I'm back and with BIG news!

I have actually missed blogging!!!! (No, that's not the big news.) I deserted the blog after Landon was born because I wasn't ready to talk about what happened with his birth.  I'm still not.  I'm just not ready to sit down and see the facts on paper! I didn't know what to write about without talking about him so I just abandoned ship.  Well, now I have news. BIG news.  I'm a little in shock still. 

STARTING IN JANUARY I AM STARTING TO PURSUE MY DEGREE IN NURSING!

Crazy, I know.  It's not the end either.  Ultimately, I am going to work towards being a lactation consultant. My dream job would be to work with NICU babies and moms and those job postings require not only your certification with the IBCLC, but also an RN license.  I'm really excited about this, however, I'm very nervous.  Going to school full time with three kids is no easy task. I know that I can do it, and I have a great support system.  I've been around the medical field for years. Not to mention, I have a husband with his RN licence that's very new and he's very willing to help!

I am super thrilled that even through the raw, chaotic birth of my last born it brought me to the point of finding what I REALLY want to do for the rest of my life!

I'm super thrilled to see where this takes our family!!!

more than 1/2 way done!

If you're asking if we spent, I prefer to call it trading! Sounds better right???? We had a long list of things that needed to be returned and I had a day to do it BY MY SELF!!! If you have kids, that should be enough said! After all the returns were done there might have been two books, some Easter clearance candy, and some boy clearance eggs that came home with me! However, nothing out of the checking account! I still even had left over return money that went for groceries so that hopefully there will be left over grocery money this month!

Then there was Saturday...after all the tornado stuff on Friday afternoon and evening we decided to stay at my parents house just in case something else popped up.  (They have a fradie hole and well I'm fradie!!!! ) So Saturday morning Ryan and I did stop and get breakfast on our way to work. My sweet mom ran lunch up to me and Ryan's work always gets lunch on Saturday for the employees! Overall, I'm thinking I'd rather us spend $10 and know my three sweets are safe than save $10. 

As far as attitudes, no spend has actually become fun!!!! I'm loving the challenge of thinking outside the box for solutions.  I'm also loving new kitchen experiments that have been going on by trying to use mostly things that we already have!

I'm hoping planning to finish strong.  There are several reasons we wanted to do this and reasons why we decided to do it so often. (even though Ryan has declared his dissatisfaction with doing the even months because there are two of them during the summer and that's sno cone season and so forth! He'll be fine. I'm sure of it!) I'm very excited to see what we can accomplish. 

No spend update #1

It's been 10 days and we are going strong!!!
I'm so excited with the progress that we have already made.  However, the world is testing me!!! Not only did the iron break, I forgot about a secret sister gift, and for cryin out loud how do you forget the Easter Egg Hunt?!?!? Well, apparently it's possible.Here's how that situation went down...
-the secret sister gift: I had part of it (I can't say what it was as to not give away the secret), but I did have to spend $4 for the other part.
-the easter egg hunt: I used the left over Valentine's Day candy (that was awesome...may become tradition) and I dug all the nickels, dimes, and quarters out of the change jar! I did have to buy a few eggs but that was it. I only spent $1.56 where I normally would have spent at least $10 and had more candy than I ever wanted.

I am very please to say that none of this money had to come out of the reserve stash.  Remember the returns to buy the iron? There was $6 left from that so after the unexpected things I still have $0.44 to my name!!!

I am a little bummed that I only have $11 of my $20 dollars left, but I'm not working much the rest of the month so I think I got this!!!!

I will have to dip into the stash for a Bible study that we are starting this month. I didn't know it was starting to pre-plan but it's only $12 and what's $12 in comparison with eternity??? PLUS, I think I will have left over grocery money that I can use for it!

For the first two weeks of April we've only spent $80 on groceries.  Have I mentioned that I LOVE TO COUPON?!?! It's not about hoarding food like on that stupid TV show, those people are crazy!!!! It's about being smart with our hard earned money. No spend has been good for us.  The kids aren't asking for icees as much and Ryan and I (mostly me) aren't buying unneeded things!

Stay tuned for the next update. This is starting to be fun instead of hard!

What?!?! I can't spend?

Am I crazy or what?!? I'd like to think I'm not crazy, but rather just being smart!  After being inspired by someone else who did a no spend January, Ryan and I have decided to for the most part, be off limits to our own money! With Ryan finishing up in nursing school and having an infant in the house we decided that it would be best for me to go part time so that I would have the flexibility to pick and choose the days that I work.  Mostly, so that he could study, but also so we could have at least one day a week to eat dinner together as a family. So what are the rules for this "adventure"?
Other than bills, gas, and groceries the rule goal is for NOTHING to come out of the checking accounts.
There are three exceptions:
1. Landon needed a bumbo type chair and there's one that is a bumbo/exersaucer in one. He's ready for it so there is no more putting it off!
2. Proverbs 31 weekend at church! Very excited about this and I can't fathom saying "sorry Lord it's no spend month!" That would be downright dumb.
3. We decided to pay for Starfall this year.  They've added some new features including colors and we are really excited about it.  Hannah is a little bit behind for her age and we really feel that with her schoolwork and using this website we can help her catch up better.

Other than that, Ryan and I allotted $20 each for the entire month as free money. (I mean after all, a girl can't lose all her happy hour drinks!) Ryan is also in clinicals every Sunday except Easter and there is no where for him to leave a packed lunch or heat one up for that matter.

We have some extra money set aside for things that come up unexpectedly, but I'm really hoping to be able to put all that into savings at the end of the month! However, this has already been tested. 

Trial #1 April 2nd
The iron pooped out. If you put water in the steamer it pours out the bottom. While I hate ironing, I LOVE the steam feature!!! Creative solution...I had some things that I needed to return to Wal-mart so the new iron had to be covered by the amount of the returned items.  May not be the fanciest iron, but I bet it will get the wrinkles out!
Crisis avoided!!!

I'm really excited about this and I'm hoping that it goes smooth enough to do every other month for a year! Keep checking back for more updates!!