Paying down the debt.

Since this seems to be the major goal in our lives right now, I figured I would post about it.  Aaron left on July 26 to go to a forest fire in Oregon.  He ended up in Washington state though and was gone 20 days.  He just got home last Thursday night.
It was a long 20 days, but we were so blessed that he was able to go.  We have been praying that he would get to go on a fire because he gets paid a lot more than usual.  Even better, normally with a fire you get about 12 hrs a day of work  for 14 days straight. That adds up to lots of overtime.  Plus, on the days you are on a fire you get hazard pay.  Well, this time it took 4 days for him to get to Washington and while he gets paid for travel time, those days don't count as work days, so his 14 days doesn't start until he is actually on the fire.  They ended up only having 13 work days, but once he was on the fire, he got 16 hour days in every one of those 13 days!   Awesome! 
So we got a HUGE check on Saturday and will get a Larger than normal check next payday.  God always seems to take care of us this way...
Up until this weekend, I hadn't worked for the past 3 weeks.  One week, I couldn't work and the other two weeks, they kept cancelling me every day I had signed up for because of low census.  I got a very low paycheck two payperiods ago, and I got a big ole NOTHING last week. So if Aaron had not gone on this fire, we would have been in a world of hurt. 
I was able to work this weekend and will work 2 more days this week ...hopefully.
However, when I do get cancelled, all is not lost, I normally prepare for a school day and we get another one in the books. We are already on day 31 for this year.
The dad of my best friend growing up passed away and we went to his funeral last Thursday. Let me tell you, the last thing you should do on day 20 of your husband being out of town is spend 7 hours in the car with 5 kids...
Whew!  was I ready for a break.    We knew Aaron was probably going to get to Montgomery in time Thursday afternoon to be able to drive back to the work center.  I had dropped him off, so I was going to have to pick him up too.
We left at 7:30 Thursday morning.  Got to the church building for the funeral around 10:30.  The funeral lasted from 11-12:15.  Then we drove about 10 min. towards home for the burial.  Then another 20 min. towards home to eat lunch with the family at a different church.  We left the church between 2-3, I can't remember. 
I had a blessed, blessed 1 hour in the car on the way home where all 5 kids slept.  Wonderful time.  Then they woke up.  We stopped for a very quick potty break for 2 of them.  Then drove the other 1hr 15 min. home. Got gas in our town because we were fixing to be running on fumes.  Stopped by our house for a 5 min. potty break and immediately left to drive 30 min. to Aaron's work to pick him up.
Ethan said "I'm Angry!"  when I told him to go back to the car.  He didn't NOT want to drive anymore and I don't blame him.  Aaron drove the way home and I was so excited to see him again. I love him so much. 
Since I worked Sat and Sun. I wasn't able to sit down with the budget to write checks.  However, I did yesterday and am excited to say that since last July 2013, we have paid off approx. $20,000 in debt.  That is 14 months I guess, since you count 2 Julys and 2 Augusts.  Approx. $18,000 to go. 
So this month of August, we paid off 2 small credit cards and our last adoption loan.  All we have left is one credit card, our van loan, and our  Air Conditioner loan. 

DEBT PAYDOWN AFTER A YEAR

We have always been trying to pay down our debt, however, last July we got serious.  Before, we didn't budget and if I was able to work more and got paid more, I would throw that to debt, but then I didn't plan ahead and I would be short in other areas. In other words, I felt like I was trying to pay down the debt, but never seemed to go anywhere.
We made the decision to not start adopting again until we had the debt paid off. Yes, we are hoping to fundraise and get grants for our adoption, however, if we don't get it paid for, we did not want our debt climbing.  We had a car loan, a home repair loan, 2 adoption loans, and some money on 5 credit cards.  Minimum payments on all of these were around $1000 a month.  I have to work quite a bit for us to pay just minimum payments. 
Now, Aaron and I are together on this, so if I say "I" a lot it is only because I am telling this from my perspective, not because I am making all the decisions.
I have always been the one to keep up with the bills, which has worked well for us.  July 2013, we made a budget and have been living with it and tweaking it as we go along. Aaron and I both get paid every 2 weeks and we get paid on the same weekend.  So instead of a 1 month budget which was overwhelming to me, we do 2 week budgets.  We have made some mistakes over the year. 
We have spent when we should not have.  I go over the grocery budget almost every 2 weeks and have to dip into miscellaneous.  (Dave Ramsey would say to just budget more for groceries, but I am not ready to admit defeat yet)
All in all we have done sooooo much better on this budget. 
So, in looking back over the last year, I am really proud of us.
We have paid off approx. $15,7000 in the last 12 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We still have a ways to go.  that is not even half of what we owe, we have about $22,000+ left, but I am excited to see that gone!
Of course these next bills I list are smaller than a year ago, but we still owe on the home repair loan, car loan, 1 adoption loan, and 2 credit cards. One of the credit cards should be paid off in the next month.
That means we paid off our 3 smallest credit cards, and  one adoption loan, and a little bit more on all the loans we still have. 
We have set some short term goals, like pay down the debt to 17,000 or less by Thanksgiving.  It is doable, if they don't keep cancelling me at work.  It is definitely doable if Aaron gets to go on a fire this summer. We are hopeful he will, since he is on call right now, and packed and ready to leave any day.
I am disappointed to have put the adoption off for longer.  And I am not getting any younger.  I just turned 39.  I have made a goal in my mind to have the debt paid off by my next birthday, which is next June.  That would require me getting in quite a few days at work AND Aaron getting lots of OT or fires.  So it is not a crazy goal, just a lofty one.

Adoption, Debt, and Ethan's Birthday!

Even while in Ethiopia meeting the boys, we knew we wanted to adopt again.  We would have been out of debt last year probably if it hadn't been for the many, numerous repairs we had to do to the house.  Ok, that being said, Aaron wants to get completely out of debt before we turn in our adoption paperwork and get on the waiting list. 
It just seemed impossible that we would get out of debt anytime soon. No matter how hard we try, and it is going down. By the end of this month we will have paid down $4200 since August, but so much to go. 
Without going into it too much, we have decided to get our paperwork done ASAP and get on the waiting list. I really, really need to have it done by Jan 14, because the notary at our doctor's office notary expires then. That would mean having to go back to the doctor to get this filled out again, which is ALWAYS a big ta-do.  I am hoping to have it done by the first week of December.  I have almost all of the papers filled out and ready to go down to the bank to be notarized.  We are waiting for our 3 referrals to be done and I told them that I would like them by Thanksgiving.  Nothing in our dossier can be dated after our cover page is notarized. Once everything is perfect, and I mean perfect, we will send our notarized cover page to the capital to be state certified.  Then we can get our stuff sent in to the agency.  The prediction of a referral of a baby girl is approx. 9-10 months. Of course, that could speed up or slow down. Plus, that will give us 9-10 months of paying off more debt.  And fundraising and applying for grants. 
We had a grand total of $38,000 of receipts for our adoption fees for the boys (100% worth it)  Plus I would guess 2000-4000 in stuff we did not get receipts for. 
Now with Ethiopia, we should only have to make 1 longer trip, which should shave about $8000 off those fees.  And if we only get one child this time (haven't 100% decided yet) that would shave another $8000, which brings my estimate down to $22,000..  Wow, I hope that's right.  Anyway, before you freak out about the fees....
#1 These children have a soul.  Souls are worth it.  Most people here spend more on a stupid, non-eternal vehicle than they are willing to spend to help a soul.
#2 Should people like social workers who do your home study, agency workers who match you with a child, help you with your paperwork, pick you up in country, etc, airlines who get you across the world and back, etc.  Should all these people do this for free because adoption is a good thing?  They deserve to be paid too.
#3 If you were to birth a baby here in the US, I can about bet that your hospital bill before insurance would probably match an adoption.  So adoption is kind of like having a child without health insurance. 
On a different note ...
Today is Ethan's 3rd birthday.  He is excited.  We are having a party for both he and Seth tonight.  Yes, I am that Mom that takes shortcuts  and cheapcuts when having parties. I will admit it. So, in order to make it easier for me around the holidays, we are combining the parties.  Seth's birthday is on 12/23 and Ethan's is 11/22.  So, Aaron's parents and my mom are coming over for supper and cake tonight and presents.  That's it. 
I went to 3 stores last week looking for some kind of toppers to put on cupcakes.  Thomas the Tank Engine for Ethan and Spiderman for Seth> Could not find anything, so I finally looked in 4 different places in Walmart.  Finally went to the cake section and asked the lady where to buy them. She asked how many I wanted. I said 5-10 each. She sold me 12 cupcake toppers of Thomas and 12 of Spiderman for .88c a dozen. So I bought some cheap cakes and white icing.  And the girls have spent all morning decorating cupcakes. 

Debt Paydown

Well, since we started our budgeting and paying off debt, we have paid off approx. $3300.  Since August.  Not as much as I would like, but better than adding to debt, which seemed like we were doing before starting our debt snowball.
I hope to pay even more each month. When we started, on top of our debt, we also had went into the hole in July pretty badly.  I was cancelled 5 days in a row, AND we had to pay out around $1400 for home study and USCIS.  So, it took at least a month to recover from that, then start paying down debt.  Finally, in the next few months, IF we don't have unexpected bills, I can really start putting most of my paychecks toward debt.
For instance, I went to the dentist last week.  And found out I had two small cavities and needed a cap on a tooth.   Thankfully, I was able to pay cash for it today, but that's  $400 I couldn't pay to debt like I had hoped to. 
I was cancelled from work yesterday, but should be able to work tomorrow and Friday, unless the census goes down again.
3 days working a week, plus homeschooling is hard and I know that Dave Ramsey would probably tell me to get a 2nd job, and I am tempted, especially when I get cancelled a lot, but I really don't think I could do it. Thankfully, we are making good time with our school days!  I am hoping to get to at least Day 90 by the end of the year!  And if we happened to get done early, I could maybe work a 2nd PRN job for a while. However, usually census is lower in summer and I get cancelled even more. We'll see with holidays taking up some of our school days.
We went camping last weekend with our Sunday school class.
We had a great time.  It was cold,...Lows in the high 30s.  High of around 61 on Sunday.  I had budgeted for the camping trip.  I am tempted to not do anything fun until the debt is gone, however, with 5 kids, it isn't really fair to them to completely take away good times, so I choose to do the cheapest possible.  Camping is pretty cheap!  I did have to buy some more sleeping bags.  We had sleeping bags for all 7 of us that are supposed to keep you warm down to 30 degrees.  And they work. I was not cold at all once I got into the sleeping bag at night.  Now getting out of the sleeping bag in the morning when you could see your breath was a different story....
However, the girls slept in a tent directly across from ours.  We put a boy on each side of us and whenever we woke up through the night (which you do a lot while camping) Aaron or I would reach over and make sure the boys were warm, they stayed warm and slept good too.  It was a great weekend.  I love being outdoors. So that was our cheap family vacation this year. Our class talked of doing it again in the spring, so our next cheap vacation should be even cheaper, since we have all of the equipment needed, and all we should have to pay for next time is the campsite and food.

It's not rocket science, but close...how do libraries figure their fines...

I will back up a month or two.  We started going to a larger library about 3 months ago. If you homeschool, you really need a good library... At least we do and we depend upon it heavily.  We nearly go past this larger library every Monday on the way to our Co-op, so we take a slight detour on the way home and stop by.  
Back in the first week of October, we went to the library.  I knew that I had not brought all of our books back that we had checked out our last trip.  So as we were checking out, I asked the librarian to renew all of our books.  She said "your books aren't due until October 21, do you still want me to renew them?" 
I told her "no" because I knew we would be back before that date and didn't worry about it.   Fast forward to Oct. 15th, 8 days later,(because they were closed for a holiday the 14th.)  I go to check out and the librarian tells me I owe $8 in fees.  I am dumbfounded about how in the world I could have racked up those fees when just the week before I was told I didn't have any books due until the 21st.  So I paid and then asked to talk to the manager/main librarian etc. 
I told her that I specifically remember the conversation of the week before and how I didn't have any books due until the 21st blah blah blah. I went over the whole thing of how I tried to renew, but was told I didn't need too (come to find out, I had about 6-8 books that were due ON the day the librarian told me I didn't need to renew).  I could tell that the librarian thought I was just a lying loser instead of someone with a legitimate complaint.
She did refund my money, but pretty much acted like I was an idiot and indicated that from now on the money would not be refunded because I should renew online.  I left feeling dirty and lowdown when I wasn't the one who made the mistake!
Ok, so at that point, according to them, all my books were renewed, I didn't have anything due until 3 weeks from that day, which would be tomorrow! 
This morning, I was a good little library patron and looked up my stuff online to renew all of my books, MYSELF, like I was told to do, thinking that all of my stuff was due tomorrow.  Well, there in front of my were 8 books due on the 28th that the library web site would NOT let me renew. So I go in there today and come to find out, I had books due last week, that they told me, AGAIN, they had renewed and would not be due for 3 weeks instead of 2 weeks.
So, I paid my >$10 fine and I am really mad because I know that I can't be so stupid that I can't figure out these library fee schedule. It seems so simple when I read it, but apparently is so complex, that I can't seem to figure it out.
UGH!!!!!
One other reason for going to this library.  I had crazy high fees at the other library closer to us.  Could not figure out how they were going up so high when I had been renewing and paying small fees.  I have not been back since, but back in the summer or before I paid such a high fee I don't want to say it on here.   I couldn't get a straight answer where it came from etc.  I supposedly renewed everything for another 3 weeks.... Then I sent the girls in alone less than 3 weeks later and my fee was now 30$ . I haven't been back. I don't trust them. How in the world can I not have books due, yet somehow rack up 30$ of fees.????? 
See, apparently this complex math just flies over my head.  Is it just the county I live in??

Will a dog ever work out?

I was working last Wed.  I work 7a-7p, which really means, I have to clock in at 6:45 and don't clock out until 7:15pm.  My cell phone has terrible coverage in the hospital and normally I can only get text messages in the breakroom, near the window.  I don't carry my cell phone at work anyway, it stays in my purse. I happened to put it in my pocket around 7pm for the drive home and was sitting at the nurses desk waiting for the other nurse to give report when it vibrated.  Aaron had sent me the following text message "Chloe (our dog) is loose in the church parking lot."
For a split second, I was wondering why in the world Aaron took Chloe to church with him.  He hates the dog.  I tried to call him and remembered that he had already gone into class by that point.  I figured that somehow the dog snuck into the car and no one realized it until it was too late to turn back and make it to church on time.  I found out later that I was right.
I left work and decided to head over to the church building on my way home.  Long story short, Natalie and I stayed for a while after until the parking lot cleared out looking for her.  Never found her, but we did tell a few lingering people that we were looking for our dog and described her.
I thought we'd never see her again.
Well, Friday afternoon, I was working again and Aaron calls me to let me know some people at church had found her and taken her home Wed. night and just found out we were looking for our dog.
They had already taken her to the vet, when they thought she was a stray.  So Aaron told them I would pick her up on Saturday.  I was so stressed out and a little depressed. Why, because I knew that I would owe these people money for a vet bill, plus I was already going to have to pay to have her fixed next month. I didn't have the money budgeted for that and I was sad to have to pay out more money. I wasn't mad at them for taking her to the vet, I was just mad at the situation.  Ugh!
Long story short, I called the man who had Chloe Saturday before I headed to his town for some other errands to see if he was going to be around.  He said he was coming to our town and would bring her by, so I agreed to that. He also said that his wife just loved Chloe and if we ever needed to get rid of her, they would take her.
I got off the phone and asked the family if they really really wanted her. Of course, no one really cared. So I called him back real quick and told him to keep her if he wanted. He was so excited and offered to pay me for her!
While on the phone I remembered that I had prayed about whether or not to keep Chloe just the week before. She bit Ethan, didn't even break the skin, but did leave indentions.  I had no idea what happened and could not get the full story from Ethan
"Ethan, why did Chloe bite you?"
Ethan "because she did"
Went round and round with that for a while.  So I couldn't blame her for biting him if he fell on her, or pulled her tail, etc.  But if she had just bitten him for no reason, it would probably happen again. I feel good about giving her away, but sad that I don't have an inside dog anymore.
Aaron told me Sunday "I'm glad you cook better than you raise dogs"  something like that. It was funny. 

Weird sickness.

Lots has been going on here, although I seem to be in a funk for the last week or so.  Feeling sick off and on.  I am starting to think that #1 I ate some soy protein and didn't realize it or #2 the egg whites I have been eating for weeks is catching up to me.  I have been miserable.
I wasn't feeling too great Friday at the end of my 12 hour shift, came home and went to bed> I was having real bad heartburn, chest achiness that comes with my real bad heartburn.  I went to 2 soccer games Saturday, feeling pretty sick.  Nothing helps a nauseated belly better than sitting in full sun for over two hours... I felt horrid by the time soccer was over...
Aaron was at Madelyn's game 30 min. away, while I had Natalie and Hannah and thank goodness, Mom watched the boys.
I had the abdomen aching, whole body aching like I do when I eat soy.  And nausea.  YUCK!  I ended up still feeling bad on Saturday night and called in sick Sunday. I felt only slightly better Sunday and was thankful I called in.  I might have been able to make it 12 hours, but probably not.  Aaron took the kids to church and ended up coming home after class before church because he was feeling sick himself, which led me to believe I had a touch of the stomach bug, and I had given it to him.
I felt pretty well Monday. I was happy and thinking that I was over whatever it was.  I was cancelled Monday because of low census, so I didn't have to work that day either. I went ahead and signed up to work Tuesday, hoping to make up for days missed. However, they cancelled me Tuesday too and I am sooo glad. I felt great that morning.  Aaron and I took the kids to the library, then to the park. After about 1 1/2 hr at the park, I felt so sick, I couldn't wait to get home. Came straight home and went upstairs and alternated between lying in the bed feeling sick and sitting in the bathroom feeling sick.  So achy.
I felt fine Tuesday morning and ate egg whites that Aaron made for my breakfast.  Then after lunch, I felt horrid for a few hours Tuesday. I would have had to have come home early if I had went to work.  I was sick! No vomiting. It is the strangest symptoms. 
I woke up this morning, feeling pretty well. Excited that I was finally over it. I felt good, but was a little worried this afternoon that although I had not eaten hardly anything, I had no appetite and was not real hungry.  Still, no worries.  I had to make brownies for 40 people for a dinner at church tonight and had to deliver them by 5.  I got them done and Natalie and I went to church. I dropped them off at 4:30 then went straight to Aldi.  I got about 3/4 way through Aldi and started feeling horrible again. So nauseated, stomach aching, awful. I was like "hurry up, Natalie, I have to get home"  Ugh, then of course the 20min. drive home. I went straight to the bathroom and took some pepto - yuck!.  Sat upstairs for a while feeling like vomiting again, aching all in my abdomen again, then came downstairs about 30 min. later.  Aaron had brought in all the groceries and sorted it all in the pantry.  he's so sweet.
So he took all the kids but Hannah to church while I lied on the couch with a heating pad wrapped around my abdomen and Hannah and I watched Duck Dynasty.   Finally, I had enough pain and aching. I took 1/2 a lortab I had leftover from a root canal and about 20 min later, I was feeling sooo much better, hungry all of a sudden, and was able to eat supper. It has worn off now, and I barely ache, so it isn't over, but much better. 
This is my life with soy protein (and possibly eggs?  I can't think of anything I have eaten that could have had soy protein in it, I am always reading labels. ) 
Oh well, when I do slip up and eat soy, I am usually sick off and on for about 2 weeks, so this is following that pattern. Normally, each time I feel sick it lasts a shorter amount of time.  Hopefully, I won't get sick at work on Friday.
Aaron has had a weird schedule since the govt. shutdown.  Working some one day, nothing the next. Who knows.  I hope he at least gets paid for what he worked during the shutdown. That is why I have been trying to get all 3 days in each week at work, since Aaron may not get paid for a while.  So, we have stopped paying extra on debt and only been paying minimum until Aaron starts getting a paycheck. It has been nice seeing Aaron more each day. I love being with him, although he is a worker and doesn't like being at home all day. He has washed so much dishes, laundry, I think he is ready to get back to working.