For the longest time, Christmas stressed me out.  Then last year came, and Mr. Money had just lost his job, and we were on no-spending mode so we really didn’t do too much as far as gifts went.  This year we’re dealing with a huge pay cut, so we’re being very careful with how we spend the money we have budgeted for Christmas.  I’ve also decided that instead of being stressed out about buying gifts for everyone is not something I’m going to do this year.

Mr. Money and I don’t typically buy each other extravagant birthday, anniversary, or Christmas presents.  A lot of the time we don’t really need anything so to go out and buy something just because feels silly to me.  I try to keep our clutter to a minimum, so buying some tchotchke does not bring a smile to my face.  Last year Mr. Money bought me one present: a Home Alone DVD, and that meant more to me than if he had bought me a diamond ring.  I love that movie, and it was such a thoughtful gift!

Penny is going to be almost two (what!!) at Christmas time so she still doesn’t really fully grasp the idea of presents.  I’m sure she’s going to enjoy opening them, but whether she has 3 presents or 30 I think she’ll be happy.  For that reason, I’ve decided I’d like to get her one big present (probably a nice doll if I can decide which one) and then some accessories.  I’m going to make some cloth diapers for her doll, a baby carrier she can wear her baby in, and I’ll knit her some mittens too.  I know she’ll be happy with all that, and I won’t have a million plastic toys taking over my house.  I’ve already done the great toy purge in anticipation of some new ones making their way into our house.

As far as other presents go, I’m planning on knitting some items for people, making some wool dryer balls and figuring out some other things that Penny and I can make.  I always feel like I am the worst gift-giver so I’m trying to put a lot of thought into things we can make that will be nice and others can enjoy.  Sometimes I feel like people don’t appreciate hand made items and think it’s a crappy gift.  I’ve got to stop thinking that way- I know that when I receive a hand made bar of soap or hand knit item I cherish it because I know the work involved in it.  Someone invested their time into making something for me!

I hate being stressed out, and Christmas surely can do that to people.  This year I hope to avoid most of it by getting everything done early so I’ve got time to enjoy the season.  I can’t believe there is a little more than a month left until Christmas.  I know if we buckle down we’ll be able to get everything in order and then enjoy the rest of the season.

How do you avoid stress at the holidays?

Now that Penny’s almost two, we keep getting people asking us when we’re going to have another baby.  I seriously feel like I was just trying to conceive and was pregnant!  There are many factors to when the best time to have another child is, and here are some of our thoughts:

-There’s no best time to have babies.  Money will never be perfect and we’ll probably always wish we had more money.  However, we are doing okay money-wise and I don’t feel like it would be catastrophic if we decided to try to have another baby in six months or so. We can wait and wait, but we could wait forever.

-Babies are really not that expensive.  When they are little, you have the added cost to health insurance premiums, food (I’ll breastfeed the next baby as well), and diapers (we’ve got a bunch and would probably only have to buy a few more).  Since I am a stay at home mom we won’t have to pay daycare for two kids so that is huge!  I think the real cost when it comes to raising kids comes later when they are older.

-I’m a firm believer that babies don’t need a ton of stuff.  Since we already had one, I think we’ve pretty much got everything we need as far as the big stuff for a next baby.  I would have to buy the new baby a convertible car seat after they outgrow the infant seat but that is about it!  I do think it’s fun to buy new baby things, so I am looking forward to buying some new clothes or things for our next baby.  Consignment stores have inexpensive clothes!

-Spacing college costs is an expense we’re thinking about.  For instance, if we had only 2 years between kids we’d have to be paying for dual college tuitions for two years.  We’d like to help our children out as much as possible when it comes to college, so a little more time between them will give us an advantage later.  If we can’t pay for all of our childrens’ educations, then we’ll just do the best we can.

-I don’t want to wait too long because I would like Penny and her sibling to play together and enjoy each other.  I am two-and-a-half years older than my brother and six years older than my sister.  I like the three year spacing between myself and my brother although we did fight a lot as kids.  My sister and I are really close now and I love it! I want Penny to have the experience of being a sister.

I tend to over think things and I feel like there are a million reasons either way when it comes to spacing kids.  I would like at least one more child, and I’m hoping it’s easier the second time to get pregnant.  I’m so thankful we have Penny and she makes us really happy!

What are your thoughts about spacing children?  Do you think it’s better to have them closer together or further apart?

I’ve almost finished my Christmas shopping, and I have to admit: most of the gifts that I purchased were ordered online. I did a lot of shopping from Amazon, and it was a lot easier to order gifts from my living room while Penny played nearby! When I have to go to the store, I have to bundle Penny up and then buckle her in the car seat, unbuckle her when we get there, and then throw her on my back when we get to the store. If I don’t, she wants to either stand in the car or run around the store and pick up items that we “need”. I’m so thankful for online shopping!

We stuck true to our minimalist ways when it came to buying Christmas gifts for Penny. There are many fun toys I’d love to get for her but she really doesn’t need a ton. We decided to go with quality over quantity.  Here are just a few gifts I think would be great for kids:

Baby Stella is Penny’s “big” gift this year. We figure she’d love a baby doll, and Stella is just so cute! I sewed a baby doll carrier for her as well as a doll blanket.  There is also a boy version!

Aden and Anais Dream blankets are rumored to be so soft and amazing! We love that it’s all natural fibers and should last a long time. It also gets softer with every wash!

Boon bath toys are BPA & PVC free (I believe they are silicone) and very good quality. Penny actually got these last Christmas and they look new still!

This Hape Rhythm set is all wood and really fun! It (of course) makes lots of noise though, so keep that in mind!

I LOVE this Melissa and Doug shopping cart! It is all metal so it will last forever and kids can use it to push babies around as well so it is dual-purpose!

The Hape doll house has been on my dream list for months now. Penny already has a doll house that she loves, otherwise she’d probably be getting that for Christmas this year I just saw it in a toy store recently and it is adorable!

This was one of Penny’s favorite toys last Christmas. It still looks just as pretty!

What kid wouldn’t love to dress up as a chef? I think the print on this apron is too cute.

Bubble bath is a great stocking stuffer! We bought the relaxing lavender scent in hopes it helps her get to sleep quickly!

Now, here’s the fun part; you can enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card!  Just enter the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I’m so excited to present this $100 Amazon gift card giveaway, courtesy of coupons.com! Be sure to check out their Coupons.com holiday gift guides and Coupons.com Holiday Sweepstakes.  Links in the post are Amazon Affiliate links.

Each year I try to set financial and life goals for our family. Here are the past years’ goals: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. Apparently last year I decided not to set goals, and that’s okay!  I do have some things I’d like to get accomplished this year, and I think writing them here will help keep me accountable and on track.

-I’d like to get $5,000 paid down on the principal of our mortgage. I don’t think this is a huge stretch, and I’d love to see our mortgage balance shrink that much. Of course, I’d like to see it shrink to zero, but it’s going to be a long time before that can actually happen!

-Replace the back roof.  Right now, we have rolled roofing on the back part of our house.  The slope is not enough, so we’ve got a leak in the door frame to our basement.  I think we’re going to go with a metal roof and hopefully will be able to do this ourselves with the help of friends and neighbors.  That would be an amazing blessing to not have to pay a roofer to replace our roof.  Here’s hoping!

-Replace 3 front windows. These windows have been needed to be replaced for a few years.  They are old and drafty.  In fact, when I was wondering “how do much replacement windows cost?“  I should have sucked it up and replaced them then.  One of our neighbors offered to help us replace these, so hopefully we’ll be just out the cost of the windows themselves.

-I need to set up a Christmas savings account so that I’m not stressing about money in December again next year. Also, I need to be better prepared with making gifts and start that in September or October if I go that route! I stress too much and don’t enjoy the season if I don’t have my stuff all together.

-I’d like to get pregnant in 2014! I’m hoping this is a fairly easy process this time.

-Save more money in general and be more aware of where our money goes. I have started a spreadsheet to track where all of our money goes. I’ve been trying to stick to our budget since Mr. Money’s pay cut and I do a good job of writing the budget but then not tracking to see how on track we are. For instance, I’ve got $400 a month allotted for groceries but sometimes I blow this out of the water and don’t even realize it.  I think if I track how much money we’re spending I’ll do a better job of being more conscious of how much we have left to spend.

This year it seems like we’re going to have a lot of expenses, so it’s important I am very careful with our money.  I hate the thought of spending so much money but it’s a necessary evil sometimes.  The truth is, we probably should have had the roof and windows replaced years ago so that’s that.

What are your 2014 goals?

Lately I’ve kind of been a Debbie Downer when it comes to money. I feel like we aren’t saving enough and we have all these things that we should be saving for.  Almost two years ago I quit my job to become a stay at home mom.  I don’t regret that decision one bit and I’ve enjoyed my new job of being a wife and mom tremendously.  I love my husband and daughter more that I ever thought possible.  That doesn’t mean that things are always perfect though, and I struggle with the lack of a second income (especially now that Mr. Money had a pay cut) as well as having to be on a strict budget.  Truth be told, I don’t like living on a budget; I like to go out to eat when I want and make trips to Target to bask in the fabulousness that is Target and not worry.  However, if choosing not to do those things and being aware of where our money goes is what I have to do right now, then I will.  Things could always be much worse.

I have been really overwhelmed with feeling like we’re not saving money lately.  There are many things we need to have money for: a new roof, windows, Penny’s education, our retirement, and paying down our mortgage faster than on schedule.  I need to come up with a plan so that I can set it and forget it.

I think one of my big problems is I read about these people that are completely debt free (some including their mortgage!) and I feel like we should be doing better.  I hear about people that are my age and have over $100,000 in their retirement/investment portfolios. I feel like we’re behind in so many ways and that we’ll never be able to catch up.  Sometimes I think social media and the internet are both a blessing and a curse.

I guess I do need to give us some credit: we have made it two years with me being a stay at home mom and we haven’t depleted our savings account ;)  That is a good thing!  I need to relax about money and enjoy the time that I spend with my family.  I am grateful for everything we have and I am very glad that I did spend many years working and saving money to be able to do this.

What do you do to not worry about money? 

The other day I realized it’s going to be seven years since we purchased our house.  It is so hard for me to believe, and I’m so proud of how I’ve really helped turn this house into a home.  I’ve painted pretty much every surface in this house; installed new flooring in many of the rooms, and decorated to make it feel like it’s truly our home.  Right now, I’m very happy with our home and I work hard to keep it clean, decluttered, and organized so it’s a place we love to be.  With a two year old, we don’t go out as much as we used to, so it’s nice to have a place to hang out in which we’re comfortable.

About five years ago I couldn’t wait to sell our house and move.  We’ve considered moving to Michigan (where my family is) or Colorado (where Mr. Money’s family is).  My sister ended up moving to our state about a year ago and since she did that, we’ve felt more like this is where we are meant to be right now.  I’m happy with it and so is Mr. Money.  However, if things changed I think we may consider relocating.  Our families are not getting any younger, and it does make me sad that Penny doesn’t get to experience living near most of our family.  It’s hard!

Before we would consider moving, there are plenty of points we’d have to consider.  First and foremost we’d have to find a good paying job with benefits for Mr. Money.  That’s non-negotiable.  Of course we need income to support our family so if he couldn’t find a job there’s no way we’d be able to move.  Since we try to limit our expenses and live frugally, we’d probably be able to make it if his salary was a little less than ideal. Having health insurance is a very nice thing to have, and not something I’d like to go without.

We’d also have to be able to afford a reasonably sized house in a good area, preferably with some land.  I wouldn’t want to give up our house and property that I love to move somewhere else that I didn’t.  I’d also like our new house to have a garage, basement, and wood stove.   Those are probably the three most important things that we’d require if we were going to look for a new house.  Knowing how weird I am about organization, I’d have to use a moving house checklist to ensure everything was completed.

I would love to move somewhere new and interesting- maybe Montana or Utah, but since we don’t have family there it wouldn’t be an option.  I’m very glad that we lived in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for a few years when we were young and child free.  It was a great opportunity and I don’t think we’d ever be able to do that again!  Right now I’m going to continue to make our house a home and do upgrades to our house when we can so we can maximize our profit if we ever do sell!

What factors are most important in deciding where you live? Do you live near your family?

Keeping a clean house can certainly be a challenge, especially when you have little ones running around. A few weeks ago I decided I was tired of trying to clean my house from top to bottom every day and that something had to change. I decided that I would continue to tidy up every day, and save the deep cleaning for one room every day. That way, I was ensuring that the house was actually getting clean and I wasn’t getting overwhelmed.

There are certain things that need to be done every day or more often than once a week: sweep the kitchen, wash laundry, vacuum the floors etc. I sweep the kitchen when I see it needs to be swept; when Penny is in the bath I wipe down the counters, etc. I multi task to make the most of my time.

Here is the schedule that I’ve come up with that works for me:
Monday: Kitchen
Tuesday: Bathrooms
Wednesday: Dining Room
Thursday: Living Room
Friday: Bedrooms

When I clean the kitchen, I wipe down the counter tops, make sure all dishes are washed and put away, and sweep and mop the floor. I also organize my pantry and make sure it’s not a huge mess. Now is also a good time for me to take inventory of what food we have and what we need. I make sure all the food in the refrigerator is good and wipe down the shelves if they need it.

Bathrooms are my least favorite because I feel like there are so many spots to clean. I sprinkle baking soda in the toilet, scrub the toilet bowl and let it sit for awhile. I then wipe off the counters, scrub the bathtubs/shower with my homemade soft scrub, and mop the floor.

In the dining room, I dust, wipe off the table, and sweep and mop the floor. This is the easiest room! It was also the most neglected room of all- I can’t remember the last time we mopped the floor in there! Of course after we eat dinner, we have to wipe the table off and sweep the floor because a certain tiny person likes to throw food on the floor.

I dust, vacuum the rug, and straighten up the living room. I mop the hardwood floors and let them dry. I also go through the toys that are in the living room and put the ones that Penny isn’t playing with in her bedroom closet. Rotating toys works really well for us.

Bedrooms get the sheets changed, floors swept and mopped, and general straightening up. I make sure everything that is in the bedroom belongs in that room! I make sure that when I change the sheets that they get thrown into the washer pretty quickly so that they take the least amount of time possible to wash and dry.

This cleaning routine has worked pretty well for us for a few weeks now! I love having a set schedule to make sure everything gets clean.

Do you have a cleaning routine?

The last time I talked about my ROTH IRA, I mentioned how my laziness cost me $115.  Well, I no longer will be losing money due to silly fees at the old brokerage firm.  I finally moved my IRA over to Vanguard and couldn’t be happier! It’s a huge weight off my shoulders and I’m looking forward to contributing as much as I can every month.  It may not be a lot, but I figure every bit counts and the earlier I get the money in there, the more time it has to grow.

I also transferred my old pension from working at the bank and Mr. Money’s ROTH IRA to Vanguard as well.  It’s starting to look good!  I feel very optimistic because having everything at one institution just makes sense to me.  The only thing I haven’t done yet is moved over my old 401k from working at the bank and I’m unsure if I’m going to do that.  I know part of it is traditional and part of it is in ROTH. I cannot tell how much money is in each, and that makes me nervous that they’ll mess up the transfer and I’ll be penalized on my taxes.  However, I do realize that this is probably very silly since the institutions specialize in these kinds of things so they should know what they are doing.

Now for retirement we have: my old 401k, Mr. Money’s ROTH IRA, my Traditional IRA, and my ROTH IRA.  I will be very happy once this all is finalized.  My traditional IRA is still in progress and I’m hoping that will be done in a few weeks.  I’m hoping to start contributing monthly to one or both of our IRAs as we are able.

Mr. Money has the option to contribute to a 401k with his employer but we’ve decided not to do that currently, as they don’t offer a match.  It just makes more sense for us to contribute to our IRAs right now.  If they offer a match in the future we would take advantage of that.

I should call the brokerage firm where my 401k is held and ask what the process is to roll it over or if they can tell me how much is in each part.  I should have taken care of all of this years ago, but I was afraid.  I was afraid of investing in the stock market and losing money.  However, I feel like if we don’t, there’s absolutely no way our money will grow enough for us to be able to retire off of it.  Thanks to my friend Kacie for spurring me to get this all done and answering so many of my silly questions!

I hope this alleviates some stress for me.  I always worry we won’t have enough money and now I’m being proactive to ensure that doesn’t happen!  Now I will just have to start contributing as much as we’re able to, and we’ll be good!

Do you save for retirement?  Do you ever worry you won’t have enough money?

A few years ago I considered going without dental insurance. At the time, I was working at the bank and the premium was deducted from my paycheck so it wasn’t a big deal and I continued to buy the dental insurance. I took advantage of the two free cleanings a year to maximize my money’s worth and keep my teeth in good working order. I like my teeth and don’t want to have to get new ones.

Two weeks ago I decided to go to visit a different dentist to get a second opinion on my broken crown. Our first dentist said when it broke (over a year and a half ago) that I didn’t need to get it replaced unless it was causing me problems. I was excited because who wants to get dental work done unless they absolutely have to? Plus, that would give me enough time to save up the money to pay for it. At the time we didn’t have dental insurance because it hadn’t kicked in at Mr. Money’s new job.

The new dentist discovered that the old dentist left silver amalgam in my fillings when she replaced them with the white fillings. She explained that the white filling wouldn’t adhere properly to the silver and it would cause problems/be loose. This resulted in me having to get three fillings replaced on one side and two on the other side. I was so frustrated because I hadn’t planned on having ANY fillings replaced and here I was having to make numerous trips to the dentist and endure the pain of having the work done. I do NOT like getting dental work done.

Now I’m at the point where I am going back to get my crown worked on and after that’s done, I should be in good shape. I’ll get a temporary crown put on, she will order my new one, and once that is on it should be good for years! I’m crossing my fingers.  I also have gone for a cleaning and I took Penny in with me so she can get used to the dentist.

I’m thankful now that we have dental insurance. I haven’t received a bill or quote from the dentist but our insurance covers half of fillings and crowns so I know it’s not going to be cheap, but it will be a heck of a lot better than if I didn’t have any insurance.

The dentist is a family friend so I know she’s doing a good job and it feels good to know that I’m getting things taken care of now so they don’t cause problems later. I do not like visiting the dentist but I figure if I don’t take care of everything now I could be looking at a lot more time, money, and pain in the future! No thank you. Dental issues are not fun to deal with but once they are done, it’s a weight off!

Do you have dental insurance? Do you visit your dentist every six months for a cleaning and check up?

Shortly after Penny was born, we opened her up a savings account. Any money she receives from birthdays, holidays, grandparents, etc, we stash in her savings account. She’s got a nice little nest egg that hopefully we’ll be able to help her grow over the years. Now that we finally got our IRAs opened with Vanguard and we’ve been really happy, I’m considering opening up a 529 plan for Penny with them.  I have some hesitations, and I definitely need to do more research but it’s something that probably would be a really good idea.

A 529 Plan would allow us to save money for her college education while receiving tax advantages.  The downside is if she decides not to go to college we’d be subject to income tax plus a 10% penalty.  Ouch.

One of the biggest concerns I have about opening a 529 plan is if Penny decides college is not for her and the money will be taxed and penalized.  Of course we would love for Penny to attend college and become something she would love, but if it’s not in the cards for her then I hate to lose the money.

A lot of states have programs where the money has to be used at an in-state school, and being that Mr. Money is from Colorado and I am from Michigan, you never know where we may end up.  We think about moving closer to family a lot, and I can’t guarantee that we will stay here when Penny is old enough to attend college.

It’s hard for me to commit to things so I think we’re going to just keep her money in a basic savings account for right now and maybe as it grows re-evaluate.  I don’t like taking risks with money generally, so this will probably be the best option for us right now.  I guess we will just wait and see how it goes.

How do you save money for your children if you have them?

Lately I’ve had the feeling that I would like to move to a bigger house with more acreage.  Our house is just the perfect size for us right now, but we wish we had a garage and more property.  Not to mention, if we end up expanding our family it would be nice to have an extra bedroom to put our office and guest room in.  We have a three bedroom house right now, and it works because we’ve got the master, Penny’s room, and then the third bedroom is the guest room and office.

I feel conflicted because I am a huge fan of minimalism, I don’t like clutter, and I have always felt like a smaller house is better. Smaller houses cost less in upkeep, property taxes, heating and cooling, etc.  I have to say I kind of hit a plateau with decluttering and I feel like we are doing pretty well with the amount of stuff that we have and bring in.  I do continuously go through things and as Penny outgrows clothing, I keep a lot of the nice stuff but the stuff that’s not my favorite I usually pass on.

Moving would also cost us a lot of money, so that’s something I’m trying to take into consideration as well.  We’d have to pay closing costs, the moving trucks, etc.  If we stayed put, we’d end up saving money because we wouldn’t have all those expenses.

My parents bought their house right after they got married, moved in, and stayed there ever since.  The house was a small “starter home” and they added on as they had kids, but the house isn’t huge and I feel like my mother would have preferred a larger home while she was raising kids.  I know for a fact that she would have liked a bigger kitchen!  She still complains about that to this day.

One of my biggest fears about moving and looking for a new house is that we’d find a house that needed a ton of work, like new floors.  I don’t want to install flooring again!  I don’t mind a house that needs paint because that’s not a huge deal and I actually like painting walls.  I just don’t want a fixer-upper that we’d have to spend a ton of time fixing up.

I guess a good plan of action would be to just stay where we are for right now and see what the future brings.  I’ll still keep looking at the real estate listings to see if there was something we’d HAVE to have, but as of right now it just makes the most sense for us to stay in our current house.  Over the past seven and a half years, we’ve really worked at making this house our home and we’ve done a lot of work to beautify our house and I’m really proud of it!

Do you ever get the itch to upgrade?  Have you lived in your current place for awhile?

Happy New Year!!  I cannot believe it is 2015. I feel like I just wrote our 2014 goals!  For the past few years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.) I have made and updated our financial and life goals here on my site.  I’d like to review our 2014 goals and see how we did!  Here are our goals, and how we measured up.

-I’d like to get $5,000 paid down on the principal of our mortgage.  SUCCESS!  We actually paid off $5105.29 this year!  I didn’t make any huge extra principal payments- we refinanced last summer and went with a 20 year mortgage and because of that a lot more of our payment is going toward principal versus interest because of amortization.  Every month I do add a little bit extra to our normal payment so we are chipping away at the principal.  

-Replace the back roof. FAIL.  This is a good thing, though!  We had a roofer come out and he determined that the roof is actually in pretty good shape and didn’t need replacing.  Great news for our budget.  

-Replace 3 front windows. FAIL. This never happened.  Honestly, I wish Mr. Money was much better about this stuff and could do it all on his own.  I worry too much about this crap! 

-I need to set up a Christmas savings account so that I’m not stressing about money in December again next year. FAIL. Hah.  The other day I mentioned to Mr. Money that I needed to start this NOW for next year and he was like “You say this every year!”  I’m wondering if it would be easier for me to have a Christmas envelope and just put cash in it every time Mr. Money gets paid.  I think I may try that versus opening up a new savings account.

-I’d like to get pregnant in 2014!  FAIL. This we really didn’t have that much control over.  

-Save more money in general and be more aware of where our money goes.  SUCCESS! I’d say we did a pretty good job of this!

I think goals are always good to have as they help keep you focused and on track.  Mr. Money and I sat down the other day and talked about our goals and where we’d like to see ourselves in a few years.  I’m excited about the future!

How did you do with your 2014 Goals?

Now that it’s 2015, I’d like to get our financial and life goals written down so we’ll have focus.  It is really hard for me when I don’t have some idea of what my goals are.  I feel like I’m lost!  Mr. Money and I discussed the things that are important to us, and where we’d like to be in a few years.  Here are some of the things we touched decided we’d like to accomplish:

-Pay $5,000 down on the principal of our house.  According to the amortization, this puts us ahead.  We decided that paying off our house is probably not the number one priority for us.  There are other things we need to do with our money: save for retirement and Penny’s education, to name a couple.  $5,000 is still good progress, and I’ll honestly be happy if we accomplish this!

-Save more money for retirement each month.  Mr. Money and I have IRAs through Vanguard that we’re going to be contributing to.  This year I finally consolidated ALL of our retirement accounts so I have a Traditional IRA and ROTH IRA, and Mr. Money has a ROTH IRA.  It’s such a relief to have all of our retirement assets in one place.  I should have done it earlier but oh well!

-Save more money for Penny.  We put money in her savings account when her piggy bank gets full, and my parents/family will send her a few bucks every once in awhile and that gets deposited in there too.  I don’t think kids need a ton of toys, so we’re very appreciative when she gets money instead of toys!

-Take a nice family vacation/anniversary trip.  Our 10 year wedding anniversary is this year, and I’d love to be able to do something to celebrate.  My ideal vacation would be to go back to the city in Colorado that we met and fell in love with but we’ll have to see what we can afford when the time comes.  I should start saving for that now

-Get outdoors more.  It’s hard to get out with the weather where we live sometimes, but I need to stop making excuses and just do it! As a bonus, we’ll all be healthier and can spend some quality time together.

-Get really good at meal planning/cooking.  I do feel like I’ve really improved over the years, but this is a huge source of stress in my life and I’d like to simplify it as much as I can. I need to come up with a good system and stick with it.  It’s a vicious cycle when I don’t meal plan because then I’m stressed out every day about what we are going to eat!

It seems as though over the years I’ve gotten more simple with our goals.  I don’t know if there’s ever been a year where we’ve accomplished everything on our list that we wanted to, and that’s okay.  Sometimes I feel like I put way too much pressure on us and then get let down and that’s not good!

What are your 2015 goals?

After the birth of our daughter Penny, I said I wanted at least two more babies.  My thinking was that since we had such a hard time conceiving the first time (we were even considering adoption at one point) surely the second time it would be much easier.  Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.  Last year about this time we decided we would like to try to have another baby.  I met with a new doctor who is a fertility specialist, and she devised a plan to help us get pregnant.  I went through various medications, shots, hormones, ultrasounds, etc. and no progress.  Mr. Money and I decided after me not responding to fertility treatments that maybe we were just meant to have Penny and be satisfied at that.  It took me awhile (and sometimes it’s still really hard for me to go through her baby clothes or our cloth diapers) but as of today I am satisfied with my beautiful daughter and am trying to move forward.  One of the things that helps me cope is focusing on the positive parts of having only one.  Here are some of the pluses to having an only child:

-Time and attention to the one child.  By default, when you have another child the attention gets divided amongst children.  I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing because I think it’s important for kids to realize the world doesn’t revolve around them.  However, with us just having Penny we can focus our attention on her.

-More resources available to the child.  Children can be expensive, and by only having one it can make more resources available to them.  For instance, if we do end up with just one child, we may be able to pay for all of Penny’s education whereas if we had two we may not be able to do quite as much.

-Less stress.  Having kids can be stressful! Naps, bath time, feeding, whining, entertaining, all of it can drain you.  By having one child life can be a little less chaotic and stressful.

-It’s cheaper.  Obviously it’s going to cost us less money over the long run to have just one child versus more.  (Duh)

-More travel. One of the things I’m looking forward to as Penny gets older is traveling. We went to Colorado last summer, and it was not hard to travel with her at all!  I think with two kids it would be more challenging, especially if we had to drive to places.  Also, we will hopefully be able to afford more travel because we’ll have more money (see above).

I’m not saying that being an only child is the best thing in the world because I worry a lot about her not having any siblings to share that bond with.  I think the experience of having siblings is invaluable and wouldn’t trade mine for anything.  Who knows, maybe we will end up with another baby sometime in the future and that would be okay too.  But for now, these are the positives I have to focus on to make myself feel okay with everything.  

The other day I ran out of my normal laundry stain remover and had to make some with items I already had on hand. Here’s what I used:

-1 part blue Dawn (I used 1/2 cup of the original that I buy at the Dollar Tree. It is the non concentrated but any Dawn will work)
-2 parts hydrogen peroxide

I put it in my old stain remover bottle, which is dark blue, so that the hydrogen peroxide will still work when I use it on my clothes. You have to keep hydrogen peroxide in dark bottles. I used blue Dawn because it cuts through grease on EVERYTHING, and so far it hasn’t disappointed with removing oil/grease stains on our laundry! The hydrogen peroxide acts as a color safe bleach and helps remove stains. If you would like enzymatic action in your stain remover, you can add in 1/4 cup of Biokleen – Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator. We keep this on hand always. It is very helpful in potty training accident cleanup, and will “eat” many stains.

I’ve tried this homemade stain remover on oil, grease, food, grass, blood, and other stains and it really works very well.  My daughter had a white sweatshirt that got some red juice on it, and I sprayed it with the stain remover and it took it completely away!  I’ve used it in conjunction with laundry detergent made from our laundry detergent recipe and it’s a great combination.

What is your favorite stain remover?

Since Penny was born, we’ve had a few car seats: her infant car seat, and two convertible car seats.  The first convertible we bought Penny she didn’t like because she couldn’t see out the windows.  We bought a new one that sat her higher up and she much preferred that to the old one.  As she grew, it became harder to get her in and out of the car seat due to the high sides.  I grew frustrated of having to lift her in the seat and sometimes almost hit her head on the top of the car!  We started researching and came across the Diono Pacifica, and fell in love.  The Diono Pacifica is sleek, has low sides for easy loading, and is also very narrow, making it a great choice.  We are still rear facing Penny and plan to until she is at least 4 years old.  Penny is now 3 years old, about 36″ and 24 pounds.   The Diono Pacifica is installed with LATCH in a 2005 Ford Freestyle.

The basics:

• Rear facing weight range: 5-50 pounds
• Rear facing height range: under 44″, or until there is less than 1.5″ of shell left above the head
• Forward facing weight range: 20-90 pounds
• Forward facing height range: under 57″
• High Back booster weight range: 50-120 pounds
• High Back booster height range: 40″ and up, and shoulders above 4th harness position

Installation

Rear facing

One of the largest benefits of the Diono seats is their capability for extended rear facing.  The recommendation for rear facing children now is at a minimum of two years or until the maximum of the seat limits.  The Dionos have one of the highest weight limits for rear facing children at 50 pounds.

When installing the Diono rear facing, there are a few things to remember.  The detachable rear facing boot must be attached, the angle adjuster may be used, and the seat may be tethered rear facing if the manufacturer of the vehicle allows it.  The seat may be installed with LATCH (as long as the child is under 35 pounds) or seatbelt.  I tried both, and prefer the LATCH install although the seat belt install was just as secure.  The Diono seats have “Super LATCH”, where the LATCH connector has 4 “teeth” in the middle versus the standard 1 on other seats.

A rear facing child must have the harness straps coming out of the car seat at or below the shoulders.  The Diono seats come with harness pads, which also help reduce impact on the child in the event of an accident.

The rear facing boot helps the car seat obtain the current angle for the vehicle.  At first, I thought I wouldn’t like the fact that there was an extra part to have to keep with the seat, but now I appreciate the idea.  I’ll explain why in the forward facing part of the review.

The angle adjuster is a great addition to the seat.  It is manufactured by Diono, and the purpose is to gain more front to back room and make the car seat at a more upright angle.  It can be used with babies that have good head control and can sit unassisted.  It’s important to note that it’s not safe to use products that don’t come with (or aren’t made by the manufacturer) with car seats.

One bonus safety feature of the Diono Pacifica is the rear facing tether.  In the event of a crash, a rear facing tether will help limit the rebound of the car seat.  Many vehicle manufacturers do not allow rear facing tethers, so it’s important to check with your vehicle manual before using the rear facing tether.

The Diono brand is unique as they allow “bracing”, which means the car seat can touch the front seat.  It’s important to remember that the car seat must be installed securely and not rely on the bracing as a tight installation.

The harness tightening is a unique system in that it is a ratcheting system.  After loading the child into the seat, the harness glides through the adjuster and then stops at a certain point.  To check for tightness, use the “pinch test” at the shoulders and make sure you cannot pinch any slack in the harness.  If there is slack, just gently pull the adjuster strap and the Diono ratcheting system will tighten, ensuring you don’t over tighten the child.  I love this!

Forward facing

When the car seat is turned forward facing, the rear facing boot is removed and the seat sits pretty low to the vehicle seat, making it almost seem like it’s part of the car.  Many other convertibles sit the child up higher, which makes it harder to load the child in and out of the seat.  There is a recline built into the car seat, which can only be used in forward facing mode to accommodate different vehicle seats.

The Safe stop must be used for children weighing under 40 pounds in the forward facing position only in a seat that has been top tethered.  The safe stop is a load-reducer, which helps limit the forces a child experiences in a crash.  For forward facing, the harness straps must be at or above the shoulders and the chest clip must be level with the child’s armpits.

For forward facing installation, LATCH install can be used up until the child is 40 pounds.  After that, the seat must be installed with a seat belt installation.  It’s important to make sure to top tether the seat to tether anchors in the vehicle.  The top tether helps keep the seat in place in the event of a crash, and limits a child’s movement.

The Diono seats have some of the highest harness slots out of any car seat, which makes it a very long lasting car seat.

Booster Mode

The high back booster mode is for children weighing between 50-120 pounds and 40″ or taller, with the child’s shoulders above the 4th harness position.  For booster mode, the harness straps must be removed from the car seat.  The manual has detailed instructions to help.  The booster will help route the seatbelt in the proper location for the child.

Miscellaneous

These are some of the many benefits that the Diono seats have to offer:

• Memory foam is in the seat padding, which makes for a very comfortable ride.
• Full steel frame and aluminum reinforced sides.  I feel safer knowing Penny is in a car seat that has a full steel frame.  I think steel beats an all plastic car seat.
• Narrowness.  Many people with small cars are able to fit three Diono car seats across because the car seats are so nice and narrow.
• Diono makes a pee pad that has been safety tested to use with their seats. I cannot tell you how helpful this is!  One of my friend’s little girls had an accident in her car seat and they never could get the smell out no matter how many times they washed the cover or the seat.  The pee pad is pictured above.
• For travel, the seat bottom folds up into the car seat and Diono makes a carry strap so the car seat can be carried. I don’t know of any other seats that offer this!  I believe this would really help with travel through the airport, as the seat can basically be worn as a back pack!

I’ve been using the seat for a few weeks now, and I’ll be honest. I thought I would fall in love with the seat, and I am right!  My 3 year old loves it as well, and seems very comfortable.  Given the choice to ride in this seat versus our old one, she picks the Diono!  I feel like she’s very safe using her Diono, and that is priceless!

Diono generously provided the Pacifica for review.  Find them on Twitter at @DionoUSA.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Have you seen this quote circulating the internet? I’ve seen quite a few people post it on Facebook and I have mixed feelings about it.  On one hand, I love it because I love to travel and I’d much rather spend money on traveling than crap that will clutter up my house.  On the other hand, I don’t agree with it because I don’t believe in spending money you don’t have or going into debt just to take a vacation.  We’ve been kicking around the idea of traveling to Colorado for a week to visit family but the logistics and money issue has been making us hesitant.  We want to be responsible but I also don’t want to regret our choices later.  Here are some of the things we’ve been taking into consideration:

Money has been tight because we’re a one modest income family.  Every day I wake up thankful for what we have: a roof over our heads, food in our fridge and pantry, health insurance, good health, happiness, family, etc.  However, each month we don’t have hundreds of dollars left over.  We’re totally fine with that and don’t feel deprived at all.  We feel like we live really well for what our income is!  The only downfall is that there really isn’t extra money to pay for the three of us to fly to Colorado, and driving 17 hours  (not including stops) with a three year old does not sound like something I’m up for.  I could totally be wrong, but just the thought of it makes me feel a little loony. I’ve done the drive quite a few times without a child, and I know how badly I want to escape that car after I’ve been in it for a few hours!

The thing that I worry about is regretting not going.  Family won’t be around forever, and Penny hasn’t seen her one set of grandparents in a year.  That really makes me sad.  I feel like spending time with family is very valuable and don’t want our lack of money to overrule that.  However, taking money out of savings or going into debt just doesn’t seem like a good solution to our problem.  We should be saving for Christmas, for when Mr. Money’s paychecks don’t have overtime, etc.  There are many things we should be saving for and pulling money out of our emergency fund for a non-emergency just doesn’t sound sensible.

I know that a lot of the time I personally overanalyze things and worry too much about whatever so I’m afraid my judgement is clouded on this one.  I guess one good thing is that both Mr. Money’s mother and father plan on making trips to see us within the next 3-4 months so that will be nice!  It would be easier for us to all go out to Colorado so all of the family members could see us, but I guess we have to make sacrifices!

What is your opinion- do you think you should travel while young and just not even consider the money, or should you save and travel later?

Recently, we had a large storm come through and it took one of the big trees between our neighbor’s house and ours down.  It landed on the power lines and surprisingly enough, we didn’t lose power.  We called the electric company and they came out to assess the damage and decided that they needed to turn our power off because the tree had ripped our electric meters off our houses.  They also told us that we needed to get an electrician in to repair the electric meters.  Sigh. We got the electric meters repaired and called to have the electricity turned back on.  They told us that we had to call the county to have the work inspected.  We called, and then found out that we had to pull electrical permits (more money) to have the inspector come out.

We took care of all that, went and paid for our permits, and are currently waiting for the inspector to come out.  Thankfully, he was kind enough to call the electric company and have our power turned back on so we weren’t without power for many days.  Through this same storm, Mr. Money woke up to a weird noise in our house and realized that the ceiling in our living room was leaking.  He went up into the attic and realized that there were two more leaks on the other side of the house!  Thankfully he went up there because we never would have known.  We had to have a roofer come out and fix the leaks.

In all this, I can’t help but feel like sometimes renting would be a better option instead of homeownership, especially for some people.  When you think of all the mortgage interest you pay, the cost of homeowners insurance, general upkeep, roofing that will need to be replaced, paint, upgrading that needs to be done every 15 years or so, appliances that will eventually have to be replaced, etc., it adds up!  It’s overwhelming to me to think of all the costs that could add up all at one time!

I’m thankful that we live frugally so hopefully when these things need to be done we’ll have the money to do them. In the meantime, we’re just going to live with the things we have and try to save as much as we can for future expenses.  Since all of this happened, I have been very grateful that we have a small emergency fund to cover some of this stuff!

However, on the other hand, I can’t help but think of how easy it would be if we were renting to just call the landlord and they have to take care of all the problems I am hoping in 18 or so years when our mortgage is paid off that I’m thankful that we do have a house.  Not having a mortgage payment will be beyond amazing, and I’m sure then we will feel differently about owning versus renting!

What do you think- is homeownership worth it? Would you rather rent or own?

Open enrollment just ended for Mr. Money’s employer.  Since I’m a stay at home mom, we basically have the option of enrolling in Mr. Money’s health insurance through work, try to enroll through the exchange, or seek another option such as Medi-Share.  This year we ran out of time and enrolled in the health insurance for our whole family through United Healthcare with his employer.  The cost? Over $7,000 a year. Whoa.

First off, Mr. Money is a chef and does not make that much money. $7,000 is a huge chunk of change to us, especially with being a single income family.  I see that huge sum and think of all the better uses I could do with that money.  Second, our deductible for this health insurance plan is $5,000.  We have to hit that out of pocket before they cover anything! That’s ridiculous. I’m pissed off and am going to be exploring different options as we have time to research it.

I’m really thinking of checking out the health sharing companies such as Medi-Share.  I considered it many years ago, but didn’t really need it then so we didn’t look too much into it.  Now I feel like it’s definitely worth looking into with the exorbitant amount that we’re paying each month for crappy coverage.  Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful that we are eligible for health insurance and that we are on a company plan, but I just wish it was actually affordable for middle class families like us.

The nice thing is, we’re fairly young and healthy and mainly only go to doctors for well checks and annual physicals.  Even if we had to pay out of pocket for well checks if we went with a program like Medi Share, we’d still come out ahead according to their cost calculators.  I hate paying out of pocket for things, but I hate wasting money even more.

Health insurance shouldn’t be this difficult. It’s something that I’ve struggled with for many years- trying to find coverage when I became a stay at home mom, trying to actually get coverage with pre existing conditions, and figuring out what to do when Mr. Money lost his job and we were without income and health insurance.  It’s frustrating because I feel like our family is pretty well versed in health insurance info, and I can’t imagine how others feel that don’t understand it quite as well.

I do like the idea that people are helping people with the health insurance alternative companies.  I’ve honestly considered going without health insurance and just paying the penalty but obviously know that is not an ideal solution to this problem.  I just see saving all that money and it sounds like a good idea!

I need to sit down and run numbers and see what makes most sense for our family.  Hopefully I’ll be able to find an option that will save our family some money and may offer better coverage for us. That would be awesome!

What do you think about the health insurance options and cost available today?

I probably shouldn’t have made the last post I did complaining about health insurance. As it turns out, my daughter ended up having to spend two nights at our local children’s hospital, including Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.  I noticed that she had swelling on one side of her neck on a Wednesday night. We all had been ill so I chalked it up to swollen lymph nodes and texted a picture to our neighbor who is a pediatrician (she was sick or she would have looked at her). She said it did look like lymph node swelling and to make an appointment with our pediatrician in the morning.

The next morning, I took her to our pediatrician and she agreed, that it looked like a swollen lymph node but because she’s young she wanted to make sure so she sent us for blood and lab work.  We went, had blood drawn, and waited for the results.  Of course, as a mom, I started worrying about worst case scenarios (lymphoma, leukemia, etc) and it was hard to wait for the results.  The CBC (white blood cell count) came back good, as did the crp (checks for markers of inflammation).  Our doctor said we would give it a week and check it again.  Well, the night before her check up I feared it was getting worse.  The next day our doctor agreed and sent us for an ultrasound on it at the children’s hospital.

We went at ten Friday morning for the appointment.  While we were in the ultrasound I asked a few questions and the way the tech replied made me fear it wasn’t just a swollen lymph node. She said she needed to check with the doctor to see if he needed any additional pictures, left, and was gone awhile.  She came back, took a few more pictures, and was gone for even longer.  When she came back she told me that our pediatrician was on the phone wanting to speak with us.

I honestly couldn’t really tell you what she said except it wasn’t good and we were immediately getting sent to the emergency room to see some specialists. It wasn’t a swollen lymph node. We ended up seeing an ENT (Ear, nose, and throat doctor) and they said they needed to do  a CT scan to see exactly what we were dealing with. They started an IV line, she got sent to the CT scan, and after that we went back to a waiting room. After awhile, we saw the doctor who said they were admitting us and the plan of action was to start IV antibiotics and see if that would help-it was an abscess.

We spent the rest of the night worrying about it, and at 6:30 AM the next morning they decided to do surgery.  She was taken back at 8AM and we were able to see her about 9:45AM. The surgery went well but they wanted us to stay to make sure everything was okay. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in the hospital until they released us at 2PM.

She’s doing well, and I’m glad it is nothing more serious.  They determined it was staph and she’s on antibiotics for a few more days. I’m not looking forward to any of the bills and have been stressing about it but we will figure it out somehow. I will be sure to update with what happens!

Have you ever had to take your child to the hospital?