Gained 10 Pounds

Plain and simple... life is hard sometimes. I know most can relate with that statement. These past few months have been incredibly difficult for our little family. The possibility of losing our home to foreclosure plagued me most nights. Not knowing if our condo would sell and all the money we put into to it to sell stressed me to the max. Then, add two little girls 13 months apart. Yeah, I pretty much been a stressful mess. So you guessed it... I gained pretty much all the weight I recently lost on weight watchers. Very disappointing, but I know I can get back on track. Planning on weighing in this weekend at WW. Fresh start.

When our realtor told us that it would be best if we moved out (which we wanted to anyway), we needed to find a home fast. Our home was on the market and people would be viewing it while we were packing. It wouldn't be very appealing to potential buyers if there were boxes everywhere. Therefore, we did a mad dash to get out as fast as we could. 

Our new home in Bothell wouldn't be ready until Oct 4 so we needed a place to stay for about 3 weeks. I couldn't possibly keep the condo clean enough to show for 3 weeks with two babies. Luckily, my amazing sister and brother-in-law opened their home to us. 

It was awesome seeing my sister and brother-in-law every day and we had a blast a lot of the time, but my girls could feel the change around them. They fought taking naps and sleeping through the night. If Ellie woke up in the middle of the night, then Annabelle would wake up. Some nights I was up 3 times to care for them. Then, I blew out my knee which is new for me, as I have never had knee issues before. This was so very difficult to care for my children when being in severe pain with my knee. I did get some help, but sometimes I was on my own. Then, both my girls got sick together. 

I barely saw Doug because he was getting home so late from commuting from Bellevue to Marysville. It was a long, long 3 weeks, but it paid off. 

We are now in our new home in Bothell and we LOVE it! It's the little things we are thankful for... like a double sink, an extra bathroom, a little yard for the kids to play in. God is always faithful, but I seem to forget that sometimes. My knee is better, the girls are finally getting better health wise and are sleeping better (still not 100%, but they are getting there), and we have a beautiful new home. I'm seeing Doug more. Both Doug and I are finally not stressed so much anymore. No more outrageous mortgage payment that financially drained us. Now we have a reasonable amount to pay for rent ($700 less than what we paid at our old condo!) and we can now get completely out of debt and budget realistically. 

This is what our new home looked like when we moved in. Boxes everywhere!

Now it's time to unpack and decorate! Hello HGTV! Pictures to come of our new home when we are all unpacked. :) 

Here are some pictures of our little yard.

Saving Money on Groceries

Many of you know that Doug and I are big Dave Ramsey freaks. Whether you agree with him or not, his financial class has changed our lives. If you don't know who Dave Ramsey is, go to www.daveramsey.com. His classes are available to anyone. He is also a Christian.

When Doug and I got married, we were in bad shape financially. We started the Financial Peace University Course (Dave's class) in September of 2008. Since then, we have paid off over .... drum roll please ....
 

$25,000

It's been an insane amount of hard work and sacrifice, but its been so worth it. We still have more to go, but we should be completely out of debt in the next year or so, Lord willing. 

One of our biggest down fall was FOOD... you know... going out to eat, fast food, and over spending at the grocery store. This needed to stop to help us get out of debt so my budget for food is $150 - $200 a paycheck (around $350 a month). This does NOT include diapers or formula. However, this does include toilet paper, laundry soap, dish soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc. I clip coupons from the Sunday paper and grab store coupons from Fred Meyer. I only use coupons for things that are for sale. I have a few friends who are better at saving money using these though. 

This is what my shopping list looks like spending $150 - $200 a paycheck:

Dairy

-Whole Milk (2 Gallons, lasts two weeks) for Ellie at Costco for $3.00

-Kirkland Cheese (Huge block, lasts a month) at Costco for $5.00

-Goat Cheese (Huge tube, lasts two weeks) at Costco for $5.00

-Organic Eggs (16 Eggs, lasts two weeks) at Costco for $4.00

Bread

-Kirkland Brand Whole Wheat Bread (2 Loafs, last two weeks) at Costco for $3.00

Coffee

-Kirkland Organic Ground Starbucks Blended Coffee (2 lbs, last two weeks) at Costco for $10.00

-Half and Half (1/2 Gallon, last two weeks) at Costco for $2.00

Meat

-Kirkland Frozen Bag of Chicken Breast (5lbs, last two weeks) at Costco for $16.00

-Ground Beef 94% (4 lbs, lasts two weeks) at Fred Meyer for $16.00

-Kirkland Turkey Lunch Meat (3 Packages, lasts two weeks) at Costco for $8.00

-Roast at Fred Meyer for $11.00 or what's on sale

Veggies and Fruit

-Kirkland Frozen Mixed Berries (5 lbs, last a month) at Costco for $10.00

-Kirkland Organic Frozen Peas (5 lbs, lasts a month or two) at Costco for $7.00

-Kirkland Organic Frozen Green Beans (5 lbs, lasts a month or two) for $7.00

-Organic Spinach (Huge box, lasts two weeks) at Costco for $4.00

-Miscellaneous veggies and fruit at Fred Meyers (Non-organic usually)

Canned Items

-Organic Diced Tomatoes (10 cans, lasts a month or two) at Costco for $10.00

-Fish Crackers (2 huge bags, lasts a month) at Costco for $8.00

-Cereal (2 huge bags, lasts a month) at Costco for $8.00

-Cereal with coupons at Fred Meyer price varies with coupons

-Organic Brown Rice (huge bag, last 3 months) at Costco for $8.00

Miscellaneous Things

-Shampoo and Conditioner (Huge bottle, lasts about 6 months) at Costco for around $20.00

-Toilet Paper (lasts a month) at Fred Meyer with coupon around $10.00

-All Free and Clear Laundry Soap (lasts a month) with coupon at Fred Meyer for $12.00

-Dishwasher Soap with coupon at Fred Meyer price varies

Miscellaneous Items for Different Recipes

-All at Fred Meyers

I know Winco and Walmart are cheaper to shop at then Fred Meyers, but I don't live near one of those stores. I almost never shop at Safeway, Haggans, QFC, or Albertson's. Personally, I feel like Fred Meyers is way cheaper and great quality. However, I do look in the newspaper to see their sales. Sometimes other groceries stores have "buy 1, get 1 free" on roasts and other meat, so I will go there and get that deal. 

Our meals are preplanned and I try to cook often to save money. Yes, it's a lot of work, but that is how you pay of $25,000 in debt in two years. 

 Mike, Genesis, and Kids

If you would like to read a really inspiring story about a family of 6 who paid off a LARGE amount of debt using the Dave Ramsey Program, Click Here.