You could say that 2009 was a big year for us. We managed to save our sinking ship and we are looking forward to smooth sailing in 2010. The WeLiveFIT challenge has played a huge part in our success story. I truly believe we would not be in this position if not for the help, advice and support we received this year from the Florida Commerce family. I hate to think about where we might be right now financially if not for being chosen as... "one of seven families." I am excited for the challenge to come to a conclusion, but I must admit I am a bit nervous about going out on our own without the accountability of our coaches. I pray that David's career continues to soar to higher heights and that I can significantly contribute to our financial goals, but I am comforted by the fact that if the market tanks again and we have pennies in our pockets, we now know how to weather the storm. Thank you FCCU.

Last weekend I had a wedding on Saturday and a portrait shoot on Sunday. The weekend before that I had 6 shoots on Sunday and 3 on Saturday. This coming weekend I have 2 portrait shoots and a baby shower. WHEW, I am busy!!!! Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, but man I sure do miss having a few days off every week. Not only am I shooting on the weekends, but I am editing all the pictures I take on the weeknights. It is not unusual for me to see 1 or 2am several nights a week. I know that the holidays have kept me extra busy and I am thankful, but I have to admit that I am looking forward to a few real weekends in 2010...

We started doing most of our grocery shopping at wal-mart because the prices are much better than Publix on almost everything we buy. The problem is... Publix doesn't sell clothes, housewares, accessories, etc. When I go to Publix I can only buy groceries. When I go to wal-mart I can venture out of the grocery section and into the departments where I will spend extra money that is not in the "grocery" budget. Now I will say, play clothes for the boys are super cheap at wal-mart, but I find myself buying new shirts, pants etc everytime I am in the store. I like the savings on the grocery bill per item, but I am going to have to work on keeping myself focused and staying away from things that are not on my list! :-) Heaven help me if we ever get a super-Target...

Last year Linley and I planned early and purchased all of our Chrsitmas presents early (around Thanskgiving) to take advantage of sales and to get it out of the way. This year should be no different. However, the amount spent might change a little. My knee surgey wiped out our savings and has slowed my work pace a little. We are finding that Linley is doing well with the photography, and we should continue to see a steady increase in shoots and card ordering with the Holiday Season coming around the corner. However, lately instead of that money being extra and going into savings, we are using it to pay bills. I've gotten used to it and we keep pushing forward and maintain positive attitudes. I think about this challenge and how it has made us mindful of what we do with discretionary money (very little) which has made positive changes in our lifestyle. I was driving around downtown yesterday with my boys in the car and we saw more than a dozen people living on the street and I spent time talking to the boys about how blessed we are to have a roof over our head, food on the table and warm clothes in this wet and cold weather. I love how this challenge has opened our eyes to the importance of talking to our children about finances and making the right decisions financially and being in a position to help those less fortunate. My son's school is collecting for a food drive to provide food for needy children and my boys love getting involved. We thank God everyday for what he provides for us and we know we are blessed to have trivial problems such as not being able to pay a phone bill on time or not having cable. We are able to pay for our healthcare, our utilities and provide for our children. So Thank You Florida Commerce Credit Union for helping us provide the best possible life for our family.

We have had many speed-bumps on our road to financial fitness. I was looking back at all of the unusual expenses we have incurred this year and how much more we could have had in savings if it weren't for these crummy expenses. First of all, we have spent a fortune on David's classes. Close to $5000 in total. Don't get me wrong, I am glad that we have spent that money and I am anxiously awaiting the day when he passes his final test and we can reap the rewards of him having his MAI. Another place we have spent unexpected money is on insurance deductables. We have spent at least $2000 on David's knee surgery alone. I can't imagine where we would be in the competition if we had $7000 in savings, or had been able to wipe out $7000 in debt. Oh well, I wish that we have been able to avoid some of our unexpected expenses this year, but such is life I suppose. I am trying to remember that the competition is not all about winning the $10,000 at the end, but more about changing our lifestyles and making better choices for years to come. If we are debt free, with money in savings a year from now, then we will truly be winners!!

David is recovering nicely from his surgery, but he is coming up on 2 weeks out of work. As you well know, he is 100% commission so no work = no pay. The good news is that he has been able to do a little bit from home, and he has had some loose ends tied up on a few jobs which he can now bill for.

I am dreading his next paycheck as I am sure it will be a small one. Luckily, we are in a better place now to deal with these bumps in the road and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We do have an unexpected safety net though... David did some consulting work for one of his teachers and will get paid a hefty check for his efforts. This check may come just in time to fill the gaps we know will arise at the end of the month - cross your fingers!!

David is home and recovering - yay! It was pretty rough but he is a trooper and is getting better every day.The good news is that we had the money to pay for our deductible. Last year we would have been hard pressed to come up with the money, but thanks to the challenge we had plenty of reserves in the bank. It stinks to have to spend our savings right here near the end of the challenge, but we're trying to look at the bigger picture and be glad that our life changes have had a positive impact on our savings.

So David has had a bum knee for many years now. He injured it playing Soccer in college and it has never fully healed. A few weeks ago he re-injured it pretty bad and has been struggling with a very painful knee since then. He finally gave in and went to the Orthopedist (a $250 visit) and had an MRI (an $800 MRI) which revealed that he has a torn ACL, a torn meniscus and some cartilage damage. He was advised by the doctor to have some pretty major surgery, but in the mean-time he has to wear a brace (an $800 brace). Needless to say we have spent a small fortune getting to this point and he hasn't even had his surgery yet. being that David is an independent contractor we have to provide for his Health Insurance out of pocket. We have a good Blue Options policy, but our deductable is $2500. Yeesh!! So far we are about half way into the deductible and I am sure that the surgery will put us well over the $2500 mark. I really feel like this year we have had many unforeseen financial challenges and thankfully we have had money in savings to cover all of them. The bad news is that it is not helping our standings in the competition towards the $10,000 prize. Hopefully we can round out the year without any other surprises and replenish our savings as much as possible. You know what they say... two steps forward and one limp back!

Whew!! David has officially passed his last class!

This year has been challenging for us in more ways than one, and a big part of that has been David's pursuit of his MAI designation. He had two classes in August, which meant two trips to Atlanta and two weeks out of work. Thankfully he has passed all of his classes and we can go forward with our timeline to have his designation by the end of the year.

The Comp exam (Comprehensive) is only offered a few times a year and you have to have completed all of the coursework successfully to sit for the exam. If David had not passed one of his classes he would have had to wait to re-take the class and would not have been eligible to take the October Comp. Needless to say, he has had to deal with tremendous pressure at every turn. Not only is this hard on him mentally, but it is expensive at every turn as well. We have had to pay for each class and materials, plus the travel expenses, and now we have to pay $300 for him to sit for the Comp and $300 to turn in his work log to prove he has done enough appraisal work in the "real world".

I keep thinking of all of the money we could have put towards our debt, or into our savings account, if David wasn't doing his MAI work this year. All I can say is geeze, this had better pay off... but I know in the long-run it will!

Okay, I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that I have saved up almost $2000 from my photography "side job". That is a HUGE accomplishment for me. Money burns a hole in my pocket unbelievably fast. I am so proud of myself, not only for hanging on to the money, but also for making it in the first place. I absolutely love photography, but it has been difficult for me to charge people to do it. I almost feel badly for charging money to do something I enjoy so much.

But, I digress... the bad news is that I want/need a new camera. a Nikon D700 to be exact. It costs $2200. Yep, I have saved up almost enough to buy this amazing piece of equipment. I have been saving for months to buy this new camera, but now I feel guilty for not putting the money I have saved towards our weLiveFIT goal. I know that the camera will help me to move my photography to the next "professional" level, but I am torn about not being super intense towards our family goal. Any advice would be appreciated...

On another note, David came home this weekend after completing his LAST class!! To celebrate we went to lunch as a family. No, not to a super expensive restaurant, we went to McDonald's. To be more specific, the McDonald's in Wal-Mart on Buck-Lake Road. No sooner did we sit down to enjoy our cheap lunch date, then our coach Warren walked by. I'm sure he was wondering why we were eating out instead of making lunch at home, but rest assured it could have been a whole lot worse than MickyD's meals for 4!!