Friday, February 10, 2012

There is not enough coffee in the world to wake me up today...

So, it turns out that the downside of thinking about how proficient I am going to get at budgeting right before bed is that then I start thinking about why I have this need to budget.  Bad scene.  I don't know about you, but things always seem super extremely larger than life at night.  My problems seem oh so much larger when it's dark out. 

I am the epitome of the saying "It's always darkest before the dawn".  That's my life.  Dark as all get out before the sun comes up, scaring the daylights out of me. 

Which is why I got no sleep last night, but instead spent the whole night hacking the bejeebers out of my renovation budget.  Because we will be over budget if I don't.  Ick.

Dave Ramsey says something about women viewing an emergency fund not just as money in the bank, but as security.  Guess what?  He's right.  And we are currently spending all my security.  Which is keeping me up at night. 

Which is why there is not enough coffee in the world...

Must sleep tonight... must sleep... must...


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Life on a Budget

In the spirit of building a house and using up all of our money to do it (and going over budget every time I turn around!), I am reading The Money Saving Mom's Budget, by Crystal Paine.  Now, let me start by saying that I am no stranger to The Budget.  I grew up with a mom that was, and still is, a champion budget master.  A mom who tried her hardest to impress upon me the value of money and the work it took to get it.  And I am a HUGE fan of Dave Ramsey... in theory.  I've tried to budget.  I have.  And honestly, we don't do too badly, though I really think that has more to do with Mr. T's amazing money making ability that with my budgeting prowess. 

But I am realizing that I really hate, HATE, having debt.  More than that, I hate watching our savings dwindle and dwindle while we finish this house and wonder when and how we are going to build it back up.  And I am using that hate as motivation to get our financial fitness back in shape.  Starting with the budget.  And here we are, back to the book I am reading.

I have some big money goals.  We don't have a ton of debt, but we do have a small car loan, and a business credit card that we carry a balance on.  I want to see both of those gone, sooner rather than later.  Then I want to build our emergency fund and savings back up.  And then I want to pay off the house.  That's right the house that we are currently siphoning money into like gas into an empty tank.  I want it paid for.  Which, admittedly, is going to take a good chunk of time.

Side note - know what is really cool?  Actually, it's two things.  That house we are mainlining money into, the mortgage on that puppy is less than we are paying in rent right now.  Cool.  Also cool?  When we are finished dumping our hard earned cash into it, it will be worth a right good chunk more than we payed into it.  Hooray. 

But for now, we are going on budget lockdown.  Which means I am going to have to learn the art of getting more for less.  And probably a lot of DIY.  And absolutely more crockpot cooking and meal planning.  And all in all, I am actually pretty excited about it.  I'll keep you posted as to when, exactly, that excitement loses its impact.  I'll also keep you posted if and when I stumble across good ideas for keeping costs down and making a dollar go farther. 

Do you have a favorite cost cutting measure?  Feel free to share.  I need all the help I can get.


Thursday, February 2, 2012

Now We've Done It...

Oh, and hi, by the way.  How've you been?  It's been pure madness around here since I last posted, and I absolutely apologize for the massive gap in communication, but it isn't as if I didn't warn you that this tends to me my M.O.  So much has happened since I last posted, and I have a ton to catch you up on, so, here, let me just give you the quick rundown.

Since the last time we spoke, I married my vampire boyfriend and honeymooned on the most incredible island where we did not much other than play chess and jump in waterfall pools, but somehow I managed to get pregnant and have a baby a few weeks later (crazy, right?), which almost killed me by the way but for said vampire boyfriend being kind enough to bring me over to the other side just in the nick of time...

Wait.  Sorry, that wasn't me, that was Bella.  But whatever.

Since we last talked I packed it up and moved back to my tiny mountain town, Noodle started Kindergarten three days after we arrived, and we are settling in nicely.  Or we were, until we went and bought a house.  Not just any house, either.  This house:


Pretty, yes?  I think so too.  But there is a catch, and it's a whopper.  Here is what it looks like on the inside...


Ummm, yeah.  So, we have our work cut out for us.  Because we have vowed to finish this thing using only the money we have, which means we are on a strict budget.  Now, before you think we are insane... actually, that's a lost cause.  So rather, to help you understand why in the world we would do this, let me just say that the house is on six acres with the most amazing views ever.  And we got it for a steal, thanks to Mr. T's superior negotiating skills and some extremely creative deal making.  Now we just have to finish it.  Oof...

So, I promise to update often about the trials and tribulations of finishing a house on the cheap, amongst other random noodles and nuggets.  

Wish us luck...