A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

Pumpkin has two jars full of change, one of pennies and one of white change. We really need to get some coin rolls and roll it all up to take to the bank.

We’ve all been contributing to her little fund. Hubby is always emptying his pockets in there, and I always put what I find in there when I’m cleaning. I accidentally put a couple of Hubby’s silver dollars in there once, but he figured it out pretty quickly.

Once we take it to the bank and get cash for it, I guess Pumpkin can buy herself something. We really haven’t designated a purpose for it, although I’m thinking about making her put a portion of it into savings. It would be nice to start a college fund for her, because that’s something we haven’t been able to do yet.

I should really be doing what my parents did when I was in school. They put change into one of those huge pickle jars and saved it from the time my older brother graduated until I graduated, then started a bank account for me with it. I ended up with several hundred bucks, and it helped me learn how to manage money. I kind of forgot how somewhere along the way, though. But I’m hoping that Pumpkin will be much more responsible than I was.

We got our tax refund, which was better than I expected, back last week, and I’ve gotten all the bills up to date. Now is the time to do a little shopping. I’m not planning a big spree by any means, but there are some things we need that can’t wait much longer.

But after paying the bills, the first thing on the agenda was getting Hubby a hunting rifle. He’s been dying for one since we got married, and probably longer than that. He wouldn’t come off of the money to buy one back when we had it to spare, and then he ended up regretting it when money got tight. So I promised him that this year, if we got enough back on our taxes, after the bills were paid that was the first thing we would buy.

He kept trying to talk himself out of it, but I told him that if he didn’t buy himself one, I would. So we finally went out yesterday and he picked out a gun and a scope and bought it. While we were out, I made it a point to look at clothes for Pumpkin. I didn’t find much, but I managed to pick up a couple of things for her.

This coming weekend, we’re going to Big Lots to see if we can find a dresser for Pumpkin’s room. The one that’s in there has been completely unusable for some time now. It was a Wally World special, and while it worked fine for her baby clothes, it just couldn’t stand the weight of her big girl clothes. All of the drawers have fallen apart, and it has served as nothing but a really ugly TV stand for several months. So it’s definitely on the must-get list.

Besides that, I plan on looking there for some clothes for her, and going somewhere else if I have to. She could use some new jeans and shirts, and probably some shorts for summer. Hubby needs some new jeans, too. Those things are next on the list of priorities.

There are plenty of things that I could use. Some new clothes would be nice, and I’d like to find some effective adult acne treatments to try. But I haven’t even bothered looking yet, and I probably won’t until Hubby and Pumpkin’s needs are taken care of. Heck, there are a couple of non-necessities that I’d like to get for Pumpkin that I might look at before I do any shopping for myself. By the time it’s all over, I may not even spend a dime on anything for me.

To me, it feels better to see them get things that make them happy than to get stuff myself. Not that a little something for me wouldn’t be nice. But I’ve got a roof over my head, clothes to wear, food to eat, and most importantly an awesome family. What more do I really need?

With all those scary statistics about household debt floating around, it’s no wonder that many work at home moms avoid them like the plague. But when used responsibly, a credit card can be an asset to your finances rather than a hindrance. Trouble sets in when you charge more than you can afford to pay back within a reasonable amount of time, make only the minimum payment each month, or use your card to charge things that you would normally pay cash for without paying the balance when it comes due.

But there is help for the credit card clueless among us. Credit Donkey’s Credit Card Tips section has lots of helpful articles for credit card users of all types, from the small business user to the family financial planner. And Credit Donkey can also help you find the best deals on credit cards, so you pay as little in fees and interest as possible while still getting great rewards just for using the card.

If you know how to handle credit properly, it can greatly improve your overall financial picture. It can allow you to get the things you want and need now and pay later. And as long as you make your payments on or ahead of schedule, credit card usage will make it easier for you to finance larger purchases in the future. So don’t be afraid of the plastic. Use it wisely, and reap the rewards.

As I mentioned last week, I sold the domain to my other blog. If you were also a reader of that one, you can now find it at kristypruitt.com/momspinchingpenniesagain. I’m not sure whether I’ll be updating it any more, but all of my past articles are there for posterity.

Anyway, there will be lots of nail biting going on here until I get the payment for that. We’re a bit behind on the bills, and I was counting on that money to get caught up. But we’ll just have to hang in there until it gets here. That’s all we can do. At least we’re not facing foreclosure or repossession or cutoffs or anything like that.

I just hope we end up getting a little something back on our taxes. I have everything I need to do them, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I guess I’m subconsciously putting it off, because I know that if we do get anything back, it won’t be much due to our financial situation last year. And worse, we might even end up owing the state some money. But I do need to get that done and over with so we know what’s going on.

Oh, I almost forgot. A lady over at Career Overview emailed me last month to let me know that this blog was featured on their list of 60 Truly Inspiring Blogs for Stay-at-Home Moms. About my blog, they said “Kristy’s personal blog is honest about the challenges of balancing parenting and working at home.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s not all sunshine and happiness, and sometimes it can be downright difficult. But the rewards are many, and if I ever do go back to working outside the home, it will be because I have no other choice. But anyway, do check out that list. I plan to when I have the time.

This month has been pretty torturous in the financial department so far. I made the mistake of getting some bills up to date last month, and that made things pretty tight for the first part of this month. The good news is that the biggest bills are taken care of, and the rest of the month won’t be so bad.

Of course I won’t be going out and blowing every penny we get. That would be stupid. But I might buy a thing or two if I can find a good deal. Like a new pair of shoes for Hubby. He can certainly use those, because the pair I bought him about six months ago is already shot. I don’t know how he goes through shoes so fast, but I need a consistent supply of Foot Locker coupons to keep up with his footwear needs.

I’m also thinking about buying a new printer. The one I have now prints great, but I’ve had to deal with a lot of paper jams and misfeeds from it lately. Ideally I’d like to keep it for color printing and buy a black and white laser printer for printing things that don’t necessarily have to be in color. I’ll have to see if I can find any good Office Depot deals on printers and weigh my options.

Pumpkin’s birthday is getting pretty close too, but thankfully I’ve gotten all of the gift shopping done for that. Now all I have to buy is the stuff for the party. I’ll probably take her to the Dollar Tree today to pick out the plates, cups, favors and such. I’ll wait until a few days before the party to decide whether I’ll bake her cake or buy her one. I had kind of hoped she would think she was too big for a party this year, but in a way I’m glad she doesn’t. They don’t stay kids forever, so you’ve got to make the time while they are still young count.

Well, I should really get to work now instead of rambling on incessantly. After all, money doesn’t grow on trees.

I’ve been feeling pretty good for several days now, but the finances have been a major source of stress nonetheless. But today we managed to create some breathing room for ourselves. We were able to take out a loan to refinance Hubby’s truck, and get a little extra money to boot. That made me very, very happy.

I’d love to take some of the extra cash and buy myself a Sony VAIO laptop with lots of extras. That would make me even happier. But that’s just not in the cards right now. We’ve got to use that extra cash to get the bills paid up until I start bringing in more money. Things should be looking better by the time the first payment on the loan is due, and then we’ll be able to rest easier.

That’s not to say we’re not going to splurge on anything at all, though. Hubby mentioned Pumpkin’s upcoming birthday, and said he had an idea we would discuss later. I believe it’s the same idea I had: Getting her the PSP she’s been begging for since before Christmas. I’ve already been checking prices on them and browsing eBay for deals on used games. I really hope we’re able to do it for her. She’s such an awesome kid, she deserves something nice for her birthday.

If it turns out that we can’t get her that, I guess I’ll have to find something less expensive that she’ll like and try for the PSP this coming Christmas. We’ll see how things look once we get all the bills caught up.

Today has been a major emotional roller coaster ride. I feel like I should be taking prenatal vitamins or something. Yes, I’m that moody.

Things were okay when I woke up this morning. I got up and showered immediately as planned, because Hubby and I were going to take Pumpkin to school. But Hubby didn’t get much sleep last night, so he ended up staying in bed. He jumped in the shower when I got back, and we headed out to take care of the day’s business.

The day’s business was a big part of the reason I got so emotional. We had decided to see about getting a personal loan so we could pay off both of our trucks and get mine fixed, and thereby get me out of my car until we’re able to get it worked on and lower the amount we have to pay out each month. I did my best not to get my hopes up, but you know how it is. When they informed us that they couldn’t count Hubby’s unemployment income, that seriously rained on my parade.

I was even going to see if they would accept me as a coborrower so they could count my income. But as it turned out, my income is all they could have counted. They will average it out according to the past two years’ income, but even if they did that it would show us not making enough to cover our bills. Oh, joy.

We had planned to try another local lender, but for some reason they were closed today. And I doubt they would have helped us either. Then Hubby’s cousin was trying to talk him into telling the lenders that he was working on the side, and was even going to say that he worked for him, so that he could have some countable income. But that would do nothing but get him in serious trouble. Not only could he lose his unemployment pay, he could also lose any chance of getting his disability. And the thought that he might actually go through with that sent my anxiety into overdrive.

He assured me that he wasn’t even considering it, but my nerves were already worn to a frazzle. As soon as we got home, I had to take some of my anxiety medicine. Fortunately, there was no more talk of trying to get a loan anywhere else today. I might be able to handle it next week, but not today.

Anyway, Pumpkin got home from school way early because it was their last day and they only went for three hours. We took her to McDonald’s to celebrate and ran a few more errands, then I dropped Hubby off with a friend and brought Pumpkin home. We both took a nap, and woke up in a playful mood. We just acted completely silly with each other, and that lifted my spirits a great deal. She has a way of doing that.

Now, she and Hubby have gone to his parents’ house so I can get a little work done. And my mood is what I guess you would call stable. Not particularly happy, but not sad or mad or anxious. I’m just here, really. But compared to earlier, it’s an improvement.

Last year, not long after we got our taxes back, I was already thinking ahead to this year’s tax refund. I bought my new computer out of last year’s, and Hubby didn’t get much of anything. So I told him that this year, getting him a hunting rifle would be top priority. And then I started thinking of ways to convince him that he also wanted a plasma or LCD HDTV. Yes, I believe he would enjoy it, but I’m the one who wants one so badly. Not so much because of the great picture or Blu-Ray capabilities (although those are certainly nice), but because it would look better and take up a lot less space than the behemoth we’ve got now.

I’ve already got one of those small TV stands that would be ideal for a flat-screen TV. I got it for free from our old landlords, and have been using it as a bookshelf and whatnot table ever since. I’d be more than happy to clear it off and use it for an actual television. But only in the event that, as Hubby believes, we wouldn’t be able to hang it on the wall without tearing it down.

Well, seeing how we’re going to be doing well to get all the bills paid due to current circumstances, I guess I’ll have to kiss my HDTV goodbye, just has Hubby has kissed his hunting rifle goodbye. Oh well, such is life. One of these days, hopefully before we’re both too old to enjoy them, we’ll have those things. And then, we’ll move on to wanting something else that’s just out of reach.

We got a small bit of good news this week. Hubby’s unemployment came through, much to our surprise. I figured the company he worked for would try to fight it, but they went along with his side of the story completely. I thought they would try to weasel out of it some way. Probably the only reason they didn’t is because the fact that he left due to health reasons that would prevent him from doing his job meant that they wouldn’t be responsible for paying for his benefits.

Whatever works, right? Bottom line, we are in desperate need of money, and if he can get unemployment, that’s great. I was happy when I finally deciphered that the cryptic letter they sent us last week meant he would receive benefits. And he was ecstatic when he got his debit card, complete with a few weeks worth of payments on it, in the mail yesterday. He was so excited that he insisted on going out to eat at Prime Sirloin. And in case you haven’t gathered this about Hubby yet, Prime Sirloin is about as sophisticated a restaurant as you’ll ever find him at.

So as soon as Pumpkin got home from school yesterday, we headed out to eat. I hopped in the shower an hour or so before she was due to get here, and spent the rest of the time on the computer. It wasn’t until we were halfway there that I realized that I hadn’t put any makeup on. Oh well. Like I said, it’s not exactly the fanciest establishment around. I could probably walk in there straight from the pool in a terry romper and no one would have a problem with it. But they’ve got good food, including a buffet with lots of stuff to choose from. So everyone was happy.

Now that the celebrating is over, it’s time to figure out how much we’ll have left once we get all the bills squared away. Well, I’ll probably save that for when the weekend is over. I’d like to have a few days of ignorant bliss if that’s possible.

Howdy y’all! I’m still alive and kicking, and not quite as stressed out as has been the norm for the past few months. Still having some trouble getting everything I need and want to do done, though. Like blogging.

We got our tax refund on Friday, which I thought would make me feel better, but as it turned out, it ended up making me a nervous wreck for a while. I guess it was because I knew it wouldn’t be enough to cover everything we need to pay out, and I dreaded trying to decide what to pay and what to wait on. But now that I’ve gotten some things taken care of, I feel a little better.

I did have a close call, though. I saw a truck from the electric company sitting in the road in front of my house today, and didn’t think anything about it, just figured they were doing some work or something. It’s a good thing Hubby pulled in the driveway right after it showed up, because they were here to cut off our electricity. I had totally forgotten to pay the electric bill. Hubby came in and told me what was going on, and I told the electric company guy that I would go pay the bill online right then. And he said okay and left. Whew!

I paid the bill, so we won’t have to worry about that any more. I just can’t believe that I forgot all about it after going to the office last week and making arrangements. Sometimes I think I need to read some textbooks on how to keep the bills (and everything else in my life) straight. There was a time when I did a good job of that. But now it seems like I can’t get anything done without a To Do list and lots of reminders and encouragement.