this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

My six year old is learning the joy of giving, while my three-year old is mastering re-gifting.
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One of my favorite ideas gleaned from the internet is that of homemade sibling gifts (from Design Mom). Each year her kids make their brothers and sisters gifts. They make things such as decorated T-shirts, decoupaged sketchbooks, headbands, and jumpropes. Things that are totally practical and useful, but at the same time require some thought and effort and love on the part of the maker.

I started this tradition two Christmases ago when my boys were actually too young to understand it (they were 18 months and 4 at the time), but I had fun with it! I bought some fabric paint and had them decorate shirts for each other.

This year my older son gets it. He knows his younger brother loves books and the character Diego, so he's writing and illustrating a book about Diego for the gift. Every time we work on it, he tells me he can't wait to see the look on his little brother's face when he opens it, that he just knows he's going to love it. I'm so excited that he's learning how rewarding giving can be.

My younger son, on the other hand, wants to wrap up a game that he says he doesn't like anymore to give to his brother. Coincidentally, it's the same game that he gave me for my birthday, and one I gave him for his birthday last year. Clearly he's got the re-gifting concept down. He's still young, he'll grasp the giving concept soon enough.

So many people seem to be striving to enjoy a simple holiday season, but what exactly does that mean?
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Simple seems to be all the rage now. Don't get me wrong, that's not at all a bad thing. It just seems like all over the internet people are striving to live a more simple lifestyle in an effort to increase their happiness. Again, a fabulous thing to do, but what if happiness doesn't necessarily mean simplicity to you?

Nope, I've got that all wrong. If your definition of simple isn't bringing happiness, it's probably time to change your definition. Case in point - for many people a simple Christmas may mean less gift buying and less presents because they already have too much. And there's nothing wrong with that. But, what I've learned this year is that that does not work for me. I love buying my children gifts. So long as they aren't asking for one big thing, I want to maximize my spending power and get as much as my budget will allow. I can always get rid of the old stuff or pack it up for a rainy day. Does that mean I think the people who go for a few gifts are horrible? Heck, no. But for me, and for this year (because it may be different next year), that's just not how I roll.

In year's past, I've often felt pressure to do so many different things around Christmastime. This year, in an effort to make it a "simple" Christmas, I did the things I wanted to and left out the things I didn't. And that, to me, is the perfect simple Christmas.

An ordering snafu may force us to go to Christmas Plan B
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My husband and I decided to make a Christmas gift for our boys - a fort kit with pvc pipe, connectors, and sheets to drape over their structures. This proved to be a bit cheaper than sets that are made for this purpose (and will hopefully be sturdier. We ordered the special 4-way connectors last week and they made it here on Monday. Last night we pulled them out of their packaging only to find out that they are the wrong size. They say that they are the right size, but they aren't. Now the fact that they were so much cheaper at this site versus others is starting to make sense.

Now, we're hoping for a little Christmas miracle - that the new ones I ordered last night come on time! Otherwise, we may be forced to go with Plan B, and frankly, I have no idea what Plan B is.

This year's Christmas spending plan isn't just about the gifts.
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It seems in past years, expenses such as Christmas cards and special church clothes for the kids just creep up on me and cause me to go over budget for Christmas. This year, in an effort to combat that, I made sure to leave a generous chunk of money open for miscellaneous Christmas related purchases.

This includes not only extra baking supplies and decorations, but also fun things like Christmas DVDs, books, and a toy nativity set. I decided that I wanted to spend more money on fun Christmas related things that can be brought out and enjoyed year after year and less on gifts for the kids that will probably be put to the side after a month or so.

Staying on top of things is a great way to save money, not staying on top of things, is, well what I am right now.
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I am currently frantically trying to finish my Christmas card order, so it can get shipped, so I can mail them out. And I'm trying to put together another photo-themed gift. And I don't want to pay shipping twice, and I want to go to sleep tonight.

Something's gotta give and I fear it will be the not wanting to pay double shipping. I'll finish the card order tonight and get that shipped and then I'll my project later and pay shipping again for that.  I'm somewhat kicking myself for not being more on top of things, but that's kind of the story of my life. What I don't procrastinate, I just don't decide to do until the last minute (kind of like the photo project), or I just don't entirely think things through. In this case I was initially just going to pick it up at the store (thus avoiding shipping all together!), but that meant I couldn't use my gift card.

Or, perhaps I just think that the calendar is playing a cruel trick on me (really, Christmas is less than two weeks away?). Yup, that's got to be it.

I used to think I had a pretty good grip on when it was time to buy new clothes, now I'm not so sure.
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With the change in seasons comes a change in wardrobe. It's time to pull out the pants and sweaters and pack away everything else. It may also be time to buy new things too, and this year I'm struggling with knowing if I really do need new clothes or not.

Thanks to broken zippers and holes larger than I cared to patch up, my pants supply quickly dwindled to two. It was easy to figure out that that was not enough pairs of pants for me and that I needed more. I have a good number of long-sleeved tops, but frankly I'm tired of them. I feel like I've been wearing them for too many years in a row. I have many things that I would get rid of but then I would be left with just a small handful of shirts. If I really cleared out all the clothing items that I don't so much like anymore, I would need new things.  I guess I have a hard time getting rid of something perfectly useful simply because I don't like it anymore.

It never fails that as soon as I've made a fabulous money decision, I nearly immediately make an incredibly stupid one.

A few months ago, I switched our homeowners' insurance (yay - good choice!), yet didn't immediately cancel the old insurance (boo - bad choice!). I naively thought that once the new insurance company billed our mortgage company (we have an escrow account), it would set in motion a series of events that would ultimately end in the old insurance company realizing we were no longer their customers. But when I received a bill from the new insurance company (I did give them the necessary information to bill the mortgage company, I'm not sure why they didn't), I went ahead and told the mortgage company about our new homeowners' insurance and cancelled the old policy. We eventually received a check in the mail for the difference due to us (the policy was cancelled before the year was up), but it wasn't as large as it would have been if I would have just cancelled right away.

Next time I won't get so excited about the money success and instead try and focus on thwarting the inevitable money fiasco that's probably just around the corner.

Yesterday I received a call from the collections department of one of our local hospitals in regards to a bill that I actually paid several weeks ago. It was a call that I half expected, given how things had previously gone with this bill.

When I first received it, I knew it wasn't correct. They were billing me for forty dollars more than they should have. I called and sure enough, the billing rep can see that I did indeed pay $40 upfront when I took my son to the nutritionist. She said she'd go ahead and make that correction and I'd get a revised bill in the mail.

I didn't get a new bill in the mail, instead I got the old, incorrect bill a month later. So, I call again, tell the billing rep that I already paid $40 of it, and I go ahead and make a payment over the phone. But that payment never gets processed. A few weeks later, I call again to make a payment. This time at least, the billing rep tells me that my balance is the correct amount! A few days later, I receive a receipt in the mail and all is well.

Except that is not, because as is evidenced from my previous experiences, the right hand of this company has clearly not yet met the left hand. I told the collections lady that I paid it several weeks ago and had a receipt to prove it. She did a bit of typing on the computer, and sure enough, I did pay it! I have a strange feeling this is not over.

On a similar note, last week's mail brought with it a lab bill. Suspicious simply because we have $0 copays for all lab tests. I can't make any sense of the bill, so I call the lab. The girl I talked to pretty much had no idea other than it looked like the insurance company had paid, but then taken back the payment. I call the insurance company. The man I talked to did a lot of digging and found some paperwork that wasn't filed correctly, which apparently resulted in them taking back the payment. He said he'd correct it.

So that's two bills in a fairly short amount of time that were incorrect. I wonder how many past bills have also been incorrect, yet still blindly paid by me. None, I hope.

What errors have you noticed on your bills?

My youngest son has a very limited diet. We've eliminated all the common allergens, plus a few others, in an effort to figure out what's triggering his eosinophilic esophagitis. Finding foods that he can eat and wants to eat has been tricky. One food he's fallen in love with is avocados. I don't traditionally feed my babies avocado because they tend to be a bit on the pricey side and if I'm going to buy one, I don't want to share it! But back in April or May, when I decided to test out avocado with him, they were on sale for three for a dollar. And you know what? Every week since then, they've been three for a dollar at our local Smith's. There is not some obscene overage of avocados in town either. I've visited other Smith stores in the area and none of them have ever had them at that price. From what I can tell, it has simply been a summer-long unadvertised special at my local store.

I'm truly grateful to have a food that is healthy, doesn't seem to give him trouble, helps him gain weight, and doesn't cost too much (unlike some of the other foods I feed him!). Focusing on smaller blessings like this helps me realize that things are going pretty well after all.

This weekend, my family enjoyed a nice little end of summer getaway. On our first day there, we stopped at a produce stand to pick up some things. When the man gave me my total, I was a little surprised, but for some reason it seemed okay in my head and I didn't say anything. After we got in the car I figured out that we were probably overcharged by a few dollars. We could have perhaps gone back, but we didn't. Normally something like this would make me really upset and perhaps ruin my day, but I decided to just blow it off and enjoy my vacation. I didn't want it to be remembered as 'the trip where I got really mad at the produce stand guy'.

Instead it will be remembered as 'the trip where I got really mad that I forgot my son's shoes and we had to go buy some' because the same nonchalant attitude from the produce stand did not carry over to the next day.

Clearly I am capable of blowing things off in some situations, but not in others. And there appears to be little rhyme or reason to it all.

Over the weekend, we got two new chickens to add to our coop. Tonight we found that one of those chickens had died. My six-year-old, who is clearly too practical for his own good, said that at least it wasn't one of the chickens that was already laying so we still won't have to buy eggs. My three-year-old suggested that perhaps a monster got in and "made the chicken get died".

We're sad to loose our "easter egger" but such is life.

His lunch is packed, the supplies are purchased, and he has his first day of school outfit ready to go. Tomorrow is my son's first day as a first-grader. The nation seems to be a buzz in all things back to school. You'll be happy to know that even my local spa and billiard store is currently having a back-to-school sale. I've seen reports stating that the average family spends around $600 per kid to get their children ready for school. Seriously? I spent perhaps 10% of that amount, but I just have a young one to prep. I suppose a new computer here and there could up that average, but that still seems like an awful lot to pay for some kleenex and pencils (if you can find the pencils, that is, just like last year, pencils were the hardest thing for me to find).

Sure the school supply list is extensive and for some reason graphing calculators are just as expensive as they were fifteen years ago, but I think the real cost comes when people feel the need to revamp their kids' wardrobes just in time for back to school. I think it's fun to have a few new items for the occasion, but if last year's shoes still fit, why buy new? If it's not going to cool down for several more weeks, why stock up on jeans now? In all honesty, I don't really even think I've seen many fabulous clothing sales in recent weeks.

What are your thoughts on back-to-school shopping? How close did you come to that $600 number?

My oldest is about to turn six and had a birthday party on Saturday. I spend much of last week preparing for this party and was not looking forward to it at all. Until Friday, that is. By the time Friday rolled around, I felt sufficiently prepared for everything and was actually looking forward to the party! What a difference a bit of preparedness can make.

The same theory can apply to money. When you aren't prepared (as in, no savings to help out in an emergency), you may not be able to look forward to things as much. It's certainly hard to adequetly plan for any emergency considering life can throw some crazy curveballs, but it's important to set aside some money when truly unexpected expenses come up.

Up until my son's procedure, I felt very prepared for just about anything that could be thrown at us. Now, as we deal with a chronic illness for him (he has been diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophogitis), we will probably be dealing with many more medical expenses in the future and well, that has me feeling slightly less than prepared!

In general, I consider myself to be a pretty good balance between a saver and a spender. I like to have a good amount in savings, but for the most part, I'm not afraid to spend. Well, I'm not afraid to spend on things that are fun. I find myself slightly annoyed that our hard-earned savings has to go toward some unexpected medical expenses and not a vacation.

I'm very grateful that we have the money to cover these expenses, and of course this is one of the reasons to save, but for some reason, it's hard for me to part with the money.  I know that there's no way to get through life without spending money on things that aren't "fun", but sometimes it seems like there are an awful lot of non-fun expenses and not enough fun ones.

photo by alamosabasin via flickr.com

It's been a busy few weeks at our house. My oldest finished his first year of kindergarten. We've celebrated birthdays and gone on trips. Most notably, however, was the outpatient procedure that my baby had done (though not so much a baby anymore, considering one of those birthdays was his). He's been dealing with multiple food allergies and is not gaining weight, so an upper endoscopy was done to figure out what might be wrong.

After everything was all said and done, one of the most frustrating things for us was not knowing how much this was all going to cost us. We do have a maximum out of pocket number, so we knew it wouldn't be more than that, but it wouldn't be that much, would it? It felt as if our financial lives were on hold, I'm itching to get a new couch, and my husband wants to go to a work-related conference later this summer. Both things that we couldn't jump on until we knew how much we were going to have to pay for this procedure.

And then the bill came (actually just the explanation of benefits, and now that we know the damage, the bill can take it's sweet old time getting to us). And, well, let's just say that there will be no new couches or trips in our immediate future.

People often complain about living on a budget, they treat their budget as some unnatural force that makes it impossible for them spend money how they would like to. If you are not able to spend money as freely as you'd like, it has nothing to do with your budget, but rather your income. But that's not what this post is about.

A budget is all about assigning your money to certain tasks. It's about giving each dollar in your bank account a job. And by all means, if you really enjoy new shoes, do what you can to assign that job to as many of your dollars as you can. There is no rule that says a person who lives on a budget can only spend x amount of money on shoes each month. Set aside the appropriate amount for necessary expenses (as in shelter, food, utilities, and transportation) and divvy out the rest of your dollars as you see fit. Ideally, the job of some of your dollars should be savings - savings for a rainy-day, car repairs, Christmas gifts, or a vacation. Whatever strikes your fancy.

Feeling as if you are in control of your money will help you have a better attitude in regards to your finances (for me at least!). Giving each and every dollar that comes your way a "job" will help you gain or re-gain control.

I have been doing on-line tutoring for the past four years. Last year, the company I work for instated a new policy which meant I needed  a current teaching license in order to stay employed. For a variety of reasons, I let the teaching certificate I previously had (from a different state) lapse a few years back. I knew right away that I wanted to get the license, it just involved me taking a few tests and paying a lot of money, but shortly after I registered for the first test I started thinking that maybe I didn't want to spend the money. My hours decreased quite a bit and I wondered if it would really be worth the effort and money.

I received the official teaching certificate in the mail last week and now I have no regrets. Though I don't intend to use it for more than my part time tutoring gig, it feels so nice to have it. I like knowing that, if I ever needed to or wanted to, I could get a teaching job.

Yesterday's post was all about spending money on things that give you some money in return versus things that do not (the majority of purchases), so it seems appropriate to follow it up with a post about these gals:

These three chickens joined our household a week and a half ago. The older one should start laying any time now. In addition to providing us with eggs, we also hope they will help rid our garden of bugs and weeds!

We've wanted chickens for awhile and the day after my husband started planning the coop (an expense I wasn't too thrilled about, but clearly a necessary one if we were going to get chickens), he stumbled upon a free one. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time and asked the right question!

Earlier this month, my husband and I were arguing over how much money to spend on improving the garden this year. He just wants things to grow better, and I'm content with how they are and feel like we've thrown enough money into it and we are in no way saving money with this garden. Fed up with my argument, he pointed to the couch and asked me, "well, how much money is that couch making you?"

I must admit he had a point. Everything we have does not have to make us money, in fact just about everything in the house yields us no financial gains at all. So why on earth am I so concerned with making sure the garden does?

Most things are just meant to be enjoyed or meant to be functional. Sure, one could always sell items and make some money that way, but using that as a reason to buy something in the first place isn't usually a smart idea.

I still stand my ground though.

Sales are great, but any money-wise person will tell you that you must be careful not to purchase things simply because they are on sale - in other words, make sure it's something you need!

At Target yesterday, I realized I am totally guilty of breaking this frugal rule. I saw a baby outfit at a great price and didn't think twice about buying it. It's too small for any of my kids, and I don't have a recipient in mind for it, but I now own it. I remember several years ago grabbing a little boy's dress outfit at Target even though my son was too big for it. It was three dollars and some odd cents and I couldn't just leave it there on the rack, dressy outfits for baby boys are hard to come by! Had I known I would have had two more baby boys, I would have kept it for myself, instead I passed it along to someone else.

Are you guilty too?