No this is not what we will be eating for the next year (unless it comes to that). This is the name that the Man and I have given to our new financial plan for the new year. We will be pulling out all the stops and staying in MUCH more this year. If you have ever read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (which I totally recommend), we will be "gazelle intense". We will limit our eating out to once a month. This will be the hardest change for us. No more movies in the theaters. (Not like we did it that much anyway). No more extras. I mean we are really cutting back.
The last three months of last year really did a number on us. When it rains it pours, and in our situation, it became a monsoon.
I had a crown and three root canals on one tooth. We didn't have dental insurance. It cost us over $2000. The brakes in our van were going bad and needed to be replaced. While they were replacing those, they notified us of a few problems they had found that needed to be fixed. So the total for that was around $600.
Garbage disposal broke. Got a new one $100.
The smaller boy broke his leg. Doctors bills, cast and X-rays ran us another few hundred.
Some surprise bills for the smallest boy's surgery (tonsil/adenoidectomy) became due (we didn't know about these, we mistakenly thought we had paid for it all). This was another $600.
Our new insurance denied a regular yearly check-up claim that cost us another $150.
We cancelled a trip to Colorado that we were really looking forward to.
The boy turned eight and got baptized. Yeah! We bought him a suit along with his birthday presents.
Garage door spring snapped and had to get a new one and get it fixed. (We are so lucky to have a super father who knows how to fix everything and helped us out with this one.)
All of these happened the same time we were buying Christmas presents for the kids.
It wasn't all bad.
We had some help (of which we are truly grateful). And in the mist of what happened then, I was just so eternally grateful to have my children alive and well. I didn't (and still don't) feel I had any right to complain. Money is just money. I am so glad and blessed to have a family that is alive and healthy.
I do not mean to complain. Just let you know where I am coming from so my reasoning can be better understood. So if we don't go out to eat with you, or go to the movies or any other extra-curricular activity--- now you know why. We love and appreciate all our family and friends. We will just be entertaining in our home this year;) If we are invited somewhere, you might only hear us respond, "rice and beans my friend, rice and beans". And now you will know what we mean.
All in all though, our Christmas was fantastic. We indeed were spoiled and got more than we deserved. Hope yours was great too.
Peace out
Here are just a few highlights of Christmas Morning:
Well not this one, this was a few days before. Silly elf.
