I remember during our first video session with our coaches, we were asked what we wanted to acheive at the end of this contest. Diana had said "to get completely out of debt." At the time I really thought that was an unrealistically high goal. Remember, that at that point we were having to spend our savings just to pay the bills, and we could not make ends meet. Even at the halfway point I thought we were finally making some headway, but I still could not see the point at which we would be completely out of debt. Last week we received this in the mail.

We finally paid off our last debt. We both look forward to being able to apply all that money that went to credit cards, car payments, etc.. towards something else. This last year has been alot better then I could have ever expected.

So, with or without the $10,000, we won this challenge!!! We are so much better off than we were 10 months ago, and so much better than we would have been now without the knowledge, motivation, and support that we have gained through this experience. Thank you, Florida Commerce and Tallahassee!

This last week was probably one of our worst in reguards to saving money. First we had to repair a water leak that only cost us $200 thanks to whites plumbing. We ended up having to replace the whole shower valve. They had to break through the tile on the front to fix the valve. In order to save money I had them leave the tile unrepaired so that I could fix it myself after christmas. The same day that we were having the leak fixed we lost our power due to a damaged main line out to the street. Luckly there is a conduit to our meter from the street so they did not have to dig up the yard to pull a new line. However, this still cost us more then $500 to fix. I also ended up spending about $300 on hardware supplies to finish up the light show this year. The good news is that its finally done and running. We had two photos of our lights in the Tallahassee Democrats "Tour of Lights". For the past few weeks the traffic in front of our house has steadly gotten heavier. Most nights we come home to 10 or more cars waiting to watch the lights. Sometimes we will see more then 20 cars up and down the street waiting to watch our lights. Gabriel and Jacob still beg us most night to go outside and watch for a while. If you want more information about the lights go to www.tallahasseelights.com

We called a plumber to fix a problem in our master bath. The hot water in the shower is leaking baddly. Not only is this using alot of water but since it is hot water our electric bill will be higher also. On top of that were getting mildew on the walls of all three bedrooms from the steam. So we closed off the master bathroom and turned on the vent fan to help with the problem while we wait for a plumber.

A seperate issue is our electric. for the past couple weeks our electric has been browning out. We thought this was due to the neighboorhood wide upgrades to the underground electric cables. They had to dig up a good portion of our yard to install the new cables. Then last night around 8 o'clock all our electric started to act weird. lights were only on at half brightness... ceiling fans were spinning much slower... the washer would not work at all and when you tried to turn it on were would lose all electricty in about half the house. We called City of Tallahassee electric and they came out and said that we only had 60 volts on one phase of the leg to the street (the underground cable that connects the street to the power meter). I asked if this was damaged by the neighborhood upgrades.. and was told that they could put in a request to research it but we would not have power untill they decided if it was the citys fault. Otherwise, if we wanted power this week, we would have to call (and PAY) and electriction to fix the very expensive problem.

It is nice having an emergency fund, but it is still painfull to have to give it up.

I am a hobbie type of guy. One of the big things we have cut this year is my hobbies. I like to get involved in any cool or unique hobbie. However, it always puts a dent in my wallet. Juggling requires lots of juggling equipment. Wood working, lots of tools. Puzzles, rubix cubes, stunt kite flying, COMPUTER CONTROLLED CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, etc...

A friend of mine got involved with building fireworks a few years ago and it was something that always interested me. Howerever, it too is kinda expensive. This year he invited me to their BIG event. The event is 5 days long filled with building and launching all types of fireworks. Tt was something I really wanted to do. However I really didn't even have $50 to spend on the entry fee. He said that i could make most of that back by helping setup on the first two days. Well, that solved the money issue for me. I am very glad he invited me and i was able to go. It was truly one of the coolest things I have done all year. I got to help setup and see the inner working of a fireworks display. I also got a chance to build a real 3" canister shell. Probably the coolest thing was helping load some Maltese shells that were as big as i am.

is the word of the Day!

The top 5 things I’m thankful for:

A healthy family, and that if anyone gets sick or hurt, we have health insurance and a great emergency fund to pay for co-pays.

A healthy baby girl on the way, and that we are taking important steps to be financially ready for her arrival.

Both of us are employed at the level that is right for our family, and that Michael’s job is flexible enough that we can take care of our children ourselves. And that I have found such a perfect job situation for my family’s needs, where I can feel fulfilled by doing important work and still keep my family as my number one priority.

My awesome support system that helps me get through rough times, including my immediate and extended families, prayer support from the boys’ school, friends from work, and especially my new CRHP sisters.

The security that we’ve found by facing our finances and beginning to live right with our money.

Michael’s top 5:

Finally being able to discuss and agree with my wife on finances,

Not being afraid of emergencies because we have money set aside for them if they happen,

My 2 boys and my daughter on the way,

My older sister is visiting for Thanksgiving,

A good and interesting job with a great boss.

Gabriel’s top 5:

My mom, dad, brother, and our new baby,

Toys,

Food to eat,

Paper to draw on,

Friends at school.

Even though Jacob didn’t get to answer this question, we think his top 5 would be:

Milk,

Oatmeal,

Mommy bath,

Two books at bedtime,

Ketchup on everything (including fingers).

Okay, so here are all the hints in case you’ve missed them:

From my “Back to school means—Football!” Blog on 9/7/09

“Though I have a very strong reason to believe that I will not be attending any football next year either—maybe I can come back in 2011, Doak, but until then…

I hope we win, but it is WAAAAY past my new early bedtime, so I'll just have to find out tomorrow...”

From my “Exhaustion sets in” Blog on 9/16/09

"Just hoping that this extreme fatigue goes away in a few weeks like it’s supposed to, and I can get back to feeling fairly normal, for a little while anyway. All the sick and tired feelings can’t get me down, though; because today, Charmin Ultra was on sale, and I had a coupon…I’ve been missing two-ply!"

And from my “Changes, Changes, and More Changes” Blog on 11/9/09

"This is necessary for us right now, or at least very beneficial and wise since we have the opportunity, because we are preparing for a 4 month period next spring/summer where I will have no income at all, which will be followed by another 2-4 month period where I will have less of an income than what we have become accustomed to in the last 8 months."

So…any ideas what we’ve been hinting at? Well, we have spent the past year getting financially fit, which includes decreasing our debt, increasing our savings, and increasing our credit score. And there is one more thing that will be increasing soon—our family! YAY! We are expecting!

No, this was not necessarily planned. Michael and I, of course, wanted more children, but we are more of an “if it happens, we’re open to it” kind of couple, rather than a “we’re trying, or trying not to” kind of couple. The details are this: our new baby is due in late April. We found out today that she is a GIRL!!! I have been positive thinking about this baby being a girl since the day we found out about her. I have been fighting the urge to buy pink things, you know just to prove how confident I was that she was a girl. But now that I KNOW she’s a girl--MUST…BUY…SOMETHING…PINK!!!

Adding hours at work—a little scary, but an important step in making some needed financial preparations.

We’ve all made a lot of changes to the way we do things financially and otherwise during this contest. Some of the biggest changes we’ve made have been from the very beginning and have become such ingrained habits by now, that the new way has now become our normal. Well, we are getting ready to make another change that feels big and scary to me.

Since September, our little Jacob has been attending preschool 3 days per week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. At the beginning of the school year I let my boss at my tutoring job know that I would be available for morning hours on those days, and would like to add hours if possible. Since she mostly needed more help on Tuesday and Thursday, it didn’t work out for me to add hours, but I did put Jacob on the waiting list for adding Tuesday and Thursday to his preschool schedule. Well, last week the preschool contacted me to let me know there was an opening for Jacob to add the 2 days, and so last Thursday he started his every day school experience. This Thursday, I will start working 3-4 mornings per week, adding 8-12 hours to my weekly commitment at work.

This is necessary for us right now, or at least very beneficial and wise since we have the opportunity, because we are preparing for a 4 month period next spring/summer where I will have no income at all, which will be followed by another 2-4 month period where I will have less of an income than what we have become accustomed to in the last 8 months. I figure that by almost doubling my hours for the next 5 months, we will be much better prepared than if we did nothing now to get ready. And as dumb as it sounds, we have been in this similar situation in the past and done absolutely no saving to prepare for me being without an income. This lack of preparation is probably the biggest reason we’ve been in debt in the past. Now, we (okay, I) have come out of denial and learned how to face certain and uncertain future financial events and plan for them. It feels good! Well, at least that part does anyway…

The scary part: Part of me knows this is going to sound whiney, because there are so many moms out there who would love to be in my situation because I have the option to just work part time and spend so much time with my children. I know I’m very blessed. And yet we embark on a change that I worry about how well my children will adjust. Gabriel I am not so worried about. He had his full year of 3 day preschool last year which created a smooth transition to his 5 days of preschool this year. My adding work hours in the morning will not change anything for Gabriel. But little Jacob—he is my “momma’s boy” and I had reserved our Tuesday and Thursday mornings for our special time together. Now he will be getting up, getting ready for school, coming home to nap, and then spending the afternoon with Daddy while I work my afternoon hours, 5 days a week. By the time I get home it is time for bath and bed, and I won’t even get to do that each night. Michael has teased me because I am so concerned about how Jacob is going to take this new schedule; he says I am the one with the Separation Anxiety. I am trying hard to keep an open mind—who knows? Maybe Jacob will become a little more independent (or at least let other people besides Mommy do things for him!) if he spends a little more time away from me. This would be a really good thing! I know he will enjoy playing with his new Tuesday Thursday friends at school. One thing I’ve already noticed about our interaction just as I mentally prepare for this change is that I am much more appreciative and focused during the time we have together—and that is definitely a positive change!

Well, we’ve said we weren’t making decisions based on being in the contest, but on what was best for our family finances anyway, but…

Last week, of course while I was desperately working on an overdue project for my volunteer role at the boys’ preschool, my computer made this cute little “doink” noise and went totally dead. One great thing about having a mechanically minded spouse is that most things that can be fixed can be done with just a little time and the cost of a few parts. (Michael ran out for a new part and fixed our broken toilet this morning for $6, for example.) It is especially helpful when your mechanically minded spouse happens to also be a computer geek who specializes in fixing things for a profession. His skill has saved us lots of money over the years because he can build a new computer from scratch with just parts, defrag and decontaminate when we get stuck with a virus, rescue data from a computer that no longer works, reload software, even bring a computer back from the blue screen of death. (Or it has cost us more because he always has to have the newest and the best of everything…J)

So after a little playing around (meaning trying everything to get the thing to power up, unsuccessfully, then using a tiny screwdriver to take the laptop completely apart) Michael determined that the motherboard had died. A new motherboard for this computer would cost about $350. An entirely new laptop with similar features would cost about $600, so we decided it really wouldn’t be worth spending the $350 to fix that old one. But it really doesn’t make sense to spend $600 on a new laptop for me when we could probably get by with both of us using Michael’s computer for a few months until the end of the contest.

And so we start the list…first on the list of things we’ll be adding to our budget when we are done with the contest is a new laptop for me (unless of course we realize that it is working okay to just use one—I’m keeping an open mind…)

Is not necessarily a trip to Disney World.

The trip to Disney WAS awesome. The kids had a great time. No one got sick (well, not stomach flu sick, just a cough, thank goodness.) I enjoyed all the birthday wishes from the cast members and fellow guests. It was cheap, thanks to all our planning ahead for meals. We got to stay a little longer than last time. And I got a free gift card from WDW for my birthday gift! (But that’s still not the best one!)

The BEST gift I received for my birthday was from my awesome DH, Michael. We had plans to eat cheaply each night by combining a few kids meals at $4.99 each with some snacks or PBJ that we would pack into the park. But Michael surprised me with a real dinner at a real restaurant on the night of my birthday. We ate at the T-Rex Restaurant in Downtown Disney. If you’ve never been there, imagine Rainforest Café, with a prehistoric twist. The kids were amazed, especially when every 30 minutes or so it would “storm” with loud thunder and rain soundtrack, flashing lights, and the ice cave which was constantly changing from blue to pink and which turned orange and red during the storms. And then of course, all the dinosaurs in the place would move around and make noise. It was cute to see Jacob telling them, “It’s okay dinosaurs, the storm is almost over, okay, it’s all better now, see?”

The food was AWESOME!!! The kids’ meals were a little more expensive than in the parks ($7.99) but there were lots of good choices and they came with 2 sides and milk. I ordered a salad that sounded appealing. When the food (finally—but we enjoyed our wait) came, I was shocked at how huge this salad was and knew I would never be able to finish the whole thing. After the first bite, though…mmm. Michael and I dubbed it the Chicken Bryan of salads. (Remember Chicken Bryan is our most favorite meal at our most favorite restaurant. It’s REALLY good—better than you-know-what good!) Any way we ended up sitting there long enough that I DID finish it, thoroughly enjoying each bite. At the end of the meal, a few waiters even came and sang to me and brought a cookie with a scoop of ice cream and a candle, so we even got a free dessert to share. Overall a great night and wonderful experience. But you still haven’t heard the BEST part…

We did not pay for this meal from our gift budget or our trip budget. I wasn’t sure exactly where the money for this meal was going to come from, actually, until Michael let me in on the real gift. He had been secretly packing a lunch or eating free or really cheaply and saved the money from his own eating out for lunch budget to treat me to a special meal for my birthday. The fact that he sacrificed and gave up something that I know he really hates to do without (dining out at lunchtime) was the BEST GIFT OF ALL!!!! Love you, Sweetie!

In about 10 hours we are heading out to Disney World.

I know a lot of people wonder, "How can you afford to spend money to go to Disney while in a contest like this?"

Well... it's due to what we have learned and are practicing every day that we can afford to go. Something that you HAVE to do when working hard at anything (going on a diet, setting a budget, learning something new) is set goals and rewards. If you don't, you will easily get burned out. Something else that has proved very useful in this contest is spend only on what is important to you. For us, we want to spend some time away with the kids and enjoy the parks, but don't care about nice resorts or dining out. We already purchased season passes to Disney last year so we don't need to spend anything on that. We're staying at a value park resort with the Florida rate. This is cheaper then staying at any nearby hotel and will save us on entry fees and driving to and from the parks each day. Eating at the parks can be really expensive. Therefore we are packing our own breakfests and lunches. For dinners we are eating out one night with family (but keeping our budget in mind). On Thursday, we will be buying kids meals for Gabriel and Jacob but bringing a lot of our own sides to save a little money. Last but not least we will not be budgeting for souvenirs. This might be a good opportunity to let Gabriel and Jacob look in their piggy banks to see if they want to spend any of their savings (and maybe teach them that saving has a purpose in the end).