There really is no try. At least not in our family. We have a rule. If you start something, you finish it. So we really need to decide soon if we are going to pull our daughter out of softball or not since it starts this Friday.
On one hand, I think that these types of things are very important and athletic skills can do a lot for a child as they grow older, and with sports the way they are now, if she doesn't start early and work at it every year, she will have no shot of playing in high school. (assuming she even wants to).
On the other hand, I hate it that the practices are on Wednesday nights. She will have to miss church to go and I don't like the message that sends.
On the nose (out of hands), it's going to cost money to buy the equipment she needs. We have already paid the entry fee for the year as well. blackheads on nose for sure.
So what should we do.? I have been praying about it and I really hope the right answer shows itself soon. I want to do what is best for her.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Cellphones: Then and Now
It is amazing to me that I can remember buying a cell phone when it was a new and very unreliable technology, that I rarely expected to work, let alone relied upon. Now it amazes me if I'm in a place with no signal. I don't know much about cell signal boosters either so I have no idea if those would help or not.
There are just a couple of places that I regularly go that have no service and they are like communications waste lands to me now. I know going in that I'm going to have that problem and have to plan accordingly. Wow how things have changed.
There are just a couple of places that I regularly go that have no service and they are like communications waste lands to me now. I know going in that I'm going to have that problem and have to plan accordingly. Wow how things have changed.
End of the Month
It's about that time. The time of the month where we redo our budget for the next month and take stock of how we have done this month. The better we were at sticking to our budget the bigger our snowball will be to throw at the debts we are trying to pay off.
Already this month I can tell that gas is going to be a problem. Gas prices were much higher and we forgot to factor in that March was a 5 week month. So more than likely we are going to be about $100 over in that category. Pretty disappointing but not a lot we could have done about it.
What really has me concerned is the number of "monthly specials", as we call them, that we have coming up in April. Mulch for our yard, the hotel cost for my wife to go to "Women of Faith", a birthday gift for a close friend, and possibly softball equipment for our oldest daughter's upcoming season. We could easily lose $150 from our snowball for these items if not more.
Generally I expect to have about $100 of unplanned expenses every month but this month it's looking closer to $250!
Just looking over that list, I don't see anything we could cut out, save for maybe the softball if we decide to pull our daughter out of it. We are still debating that one.
The struggle is to stay positive and know that we are still making a lot of progress even if it doesn't happen as fast as we hope. We are still hoping to learn more when it comes to making extra money and I think we are still on track to have all the money we need for our basement in one more month. Then we can start attacking my car loan!
Already this month I can tell that gas is going to be a problem. Gas prices were much higher and we forgot to factor in that March was a 5 week month. So more than likely we are going to be about $100 over in that category. Pretty disappointing but not a lot we could have done about it.
What really has me concerned is the number of "monthly specials", as we call them, that we have coming up in April. Mulch for our yard, the hotel cost for my wife to go to "Women of Faith", a birthday gift for a close friend, and possibly softball equipment for our oldest daughter's upcoming season. We could easily lose $150 from our snowball for these items if not more.
Generally I expect to have about $100 of unplanned expenses every month but this month it's looking closer to $250!
Just looking over that list, I don't see anything we could cut out, save for maybe the softball if we decide to pull our daughter out of it. We are still debating that one.
The struggle is to stay positive and know that we are still making a lot of progress even if it doesn't happen as fast as we hope. We are still hoping to learn more when it comes to making extra money and I think we are still on track to have all the money we need for our basement in one more month. Then we can start attacking my car loan!
Power Struggle
I'm really concerned with the backlash on nuclear power that has stemmed from the disaster in Japan. Many people are clamoring for states to remove nuclear power plants out of concerns for safety.
My feeling is that this view is a bit short sighted. For one thing, this is only the third time that there has been a problem with a reactor, and it took the 4th largest quake in recorded history to cause it. Modern reactors are very safe and quakes like this aren't going to happen often.
Secondly, what is our other option? Coal? This is probably what scares me the most as I'm a firm believer that coal burning power plants are doing irreperable damage to the environment and the last thing I want is for them to up production to cover for nuclear plants that are going offline. Not to mention that coal is way deadlier than nuclear power. How many miners have died in recent years? Many more than have been killed by nuclear plants.
If there were a viable alternative available that could completely cover for the nuclear plants without further damage to the environment then I would be all for it, but there isn't. Wind, solar, and water power aren't enough to make up the difference at this point in time.
We need to all calm down before we make a bad situation worse with a knee jerk reaction to what is an unthinkable tragedy.
My feeling is that this view is a bit short sighted. For one thing, this is only the third time that there has been a problem with a reactor, and it took the 4th largest quake in recorded history to cause it. Modern reactors are very safe and quakes like this aren't going to happen often.
Secondly, what is our other option? Coal? This is probably what scares me the most as I'm a firm believer that coal burning power plants are doing irreperable damage to the environment and the last thing I want is for them to up production to cover for nuclear plants that are going offline. Not to mention that coal is way deadlier than nuclear power. How many miners have died in recent years? Many more than have been killed by nuclear plants.
If there were a viable alternative available that could completely cover for the nuclear plants without further damage to the environment then I would be all for it, but there isn't. Wind, solar, and water power aren't enough to make up the difference at this point in time.
We need to all calm down before we make a bad situation worse with a knee jerk reaction to what is an unthinkable tragedy.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Cash Crate
I've found a way to make quick cash for those of you who are on a computer all day anyway. The site is called Cash Crate. You fill out free offers, watch videos, or do surveys and the money adds up. I made $30 last month and I'm on pace to make at least that this month as well.
So for those that are looking to pad their pockets with a little extra, feel free to take a look. Every little bit helps.
So for those that are looking to pad their pockets with a little extra, feel free to take a look. Every little bit helps.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Choices
Sometimes we are faced with choices that regardless of our decision leaves us feeling bad. I was dealing with that yesterday because we have the opportunity to sign our girls up for gymnastics and it is going to cost more than I would like.
On one hand, we have not signed them up for a long time in order to save money and if we don't get them involved again soon, they will be a lot older than the other girls in their respective skill classes and I don't want them to be embarrassed by that.
On the other, we are trying really hard to spend as little as possible in order to pay off our remaining debts and get control of our finances. So doing this feels like a departure.
The only way I could justify it was to take it out of the budget equation. My wife and I decided last night that we would each sell a few of our own personal items, give up some spending money, and put our Cash Crate and blogging money towards it. Hopefully that will be enough to cover it and it won't have to show up in our budget at all.
Sure, we would still be better served to put that money towards our debts but since we wouldn't normally have done those things, it feels like a win.
They don't call it "personal" finances for nothing.
On one hand, we have not signed them up for a long time in order to save money and if we don't get them involved again soon, they will be a lot older than the other girls in their respective skill classes and I don't want them to be embarrassed by that.
On the other, we are trying really hard to spend as little as possible in order to pay off our remaining debts and get control of our finances. So doing this feels like a departure.
The only way I could justify it was to take it out of the budget equation. My wife and I decided last night that we would each sell a few of our own personal items, give up some spending money, and put our Cash Crate and blogging money towards it. Hopefully that will be enough to cover it and it won't have to show up in our budget at all.
Sure, we would still be better served to put that money towards our debts but since we wouldn't normally have done those things, it feels like a win.
They don't call it "personal" finances for nothing.
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