Proverbs 31

I am thankful for the Biblical Example of the Proverbs 31 Woman.

Not that I have attained this rank, I fail daily, however I am thankful for the example that we have to follow. As Christian Wives & Mothers we have to continually seek the Word of God, for our job description. We can not look to the World for those examples of Biblical Womanhood.

We will never line up to the TV Mom, The model type Wife, The successful career Woman, who appears to have it all. It is like comparing apples to oranges. Both fruit, but very different.

I have never felt more fulfilled as a Woman as when I line my goals up with God's Word. We must feast on the teachings of God's Word. Our families are depending on it! 

Baby Step:4 Paying Off Credit Card Debt

We have covered budgeting over the last few posts.  Hopefully you all have a budget in place and are starting to reap the benefits of your money working with you and for you, instead of your money working you.

Today we are going to discuss the next area in baby steps...to big dreams, and that is paying off your debt. When your debt will be paid off completely depends on many factors, unique to your situation.One thing is sure, if you are persistent in paying down your debt and do not acquire new debt, in time you will be debt free. That is the goal you must keep in front of you.

 As We have talked in the past, it doesn't make a lot of financial sense to have a large savings account, if you are paying off high interest credit card debt every month. However, you should have an Emergency plan in place. Your Emergency fund is the first thing you should fund even before paying off your credit card debt. If you missed that post you can read it here. Your emergency fund allows you to stay on budget, when the unexpected happens.

Once your Emergency Fund is fully funded  (On average $1000), You can start your credit card payoff. First make a list of all your unsecured debt. Unsecured debt typically carries a much higher interest rate. An example of  Secured debt would be a mortgage.

Make a list of the balance on each card, the minimum payment due each month, and the interest rate you are being charged

Start with the highest interest rate,... say 19.9%

 Make your monthly payment & any extra money you receive is placed on the highest interest rate debt. Continue making all your other payments on time

When you get any extra money, overtime, birthday money, Income Tax.....

add it to the scheduled payment

Say your payment is $50, you made an extra $30 at work this  month, you now make an $80/payment

When the highest debt is paid off (this goes faster than you might think)

you now take the $50 you were paying on the first debt and add that to the second debt

Scenario looks like this:

Debt #1 paid off

 Apply payment from Debt #1 and add it to debt #2 Second Highest Interest Card

Debt #2 Paid off

Now you take what you were paying on Debt #1 & Debt #2 and apply to Debt #3

So lets say Debt #1 is $50.00/mo &; Debt #2 is $60.00/mo

The Scheduled payment for debt #3 is $80.00/mo

Your new payment for debt #3 after Debt 1&2 are paid, is

$190.00/mo

Or if you spend $500.00 per month in debt reduction you continue paying $500.00 until all debt is paid. The key here is when you start to pay down debt, that you do not take the freed up money and spend it, or worse yet acquire new debt. Just because you have paid some debt down does not mean you now have "extra" money, especially if you still have more debt.

This is known as the Snowball effect and it is very effective in helping you reduce your debt.

Remember all this debt did not happen overnight and will not go away overnight. Our goal is to stay focused and remember we are taking baby steps........to big dreams!!

Baby Step #3: Funding Your Emergency Fund

Over the past few weeks we have discussed preparing a Budget. Your Budget is your written plan to achieve Financial Freedom.

Today we are going to discuss the next very important step toward your financial freedom........
The Emergency Fund

The Emergency Fund is money set aside so that you do not have to take money from the designated areas in your budget, should some type of an emergency arise. Let's face it, life happens. You must be prepared for the unexpected expense.

Your Emergency Fund  is not vacation money. Hopefully if you are planning a vacation, you have prepared for that and have been setting money aside. However if you are up to your eyeballs in debt, you might consider allocating your vacation dollars to debt reduction. Once your debt is reduced or better yet eliminated, plan your dream vacation. Remember we are taking baby steps to BIG dreams. Once you set your goals on eliminating your debt, you will be amazed how quickly, your balances start to go down.The Emergency fund is just that. Cash put aside for unexpected emergency expenses. Some examples would be,  Car repairs, Furnace repairs, Emergency Travel.......

The first goal is to pay all your bills on time, and eliminate late fees and extra charges. Once you have achieved that goal, (and that should be your very first goal) you need to set some money aside so that you can stay on budget.

If an emergency should arise, furnace breaks, car breaks down and you do not have allocated funds, you will use the money set aside for your bills, to fix the emergent problem. Most of us need our vehicles. If you live anywhere it is cold, you definitely need your furnace. The emergency fund stops the cycle of
 "Robbing Peter to pay Paul"

It is unwise to start paying down credit card debit, if you have nothing put away for a rainy day. Most experts say $1000.00 emergency fund is a good place to start. Any extra monies you get go directly into your emergency fund, until it is fully funded at $1000.00 For some that could be Tax Time. Say you are expecting a big tax refund (lots of theories on that.. hopefully we will cover in the weeks to come). That is when the majority of us receive a lump sum of money. That would be an excellent use of your tax return! For some it might bet an extra hour or two of overtime every week, or in my family's case an extra shift a week for me at the hospital. My husband works overtime every week, with the exception of vacation time.  Maybe taking bottles back could be the $5.00 that starts your fund. The theme throughout this series:
Is just start somewhere and start today!

Let's recap the last few Weeks:

Start A Spending Log

Create A Budget

Pay Bills On Time

Fund An Emergency Fund

The Spending Log definitely is the number one tool to help you create a budget. First, it will show you areas where you can curb your spending.. Secondly, it will show you what you spend your money on, thus identifying categories in your budget.  Make your budget personal to fit the needs of your family.  Don't forget categories such as Birthdays, Christmas, Pets, Insurance Premiums, etc.,  anything you spend your money on needs to be in a category.

Once you have the above steps in place, start funding the Emergency Fund
Place the goal on your fridge, anywhere you are inspired to keep on track
Get your whole Family involved
Help them to see the vision of debt free living
Remember every step gets you one step closer.....to your dreams!


Next Week
Paying Down Credit Cards

                                                                            

                                                                                













 



Baby Step #2: Make Cuts To The Budget

Hopefully you have all been working on your budgets and spending logs. You have been working hard and have found some areas where you can reduce your spending. You have reviewed your spending log and cut out unnecessary spending. You have put some type of budget plan in place. Remember start small. This budget will be revised and revised again. If you have not started your budget, I encourage you to read here and here.

Once you have your budget, hopefully you are working on a cash basis only for your groceries. Let me just say here that your grocery budget, for most people, is the easiest to trim of most categories in the House Hold budget. You can make meatless meals, drink H2o, cut & use coupons. Grow a garden. Shop lost leader sales. This is where the store actually takes a loss on some of their advertised sale items. Their goal is to get you into the store so you will spend more than you plan to. Shopping just lost leaders will save you money.

Next you need to find areas in your budget where you can reduce, cancel, or just plain do without. When you have a mountain of debt, can't pay your bills on time, and are living paycheck to paycheck, these are serious signs that your financial stability is in question. Our culture has the mind set that luxuries have now become the new necessities. You need to take a hard look at what you need versus what you think you need.

Two of the first areas that we cut out were Cable and Cell phones. We were fortunate that our Cell phone contract only had a few months to go, when we decided to cut them from our budget. The cell phone is a perfect example to share with you. When we first got the phones (We each had one) the bill was supposed to be 65.00/mo on the Family Talk Plan, with a 2 year contract. However the bill was never 65.00/mo. Some months it was over $100.00!! We couldn't afford the cell phones, but we kept them anyway. It would be embarrassing to say we didn't have cell phones. Or at least that's what we thought... We were without cell phones for three years. We now have a prepaid Tracfone which we got about 1 1/2 years ago. My Father In Law purchased the phone because He wanted to assure he could locate us if needed. At the time my Mother In Law was quite ill,... and has since passed away. We have kept the Tracfone, but if things got too tight , it would be the first to go. Cell phones are certainly convenient, and some may say a necessity in today's world, but we survived without them. The truth was We couldn't afford them.

The next item to get cut in our early budget, was the cable. This was by far the hardest for my husband. He LOVES sports. He very much missed the games he could only get on the cable stations. But, we did the hard thing...... we cut cable from our budget. We were without cable for about 2 years. We now have basic cable because we have a bundle package with our Phone & Internet, for a much better rate than we could get separately.

As I have mentioned before, the Third tough thing we did was get rid of our second car. We did this a little backwards, though. We had a Jeep Cherokee that was paid for and a Chevy Venture Mini Van. We sold the paid for Jeep, and went down to the Mini Van. My husband works 1 hour from where we live and a reliable vehicle is a must. In retrospect, we should have gotten rid of the car payment vehicle, and put a few hundred dollars into the paid off vehicle. Oh well, I told you all this is a journey.........

Getting out of debt takes hard work and sacrifice. I cannot stress this point enough. There is no simple answer. No one exercise will immediately turn your financial picture around. It will take baby steps. Learning new strategies, building new skills, making do and doing without. I remember reading somewhere in our early journey towards becoming debt free, that a Snowman is built one snowflake at a time... I have never forgotten that. We paid our credit card debt off One At A Time. Today we have NO Credit Card Debit!!

I would be a miss not to mention the incredible mercy God showed to us. I am so thankful for His goodness to us. It has been a long road, but He has guided and sustained us every step of the way!

It is my prayer, for those reading, that you too are taking baby steps......to big dreams!

Stay tuned for next weeks Step 3: The Emergency Fund

Blessings,

~Michelle~

Baby Step # 1: The Budget: How Are You Doing?



In my last post I talked about the first step in becoming debt free, The Household Budget.


Tonight I will be starting the first class in my 12 week Coupon class. To learn more you can read about that here.

The first topic will be the Budget. You can't get to where you are going, without a plan. You would never dream of hopping in your car, to travel to say, Florida, without directions. Whether you have a physical map or turn on your GPS, you still have a plan. The Household Budget is your plan for debt free living.


I hope you all started your spending log. You should have a weeks worth of spending habits to review. Be patient and gentle with yourself. This may be the first time you have attempted a budget. Remember perseverance is key here. By perseverance the snail reached the ark. It is important to be moving in the right direction. Congratulations, that is progress!


Hopefully you have identified some areas where you could tighten your belt. Let's look at a Sample Scenario:


Maybe you identified you purchased 2 convenience coffee's (I call them convenience coffees because let's face it, it is a convenience to purchase the coffee versus making it a home) at say Dunkin Donuts. You paid over $2 for a medium coffee. That's $4.


You also identified that you purchased (3 extra items) without a coupon that weren't on sale, when you made a quick trip(AKA Budget buster) to the grocery store. For an average of about $7. Some say that average is much higher.


While reviewing your spending log for the week, you noted that you ate out once. Whether that was a breakfast, lunch, Chinese or a Pizza, for about $15.00 Depending on your circumstances that might be higher or lower.


We have just found $26.00 Now with a little sacrifice and planning you could find $26.00 a week to add to your debt. If you spent $26.00 extra dollars a week for one month that would be $104/month. Now that's some working capital.


Some of you buy a convenience coffee every single day. That's $10/week $40 bucks a month.


I am not trying to say you can never buy a convenience coffee. What I am trying to say is if you are in debt, and can't pay your bills, and you desire to get out of debt and pay your bills on time, that there are ways to do that. They require sacrifice, changing your spending habits and sometimes just plain hard work. But I am here to tell you that those sacrifices are every bit worth it to reduce your debt and pay your bills on time. Reducing your debt and paying your bills on time are key ingredients in the recipe of a debt free life!

Now that you have some good insight to your spending habits. Write Out A Budget.There is power in the written word. God choose to speak to us through His written word .The Bible is a living book. There is power in the written word.


You can tell some one you have a degree in brain surgery, but without proof of a written diploma I wouldn't suit up in OR Scrubs right sway. You should put your budget in writing. You should have a clear cut plan to become debt free. In the beginning of our debt journey we weren't even sure how much we owed. Pathetic I know, but true. Keeping a written budget keeps you informed. A written budget, keeps you honest. Numbers don't lie. You must know what is coming in and what is going out. No magic. Just knowledge.

This journey is a process. A learning curve. Be patient, but start somewhere. Start today. Do something, even if the steps seem small. Remember these baby steps are the first steps.......... to big dreams!

I am praying for you,
~Michelle~

Baby Steps..........to big Dreams

When I decided to change my stethoscope for an apron, the ability to leave my full-time job did not happen overnight. We had debt and a lot of it. In the beginning it seemed overwhelming and hopeless. I had no idea how it would all work. But God did.



God loves the hopeless case, where His strength is made perfect in our weakness!

I want to encourage those of you with the same desire, to keep taking baby steps.............. to big dreams.



This blog may seem like a hodge podge to some. The content will run from posts on deep thoughts, (well as deep as my mind goes,... don't worry we won't be going far) to frugal tips, to store deals to homemaking tips. It is all part of the journey of "coming home"



I know as I have been on this journey , I have read everything I could get my hands on, in my quest for knowledge in any and all areas of frugal living. This hasn't been days or weeks, but months and years. Some of what I read seemed extreme, and not likely for my family to do. However much of what I have read has been very helpful. Many of those early frugal tips and ideas I learned early in this journey, I still do today.

It is now very hard for me to pay full price for anything. Please believe me when I say, that this was not always the case! I have learned contentment. I realize things don't bring me happiness, but relationships, people and financial freedom do. Being in debt was stealing my joy. I had become a servant to the lender. I am thrilled you are reading this blog, that means you have similar desires. You may even be in the same position I was. It all starts with baby steps.

Today I want to encourage you in the first baby step to financial freedom..........

Baby Step #1




Make a Budget


This truly is the first step in becoming debt free. This step is absolutely imperative!! You must realize where your money is going.!!


Early on I avoided this. In my heart I felt like if I knew the real numbers I would never have the courage to make the step to leave my job. We were just making the bills with me working full-time, let alone cutting my income in half. Remember I went from full-time to part-time to perdiem.







Keep A Spending Log For One Week


I encourage you to start a spending journal. Don't make it complicated. Remember your taking baby steps. Anything to complicated and you won't follow through. Keep it simple. Use a few sheets of paper stapled together, or a small notebook that fits in your purse. Label as follows:

Monday February 21st, 2011. Then write down everything you spend for that day. Everything. Every nickel. Do this for a week. You are doing this step to get a good idea where your money is going. If you are anything like me you will be quite surprised how many funds can be freed up by this simple exercise. This exercise is a powerful tool in helping you identify where and what you are spending your money on. That extra $2-/day spent on______________ you fill in the blank, turns into $14 dollars a week, which turns into $56 dollars a month, which turn into $672 dollars a year .If you applied that $672 to a high interest credit card debit, the savings would be much greater than that!!







When you get your weeks worth of information, this will allow you to sit down and be honest with yourself in your spending habits. The extra couple of bucks at the store you drop a couple times of week doesn't seem like much at the time, but three times a week and that's $6. If you get a take out coffee everyday that's at least $2/day so there's $14 we've all ready found $20bucks!!






Be patient with yourself.. but don't delay this exercise. Today is the first day toward your financial freedom..........I am praying for you.




Blessings,
~Michelle~

New Blog Site: The Coupon Engineer

Dear Friends I would like to invite you all over to my new blog site. I will be blogging on deals and frugal finds that pertain to our local area. I have started teaching Coupon Seminars and wanted an area where I could post deals and store finds, for those in my area. I am blogging
@ http://michelle-thecouponengineer.blogspot.com . I hope you will stop over and leave me a comment. I am planning on hosting a giveway , early next week.

I will still contine to blog here @byhisgraceandforhisglory.This blog's content will still continue to address how I was able to leave my full-time job as a Nurse to become a full-time Homemaker and a perdiem Nurse. It is also my prayer it will contiue to be an encouragement as we strive to be all we can be for Our Lord & Saviour and Our Families.

I am currently writing a series to encourage us all in the job description of the Proverbs 31 Woman. That series will start March 1st.

I hope you will all stop by my new site and say hello. Remember to stop by early next week for my first giveaway!!

Blessings,
~Michelle~

**HOT DEAL: COKE PRODUCT $1/2**

This is an Awesome deal , and it won't last long. If your store doubles coupons you should get a sweet deal on these. You can print 2 per computer!! The coupon states 1 product must be diet.

Perfect for our family that is all we drink:) Go here to print.

My Rite Aid Deals

Rite Aid Deals For Week of February 13-19, 2011

These are the deals I am planning to do this week. I currently have $6

in UP Rewards, and I plan to roll these over. If you are not currently signed

up for the Rite Aids Wellness card, it is free and you will need it to complete the following transactions.

Transaction #1

Colgate Sensitive Toothpaste $3.50

Less .75 mfg cpn (Exp 2/19)

(2) Gain Dish Washing Liquid $0.87

Less (2) .20 mfg cpn (Exp 2/28)

Total $5.24 before coupons

$4.09 After Mfg coupons

Pay with $4 UP Rewards

Receive $3.50 UP Rewards for Colgate Toothpaste

Out of pocket $0.09 + tax

Transaction #2

Ragu Pasta Sauce 26oz 2/$3 x2

Use 2/ $1 off any 2 Ragu Sauce mfg cpn

Total $6.00

Less $2.00 mfg cpns

Pay With $3.50 UP Reward from above Transaction

Out of Pocket $0.50

Earn $2.00 UP Reward for Ragu

Out Of Pocket Expense for above transactions: $0.59 cents

UP Rewards Remaining $4.00

$3 High Value Coupon Gain Fabric Softener

There is a high value Gain Fabric softener coupon in this weeks Red Plum insert. I am reading these are priced around $2.65 at Family Dollar and Dollar General, making it free with this coupon!

These will likely go very fast:))

Frugal Tip: I often find these concentrated softeners to be to fragrant for our liking. They are usually super concentrated as well. I water mine down. Usually 1/2 water to 1/2 bottle of softener. If this is to dilute for your liking, just experiment with what works for you. I have not found the 1/2 concentration to be any problem for us, and one bottle goes twice as far!!!!

Update: I made a quick trip to Family Dollar this morning. I did find the $2.65 Gains. These were the 23 load. I found the larger 60 load for $4.50 To me this was a much better value. After the $3 cpn I paid $1.50/each. I was able to buy 3 51 fl oz bottles for the price of one. After diluting (see above frugal tip) I will get close to 240 loads!!!!!

The Cost of Working Full Time Part 3

I know I am very late in posting the third and final post in this series of "The Cost of Working Full Time", however this post deals with the issues you can't put a price on, time and my family. The most significant issues to me, and in my opinion the highest price of working full time outside our homes.

If you missed the first two posts in the series, you can read them here and here.

You Can Not Meet The Needs Of Your Home When You Are Not In It

I know this must sound like a no brainer, but it was a revelation to me. I did not realize what 40+ hours away from our home really meant. Believe it or not, I had forgotten. That was 40 hours just at the hospital, that did not count time preparing for work and my commute. Add in another 45 minutes per day. O.K. that's around 45 hours a week now. On average, 8.5-9 hours a day. Whew! That's a lot of hours away from home!

Let me just say here that this was one of my most challenging tasks. Keeping up our home and all that goes with that. Meal preparation, laundry, cleaning, bill paying, grocery shopping...........are just a few of the tasks that quickly became difficult for me to manage. I fell woefully behind in my housekeeping. My husband would not tell you that, but in my heart I knew, and that caused me stress. It might not be the same for you, I am just sharing how it worked for me. Our house is the walls and the shell, but our home is the people inside, and I wasn't there to meet their needs. Things fell quickly behind.

I Was Physically And Emotionally Exhausted

I have mentioned on my blog before that I am a wimp, and I mean it. I require 7-8 hours of sleep. If I consistently get less, I am a mess. Just ask my hubby:) I quickly learned I could not do it all. After 4 years of working per diem, where our home and family was my first priority and my work schedule revolved around home first, working full time again, turned everything around. My job became the first priority and I had to schedule home and family around IT. I felt out of balance. The best hours of my day were given to my employer, not my family. For me, that was difficult.

I am going to jump out on a limb here, and boldly ask, could you please tell me what the feminist agenda liberated us from?........... I believe that movement attempted to remove us from our God ordained roles!! God never intended for us to choose priorities such as these. It was never His intention for us to work 2 full time jobs. He knew being a full time Wife, Mother and Home keeper was a full time job in itself! I believe God allowed this opportunity in my life to remind me just how important my role as Wife, Mother and Homemaker really are, especially to Him. That mommy guilt thing is real, not imagined, because God placed a desire in a married woman's heart to full fill her role. It is in our DNA. Our female nature cannot be molded to the feminist agenda without damage to the original design!

I Was A Stranger In A Foreign Land

I work in a professional environment. For the most part I am not exposed to the worlds harshness. I am however exposed to worldly influence. A few hours a week is a lot different than 40+. I was unequally yolked. My family's goals and priorities are different than most people I work with. Driving One car? UN heard of. Homeschooling? Socially inepting our son? How will he get the education he needs? Will he be accepted at the universities? Asking my husband's permission? Old fashioned. Please don't get me wrong. I like the people I work with. They are kind caring professionals, but we are different. They know I am Christian. I am often not invited or included in extra curricular activities at work. The fancy vacations, two cars, big houses, cell phones etc, etc.... They are influences and you must guard your spirit. This world is not my home. I am a pilgrim in a strange land.

As women we must guard ourselves from the influence of worldly philosophy. Woman today have a harshness to them. They talk like men, work like men, and cuss like men. There is no topic that they will not discuss and blushing is for the weak. I hear woman talk all the time of issues with children, marriages, & finances. Their philosophies could not be more off base. They do not line up with the Word of God. In fact the Bible states, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John2:16

Let me conclude this series, by saying I give all praise to the Lord for the mercy and grace He has given me not to work full-time. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. Psalm 66:20 It has not been easy financially, however it has been very,very worth it. In fact the privilege for me has been priceless. I have been on both sides and I can unequivocally say I have been blessed beyond measure as the Keeper of our home. Mere words, truly can not communicate what is in my heart. God has been ever so faithful to us. You can trust Him.

If you are reading this blog and am where I was a few years ago, with a true desire to "come home", don't despair. Pray, pray, and pray some more. Keep reading and looking for ways to reduce your debt. Be prepared to do the hard thing. But above all Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5&6.

I am praying for you,

~Blessings~

Michelle

P.s. If you would like to personally send me an email I will add you to my prayer list!

eehhmmm, Is anybody out there?

Dear Blogging Friends,

Greetings to you all, on this once again snowy day here in upstate N.Y...............

I am sitting here at my dining room table with the sun shining through the window, listening to the music on my site. Praise The Lord.( For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; Job 37:6a)

I hope you are all well and had a wonderful Christmas. We had a blessed Christmas and have hit the floor running in the New Year.

I took December off from couponing and what a blessed time that was! We ate from the pantry and freezer. The additional "extra" time in my schedule was a bountiful blessing in many ways. I truly enjoyed the couple of extra hours gained from not having to shop and prepare. Secondly, we reduced our pantry overload and cleaned out our freezer.Thirdly we saved money to put toward Christmas:)

We have set new financial goals for 2011 as we are getting closer and closer to wiping out all credit card debit. If I was more technical I would try to come up with a fancy graph that I see other bloggers use, but this blogger is technically challenged. You will just have to take my word for it.. God's been good!!!!!!!!!!!

I also have set a few blogging goals, you ready.... I am hoping posting these will make me more accountable to you all, so here goes......

First I hope to blog at least once a week. More if time allows:)

Post more money saving deals that pertain to our local area. Price Chopper specifically. For those who know me that is where I do the majority of my shopping.

And last but not least, post more content that pertains to homemaking, the ministry of being a wife and mother, and all things feminine. I have such a burden for the state of womanhood in our culture. Stay tuned....

I pray you are all having a blessed day where ever you may be, and remember above all things that Jesus loves you and so do I!!!

~Blessings~

Michelle

P.S. Sorry for the double picture, I can't figure how to get it off. I told you I was tech challenged and my computer time is up!

Vacation

Dear Blog sphere friends,

Hope all is well. Thank you for the recent comments. I have several new readers and your comments are an encouragement to my heart!

I know the next post is due in my series "The Cost of working Full-time", however my family is on a much needed vacation. We just returned from Lancaster County/ Gettysburg Penn. We had a great time and saw many interesting things. We are now packed up and ready for a few days of camping. We have taken a 2 week vacation this year which is new for us. We usually just take one week at a time. We have been saving for a long time, and of course this was a frugal vacation:) We are happy to report that we came home with half of the money we saved for vacation!

My lap top is down so my computer time is back to 30 minutes or less a day. I must say even less than that. We started our home school 3 weeks early to accommodate for our vacation. Sorry no fun pictures either as I am having technical difficulties loading pictures from my digital camera to my computer. You all know that I am technically challenged right?

After we are done camping we are home for a day then my husband and I will be attending a couples retreat with our Church. We love this time of fellowship with other married couples and we always receive sound Biblical teaching on marriage. One of my favorite subjects!! Both my husband and I feel strongly that investing in our marriage is worth every penny.

It has been a busy, crazy, wonderful couple of weeks:) It is definitely Fall here in upstate NY. The leaves are beautiful. Fall is our family's favorite time of year. I bought a new cookbook in Amish Country and look forward to making some new apple recipes.

Hope you all are having a wonderful start to Fall, wherever that might be for you! Look forward to chatting with you all again in the next few weeks!

Blessings,
~Michelle~

The Cost of Working Full Time Part 2

This is the second post in The Cost Of Working full Time series. If you missed the first series in the post you can read it here.

Initially when I was asked to work full-time for 6 weeks, I will be honest, I was quite excited. I thought it would be a huge financial blessing. Please don't mis- understand, we were blessed with financial gain, however not to the degree I had originally thought.

1. Uniforms cost Money

Since I was perdiem working 1-2 shifts

a week, the three uniforms I had was quite sufficient. However I quickly realized that would not suffice working 5 days/week. The cost of new uniforms was $250.00 You might think that is quite steep. Medical Uniforms are expensive. As a professional it is important to be dressed appropriately. The uniforms are an investment and will last me a long time. They are also tax deductible. However I still had to shell out $250.00

2. I did not have time to Coupon

Couponing has saved my family literally hundreds to thousands of dollars. Remember when I mentioned we had one vehicle? That was a choice my Husband and I made when we decided I would leave my full-time job. Most of the time only having one vehicle is of little inconvenience. My husband car pools, except when his boss is on vacation, and if I need the vehicle I just get up at 5:30am and bring him to his car pool stop. Once in a while is not bad, but daily rising at this hour,coupled with working 40+ hours a week, well I was exhausted! I will admit, I am a wimp!!

I had little energy for couponing. I have been couponing 10+ years now and am fairly efficient. However couponing and sale searching still takes about 1 hour of my time each week. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. In the thirteen weeks that I worked full-time(I know it was supposed to be six, I will get to that part later) I went couponing twice. The last time I was not organized and was way over budget! I rationalized, "I am making more money now so it's o.k." I bought more ready made foods than normal and purchased way more treats. I rationalized, "I am working more and well we deserve it." That's stinkin thinkin and that gets you into debt! After paying that high grocery bill (double my my normal) I got my head on straight! I recently went couponing and my subtotal came to $194+change and after coupons and my advantage card I paid $72 Glory to God!!!!

3. We ate out more in thirteen weeks than we have in one year!

I will be honest. This probably was the most discouraging revelation to me. As you know we have worked very, very, very hard on becoming debt free. We have sacrificed, gone without, prayed and then prayed some more and God has been blessing our finances mightily. However, when I started making a little more, became crunched for time, was over tired, well the first thing we started to do was order out, or go out and get something fast food. Eating out that way is very expensive. The integrity of this blog is important to me, and I would love to give you a figure, but honestly after the first $60.00 I stopped counting. That is stinkin thinkin too! Rule #1 of debt management is knowing where your money is going. #2 is sticking to your budget. We use the envelope system and $20.00 every 2 weeks goes into the entertainment envelope. That is what we use for take out, soft ice cream,or whatever we choose. When it is gone we don't eat out anymore. That was not the case with me working full-time. Not only was it expensive, it wasn't all that good and it certainly was not good for us. Physically nor financially. All of my family commented how much they missed daily home cooked meals. I am happy to report we are back on track and my family is once again the recipients of mama's cookin.

The afore mentioned are the tangible, measurable points that I noted regarding the financial aspects of me working full-time, please stay tuned for the Spiritual, and social aspects I noted of me leaving our home to work full-time. Please note these are the express opinions of this writer and I in no way condemn or judge those women who have to work outside the home. Quite the opposite. You are often in my thoughts and prayers.........

~Blessings~

Michelle

The Cost of Working Full Time

It has been a while since we all chatted. I would like to thank all of you who check in here faithfully, even when there is nothing new to read. I've recently received some comments that have been a great encouragement to me. I am humbled you would read this blog.

My last entry was way back in March! I have a good excuse. I have been a little busy....hmmmm, specifically working. Yes you read that correctly, and I am working full-time, well at least I was.

For those who faithfully read this blog, you know this blog was created to help those women who have a desire to leave their full-time jobs, learn frugal skills to help them "come home" . That is exactly what I did 4 years ago. I was a full-time Angiography nurse and I left my full-time job to home school our Son and be a Keeper of our home. You can read that post here.

Fast forward to this Spring. I have always worked per-diem since leaving my full-time position. I am so grateful to have this opportunity as the extra money is a great help to my family. I choose the shifts and the days I want to work. As a Critical Care nurse keeping your skills up to date is very important. In our ever changing environment of health care, as well as technology developing at warp speed, working per-diem has helped me keep my skills at a proficient level.

God really has provided a win win situation for me. Early in the spring I received a call from my boss stating that a colleague of mine had broken her ankle. This nurse is the Procedure nurse for our department and there are just a few of us that are able to cover her position. I was told she would be out for 6 weeks...... Her position is Mon-Fri 7:30 until ?, actually whenever the cases are finished. We do Per cutaneous Biopsies in this area and we work until all cases are done. Usually no later that 4p.m. I was asked if I would consider covering her position. I spoke with my Husband and we decided this was something I could do. The hospital I work at has been very good to me over my career and I wanted to help them out in this area. When I left my full-time job we went down to one vehicle. There would be some challenges, but together my Husband and I decided this was something I could do.

We thought the extra money would be a great help and we were almost finished with school. We thought with a little creative scheduling we would complete school on time. This was going to be a good thing. We were pumped up and ready for the challenge and we thought it's only for six weeks right? ...........................................................

Stay Tuned for the next post in this series

~Blessings~

Michelle

The Set Apart Women

Wow. I just read a great post from Kristy over @ Homemakers Cottage. You can read her post here . I was challenged, exhorted, and yes shamed.

I am very careful not to lead you in wrong paths on this site. This is an excellent post!! As a Teen leader of girls, my heart was stirred. I watched the news this morning (why do I do that?) and the headlines were of a young girl, who took her life after being bullied by several girls over the last 6 months. The News anchor then went on to list several pictures & names of teens who have committed suicide within the past year because of being bullied! Help us! If we Christians don't step up to the plate and lead by example, a life set apart, the kids in our churches will turn to the World for their examples. Many already have.

We as Christian women saying one thing and do another. Can I just say that the path to the altar at Church, is not the runway. Woe to us who are in leadership positions who spend more time picking out our Sunday best, than we have in daily devotions. That we consult the Martha Stewart magazines for Home designing instead of what Gods Word states about the building and maintaining of a Christian Home. I can promise you that Martha Stewart's home does not have the warmth and splendor of a home where Christ reigns supreme.A Christ honoring, Christ centered, Christian Home. Where children are raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord, Where mothers are the keepers of the home, and Daddy leads the home.

I was not raised in the type of home I just wrote about. In fact quite the opposite. I will not dishonor my parents with details. They loved us and did the best they could. However, I will say that Christ was not the head of our home growing up. But by His grace and for His glory, that is not the case now. Christ is the head of our home!, and I praise God for it. Before you start thinking I have a perfect home, I do not. We are fallen creatures.I fail daily, as does my husband . The difference now, is we serve a mighty God, who promises to help us. To never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) Our desire is to please Him in all that we say or do. If we continue to use the worlds bench mark to guide our homes and child rearing, we will always fall short. You will be left living a defeated life.

Our guide should be the Living Word of God. God did not leave us helpless. He gave us the best Home living guide on the planet! His Holy Word. Recently I have been under great conviction to increase my time in daily devotions. As Christians we do not have to live defeated lives, but we have to make the choice not to do so. If you choose not to spend time reading and meditating on God's Word, then you are choosing to live defeated that day. We can not walk in the Spirit if we have not spent time with the Lord.

I am so passionate about this subject. I know God is still in the business of changing lives. My family and I are living proof. We are not the same as we were 7 years ago when I rededicated my life to the Lord, and my Husband got saved. My husbands Spiritual birthday is April, 17, 2003. We are not the same people. As we celebrate Christ's Resurrection this week, I can't Thanks Jesus enough for all he did for me. The Bible states in John 10:10 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

All we have to do is look around and see the thief stealing, killing and destroying. As Christians, we do not have to live that way. Make a cup of tea, curl up on the couch, grab your precious children, and read the best book ever written. God's Holy Word.

P.S. I've read the end of the book, We Win!!!!!

May you have life more abundantly today,

~Michelle~


A special thanks to my friend Wanda for the heads up on the post at Homemakers cottage. I feel blessed to share a kindred heart with you friend!

The World's Worst Blogger

All right. It's now out in the open. I confess I am the World's worst blogger! Many of you building successful money making blogs would consider this statement, blog suicide. However, that has never been the intent of this blog.

I have tried to be forth right in many of my posts regarding the frequency of posting on this blog. I am not Superwoman, and have long ago turned in my cape for an apron. While I readily admit that I am the world's worst blogger, I would like to think that I do the important things fairly well. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil 4:13)

My number one role is Wife and helpmeet to my Husband. I am also the keeper of our home, which takes a great deal of time. My wonderful Husband and I just celebrated 16 years of marriage, and I can wholeheartedly say, if given the chance I would marry him all over again. You might be thinking, is He perfect? No. Just perfect for me. My Husband and I both share the same values of marriage and we work very diligently in this area of our life. I have often told our Son that if He is blessed with a helpmeet that loves Him, as much as I love His Dad, His heart will be safe. " The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil." Proverbs 31:11

My second priority is that of Mother, to my wonderful 15 year old Son. He's an amazing kid and I love him dearly. I feel privileged to be His Mom and have seen a glimpse of the depth of love that God must feel for His children. If I do nothing else well in this life, but have filled these two roles to the best of my ability, according to the Word of God, then I will have had great success.

Thirdly I am a servant in our Church. First, I am my Husband's assistant in the Teen Sunday school class, He teaches. He is also our Church's Youth Director, and I assist him in many ways in this area of ministry. We have a very active Youth ministry in our Church and I praise the Lord for that, however this could be a full-time position in itself.

We minister to the needs of my aging In-laws who are in poor health and a recently widowed Uncle. This has recently become a much more demanding area of our lives. The needs of our family have increased, and both my Husband and I feel, the best way to share God's love with our family is to show them the love of Christ. Often times that requires sacrifice. When Christ showed God's love for us, His life was sacrificed. Our free time is limited at this point in life. That's o.k. We have been provided a great opportunity to show our family that our faith is real.

I am a nurse. I work on the average of 6-8 shifts a month. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. I feel blessed not to have to work full-time. God has showed Himself so real to my family in the area of our finances. He has provided for us above any thing we could ask or think, as we strive to put Him first in our lives. I am a critical care nurse and that does require me to keep up my skills, as well as certifications. I feel blessed that God has given me this talent.

As you can see, I like you, wear many hats. I enjoy blogging. It is fun and I enjoy reading blogs. I have been very encouraged by many bloggers. There are some great Christ honoring sites out there. However my computer time is limited to less than 30 minutes a day. There are some days I never log on to my computer. The needs of my family come first. Hopefully you all understand. So, maybe I am the world's worst blogger, but as you can see I am attempting to do some things well!



Blessings,

~Michelle~

CVS $3.68 Money Maker

Here's how you can make a few bucks at CVS this week.

1 Colgate Max Fresh 2.99/2.oo ECB

2 New Dove Mens Body Wash 5.49/5.49 ECB limit 2

1 Reinventing Beauty Magazine .99

I used $1/1 Colgate Toothpaste All You Magazine

2 $1.25 off Mens Body Wash Red Plum 1/31

$3 off $15 e-mailed to me

Spent $9.30 OOP and got back $12.98 in ECB's

Praise The Lord!

High Value Coupon on Soft Scrub

Soft Scrub is one of those cleaners that I love, but can't always afford. You all know my affinity for bleach, and Soft Scrub puts out a great product. Thanks to moneysavingmom for this great tip, you can print $1 cpns here. The manufactures cpn does not say don't double, so on dbl cpns at Price Chopper,this would be a great deal!!

I was able to print the cpn twice. Happy Scrubbing:)

~Michelle~

Eating From the Pantry With God's Provision

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. Psalm 68:19 KJV


It's 9a.m. here on the East Coast, and dinner is done! Aaaahhhh. What a great feeling. The Chili is on the stove, the bread bowls are on the counter thawing, and the tossed salad is put together and in the fridge. As I was putting together my meal I was praising God in my heart for His continual faithfulness to me and my family. Let me explain...........


As I prepared the Chili that we will have for dinner, I praise the Lord for the wisdom He has given me in the area of couponing. Most of the ingredients I used I had purchased for pennies. Secondly, the 2 cans of crushed tomatoes I used were given to us. The tomatoes were given to us by my Uncle, and I plan on sharing our meal with him tonight. The onions I used were given to me by my Father-in-law. Someone had given them to Him for making a monetary donation to a food pantry. He was also given a bag of salad and a dozen eggs. He passed those along to us as well. I used the eggs to make dessert for our Sunday meal and the salad was used for that meal as well. We shared our Sunday afternoon meal with some folks from our Church.

The tossed salad that I made for tonight's meal was with 2 bags of Garden salad mix from Aldi that I purchased this week for .49cents a bag. The tomatoes and cucumbers were given to us. Our Church receives produce on Mondays from a local store. Over the last few months we have been given bread, mayo, lots of produce and fresh fruit.

Sunday morning our Pastors wife called inquiring if I had an extra winter coat. I frequently hit thrift stores and She is aware of that. There is a lady in our Church in need of a Winter coat. I didn't have one but told her I would definitely keep my eyes out for one in my travels. Later that afternoon my Uncle called, (The one whose wife recently passed away, my dear Aunt Dee) and wanted to know If I knew anyone who needed a coat. He had several of hers he was going to give away. I will pick up that coat tonight when I deliver his meal. I will deliver the coat tonight to the Lady in our Church.

Are you staring to see the picture? God blesses us in so many ways, and blesses others through us. As I reflect on the daily provision of our Heavenly Father I am so thankful to be His child. My Uncle did not know a lady in our Church needed a coat, but God did. Our God is ever so faithful.


I had mentioned in an earlier post you can read here, that I would share some of the scripture God used to help me after my Aunt passed away. The one scripture I referred to most was Psalm 27:13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. KJV God is faithful and we can trust in Him.


We are living in uncertain times. Just recently I had shared with my Husband I was starting to fret over finances. Heating our home in the Winter is always a major financial challenge! Lord help mine thou unbelief!


The goodness of the Lord must be remembered daily. As we walk with Him, may we all be encouraged to trust Him for all our needs~!



Blessings,

~Michelle~