Archive results for “July 2011f 2011”

On this page you will find the search results for the search term that you queried.

Bad Decisions?

After my not so nice request to my employer to please stop contacting me while on maternity leave, I experienced a wonderful time of peace and quiet.

That didn’t last long.

On Wednesday, the calls, e-mails, and texting started again.

Maternity leave is great, but keeping my job is important – especially since I use my paycheck to pay my mortgage and pay down debt.

Sure, I understand that they can’t legally fire me for turning off my phone while on disability, but I’m a bit concerned about what will happen AFTER I return to work. You can bet my employer will remember I ignored calls.

All day Wednesday, as the calls came one after the other and I pressed the ‘ignore’ button on my phone, I told myself I deserved just one more day of quiet. I’d get to them on Thursday.

Thursday morning, I woke up to more voicemails and decided…

I’m not going to return any more calls while out on leave.

Bad decision financially? Maybe.

But I only get to spend a few precious moments with my newborn son – and I’m going to enjoy every single one.

Posted by Beks on July 30, 2011 at 2:53 PM in Life Experiences, Money & Relationships, work | 27 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Meet Our Son…

Some of you have been asking about the baby so I thought I’d do one last non-debt related baby post and introduce you to our son.

A couple Friday’s ago, I wet my pants. Embarrassed about my newfound incontinence, I changed my shorts and didn’t tell a soul. Saturday morning, I woke up to wet pants again. Horrified, I changed again. That afternoon, I went to a wedding reception, finished last minute baby supply shopping, and cleaned around the house.

It wasn’t until Sunday, when talking to my husband in our dining room, that more water went running down my legs onto the floor. His eyes grew to the size of saucers, ‘Did your water just break?!?!’

‘Hmm. Is THAT what that’s been the last few days?’ I asked myself out loud.

‘The last few DAYS?!?!?’ he said as he grabbed my hospital bag ‘We’re going to the hospital NOW.’

‘Eh. I’m going to hop in the shower, shave my legs, and put on my make-up first’ I said as I headed to the bedroom.

He stared at me.

‘What??’ I asked.

Rather than fight, and get nowhere, he decided to make quesadillas while I got ready. I could hear him yelling ‘Are you ready YET?!?’ about every 5 minutes from the kitchen.

I think babies know when you get to the hospital because as soon as I walked through the doors…

YOWEEE!! contractions started.

A couple hours later after two particularly nasty contractions, I asked for an epidural and immediately fell asleep.

Fast forward a few more hours, the nurse woke me up to check the progress and discovered baby was ready to go.

The on call doctor strolled in, shook my hand, instructed me to push 5 or 6 times and…

out the baby came…painlessly.

When the doc put my beautiful baby boy on my stomach, all I could think was…

‘Um. Is that it? No seriously. I’ve had root canals that were a heck of a lot more painful. I think I’m missing something.’

My husband looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, ‘You are such a strong woman! Not a peep or pained scream from you! I’m so proud of you’ as he kissed my forehead.

‘Pain? Oh. Um. Yeah. It was, uh, horrible. I thought I might die’ I said.

Shh. He doesn’t need to know.

Sure, there were a few minor complications. Since my water had been broken for a few days, baby and I had to go on antibiotics. I spiked a fever over 100 and my blood pressure seemed to set off the alarms every couple hours when it would drop to 60/40. But overall, very minor stuff.

I was fortunate to have a really awesome delivery experience and I’ll be one of those women who look back and smile when I think of that day.

It’s true. No one can express what it feels like to finally meet your child. Sure, there’s a little bit of terror, but mostly an overwhelming sense of love. I have been so very blessed.

So what did we name him?

Well folks, I’d like to introduce you to…

Cash Ryan

Posted by Beks on July 27, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Bump Update | 39 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Cell Phone Woes…

I opened my first cell phone bill since the big switch last month. Expecting a lower bill (as promised by the sales guy – of course), I happily opened my bill to discover…

A big fat number reading – $324.

Cough. Ack!! $324?!?!?

Thinking my husband or I somehow went over the minutes or violated some sort of agreement, I searched the bill looking for answers.

Overages: none.

I waited a minute or two for my blood pressure to return to normal and called the cell phone company. Turns out, activation of new service requires you to pay the current month, one month in advance, activation fees, and taxes on everything. They did give me the amount I will be paying in future months and, yes, it will be lower than what I was paying but… a little warning about the first month would have been helpful.

I’ve got to sell a lung real quick.

Youch!!

Posted by Beks on July 26, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Spending Money | 9 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Do you Groupon?

Ready for a shock?

I don’t use Groupon, Living Social, or any of those lifestyle couponing websites. Trust me, I’ve heard from all my friends how awesome it is to get a 2 for 1 dinner coupon, a free eye exam, or $20 off a haircut at a salon but…

I don’t dine out, my eye exams are covered by insurance, I don’t pay more than $15 for a haircut, and I can’t afford most of the lifestyle items they are discounting.

In fact, I don’t even look at these websites because I know I’d be tempted to purchase stuff I didn’t need because it was on sale.

Am I just lagging behind the times? Do you use Groupon deals? Or do you save your scissors for clipping grocery coupons?

Posted by Beks on July 25, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Coupons | 22 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Thinking Outside the Box… Again…

I wanted to have some maternity photos taken before the baby decided to make an appearance. Thinking it wouldn’t cost more than a couple hundred dollars for a decent photographer, I started to research my area for recommendations.

Apparently I’m WAY out of the loop on the actual cost of a photographer.

Starting price? $600. Top of the range? Prices not listed because if you have to ask… you can’t afford it.

Yes, we have money saved in our baby fund but when it comes down to spending an extra week or two with the baby OR having maternity photos, I choose baby time.

Of course, this made me break down into a giant puddle of tears. There’s nothing worse than a woman who can’t have what she wants… unless it’s a PREGNANT woman who can’t have what she wants.

So. I called for reinforcements.

SNIFFFFFFFFLE. *ring* “Liz? Ican’taffordmaternityphotosbecausewe’rebrokeandI’msosad.Pleasehelpme” I sobbed in a single breath into the phone to my sister.

“Huh?” she said.

I probably should have had my level headed husband call so she could understand at least a few words.

She eventually figured out what I was crying about (…this time…) and offered to take photos for us.

I researched poses and locations while she studied how to adjust the F-stop and ISO on a camera. We spent a couple nights at the beach and the park chasing sunlight and snapping photos. Sure, she isn’t a pro and I’m not a good subject, but you learn to accept you can’t have everything you want while paying off mistakes *cough* I mean, while paying off debt.

I’ll admit. I didn’t expect much. BUT…

I’m so happy with the way the photos turned out. Who knew my sister was a closet photographer?

It’s easy to give up, but don’t. Constantly look for ways to think outside the box. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Posted by Beks on July 22, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Ways I Save Money | 16 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

If My Mortgage Doesn’t Kill Me, Costco Will…

I scrimp, I save, I budget but there are two things that can empty my bank account in three seconds flat:

My mortgage and Costco Wholesale.

I suffered an attack from both yesterday.

My mortgage cleared my account in the morning and even though I’m prepared, even though it’s budgeted, it’s always a little disheartening to feel rich one day and broke the next. It’s like watching a car full of cash leave my checking account each month.

For some reason, I thought yesterday might also be a good time to go to Costco. We ran out of paper towels and we would soon need napkins and toilet paper. This trip SHOULD have cost $45.

I tried to make a straight line down the center of the store, directly to the paper products (conveniently placed in the BACK) but found myself saying, ‘Peaches? OF COURSE I need a huge flat of peaches. Sure, it’s only hubby and me and we’ll have to eat 17 peaches each in the next 5 days, but I CAN’T live without them.’

It’s as if all logical thought and reasoning disappear at those roll-up doors.

I loaded the cart with apples, pre-cooked dinners, dog food, and paper products. My exit cost me…
$191.

I’m tricked into thinking I’m ‘saving money’ by purchasing toilet paper 92 rolls at a time but those rolls are typically accompanied by loads of items I don’t need.

It’s not as if anything I purchased will go to waste, but it will take 10 years for us to use it all. Fortunately, my husband worked a side job a few weekends ago and we had the cash, but that’s $191 that won’t be going into our emergency fund this month.

I think I’m going to have to break up with Costco.

Posted by Beks on July 21, 2011 at 5:00 AM in Spending Money, Ways I Save Money | 14 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Who Does Your Shopping?

I was listening to Dave Ramsey today and he shared a study that discovered women handle 62% of all grocery shopping trips. I was a bit surprised by this since all the women in my family do 100% of the grocery shopping. Sure, it may be because the women in my family are a little obsessive about saving money and are a teensy bit controlling of grocery finances, but the percentage still seems off.

Who does the shopping in your family?

Posted by Beks on July 19, 2011 at 7:34 PM in Money & Relationships | 27 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Older Archives »

About This Site

My Debt

Original Debt: $38,495.86
Added Debt: $1,781.50
Total Debt: $40,277.36
Paid: $36,084.36
Remaining: $4,193.00
Broken Down
Auto Loan 1: $0.00
Credit Card: $0.00
Student Loan: $4,193.00
Auto Loan 2: $0.00
Vet Loan: $0.00

Blogging Away Debt

Good Info I've Collected