Eat from the Pantry Challenge

A couple of blogs I read regularly are sponsoring an "Eat from the Pantry" Challenge for January instead of a "Once a Month Cooking" day. The idea is to use most of what you already have on hand in the freezer, refrigerator, pantry, floor, closet, etc., etc., and reduce your grocery spending for the month. Since we have all 3 birthdays within 2 days of each other in January, one pay period is ridiculously short, and the property taxes are due the first week in February, the timing is perfect for us to attempt this. Tomorrow, after the Rose Parade, I'm planning to inventory our food supply in both the freezer and the pantry and then make a menu plan and grocery list. I don't have a goal as to how much I would like to save, but if I can cut our usual grocery budget of $250 down to $200, I'll be happy.

2010 Goals

I debated about setting goals for 2010. 2009 didn't go so well, and I found that very discouraging. But I want things to be different this year, and in order to make any progress, I need a way to track how different areas are going, hence, goals. :-) After 2009, I think I will be happy to make half of these goals by the end of the year!

1. Establish emergency fund and not be below 50% of the goal amount by December 31, 2010 (barring an emergency at the end of the year).
2. Pay off Mastercard.
3. Start and maintain a price book.
4. Finish 2 large unfinished projects.
5. Finish 2 small unfinished projects.
6. Complete 2 cross-stitch projects.
7. Establish an exercise routine.
8. Purchase either a refrigerator or hot water tank with cash.

There we go. Honestly I think the exercise routine will be the hardest to do! We'll see how 2010 goes. I'm not promising goals for 2011 yet!

Yearly Goals End Review

Yearly Goals Check-Up
1. Pay off van. Done 2/09
2. Emergency fund to $1000. No
3. Pay off Mastercard. No
4. Pay off Visa. No
5. Complete 1 unfinished project each month. Completed 11 on the list
6. Complete Revelation Bible study. No
7. Inexpensive vacation. Done - Spirit Song Festival in July
8. Complete 6 cross-stitch projects. Done 11/09

I'm disappointed. I thought I would do better, much better, than this. I had some financial setbacks and actually ended up treading water, if not going back a bit. I did learn that I do not do Bible studies well on my own. Actually, I knew that, but that was reinforced for me this year. I have joined BSF and will be doing 2 Beth Moore studies (including one on Revelation!) at my church in the coming year. In 2010, I definitely need to be much more intentional about my goals and my efforts to achieve them.

The Week Between

As an adult, I've always kind of felt that the week between Christmas and New Year's was a little strange. Unless you're in retail, work is a little slow, the house is in a state of limbo, and the kids are off schedule with no school. Usually I'm ready to take the tree down on Christmas afternoon and "get my house back." This year is no different. So far this morning, work is nonexistent. One child is getting ready to leave for a youth conference in an hour, and the other is sleeping. The house, while decent, could still use a good cleaning and Christmas decorations put away. (DD wants the tree left up until she gets back New Year's Eve.) So what to do with this week?

Yesterday, our pastor preached on opportunities, cultivating, capturing and creating them, so I'm going to, I hope, make this a week of opportunities. Opportunities to spend some time with DS while his sister is away, opportunities to organize a few spots that seem to be forgotten throughout the year, opportunities to just get that pile of "stuff" done, opportunities to start new habits of a daily routine and maybe even exercise.

And maybe, just maybe, capture an unexpected opportunity that comes my way.

Good News on the Work Front

It's been a stressful year financially. I've debated what to cut from the budget, getting a 2nd job, getting a completely new 1st job and a combination of all the above. But I never figured on a different job at my current employer, and that's what is about to happen. Last week I got a phone call from the boss, telling me that a current client wants to increase the business they are sending and wants 3-4 dedictated transcriptionists. This will entail a 2nd computer that will be a part of the client's network, like I'm truly in a satellite office. While I'm not sure I have a real choice in whether or not to do this, I've thought about the pros and cons of the situation, and it could very well be a true answer to prayer.

Pro - I will be paid hourly! Yay! And a touch of a raise! Yay! I haven't had one of those in 3+ years.
Pro - It's a strict 8-hour day. No more waiting here until 10 PM trying to get lines in on slow days. The 8 hours are guaranteed by the client, so there is no fretting about downtime. Yay!
Pro - It's with a client that I'm familiar with. In fact, it's the client I started out with when I joined the company 6-1/2 years ago.
Pro - I'm not necessarily tied to this one account. I may have the option to work part-time on it and part-time on my other accounts.

Con - Less flexibility. Right now, if it's a good day and I have my lines in by 1 or 2 PM, I'm done. Not so with the new arrangements. It's 8 hours, no matter what you get accomplished. This will prove interesting on most Thursday mornings when I attend Bible study.
Con - Losing the option to get extra lines in on good days. I don't always have the gumption to do 200-300 extra lines most days, but occasionally I get in the groove and they just flow. If I'm part-time on this and part-time on my other accounts, that won't be an issue so much.
Con - The editor responsible for this account. She's not the friendliest, nicest gal on the planet. About 4 years ago, I was on this account (my sole account) and was seriously looking for a different job mainly because of her when I got a similar offer to switch things up with this company and move to a different division. Things have changed in the interim, she's in my current division, and she's not quite so bad, but I still prefer to work with any other editor but her.
Con - I'm told the system they use is ancient. Horrible. Hair-tearing-out slow. BUT, that's why the job is paid hourly. If I'm not stressed about lines, I think I can handle slow.
Con - A few of the dictators. I probably shouldn't even include this because every account has one of "them," but I already know whom I will need the Tylenol for!

I've been praying and having my Bible study group pray for steady work, and this is definitely steady. So, I've decided the pros are worth at least trying this. If I'm going crazy in 6 months, I'll ask if I can be released from the account. But I have to say, the idea of being hourly and done in a 8-hour day is quite nice and will be a major stress reliever. I'll let you know next summer if I still think the same thing!

Entertainment Book

I have always wanted to try an Entertainment book, the big book of coupons for your local area that claims to save you thousands. :-) But...I haven't wanted to pay for it, only to find that I didn't get at least my money's worth from it. So when The Columbus Dispatch offered a free book in exchange for automatic monthly deductions for subscriptions, I signed up, and the book came today. Just in glancing through it, I see a number of coupons we will be using, mostly for food places, but I'm anxious to sit down next week and go through the shopping section to see what is there, too. I also see a number of activity discounts that we may use, too.

There will be 2 key things to watch for this coming year when using this book:
1. Am I spending money that I wouldn't normally spend just to use the coupon and get a discount? (I don't usually have that problem with grocery coupons.)
2. Will I actually remember to keep the book handy and use the coupons when appropriate?

I'm going to put a sheet of paper in the front of the book to write down what I use and how much I save so next fall I can evaluate whether this is enough of a good deal to purchase again or whether it's a good thing I got it for free!

Busted the Budget :-(

Well, for the first time in quite a while, I blew my grocery budget last night. I knew when we left the first store last night that I was in trouble. I never spend $30 at Aldi! Never! But I did yesterday, and it just went downhill from there. Granted, I bought larger than usual cat food bags and litter because of sale-coupon combos and I needed hose and film (which came out of the grocery line item), but part of the problem is also that I did not check my pantry before leaving and bought a number of things "just in case" that I probably really didn't need to get right now. In any case, by the end of the month, I will probably be a good $25, if not more, over budget. Not much in the overall scheme of things, but this was a tight pay period to begin with, so it's a little more stress than it should have been. Next time, I'll be sure to check the pantry and stick to my list. Better to go back to the store if I'm truly out than overshoot the budget like this!

Tuesday's Blessings

1. Bible Study Fellowship (BSF).
2. Receiving a Panera gift card for a survey I did.
3. Christmas cards.
4. Winning a Bob Evans gift card from one of my favorite blogs - Once A Month Mom.
5. A church where the presence of the Holy Spirit is felt and lives are won for the Kingdom.

Shopping All Done

Well, almost all done. I have 1 item left to buy for my brother - a copy of the latest issue of Sporting News. I'm waiting until I go grocery shopping this week for that. I've gotten him a subscription, and since it's a weekly magazine, I wanted to get a relatively new issue to wrap. But other than that, I'm done. Done. Done. :-) In fact, all I need to do yet is wrap gifts and bake cookies. And maybe a trip to Cincinnati this weekend. That's not decided 100% yet. Anyhoo.....

So, like I said, my shopping is done. Not too much went on the credit card thanks to my Christmas Club account, but really, nothing should have went on the card. Next year, I have to, have to, have to find a different way of handling the Christmas Club money. It's too easy to have it in the checking account and "borrow a little bit" for a bill, only never to regain it. As much as I hate the idea of having a lot of cash in the house, I may try that next year, depositing it to the checking as I spend online and going cash only in town. Hopefully that will help.

I also need to keep in mind stocking stuffers (and Easter baskets) all year 'round. DD is very easily to get little things, but DS is a whole 'nuther matter! I think I'm starting a new tradition with him (and probably should with her as well) in that I'm giving him a few tools in his stocking. He has a set of tools already, but some of them are rusty from our basement, and he now has plenty of room in his closet since we no longer have extra clothes to store from hand-me-downs. Hopefully over the next few years, I can get him at least a starter set of good, basic tools, and by watching sales over the year, they shouldn't be too expensive.

These are pretty much all I think I'd like to do different next year. By the time the kids head off to college in a few years, I should have things pretty well set! haha

Practicing What I Preach

I had a meltdown last night. We came home after youth group, and pulling into the driveway, I noticed shingles not only in the drive but embedded in the yard. Yes, you read that right, embedded. As in standing straight up, sunk about 2 inches into the ground. We had had high winds all day and I had noticed a few small branches in the backyard earlier, nothing major, though. I tried to see where the shingles had come from, but it was dificult in the dark. (This morning after Bible study, I saw they had come from the porch roof.) I was already slightly stressed over my finances the last few weeks, and last night I became a tad more than slightly stressed. I was short-tempered, irritable and about to cry. My daughter even said I shouldn't take my bad mood out on them. (not like she ever does that! but I digress....)

It was mentioned this morning at Bible study that part of being a Christian means that worry should no longer be a part of our lives, that God is in control. I have head knowledge of this. I know it, I tell it to my kids and other people, but I have a really hard time living it. My mom was a worrier, as in being treated for OCD because of the worry, and while I try to blame part of my first instinct to panic on that, I can't. It boils down to me not trusting God to work things out for His glory. He knew that I was going to lose shingles yesterday. He knew that I wasn't going to have the money feel comfortable about calling for estimates. He knew I would panic, and He knew that I would ask forgiveness for that worry and panic and ask for His help in relying on Him. It's funny. I have no problem relying on Him for the big things in life (my divorce, for example); it's the little things I struggle with, and half a dozen shingles are a little thing in the overall scheme of life.

Am I still stressed? Yes, I must admit I am, but I am not panicked any more. And I will keep turning back to the Lord until that stressed out feeling is gone too. It's time to practice what I preach.

Back in the Groove... I Think

I stepped away from blogging for a while. I started to feel like it was something I HAD to do instead of something I WANTED to do, and that's not why I started this. Lately I'm feeling like I want to write again, so while I may not post every day (and I just might post every day!), I will be writing here on a more frequent basis than once every 7 weeks. :-)

I've been feeling convicted lately to use my time more wisely. One of the benefits of working at home is that I can get things done around the house or online during the day. One of the downsides of working at home is that I can get distracted doing things around the house or online during the day. Kind of a double-edged sword, one that has been cutting on the downside the last few months. So I'm making an effort to get my work done during normal work hours (when it's available, that is) and stay offline more when the kids are home. This doesn't always work the way I want, though. Some days I do get distracted, and some days, the work just isn't there to do until the middle to late part of the day. But I'm trying to stick to my plan as best as I can.

It's discouraging when there is little work available, but for the most part, God has supplied me with what I need work-wise. Maybe not what I want, but what I need. This pay period that ended yesterday was especially lean, so I'm anxious to see how He helps me stretch these pennies. It's also been discouraging to see my debt not going down as quickly as I had hoped. My mortage is a private family loan, and while I am very grateful for the 0% interest loan, there were some payments that originally were cancelled (and recorded as such) that now are no longer cancelled but deferred. It adds on another year to my repayment schedule, which means another year of waiting to be out of debt. My kids ask why I just don't get a different job that pays better, but they don't understand the medical transcription world. So many companies are turning to independent contractors, which means you pay all your taxes, no benefits, etc. Even with a small increase in pay per line turns into a huge pay cut after all is said and done. And were I to look for a transcription job outside the home, it would most likely mean a drive of 30 minutes to an hour for a 2nd or 3rd shift job. Not acceptable to a single parent with teenage twins! And any other job would be a definite pay cut. That's okay for a 2nd additional job, but not for a primary one. Yes, there are ways where we could cut back on the budget, and I may have to do that. Do I really need the cell phone? Probably not. We're not traveling near as much as we used to, which was my main reason for having it. Could I cut back on cable? Definitely, but it would be painful! haha That is basically our entertainment budget at this point, and there are several shows we would miss as a family. I could also cut out the newspapers and either read online or grab Grandpa's on the weekend, and I'm sure he'd save the coupon inserts for me. Ah, things to think about and write about.

It's nice to get things down again. It helps me think better. Yes, I'll definitely be "here" more often.