Momma2Many66
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Posts posted by Momma2Many66
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No credit cards here, everything is paid in cash.
We made mistakes in the past and got way over our heads in credit card debt, so we cleaned up our act and got rid of the cards and the debt.
We have been credit card free for over 5 years now, we have been debt free (except the mortgage) for almost 4 years.
Now we have an established emergency fund for emegencies, so we don't ever need a credit card for help.
I don't even use a debit card if I don't have too, because I found that it is still to easy to spend money when it is not right in my hand to make me more hesitant to just "splurge". So typically, If my envelope is out of cash, we do without until the next payday. I have learned to squeeze the life out of all our money to make it stretch as far as possible to keep us from ever needing to dip into debt again.
We are using the Dave Ramsey plan and we have sinking funds established ( increments of money we put in special accounts year round each month) for things like once a year bills (such as property/school taxes or insurance) as well as home or car repair, heating bills, new large appliance fund or new to us (used) car fund, Christmas gift fund etc.
This way we cover our finances ahead of time before the "need" arises. We plan and anticipate future needs as best we can so we don't have to use our emergency fund unless it is a true emergency.
We also follow the You Need A Budget plan of paying our bills into accounts a month in advance, so we always are paying next months bills with this months paycheck. This allows us to always stay ahead of the game and out of trouble should a problem in my husband's job status arise.
It works for our family, it keeps us solvent and out of debt and that keeps us afloat each month and working on paying off our mortage way ahead of the bank's schedule.
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When I get the "I wants" I ask myself If I really will use the item and is it obtainable for me on my strict budget ?
If it is obtainable, I make a plan to create the funds to purchase the object.
If it is not obtainable on our budget such as a large boat, new exspensive vehicle or a huge house I just remind myself that we live a more simpler lifestyle than those who can afford those exspensive things. I also do more praying on being content with what I have and being happy with what we can afford by living within our means.
Recently I wanted a new crockpot which was about $ 70 dollars on Amazon for the one I really desired. Since that $ 70 dollars was not in our budget, I found a way to create the money by selling some items on ebay and using the Amazon buy back program for books and dvds. I ended up making more than enough to pay for that crockpot as well as picking up a few extra Christmas gifts for my children.
So instead of beating yourself up over wanting things, see if it is something you can obtain through bringing in some extra income or if it is not obtainable, teaching yourself to be content within your own means.
I teach my children the same thing, If they want nice things they must work for them. If they are things totally beyond our reach (income level), they must learn to be content in what they have now and get a good eductation so they can achieve those things in their future should they so desire.
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I think the note is polite and fine. I would view it as a heads up to the problem so I could fix it promptly before causing ill will between my neighbors and myself.
I would much rather have my neighbor write me a brief polite note to inform me of a problem instead of calling the HOA or local police to complain about my dog making a disturbance in the neighborhood. This way I can fix the problem quickly without having it arise to an embarrasing situation.
I think you did a fine job writing the note.
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My 13 year old son is getting the Art of War by Sun Tzu which is a book on military strategy but is very helpful in other parts of life and business.
Click here: Amazon.com: The Art of War (History and Warfare) (9780813319513): Sun Tzu, Ralph D. Sawyer: Books I picked this exact book up at the GoodWill for 47 cents a few months back to give him for Christmas.
He is also getting the game Go which is an ancient game of strategy and a book on it for beginners.Click here: Amazon.com: Go Game with Wood Board: Toys & Games I picked this game up at the GoodWill for $ 1.97 a few months back for an extra Christmas gift.
Besides those items he is getting some new Dungeons and Dragons dice and a large vinyl playmat for the game. He is also getting a few Dungeon and Dragon minitures to add to gaming fun.
Last but not least he is getting an older large style Playmobil Fort that I found on ebay at a great price. This includes Union Soldiers, Confederate Soldiers, Indians, Cowboys and Red Coats and accesories to add to our American History theme this year.
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Victoria Eloise is my favorite "E" name
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My 10 year old daughter loves to watch the Cake Boss on netflix and her latest "future career choice" is to be a pastry chef. Last year she wanted to be a vet, but this year she is older and now wants to decorate cakes and create edible art from her baking. To inspire her I decided to help her along with some fun Christmas gifts in a baking/decorating theme.
So this year I am getting her a really nice cake decorating kit, some cake decorating books, the new Cake Boss "how to" book that just came out and a cute chef hat and white chef coat/apron.
Perhaps your daughter would enjoy something similiar to create "real life" cakes instead of just "play cakes" from the Easy Bake oven.
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We only have a landline.
I am not a big phone talker, I only talk to my mom and adult daughter daily on the phone. Other than that, I don't really use the phone unless I'm calling for doctor or dentist appointments.
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We only buy for our children and we spend about 50 dollars per child.
I shop early in the year and I shop ebay or used stores for the best deals to find quality items like playmobil, lego or American Girl dolls.
If I shop in May or June, I can get really good deals on the same items that will sell for 2 to 3 times the amount used on ebay in October or November. So each year I finish all my Christmas shopping by June.
This year I got my oldest son 13 years old the Playmobil Eagle Fort (older version with complete setup) and Red Coat soldiers, Indians set, Union Soldiers and Confederate Army and gold wagon for 50 dollars including shipping on Ebay.
My 10 year old daughter is getting an Addy American Girl doll since we are studying slavery in history and she loves the Addy books and the doll has been on her list for several years. I found the doll on ebay in Excellent condition with her accessory set for 49.00 plus 8 dollars shipping cost.
My 8 years old son is getting the Playmobil Roman Collesium (large full ringed version) marked down from 129 dollars to 50 dollars. I found one brand new in package from a little toy store I found online located in San Antonio Texas. I used a coupon code and got free shipping on the item.
My youngest son 6 is getting the new Mario cart Knex set for 50.00 available from Amazon with free shipping.
I am getting my married daughter some baking gadgets for her kitchen and some odds and ends that add up to 50 dollars and my adult son will get some nice gift cards for groceries or what not's from Walmart that add up to 50 dollars.
I got my new grand-daughter a Bitty Baby doll from the American Girl Store for 50 dollars with shipping.
I have 6 children and one grandchild and that adds up to 350 dollars, which is our limit and what I can afford to buget with cash each year for Christmas.
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Wow, even if it was a simple calculation error but they understand the underlying concept?
Tara
No, just until they understand the underlying concept. I also work all those "extra 10 problems" with my child untill they really get it down pat before moving on. If it is just a calculation error (such as adding wrong or forgetting to carry the ten) we fix it and move on and I explain the importance of taking their time, keeping their colums nice and straight and checking the problem for calulation errors before moving on to the next problem.
I sit with all my children (just like a tutor would) when they do their math work and I do each math problem with them when using Saxon, we do the program together with the Art Reed DVDs. This way I can catch any problems or mistakes ahead of time and we can review extra problems right away if they are not getting the underlying concept. It adds an extra 15 or 20 minutes to our math period (typically 1 hour) but gives us the benefit of catching mistakes immediately and keeping them on track for understanding and mastering the material before moving on.
I hope I explained that well, I know what I want to say, but I don't always say it in easy to understand ways. I tend to rattle on when trying to explain something. :001_smile:
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We fix every problem and then I give them 10 extra problems just like it for every one they get wrong. We continue to work those problems until they understand why they made the mistake and how to do the problem correctly.
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We really like Lie To Me, it is different than most detective shows on tv.
All 3 season are available on Netflix streaming.
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I'll be 57 years old when my homeschoolling job is officially over and my youngest child is headed off to college. At that point I will have been raising children for 40 years.
I figure by that time, I will have put my years in with education and I will have earned the right to just relax.
I plan to buy a little boat and do a lot of fishing.
I may get a little camper and do some traveling and visiting my grandchildren all over the country.
In the meantime, I am saving my pennies and paying off the mortgage so I can be totally debt free when I retire.
That is my retirement plan ! :001_smile:
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My son is in 7th grade and is doing 7/6 with Art Reed DVDs and he loves the DVDs. Art explains everything very well for us and we really gain so much from watching the DVDs. We also do a few other math programs along with Saxon like Math Mammoth, Life of Fred and Math U See to really cement the material and understand all the math concepts from various angles.
My son is going through it at a pretty fast clip and we will be in 8/7 come February of 2012. We school year round so we take our time and really go over lessons to be sure he understand them completely before we move on. We are all about mastery here, not just finishing the book. We do tons of extra practice problems and I make lots of extra worksheets so we are sure to learn everything well and get ALL the information down pat.
We do every lesson together, I sit with him and we work out each problem together and discuss any problems or fix any problems right away. We do it that way so I don't have to wonder why he is having a problem 3 or 4 months down the line and have to go back over material to find the gap.
This way I catch any problems right away and we learn the material together, so I always know where he is at and what he is doing. He really enjoys doing the math with me each day. He tends to get bored easily and daydreams a lot or doodles on his papers or takes strolls around the house (he's 13 ;) ).
So, I found by sitting with him each day and doing the lesson with him I can keep his concentration because he has a lot more fun with math. He loves to challenge mom and we have a competitive game where we race each other to finish our problems first and see who gets the right answer the quickest. By doing the math together and working as a team we get through it much quicker, he really focuses on the material, he does very well on all assignments and tests and If there is a problem, I can catch it immediately and correct it. Best of all, I am learning it all right along with him and I am realizing how much I really love math and this is from someone who in her previous educational life was a true math hater, now I am the exact opposite ! :001_smile:
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We do attachment parenting here, so I co-slept with all my babies and wore them in slings and nursed them on demand (typically every 2 hours round the clock). I delay solids until each child is about 8 months old and can use their "pincher grip" to pick up foods on a tray and feed themselves. Each child nursed until they were between 15 months and 2 years old. I tandum nursed several times and also nursed through several pregnancies.
With my first child I got my period back at 6 weeks, but I was working part time at that time and was away from him for 4 to 5 hours a day before coming home to nurse him again.
Second child I got my period back at 6 months, she was a very easy baby and a great sleeper and started sleeping right through the night by 6 weeks old (she slept a good 8 hours at that time).
Third child I got my period back at 12 months old and got pregnant again by the time he was 15 months old.
Fourth child I got my period back at 13 or 14 months old and was pregnant again by the following month.
Fifth child I got my period back again at 15 months old and got pregnant again that next month.
Sixth child I got my period back at 18 months old and made hubby go get snipped :lol:
Age of mother and how fertile they are at that age may also have something to do with it, with my first child I was 17 years old, with second child I was 21 years old, with third child I was 32 years old, with fourth child I was 34 years old, with 5th child I was 36 years old and with my 6th child I was 39 years old.
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I like the reminder in your last paragraph to go for mastery, not to just get through a bunch of books. All too often, I have to remind myself of the purpose of these programs!
Can you tell me more about the 100-problem math charts? Are they filling in the multiplication table and similar? Did you make or buy them? Thanks for the idea!
I took the 100 math problems out of our Saxon Math workbooks and laminated them. Each one of the "laminated charts" has 100 facts of the multiplication tables, division, addition (single digit) and subtraction (single digit). So they do 400 math fact problems in total daily. I did this to get them to be really fast at doing their math facts. We have a lot of fun with it, I do them with my children and we race each other, they love to "beat mom". LOL !! The top scorer for the week gets to pick a treat from our treasure chest (we have a wooden treasure chest full of goodies that the top scorer picks from on Friday afternoons). Since we don't eat many sweets in our house, this is a real treat for them.
We do the same type of thing with our SOTW history, Geography Facts, Science Periodic Table and Grammer Terms using our "eggspert" buzzers.
Click here: Amazon.com: Educational Insights Eggspert: Toys & Games . My kids love the "beat the clock" or "beat mom" type games and it really motivates them to get down and really study all their facts and really push themselves to learn. I try to find a lot of fun ways to motivate my children with our homeschooling and to keep it interesting and appealing to them. Especially since we school year round and for 3 to 4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays, keeping schooling fun ( ala the books Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire & Lighting Their Fires by Rafe Esquith) helps to keep my children begging to learn more everyday.
I started doing these 100 problem math charts originally when my children did Saxon 2nd grade math and we got bogged down with too much Saxon Math in the early grades. I later revamped and we only use Saxon starting in 5/4 and up now. I found that I didn't care for the 1st through 3rd grade Saxon Math program, but I already owned all the books and workbooks ( I bought ahead thinking I'd use them all) and so I just pulled out the charts from the workbooks ( because we did enjoy the 100 math fact problem sheets), laminated them and my children use the thin expo dry erase markers to quickly fill them out.
They do these charts for 15 or so minutes every single day of the week year round, I change and rotate the charts to different problems weekly, so that they get a wide variety of different fact problems all the time. It has helped them get really fast and really "cement" the fact in their heads.
Whatever I have my children do, I do right along with them, so they know that I never ask them to do anything more then I am willing to do myself. For this reason, they push themselves harder and work faster to race along with me and we have tons of fun with learning by making a game of it all.
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My first grader does Math Mammoth and Math U See Alpha along with Life of Fred Elementary on Fridays. We do an every other day thing on the Math Mammoth and Math U See. We also throw in some Math-tacular DVDs to help understand the concepts better when we come across something new.
My two 4th graders do Math Mammoth, Saxon 5/4 Math and Math U See Gamma. We do Saxon 4 days a week and Math Mammoth and Math U See Gamma on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We also throw in some Math-tacular DVDs when we come across new concepts for better understanding.
My 7th grader does Saxon Math and Math Mammoth in the same sequence as my 4th graders and he adds in Life of Fred on weekends.
My children (4th and 7th graders) also do 100 problem math charts each day for math facts mastering (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). They are really good at these and can complete the 4 different charts of 100 problems each in less than 3 minutes for each chart. That adds in only an extra 12 minutes a day or so of time, but has enhanced their math fact skills greatly.
It is going well, they don't get confused by the different programs and they are learning various math concepts thoroughly before moving on. We take our time and make sure they really have it down before moving on to the next chapter in each program. We school all year round here, so we have a lot of time to finish each program in the school year before moving onto the next grade level.
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Back when we still had credit cards prior to Dave Ramsey I had an excellent credit rating and put my then 16 or 17 year old daughter ( I can't remember her exact age now)on my credit card so that she could aquire my credit rating. I can't remember what they call it, but I had her under me in some sort of co-signing or joint agreement or something. I understood that if she made purchases willy nilly I would be responsible for them, but she has always been very responsible and we never had a problem with that.
She now has excellent credit and it sure came in handy when she got married two years ago and bought her first home. They were able to get a good fixed rate mortgage from the great credit report.
So, you could try putting her on your card if you have very good credit, I think Suze Orman recommended it at one time, I don't remember where I heard this and decided to do it, but I think it was from Suze Ormand, though I could be wrong about where I heard it first mentioned.
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From what I read a few weeks back in some internet article Netflix is supposed to have bought some sort of licsensing for CBS shows starting in January to make up for loosing the Starz movies contract.
If this is true, I am hoping CBS gives Netflix streaming rights to Criminal Minds, NCIS and The Good Wife, which would be awesome !
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We drink tons of water and stay away from sugary drinks, juices, sodas and limit sweets to rarely consumed.
My children brush and floss daily and see the dentist for cleanings 2 x a year.
We eat lots of fresh greens for added calcium to their diets to build strong teeth and bones.
So far (knock on wood) none of my younger children have had any cavities yet. That is my youngest 4 children who range in age from 6 to 13 years old. My oldest two children ages 28 and 23 have had a few cavities over the years (most after moving out and not living on the healthiest of foods). After moving out they lived on a lot of sodas and junk foods we didn't have available to them here at home.
I am currently 45 years old and just had my first cavity last year at my general 6 month checkup. So we have been very blessed with good genetics for strong teeth and bones but it also helps to eat very well too.
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MOMtomany wow.... I'm glad my husband isn't on these board because he would be looking at me like "you need to take notes from her!"
LOL ! :lol:
Remember, it took me over 12 years to get where we are now :001_smile:
It was not easy, but now it is much easier to live like this since we moved into it slowly and cut things a little at a time.
Some things we got rid of right from the beginning, like our cable and satelite and we never had cell phones. I was also working full time 14 years ago (before getting pregnant with my now 13 year old son), so we put my whole paycheck away at that time towards our "future farm". I wasn't making a fortune, it was hot, sweaty and tiring factory work, but I put away $20,000 a year back then. Also, back then my oldest two children (now 28 and 23) were in public school fulltime while I worked. Once we moved to our farm and decided to homeschool my oldest daughter (then 11) and all future children to come (my now youngest 4 children) we gave up two paychecks and moved into living on just one. It wasn't as hard as it might have been had we not already gotten used to living on just one paycheck to save for our farm. But it was still hard to give up those last little "wants and extra spoils" we felt we needed.
We lived back then on the same amount that we live on now, just socking my whole paycheck away each month and we were able to put down 50% on our farm when we purchased it. We now, some 12 years later; only have a very small mortgage left on the property that should be paid off in the next 5 years if we continue to live carefully and stay on budget.
I know a budget sounds hard when you start out, but it actually becomes very free-ing when you realize every month that you no longer have to worry about where the money will come from to pay the bills, you already have it in place and have that money accounted for ahead of time.
We follow the process of paying next month's bill this month, so we always stay a month ahead. We don't "actually" pay that bill until it is due, but we put the money in the bank a month ahead of time so if any crisis arises, we already have the money in place to get us through the folllowing month without dipping into our emergency fund or savings. On top of that we keep a 12 month emergency fund to tie us over in case of any job loss or health crisis where my husband could not bring in an income for awhile.
We built our emergency fund up slowly over the years, first starting at 1 month, moving to 3 months, then 6 months when my daughter had her cancer crisis and my husband had to take off work a lot to take her for treatments or watch our young children while I stayed in the hospital with her for her surgeries. Now we progressed to always keeping a 12 month emergency fund for any problems that may arise. We learned to be prepared and it is actually very free-ing and allows us to feel much more secure and look towards our future with much more certainity and much less stress.
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You can get some great advice on this topic over on the Dave Ramsey www.livinglikenooneelse.com forums. I go there often whenever I need any kind of financial living advice or information on fixing my budget.
Besides that, we cut out cable/satelite and got netflix streaming only for $ 7.99 a month. We lowered our weekly grocery budget to 100 a week for our family of 6 by shopping the outside perimeter of the grocery store, growing some of our own foods in our garden and making most everything from scratch. If you don't have acrerage, you can learn container gardening ( I did this for years when we lived in the city) and grow many of your veggies in small pots on a deck, porch or windown sill. Do a search on the internet for a how to on container gardening, it saves a fortune and you can do it all year round.
We drink water instead of pricey sodas or juice.
We have no cell phones and just have a land line phone without long distance and verizon internet service. These two services (the landline and verizon dsl costs us $ 49.00 per month for the two combined).
We lowered our electric bill by keeping lights off when not needed, using computers/tv sparingly and using fans instead of air conditioning as much as possible in summer months.
We save on oil heat by keeping out thermostat to 63 in the winter and wearing warm sweaters and sweatshirts in the house, heavy sweatpants and even winter beanie hats if necessary. We learned to adjust to the tempertue and actually prefer our home cooler now then when it was so stuffy hot. It helped our allergies and eczema/dry skin to keep the heat lower, because we don't feel so "dried out".
We shop GoodWill and yard sales/thift stores for all our clothing, domestic and household needs.
I only go out once a week and do all my errands on that one day to keep gas costs low for our family. My husband sold his truck and bought a cheap beater car for less then 2,000 cash to get better gas milage when he travels back and forth to work. He now gets 26 miles per gallon on the beater compared to only 12 on the truck. We now only spend 25 dollars a week on gas for him to travel the 30 minutes to work and the 30 minutes back home again. We used to spend more than 60 dollars a fill up weekly on the truck.
We share our trash pickup bill with a neighbor now and each pay half to save costs. We recycle a lot of our trash or we found ways to make much less trash.
We cancelled all credit cards and paid off any we had (this was years ago, we now have lived credit card and debt free for the past 4 years).
We pay for everything in cash and cash only.
We stopped all extra curricular activities and spent more time playing at the large park across from our house instead of paying for sports, gymnastics or art classes or exspensive entertainment activities.
I sell whatever I can on ebay or through craigslist to help with household exspenses.
I sell my old curriculum to pay for the next year's curriculum or I swap with friends who homeschool.
We live on less than 2,000 per month without any goverment help or assistance. I could probably cut that even more If I had too, but we live just fine on that and even can put a way a small bit each month into savings or sinking funds ( money for larger bills that come up yearly like car insurance, heating oil, car repairs ectera).
There are many ways to change your budget to make living less costly. It is hard in the beginning, but after awhile it becomes a way of life and you get really excited about finding new ways to cut costs and live simpler.
I should say that we originally started living more frugally to save money to purchase our 11 acre farm almost 12 years ago. After purchasing our farm (with half the money down) we moved here and continued to live somewhat frugally for years, but not yet debt free ( we still had credit cards and still spent money we didn't always have on hand). We made lots of stupid mistakes with our finances . Four years ago when my oldest daughter was diagnosed with cancer at 18 years old it really kicked us into gear to get our lives on track to live much simpler and more natural. It was then that we cut costs like food that wasn't healthy, got rid of all credit cards and paid them off, started Dave Ramsey and paid everything only in cash and began to be careful with where all our money went each month. We had enough stress from the cancer, I didn't want anymore stress from finances, so we eliminated the stresess that we could.
I enjoy our life now, we are stress free because we don't live with debt any longer and we pay everything in cash. If we don't have the money in our hand to pay for something, we go with the thought process that we really don't need it or we save for that item. Many times we end up finding out that we cope just fine without that item that we thought we needed so badly.
Life is actually much easier for us now that it is simpler. We have less wants and more enjoyment of what we do have. It has been a growing experience for our family to learn to live on less and to learn to enjoy what we have much more.
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You can do it, I had 4 pregnanies very close together.
I had a 6 year old, 4 year old, 2 year old and a newborn when I was homeschooling my first grader.
I just did what I could when I could and tried to keep everyone happy as I could.
I also had awful morning (actually all day) sickness with all my pregnancies and most times it lasted up until the 5th or 6th month.
I even tandemed nursed my toddler and newborns at the same time.
It can be done, it isn't easy, but can be done and done pretty well.
You'll do fine !
Now that they are older they are all very close and love to play and do school together.
They are all each others best friends.
I homeschool them in pairs and it works out great for all of us and makes our day go much easier and quicker.
It will all be fine !
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My kids all love the playmobil pyramid (we don't have the castle) and we love in-corporating it with our SOTW ancient studies.
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This is my favorite hummus recipe.
I use annie's goddess dressing and it is wonderful, my kids devour it !
I serve it as a spread on pita bread with veggie stuffings or as a dip with wheat crackers.
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans
1/4 cup annie organic goddess salad dressing
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Directions:
- 1
Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. - 2
Process until smooth. - 3
Adjust consistency by adding more dressing, or canned bean liquid.
I also love to add roasted red peppers, but that is to taste.
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What TV shows do you watch?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
The Good Wife
Once Upon A Time
The Office
Raising Hope
Community
Criminal Minds
In Plain Sight
The West Wing ( just finished season 2 and moving on to season 3 on library DVDs )
Thirtysomething (working my way through the series for the second time on Netflix)
Big Love ( watching on library rented DVDs, currently on season 2)
Boston Legal (currently watching season 2 on library DVDs)
* We don't have cable, so I watch the shows through either Netflix, CBS.com or tv websites, Hulu or Library rented DVDs