ball, so used a ROCK and smashed out the rear windshield. Boo-hoo.
Kerri

Oh, no! You're right, I guess it could be worse--at least it was the car and not one of them that got hit with the rock!

Darn!

Hi. We are almost debt free with the exception of mortgage and student loan payments, we are. We do have a telephone contract which we are breaking soon. So we will go month to month on that expense as well.

I am trying to live frugally for org groceries and clothing. Am going to sell some clothes and toys tomorrow to the local resale shop and take the rest to the women's shelter.

I'd love some accountability and ideas as I go.

:help:

I used to feel like a simplifying and thrift guru but since our move we have been so off track. It didn't help that we had a contracting nightmare that kept us out of our home for over 3 months so we were paying for a place we weren't living in, helping with bills where we were living, driving longer distances and eating out to get out of my parents hair.

Our contracting nightmare and spending money uncontrollably while being misplaced has put us in a tight spot. I really need to dive in and become super frugal girl again.

I think I need to dust off my tightwad gazette.

Just a word of faith: I know it's here, within us! We have the power to reclaim our finanaces, our households, our lives! So many of you mamas have been such an inspiration to me; I know we can do it!

I have been very proud of myself in the past; I know I can do it! At the moment, I am just trying to plan for the future. That doesn't take control of the here and now, which is overwhelming to me, but it is a start, and it is easier for me. I am planning for Christmas and baby time--freezer meals, baking, holiday meals, and treats, etc.

I set our savings to take $50 a month, and that will be used for Christmas expenses. I am on the lookout for awesome, simple gifts, as my kids have so much. I am actually creating wishlists at a couple of places this year--Rainbow Resource, Oompa Toys, maybe some others...I will send out my annual "memories not plastic" letter out to family with the wishlists in October, probably, as DD's birthday is in November. I am really hoping people will do some more creative things for/with my kids rather than buy more plastic, and while they have done really well in following what we're looking for, there always seem to be those last minute, excessive gifts that they feel they have to get for the whole "bling" factor--you know, the huge, heavily-advertised piece of crap that gets the kids all excited when they open it up and is forgotten by the end of the day?

So, that is a start, I guess. I need to move on to the present, but I feel good about having those plans in place. Plus, when school starts in the fall, I won't have much time for sitting down and daydreaming about Christmas, so it will be good to have plans ready to follow then.

I hear you on the Christmas bling thing. We ask our children what they want and we try to get that for them. A good thing is that they see no commercials and we rarely are in toy stores so they, so far, don't have a lot of crazy ideas in their heads. We try to get them what they want and we've seen the joy in that. We also don't give a lot, though but there is the bling factor to them as they are getting what they want and we always have a lot of presents because there is a lot of us.

$50 a month is a good idea.

Thanks! I am also thinking that by having that time planned out, it will help me now, as I will know what I will be needing when I start cooking all that stuff, and I can get it a little at a time from my co-op, etc.

I'd really like to get 4-6 weeks of meals in my freezer/pantry. I know we'll wind up using them a little before the baby comes (Jan. 11 is my due date), especially if I go past due, and in the middle of January in Michigan, I'd prefer not to have to venture out to the grocery store with a new baby and other kids in tow. DH is always willing to make a stop at the grocery on the way home, but, his time will be better spent at home during that time too ;). Also, I'd like to get a lot of it done before Christmas, as I want that time to be spent with the kids and any other family that might appear at our door.

Speaking of Christmas: I asked dd what she wanted for Christmas and she said she wants daddy to make more wooden cars for her, a wooden helicopter so she and her brother can play their airplane and helicopter together and she wants mommy to make matching blankets for her and her brother. :hbeat: Is that not the best?

We're *really* not giving a lot this year. I want to bake a lot and take it to family and neighbors personally, since this will be the first Christmas we're near family. I'd rather get to know the neighbors and the kids spend time over cookies and hot cocoa with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles and the works than be overwhelmed with stuff.

DH will make the kids something, maybe one big thing and a small item each, I'll make them each something and maybe one traded or bought present as well as a big basket of art supplies from Santa. That's it. I wanted the bought gift to be magazine subscriptions but DH thinks they need something they can open. :lol:

Ugh, I was just thinking about posting here to vent, LOL. Dh has been working a second job for over a month now, but I still haven't been able to set as much aside as we'd hoped. It doesn't help that his former contract agency shorted him about $500 and he won't even call them about it (not that it would do any good....they are in the middle of restructuring to try to become solvent again and you can't even really get a hold of anyone).

I think it comes from putting off almost all major purchases for the past 6-12 months. Everything we need for the baby, I've just bought in the past couple weeks. My car needed work, now our van needs work, etc. It just all seems like a lot at once.

We also have over $20k in unpaid medical bills--we had insurance through aforementioned contract agency and we paid $1200+/mo in premiums, but none of the claims have been paid. We made the difficult decision to NOT start paying those bills ourselves due to our unsold CA house situation, but now our credit is seriously messed up with collections accounts. We discovered our house in CA needs over $100k in structural repairs which would take a minimum of 4-6 months, plus based on the geologist's report I don't think we'd EVER be able to sell it after....so we are trying to come to an agreement re. a fair price for the builder to buy it back from us. They are seriously low-balling us, but they know our only alternative is chapter 7, so they have us by the you-know-whats. :(

We're just trying to hang on and save up to move in September/October. If we do get $$ from the house then we are going to pay off our cars and rent for 2-3 years. Renting will save us over $1000k/mo. vs. buying plus allow us to buy down our student loans and pay off the cars (saving $1000/mo in car payments) so it seems like a great plan. We just need to get our danged $$ out of the house somehow.

So far in my quest to be more frugal, I have started cooking everything from scratch, no more pre-packaged foods. I've switched all of our paper products to cloth(except toilet paper because everyone else refused to use cloth!). I started using cloth diapers and wipes. I have bought every piece of clothing for the girls' fall wardrobes from either thrift stores, yard sales, or great deals I have found on here. The only thing I am having trouble with is the darn electric bill. I use the air conditioner very sparingly but I just got a notice that the rates are going up again next month and I seriously have no idea what else to do to cut the costs. I am not looking forward to the heating costs this winter!

I am very

Planning ahead. OMG. Jody, I am so glad you have the mind to do this... I have been having a hard time sticking to a menu for a week. I threw up three times yesterday and had gas pains that put me to bed at 9pm on Don's day off (which I try really hard not to do because then I get upset that we have no time together during the week... but I had to... I just was no fun. Grumpy and pissed off, and in pain to boot!)

I keep wondering if I was this sick with the other ones, and I really wasn't. I asked Don about it yesterday and he said he didn't remember me being this out of commission with Cyan. It's crazy!

As far as the OT, We have been doing better this month with finanaces. Even WITH the planned credit card usage and the unexpected disappearing $50 bill we have been doing ok and making better choices. I mean, at least the use was planned right? With two birthdays (which were big ones! 5 and 10!!) and Don's schedule being WHACKED due to Lake Fair and the Natzi's coming into town, I feel like I have kept on top of it well enough. We also set in motion a few things that will make finanaces easier in the future. I finally contacted one of Don's old credit cards and had them close out his account. I got the other one transfered to a lower interest rate card and got a large auto payment set up for three days after payday. I have one thing I need to catch up on next week when we get paid and then we will not be at all behind. Just on time and pulling together.

Becasue of the pregnancy I called and asked if we still qualify for WIC. We do, so we got $40 worth of vouchers for the Farmers Market and I am planning on going down and picking up three boxes of peaches and some cherries to can for later in the winter. When my dads apple tree comes ripe (which should be right around the first of Sept) he said we could have a bunch of those to make Apple Sauce again this year, and I just got a update email from our local organic blueberry farm saying they were going to be ready come August 1st. (The blueberries are U Pick and they are usually about $1 lb. Between my dad and I, we get about 50lbs each year and they are frozen and made into things all year long.) My tomato plants are HUGE and have millions of little green tomatos on them... I will have to do some canning/freezing of those as well. And to top it all off, we are almost out of last years meat from the freezer. So I have to find some way to restock that... pork is easy. We have a friend who owns a pig farm and keeps his pigs in VERY humane conditions, feeds them grain he grows himself, allows them to self wean their young, and cares for them very well. But with beef... well I used to buy a whole pig and then trade half of it for beef and fill my and my dads freezer for the year. Now we can still get pork, but the beef friend moved away. So that has gotten much harder. Have to start looking.

After canning season I will start thinking about Christmas. I want to declutter and really be able to get into the kids rooms and finish up a few projects in there (Cyan's kitchen I made her from last summer is STILL missing curtians. lol) and then get a bit more organised as well. I have the motivation.... I am just waiting for the time and energy. It should be coming any minute... but then canning season will start and I will be up to my ears in fruit... so who knows.

OMG I just wrote a book... and my dd is begging for juice.

We've been doing pretty good here. We haven't touched the credit cards since the beginning of the year (well, except for $10 when DH wanted to download music and couldn't get the debit card to go through for some reason).

We depleted most of our savings when my van went through it's mid-life crisis. However, we were very blessed that my aunt paid for the transmission and said that we didn't need to pay her back. She was going to help pay for preschool but said she would give us the transmission money instead.

We also refinanced our cars this week which will drop our monthly payment, and we are on schedule to pay off the van this year.

I am also excited that I am also on-track to have Christmas money this year. I started a Christmas club last year and have been been faithfully putting $40 a month in it. Christmas always throws our budget for a loop, but I am hoping that this year will be different.

On the homefront, I have been lousy about meal plans. We've been eating a lot of crap - mac 'n cheese with hamburg, hot dogs, tuna fish sandwiches. It's just been too hot to think about food lately. But at least we've really reigned in our fast food habit. We're down to once or twice a month which is a huge improvement from where we were a year or two ago.

Gas prices have really put a crimp in our budget. It's been hard with the weather as hot as it is and without air conditioning in our house, we've been making a lot of trips to the beach which are fun and mostly free but use a lot of gas. Also, we've somehow developed the habit of getting ice cream after the beach. It's turning into a nice little family tradition, but it's not something I've budgeted for.

But all and all things are going well here. :happy:

Okay, just have to freak out a little, and am too upset to post it on the main market board. You guys are my community here on Amity!

My little Adam took off on his bike today, with no helmet. He drove to the middle of downtown where somebody asked him where his Mum was. He told them I was at the splash park and they took him there. Then they called the police who were trying to track us down when I called them to report him missing!

I had taken the other kids to the splash park, but he didn't want to go so stayed home with Daddy and watched a movie. Then when the movie was over and Dave fell asleep, Adam changed his mind and found his swim trunks and rode 20 minutes on his little bike in the scorching heat before someone questioned him. By then we'd left the splash park and I was home, checking with the neighbours if he was playing in any of their yards. Yikes, I'm so raw and freaked out about this.

I've never faced losing any of them quite as scarily as this. I put off calling the police, thinking it would be overreacting because I had just NO IDEA he would try something like that. I'm just sick. In hindsight, I should have called them, but it just never occurred to me.

Honestly, if we didn't have bad luck, we'd have no luck at all in this family. When will it end? I'm just losing it.

Kerri

Oh my goodness! How scary! At least he's safe and sound. If it makes you feel any better, something similar happened to DH once. It's frightening how quick they can slip out of sight. {{{hugs}}}