Doing Dave Ramsey- Our Way!

Every family at some point gets to that place where their budget gets wonky... and you have to reign that bad boy back in.  I faced that place this month.  Christmas was looming... we were spending too freely- and I had to figure out what was going on with our money!

I was using The Happy Planner Budget Extension Pack.... and guys... I really really REALLY wanted to love it.  I really did.  But I couldn't implement it the way I felt that I needed to manage our money. And I wasn't finding the tools I desperately needed to make that possible.

I love Dave Ramsey. His methods are amazing.  But for me, as many places I go I don't feel safe carrying around money in envelopes for me to put down and forget to pick back up.  I hate the thought of losing my entire month's worth of money... so ...

I bought a Martha Stewart Arc cover from Staples, as well as some page protectors and pocket dividers, because lets face it, if you are going to do it, it might as well be pretty.  So after I chose a cover, I started creating the documents I needed in my binder.  First, I needed a master list of my bills with account numbers in the front.  Done.  Then, I needed to create categories of where all my bills went and their categories.  For example, the one main heading of Utilities holds the electric bill, water bill, cable bill, etc.  For our family, we have 9 categories.  Next, I created a sheet with all my categories and what fell in those- and assigned an icon stamp for each.

Still with me?  Okay... so am I the only one who hates the small check book register that comes with checks?  I hate it.  It's small.  And I had no way to include my stamp category stuff.  So, of course I created something different.  I created a check book register that includes a column for the category stamps!! Why is this what I needed? Well let me show you! 

See that budget category column?  Thats where a stamp goes from the master list shown above.  So as I am keeping track of our checkbook, I also have a visual of how much spending is going on in each category.  Once I have balanced all that and tabulated, I then check off from the register and add my expenditures to what would normally be on the outside of the cash envelopes, but I have included here in my binder.

This helps me know when I am out of money in that particular category, so I know to stop spending!! It's something I will do before I go to bed each night if I have been out and about.  

I also have this sheet in my binder.  This sheet I used a couple of years ago before I tried the MAMBI budget extension.  This sheet was amazing at keeping me in sync with how I needed to allocate our money.  Ms. Wenduh has some amazing free printable on her blog.  She also sells planner stickers.  Love her stuff! 

And that is how we plan on getting back on track.  Why wait until the first of the year? Now is the time to make your money work for you!  It is good to start saving money, or getting out of debt.  I feel driven like never before to make our money work hard for us.  

I hope this inspires you to take your money captive and do the right stuff with it!! 

Becoming A Plexus Ambassador

This week, we announced to our family and friends that we had made the decision to become plexus ambassadors.  We have been using the products for nearly a month, and the changes we were starting to see and feel were too amazing to not jump on and share.

I did an eleven minute Facebook live to announce it.  I was so stinking nervous!  I am not good at looking at myself while I talk.  I am totally okay with others looking at me... but having to look at myself is nerve racking!  I truly believe the products are changing my life, and in turn changing my family's life as well!

 

I feel incredibly blessed to have found a product that will change everything for me.  I was so hard on my body for so long, pushing through some pretty difficult circumstances and demanding a lot from my body.  Honestly, I was brutal to all my body systems by asking so much from it.  I know now why weight loss has been such a struggle for the last 6 years.  I want to be a better steward of what God has given me... and He only gives me one body to dwell on this earth in.  The best way I can honor and glorify Him is to be the best version of me I can be!  I truly believe Plexus is going to help me accomplish that goal.  

So, if you are interested, click on the black image above, and watch what I have to say about Plexus and how it is helping my body.  

Preparing for 2017-2018 School Year

Good Morning!

I have been slowly trying to prepare myself for the inevitability of the school year starting... but I can't seem to quite get prepared.  I have my fabulous Teacher Planner from Me and My Big Ideas ... but I just can't get motivated to think about school starting up!

It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that we spent all of May and June working on Beauty and the Beast Jr, or that all of July has been helping my oldest paint lockers to look like books for a paid project could it? but, I digress.

The one thing the Happy Planner Teacher Edition does not have is a monthly objectives page.  I really needed this this year because we are going more Charlotte Mason and all my kids are doing the same science and Bible.  So, in order to that, I need a place I can coordinate their chapters.  I created a printable for this!  

This now gives me a great place to have an "At A Glance" view of what I want to accomplish throughout the school year.  From the Teacher Add-On pack, I used the volunteer sheet, but on the back there was a checklist sheet, and I didn't want checklists at the beginning, so I glued it to the back of that and then used Washi Tape to keep it solidly together.  Now, all my Checklists are in the back where they belong and I don't have a random one up front.

Enjoy your free printable, and until next time...
Happy Planning & Happy Homeschooling!

Something About May...

It appears there is something about the Month of May that makes me remember I have this blog... and want to do something with it.  My last blog post was about Trim Healthy Mama in May of 2016.  I love this blog... and I know I started it for a reason... I just haven't settled into what I want it to be yet I guess.

Life has been so hectic!  Things with the boys are at a plateau... Wyatt has hard decisions to make for himself... he is to the point I can't push him to want to be better or more than he is right now.  He has got to want that for his own future... and we are working with a psychologist to get him there... but it just doesn't seem that he wants it right now.  Dylan is doing really well... I venture to say somewhat stable in all actuality... so long as my nurses are here and consistent.  They are both such a blessing to our family- they are like family.  Nurses Appreciation Week was last week.. and in all my personal craziness, I didn't do anything for either one of them.  One more thing on my to do list!

Elizabeth was cast as Belle in the upcoming community theater production of Beauty and The Beast Jr.  She is so excited!  I will post some pictures of the Belle Dress process.  Rather than buy a junky cosplay dress, we opted to buy a wedding dress at a thrift store and convert it.  That was probably the most amazing and scary process!  It is so beautiful.  We just have to add one more layer to the top... I can't express how excited I am for her!  I am also stage managing this year's production... it has been fun for me to learn something new as well.  It's also been nice to be needed and wanted.  I struggle so much in this area of my life- I desire to feel useful to people outside my family.  Service is after all my love language- so to know that I am asset in the community theater and helping the production staff and crew as well as imparting the importance of organization to these kids has been amazing and fun.

Cassidy is going to start competitive gymnastics this summer.  She is very talented, and very excited to take the next step into competitive sports.  She works hard at home and practices constantly.  I love that she has a desire to work hard toward something... because that girl is such a struggle to get to do school!  She has zero desire to sit still and do anything.  Thank goodness we are nearing the end of our school year, although we are going to do some school through the summer so that they can stay up to par on some subjects.

I am so excited about some of the changes I am already looking at implementing for next year as far as school goes.  We are looking at doing a cottage school with friends, and also some great curriculum changes are coming this year as well!  This past year was the first year I went off script and taught independent of a box curriculum.  It was overwhelming and gratifying all in one!  I think we did okay though- my junior finished Chemistry with a 92.  I will take it!

Soon, Bucky and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage together... it's gone by so fast and at the same time feels like forever.  I know that makes next to no sense.  This year also marked 10 years that I have been saved by grace, and for that I am so very thankful.  Serving the Lord has been difficult for me at times, because I have so much on me at home and to think of doing more has sometimes exhausting.... and overwhelming.  And then there is my feeling of acceptance, but that's another day's issue.

That's our life in a nutshell.. my goal is to do this more than once a year... what do y'all think?