How's the budget going?

We've been at this new budget for about 1 month and I have to admit that it's a little harder to keep than I thought it would be. Some categories are just really easy and others are really hard to stick to. The way that my budget is set up right now there just isn't any wiggle room to give until the beginning of the year, so we're really having to be very diligent in where and what we spend our money on.

When I say that I don't have any wiggle room I don't want to give the impression that we're broke. Part of our budget includes savings and pocket cash, so no, we're not broke...we're just disciplining ourselves.

There's a verse in the Bible that accurately represents the phase that we're in right now....

"No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening--it is painful! But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way." Heb. 12:11 NLT

Dillon's Mega Event Sale 8/22/09

I've really slacked off on couponing this summer and other than perishables we pretty much just ate from our stock pile. Since the stock pile was starting to dwindle down some (especially cereal) I decided to take advantage of Dillon's Mega Event going on this week. I bought $137.72 worth of food for a total of $49.05. This was a savings of 66% as you can see reflected on my receipt. For 48 items that comes out to $1.02 per item. As you can see by my picture, most of what I purchased is snack food or cereals. With the kids in school taking lunches and needing after school snacks this sale was just perfect to stock up on! Here's what I got:

1 SunnyD Smoothie

3 cans ChefBoyRDee pasta

3 boxes Hamburger/Tuna Helper

4 boxes Regular Cheerios

2 boxes Fruity Cheerios

6 boxes Trix

6 boxes Cinnamon Toast Crunch

2 Pillsbury Grands biscuits

2 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls

4 boxes Toaster Strudels

6 boxes Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks

1 box Au Gratin Potatoes

3 bags Totinos Pizza Rolls

5 bags Nature Valley Nut Clusters

Dinner menu for the week

I've had one of those weeks where nothing has worked out quite like I had planned. My appointment Monday was delayed by about two hours resulting in the rest of my day being about two hours off! Yesterday I forgot to pick up my kids from school ; ) I guess with the start of the new school year and some confusion on my part...at least that's my excuse. My first 2 days have pretty easy meals because of that. Hope you're week started better than mine.

Monday:
chicken nuggets
mashed potatoes
mixed veggies

Tuesday:
Fish
Ravioli
left over mixed veggies
rice

Wednesday:
Smoked Pork chops
Skillet fried potatoes
green beans
sliced tomatoes from the garden

Thursday:
Blueberry pancakes
eggs
bacon
hashbrowns

Friday:
Chicken or Ham fried rice w/veggies and eggs
Fried Green tomatoes and zuccinni (not healthy, but oh so good!)
Fruit

Saturday:
Potato Soup
Bread
Cheese

Sunday:
Leftovers of all the above

Monday:
Sloppy Jo's
Mac & cheese
sliced tomatoes
salad

Happy Monday!

For Today...
Speech therapy w/Emalee.
I am thinking...
I'm a very blessed woman to have such a wonderful husband.
I am thankful for...
Jay, my next door neighbor, that aired up Emalee's speech therapists' flat tire today.
In the kitchen...
Pork chops and mashed potatoes.
I am going...
grocery shopping for a few necessities...milk, bread, fresh fruit.
I am reading...
Eccl. 4: 9..."Two are better than one, because they have a better reward for their labor."

I'm also reading Chosen By God by R.C. Sproul.
I am hoping...
that my friend, Hannah, settles into her new home quickly.
I am hearing...
The rumble of the washing machine.
Around the house...
preparing for a garage sale.
One of my favorite things...
Warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies w/not too many chocolate chips.
Plans for the rest of the week...
Mentoring Group and working on garage sale items.

Tulsa vacation pics

After Korea camp ended Brian and the boys drove down to Tulsa to meet Emalee and I. Our family vacation began. I thought I'd post some of our pics that we took. We went to the Oklahoma Aquarium and to the Tulsa Zoo. We also enjoyed just staying at our hotel and swimming in their indoor water park. They kids had great fun and so did we!

Pictures are as follows: David and Jacob feeding the Stingrays at the aquarium, Emalee standing next to the World's largest Lure, All 3 kids enjoying a snack in bed, Silly boys on the kiddie toys, All 3 in the train toy, Backside and Daddy and kids at the aquarium. You can tell who took the pics since I'm not in any of them : )

Budgeting

Are any of you Dave Ramsey fans? I've heard a lot about him for the last several months. A good friend of mine just finished taking his class, Financial Peace, and is letting me borrow her materials. Brian and I have been listening to one CD every evening after the kids go to bed. We've learned a lot.
Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, we're starting a new budget. I've always had some sort of budget, but nothing at all that comes close to my new one. We've also started using the "envelope system" as part of this budget. That's where you take cash and put it in an envelope and only use what's in there for that certain category of the budget. This keep the lovely debit card from tempting us from spending more. Not only that, but we actually know how much is allowed to spend on certain items. I really think this will be a good thing.
We have a goal to be DEBT FREE in the next 3 years except for our house. Barring no major catastrophe's I think this is very possible...maybe even sooner than 3 years. As we get closer to the goal I'll keep updating on here. The only thing that will be hard is actually sticking to the plan! If we can keep our eyes on the goal, I think we can do it!
If you'd like to read more on Dave Ramsey just go to www.daveramsey.com

A no-computer week....not by choice...

Well, my computer monitor finally bit the dust! I haven't been online in several days. Do I miss it? Yes, but not as much as I thought I would. The boys start school next week, they had dentist appointments this week and we've also been getting the clothes and school supplies bought this week. It's been a busy time! On top of all of that we decided to refinance our mortgage and the appraisal was today.

We have a friend that's giving us a monitor so hopefully we'll get it soon and be back up online. Until then....I'm checking out! I'll leave you with the things that I've done or will do this week....

For Today...

I took the kids to the dentist.

I am thinking...

I'm glad Brian is home from work.

I am thankful for...

my mom that babysat Emalee today.

In the kitchen...

chicken spaghetti.

I am creating...

a new budget.

I am going...

to have friend over for dinner Saturday night.

I am reading...

Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace."

I am hoping...

that the squirrels will stop eating my tomatoes!!!

I am hearing...

Emalee throwing a fit in the background...fyi, this is why I'm thankful that Brian's home : )

Around the house...

preparing for a garage sale.

One of my favorite things...

comfy pajama pants.

Plans for the rest of the week...

Meet the Teacher night at school, dinner with friends.

Korea Camp

Last Thursday Emalee and I headed to Tulsa, OK. for our adoption agency's annual Korean Heritage Camp. This was our first year going and I was really looking forward to it. The first day was a little rough for me because I had been diagnosed with pneumonia/bronchitis just a few days prior and still wasn't feeling very well. I was still coughing a lot and a little tired, but decided to buck up and go anyway.



The first day there was really nice. I finally got to meet the 5 other mom's that I've been chatting with all these years. We all met for dinner, had a surprise baby shower for one of them and surprised another with a special gift. It was also so nice to see all of their little ones that we all have prayed for while we waited together, traveled and finally brought home!

I helped out the first day in the 4th grade class made up of about 24 kids. Although I was a little apprehensive about this, it worked out really well. All the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves and it was nice for me to see that they have really adjusted well and are happy. We had 3 teenage helpers in our class that were all boys. I actually enjoyed getting to know them the best. They were smart, funny, and very talented in various areas. They were great helpers and did a great job keeping order in the class and helping to look up our history characters that we were reporting on. As far as race/heritage goes it was interesting to see all the little Korean's walking around. I was definitely in the minority!



Saturday morning was the Birth Mother Seminar. Two Korean Birth Mother's that gave their babies up for adoption were guests at this years camp. Neither of the mother's gave birth to any of the children that attended camp. They each told their adoption story so I'll try to summarize what I remember to the best of my ability.



Birth Mother #1 was young. She looked like she was in her early 20's. She had broken up with her boyfriend about two months prior to finding out that she was pregnant. She called her now ex-boyfriend to tell him of her pregnancy and he told her that she needed to terminate the pregnancy. The mother went in for this procedure and was given an ultra sound. She said that when she heard her baby's heart beat she knew that she couldn't have an abortion and would keep her baby. As the months went on she was unable to stay at home. Her mother said that she would be a bad influence on her younger brother. She eventually wound up going to Esther's Home. (Esther's Home is a place that houses young pregnant mother's and gives them counseling among other things throughout their pregnancy. Brian and I got to visit Esther's home and even ate lunch with a few of the pregnant mom's while we were in Korea. The nursery where Emalee stayed at is also in this same building.) When the mother gave birth to her baby she stated that she wanted to keep him. After talking with her mother the decision was made to give the baby up for adoption. She talked about her grief and how she has suffered with depression. She said that she dealt with her grief by going to church to pray. She said that sometimes prayer works and sometimes it doesn't. She also said that she wanted to kill herself. The most touching part for me personally was that she said that when she feels like killing herself she will go check her baby's adoption file and sometimes there will be pictures or a letter from the adoptive family and then that makes her feel better. From what I understand, she finally has decided that to better herself educationally and by trying to live a good life she will be doing what is right for her baby. On a side note, from what I picked up on this mother's baby is just a few months younger than Emalee. The birth mother was most likely at Esther's Home while we were there getting Emalee.



Birth Mother #2 was much more emotional. She cried a lot when telling her story and is 33 years old. I never could determine how old her baby is.
This mother lived alone and became pregnant. She didn't know what options she had so she decided to keep her baby. The incredible part of her story is that she delivered her baby by herself at home. She did her best to take care of her baby and continued to work. When her baby became sick she knew that she had to do something. A friend suggested that she look into Eastern adoption agency. Because of the translation and language difficulties I couldn't tell if she stayed at Esther's Home but she did decide to put her child up for adoption. She said that she bathed him the night before she took him to the agency and held him all night. She also told of how she held him in one arm while she signed adoption papers with the other. Like the first mother she told of her depression. She said that she first turned to food for comfort, then to alcohol. She also stated that she wanted to die. She is now counseling other women going through these same issues.



As you can imagine, most of us adoptive parents sat there with tears in our eyes throughout the entire seminar. I can't imagine the courage that these two ladies had to speak in front of us. I also sat amazed at God's handy work. I could see where He is actively working in the lives of both of these ladies and making Himself known to them. I'm sure that coming to America was a tremendous trip for them....to be in the same country that their children are in had to be of some comfort to them. I'm amazed at how He intervened in the lives of these babies by using technology to get them to choose life! I'm also so glad that He taught me a few lessons by listening to them speak.



The birth mother's were asked "what should adoptive parents tell their children about their birth mother?" There is a notion in Korea that children who are placed for adoption have been abandoned. They said over and over that they "didn't abandon their babies, that they love their babies; they did it because of love, in the best interest of the baby." Over and over they talked about how much they love their babies.

There's so much more that I could write about this seminar but I'm running low on time this after noon. I'll continue with a few more thoughts in an upcoming post.

It's coming...

I've been wanting to write about our trip to Korea camp and Tulsa, OK. this week but just haven't had the energy or the time. I promise an entry on our adventures is coming in the near future!