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MomTo2
Guest
Thank you Rayne! I am just curious how you manage to work and homeschool (I saw that on another thread). It sounds like you are a remarkable person doing the best she can for her family- God bless you!Praying!
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Michelle_in_KC
Guest
I’m definitely in as well. I’ve dealt with my share of credit card problems. Thankfully, that storm has subsided for now, but I do have a huge debt in student loans.
We’re trying to make it so that I can be home with the kids. I’m trying to convince my husband that we can live without cable t.v. and I’m trying to figure out if I can commit to walking/running outdoors so we could give up YMCA membership and save $73 per month.
We stopped eating in restaurants a couple of months ago. There’s a cheap pizza place down the road for “special” occasions (like my dd#2’s 2nd birthday last week) where kids under 4 eat for free and adults are $3.99, kids 4-12 are $2 and we don’t buy sodas. Even then, we usually make pizza and cinnamon rolls at home for “pizza place at home!”
I’m definitely into learning about ways to stretch a dollar. The deadline for me to start staying home is January 31. I hope to have a little in savings and be able to make budget on the husband’s paycheck by then.
A few prayers would never hurt!
We’re trying to make it so that I can be home with the kids. I’m trying to convince my husband that we can live without cable t.v. and I’m trying to figure out if I can commit to walking/running outdoors so we could give up YMCA membership and save $73 per month.
We stopped eating in restaurants a couple of months ago. There’s a cheap pizza place down the road for “special” occasions (like my dd#2’s 2nd birthday last week) where kids under 4 eat for free and adults are $3.99, kids 4-12 are $2 and we don’t buy sodas. Even then, we usually make pizza and cinnamon rolls at home for “pizza place at home!”
I’m definitely into learning about ways to stretch a dollar. The deadline for me to start staying home is January 31. I hope to have a little in savings and be able to make budget on the husband’s paycheck by then.
A few prayers would never hurt!
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Feanaro_s_Wife
Guest
Not sure if you’ve looked into it, but hubby knows a guy at work who is very tall. He bought a PT Cruiser and loves it…tons of head and leg room. The money you’d save on gas may make a car payment worth it?
How tall is your husband?
Malia
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Mummybee
Guest
Oh, I am wayyyy more than qualified to be a member!!!
Why is it that fiscal mistakes made in youth tend to snowball as you get older? If seems like no matter how hard we try, we can’t our finances and credit rating rehabilitated. I honestly worry that God doesn’t want us to be rid of this horrible burden. I wouldn’t care so much if I didn’t have kids to worry about and take care of. I’ve nearly given up on the hope of ever owning a home or being able to stop worrying about paying the bills or having enough in the case of an emergency repair, etc. Sigh. I’m so sick of the whole thing.
Why is it that fiscal mistakes made in youth tend to snowball as you get older? If seems like no matter how hard we try, we can’t our finances and credit rating rehabilitated. I honestly worry that God doesn’t want us to be rid of this horrible burden. I wouldn’t care so much if I didn’t have kids to worry about and take care of. I’ve nearly given up on the hope of ever owning a home or being able to stop worrying about paying the bills or having enough in the case of an emergency repair, etc. Sigh. I’m so sick of the whole thing.
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rayne89
Guest
Well I should say hubby and I homeschool. We work opposite shifts. I work mornings he works afternoons. He does half her subjects after lunch, I do the other half after dinner.He is truly the remarkable one. He works 12 hour days and still gets up to homeschool and spend time with our daughter. They are very close, he’s such a great dad! His own childhood was very abusive and his father was/is very distant. My hubby is so amazing to me - he really has overcome a lot.
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Mummybee
Guest
Hey, Rayne, my husband and I do the same thing. I work days, he works nights. He does half our daughter’s subjects with her during the day, I do the other half in the evening. My husband could use some advice from yours, though. He’s not really in to it, and he struggled so much with it last year that we are about a semester behind. We struggle with everything, it seems, whether it be finances, homeschooling, or whatever. Now we are expecting #3 in April, and I’m really worried about finances and the homeschooling more than ever. Unless God gives us a miracle, there is no way I can quit my job. Anyway, it’s very edifying to hear that there is another family doing the same thing, and doing it well! It gives me hope.
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rayne89
Guest
Wow good for you guys! Pretty neat, I’ve never met anyone else (so far) who does it like we do. With my hubby he does the subjects more interesting to him, Science (he enjoys doing the science projects and he’s very into geology), Math and Geography. I do the English, Spelling, History and writing practice. The subjects he does also happen to be the subjects our daughter likes better-except the Math sometimes.
Since he works long days and mine are much shorter since I only work part time and not everyday I’d rather have him do the subjects she finds easier so he doesn’t have to struggle with a crabby child.
What exactly do you mean he’s into it though? Do you use a set curricullum(I know that’s spelled wrong) or do you design your own? I take my hubby with me to our annual Catholic homeschool conference and have him help me pick out the books. When we used Seton we were both struggling.
Well I gotta get ready to leave for work. I’ll write more later.
Since he works long days and mine are much shorter since I only work part time and not everyday I’d rather have him do the subjects she finds easier so he doesn’t have to struggle with a crabby child.
What exactly do you mean he’s into it though? Do you use a set curricullum(I know that’s spelled wrong) or do you design your own? I take my hubby with me to our annual Catholic homeschool conference and have him help me pick out the books. When we used Seton we were both struggling.
Well I gotta get ready to leave for work. I’ll write more later.
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MomTo2
Guest
That’s awesome that you are doing that! Your daughter is a very blessed little girl!
It’s also nice to hear of other fathers so dedicated to their daughters. I’m blessed to have a wonderful father as a husband. My hubby’s childhood was way less than perfect- his parents weren’t abusive, but they were into drugs and partying, etc. Then they went through AA and turned waaaay into fundamentalists that liked to “lay down the law” and throw their bible at everyone. Since then, they have returned to the Catholic church, but my MIL has problems with it so she has fallen away. My husband always laughs around this time of year because literally one year, she dressed him up as a devil for Halloween and the next year she wouldn’t celebrate “Satan’s Day.” That’s getting more into family issues I guess, but it goes to show a little more why I’d like to get away from renting their house and get our own. Anyhow, my hubby, unlike his siblings, has grown into a responsible man and loving husband and father. I’ve just noticed other dads, being husbands of my friends, not being as involved and loving, which is really sad. There is nothing I find more attractive in my husband than watching him crawl around playing horsey with the kids- talk about a stud!
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Mummybee
Guest
We actually have her enrolled in the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School, (www.pavcs.org) which technically is a public school, and the curriculum is by a company called K12, which was founded and is lead by well known Catholic education czar William Bennett (wrote The Book of Virtues, The Children’s Book of Virtues, etc) (www.k12.com). The curriculum is fantastic! We have to log in each day, account for hours, etc. on a daily basis. She has a teacher that we teleconference with every two weeks, and we have to mail in work samples, etc. We really couldn’t do it any other way, because we can’t afford to buy a new set of books, etc, every year. This way it’s free, because it’s a public school paid for by school tax dollars. The school is administrated by the school district of Norristown, PA, but our local school district is billed something like $48k a year for her schooling. They sent us a computer, a printer, all her texts and materials (except for disposable type stuff like paper, etc). This year they are introducing foreign language, too, at the kindergarten level! They are offering 4 different languages, one of which is Latin!!! However, I expect it will be classical Latin, like I learned in public high school, as opposed to ecclesiastical Latin, like what is used in the Tridentine mass. Whatever, it’s just quibbling about pronunciation. The curriculum is just incredible. The work is done mostly on computer, with some off line.Wow good for you guys! Pretty neat, I’ve never met anyone else (so far) who does it like we do. With my hubby he does the subjects more interesting to him, Science (he enjoys doing the science projects and he’s very into geology), Math and Geography. I do the English, Spelling, History and writing practice. The subjects he does also happen to be the subjects our daughter likes better-except the Math sometimes.
Since he works long days and mine are much shorter since I only work part time and not everyday I’d rather have him do the subjects she finds easier so he doesn’t have to struggle with a crabby child.
What exactly do you mean he’s into it though? Do you use a set curricullum(I know that’s spelled wrong) or do you design your own? I take my hubby with me to our annual Catholic homeschool conference and have him help me pick out the books. When we used Seton we were both struggling.
Well I gotta get ready to leave for work. I’ll write more later.
My husband has problems budgeting his time and prioritizing. He’s easily intimidated by this sort of thing. I don’t think he realized what was at stake, as there is a lot more tedious accountability for your progress when you homeschool this way. He would go through the lessons and groan, asking if they really had to do everything listed, etc. Granted, he was also looking after our baby at the time, but she was tiny at the time and not very demanding. I don’t think he understood beforehand the enormity of homeschooling. He agreed with it in concept, but in practice, it takes a lot of effort and commitment, and he’s not exactly a go-getter or self-starter. I think he’s finally getting the jist of what kind of commitment he has to make, but I don’t get the feeling he’s actually made that commitment 100% yet.
We’ve finally learned to divy up the subjects like you and your husband have. He does math, science and history; I do phonics, language arts, music and art. Phonics is the most time consuming and tedious, and is perhaps the most important subject right now. I can’t tell you the joy I have from having taught my own daughter how to read! We started homeschooling for moral and religious reasons, coupled with the disgust of all the germs and diseases she was picking up in pre-school, and so on. Now, I am reaping the rewards one can only get by teaching their own child themself. This is so rewarding. It’s tough, because it’s like having a third full time job (besides my work, and being a mother/wife).
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Philena
Guest
I guess I qualify, too. I’m a single mom of three teenagers. Due to bad decisions during those years of single parenthood and a complete lack of child support, I found myself oweing over $30K in credit card debt.
I went to a debt reduction program and after 18 months I’m almost debt free. My credit is trashed, though. I own a house, (well, the bank does mostly) but apart from that, nothing. No savings. No retirement. No 401K. I’m 43 years old and starting over.
I wish I had kept money in my 401K and never, ever, gotten a credit card.
I’m living paycheck to paycheck, even book sale to book sale. I sell books picked up at garage sales on Amazon. I look forward to when I’ll be debt free and can start saving instead of spending. Its just really hard when you are supporting three kids on your own with no one else to turn to.
I went to a debt reduction program and after 18 months I’m almost debt free. My credit is trashed, though. I own a house, (well, the bank does mostly) but apart from that, nothing. No savings. No retirement. No 401K. I’m 43 years old and starting over.
I wish I had kept money in my 401K and never, ever, gotten a credit card.
I’m living paycheck to paycheck, even book sale to book sale. I sell books picked up at garage sales on Amazon. I look forward to when I’ll be debt free and can start saving instead of spending. Its just really hard when you are supporting three kids on your own with no one else to turn to.
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sarcophagus
Guest
I’m in!!!
DH and I both work. He works 44 hours a week with decent pay, I work 30 hours a week for minimum wage but I also attend school for 22 hours a week. On top of studying and housework, I’m really busy.
We both came from families with some money and for the first year we thought that we could do that too!! Of course we couldn’t so that put us in a rough spot now. We’re finally trying to stick with a budget. Our goal is to have enough saved for a downpayment on a house in 2 years on top of getting DH’s student loans paid off.
The hardest thing about being econically challenged is shaking the thoughts that we can afford to go out for dinner a few times a week or that we can buy that video game.
The easiest thing is that we have found a system to not spend money. We hide our debits and visa cards. Can’t see them…won’t use them.
The worst part of being EC is gas money. DH commutes a half an hour twice a day, 5 days a week. THen he goes up north (2 hour drive) to visit family and help his elderly Grandma on weekends. With the gas prices, we can hardly afford anything else but I’m glad he wants to help his family because I know he will do the same when we start one of our own.
The best part of being EC is of course, the creative ways that we have to think up of spending time together. Because we can’t go to the movies, we have to think of fun activities to do together. We play board games, have picnics on our balcony, find shapes in clouds from our balcony, watch interesting tv shows (ie> discovery channel, EWTN when we had it), we play old computer games together (DH gave our playstation to his friend who can no longer walk because he had a steel beam fall on his legs at work). I’ve realized that not only has sacrificing the things we want made us better people, but a better couple as well. Dh could never have parted with his beloved playstation a year ago, but he has found more joy in being together than playing games.
No matter what your situation is, I believe that being EC allows all of us to be set on the path to becoming better christians, better people!!!
DH and I both work. He works 44 hours a week with decent pay, I work 30 hours a week for minimum wage but I also attend school for 22 hours a week. On top of studying and housework, I’m really busy.
We both came from families with some money and for the first year we thought that we could do that too!! Of course we couldn’t so that put us in a rough spot now. We’re finally trying to stick with a budget. Our goal is to have enough saved for a downpayment on a house in 2 years on top of getting DH’s student loans paid off.
The hardest thing about being econically challenged is shaking the thoughts that we can afford to go out for dinner a few times a week or that we can buy that video game.
The easiest thing is that we have found a system to not spend money. We hide our debits and visa cards. Can’t see them…won’t use them.
The worst part of being EC is gas money. DH commutes a half an hour twice a day, 5 days a week. THen he goes up north (2 hour drive) to visit family and help his elderly Grandma on weekends. With the gas prices, we can hardly afford anything else but I’m glad he wants to help his family because I know he will do the same when we start one of our own.
The best part of being EC is of course, the creative ways that we have to think up of spending time together. Because we can’t go to the movies, we have to think of fun activities to do together. We play board games, have picnics on our balcony, find shapes in clouds from our balcony, watch interesting tv shows (ie> discovery channel, EWTN when we had it), we play old computer games together (DH gave our playstation to his friend who can no longer walk because he had a steel beam fall on his legs at work). I’ve realized that not only has sacrificing the things we want made us better people, but a better couple as well. Dh could never have parted with his beloved playstation a year ago, but he has found more joy in being together than playing games.
No matter what your situation is, I believe that being EC allows all of us to be set on the path to becoming better christians, better people!!!
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rayne89
Guest
Wow what a wonderful program!
My hubby is a very laid back too. I guess my personality is what motivates him.
If they don’t finish the assignements he’s responsible for by the time he has to go to work I get crabby. And he hates it when I’m crabby.Seton was definately more structure and we did have send stuff in. But my real problem with them was the style of teaching that it was geared toward wasn’t working on my child. Math was just a daily dreaded experience.The work book after workbook in just about every subject was not working for us.
We switched to Math-U-See and the change was unbelievable. We use Catholic Heritage Curricula And Emmanuel Books for just about everything else. I didn’t spend more then $150 on books and supplies this year. Although if I had an opportunity like you I would very seriously consider it. Do you work full time?
How old is your daughter? I can totally relate to teaching her to learn how to read. I remember feeling very proud of that. She absolutely devours books now. She read a lot of mystery books especially Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys sometimes more then one book a day. I love reading so this makes me very happy.
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rayne89
Guest
On a separate note. I went out with some friends last night to celebrate a b-day. An one friend shared that her husband wants them to separate. Their marriage has been struggling for years and it looks like the company he works for is going under (possible in only a few weeks) which is only adding to the stress since they are already living paycheck to paycheck. I would appreciate if you all would remember them in your prayers. They have an 8 year old son who is very close to his dad and it just breaks my heart to see them going through this.
I had to give my hubby a big hug last night when he got home, and thank God for blessing us with a good relationship despite the stressful situation before us.
I had to give my hubby a big hug last night when he got home, and thank God for blessing us with a good relationship despite the stressful situation before us.
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rayne89
Guest
Welcome all new ECA members!
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rayne89
Guest
Absolutely! The two things that get me are watching my hubby playing with our daughter and seeing his head bowed in prayer at church. Total goosebumps. I love it!That’s awesome that you are doing that! Your daughter is a very blessed little girl!
There is nothing I find more attractive in my husband than watching him crawl around playing horsey with the kids- talk about a stud!
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Mummybee
Guest
Yup. At least it’s an administrative job, so I’m not constantly on my feet. My eldest (the one we homeschool) is 6 (and a half, she would point out). Now that my younger daughter is a reaalllly rambunctios (sp?) toddler, she is a real challenge when we sit down to do school. She calls me constantly, wants to run around, will do anything to get my attention. Don’t know what I’ll do when the new baby comes and she has to contend with that, too!:crying:
On an ECA note, my husband and I have a very thorough budget that I put together in Excel. It’s great, and helps us to project to the next month very well. We can also look back at previous months and see where our money went, in case we forget. The key to using a budget of any sort is to have 100% commitment from both husband and wife. The system doesn’t work if one person spends something and forgets, or just goes outside the boundaries of the budget altogether. My husband is infamous for ‘forgetting’ to tell me about money he spent that I probably would have objected to. If a couple isn’t 100% united in their efforts, it’s all for nothing.
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Rob_s_Wife
Guest
Well finally an organization I can afford to join!
It’s the daily grind wearing us down. The bills are paid and we’re sticking to our guns about our no credit rule, but man are we tired of the whole world eating out, buying houses, and going on vacation etc… on debt while dh works so hard and seems to have so little to show for it.
I know, I know… It’s an facade. Those people don’t have anything more than us but debt and a late mortgage and more expensive stress… but still it’s hard to curb the “wants”, kwim?
Anyhoo. That’s my little economy issue right now.
It’s the daily grind wearing us down. The bills are paid and we’re sticking to our guns about our no credit rule, but man are we tired of the whole world eating out, buying houses, and going on vacation etc… on debt while dh works so hard and seems to have so little to show for it.
I know, I know… It’s an facade. Those people don’t have anything more than us but debt and a late mortgage and more expensive stress… but still it’s hard to curb the “wants”, kwim?
Anyhoo. That’s my little economy issue right now.
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sarcophagus
Guest
Anyone used microsoft money to track thier finances? I have the program but have no idea how to use it. Is it any good? And how the heck do you use it?
Thanks
Thanks
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Celeste88
Guest
I think I have the disc but never got around to using it. I use Excel (hubby is teaching me) and enter in all our medical expenses, donations, and biz expenses and sales from Ebay. It makes it easier at tax time.
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kellyb32
Guest
HA! You know I’m in the club!
Baby #4 is about 3 weeks or so from coming. I won’t be able to stop working this time around because our finances are so slim. Thankfully I work from home. I can’t even afford to take off the 6 weeks maternity leave because I make so little right now, the disability I would get wouldn’t even cover the expenses my 2 checks go for each month. We’re lucky if we have $40 to last us 2 weeks in order to get diapers, wipes, and other essentials for the house once the bills are paid. It’s been T O U G H. I told my husband that I would rather make sure the mortgage, car payment and credit card are all paid on time and we can work out the utilities. I want to keep our house, transportation to his job and good credit. We’ve worked hard to get back to where we are now.
I did do a free credit report annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp just to see where we stood now. Depending on the area you live in and the time frame they offer it, you are eligible for one free credit report from each of the three agencies (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax). You can get all three reports at once or space them out if you’d like. This is a legit site, I know Equifax’s site links to them (didn’t check the other 2 sites).
I am the queen of balance transfers, always looking for the interest rate sales. I’ve been saved many a month from making a payment just from transferring a balance from one card to another if I didn’t have the cash to make the payment.
Just so you know too that Capital One offers a skip payment option once a year. I don’t know about other credit card companies. You have to have your payments on time for the previous 6 months before you can qualify, but they will allow you to skip one payment without risking a blemish on your credit and you won’t get charged a late fee. You still have to pay interest. You need no proof of hardship, they go on your word. There is no extra paperwork to fill out or anything.
Also, if you call at least 2 or 3 weeks ahead of when your payment is due, they will usually work something out with you to make reduced payments or something along those lines.
In the past we’ve been so behind in payments, so far in debt where it was almost twice as much as our yearly income, that we had no other choice but to file bankruptcy 8 years ago.
I was so glad to see that there are no outstanding things on our credit report anymore, just the fact that we did file bankruptcy in April of 1997 was there, but that’s public record.
I haven’t bought any new clothes for myself, I mean like actual NEW clothes, since before I married my husband at the age of 19. It’s been 15 years. All my clothes are hand me downs or from the Salvation Army. I may get an outfit from someone for my birthday or christmas…Usually I get money (not a lot, $20 or so) and I use it towards a bill or get essentials that I couldn’t afford that month. I never buy anything for myself.
I told my husband he’d better be glad I’m not high maintenance. I get my hair cut once a year, I never buy nail polish or have my nails done professionally, I don’t wear perfume. I buy makeup maybe twice a year (I go au naturale 95% of the time), and I’m lucky if I wear my wedding band for jewelry, no earrings, no necklaces, no bracelets, nada. My fingers are swollen from this pregnancy so I haven’t worn my ring in a couple months now.
The last time we went out as a couple was in June for our anniversary. We went for a walk in the mall for an hour because our babysitter wasn’t able to give us much more time than that and we had no money for dinner or a movie. It was a bad time for family to ask anyone to watch our kids. We were thankful for the hour we had.
I think it would be neat to pass around money saving ideas. Coupons are a no go for me since I shop at Aldi’s or Save-a-Lot, they don’t take coupons. Anyone else have ideas of how to make a dollar stretch?
God bless!
Baby #4 is about 3 weeks or so from coming. I won’t be able to stop working this time around because our finances are so slim. Thankfully I work from home. I can’t even afford to take off the 6 weeks maternity leave because I make so little right now, the disability I would get wouldn’t even cover the expenses my 2 checks go for each month. We’re lucky if we have $40 to last us 2 weeks in order to get diapers, wipes, and other essentials for the house once the bills are paid. It’s been T O U G H. I told my husband that I would rather make sure the mortgage, car payment and credit card are all paid on time and we can work out the utilities. I want to keep our house, transportation to his job and good credit. We’ve worked hard to get back to where we are now.
I did do a free credit report annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp just to see where we stood now. Depending on the area you live in and the time frame they offer it, you are eligible for one free credit report from each of the three agencies (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax). You can get all three reports at once or space them out if you’d like. This is a legit site, I know Equifax’s site links to them (didn’t check the other 2 sites).
I am the queen of balance transfers, always looking for the interest rate sales. I’ve been saved many a month from making a payment just from transferring a balance from one card to another if I didn’t have the cash to make the payment.
Just so you know too that Capital One offers a skip payment option once a year. I don’t know about other credit card companies. You have to have your payments on time for the previous 6 months before you can qualify, but they will allow you to skip one payment without risking a blemish on your credit and you won’t get charged a late fee. You still have to pay interest. You need no proof of hardship, they go on your word. There is no extra paperwork to fill out or anything.
Also, if you call at least 2 or 3 weeks ahead of when your payment is due, they will usually work something out with you to make reduced payments or something along those lines.
In the past we’ve been so behind in payments, so far in debt where it was almost twice as much as our yearly income, that we had no other choice but to file bankruptcy 8 years ago.
I was so glad to see that there are no outstanding things on our credit report anymore, just the fact that we did file bankruptcy in April of 1997 was there, but that’s public record.
I haven’t bought any new clothes for myself, I mean like actual NEW clothes, since before I married my husband at the age of 19. It’s been 15 years. All my clothes are hand me downs or from the Salvation Army. I may get an outfit from someone for my birthday or christmas…Usually I get money (not a lot, $20 or so) and I use it towards a bill or get essentials that I couldn’t afford that month. I never buy anything for myself.
I told my husband he’d better be glad I’m not high maintenance. I get my hair cut once a year, I never buy nail polish or have my nails done professionally, I don’t wear perfume. I buy makeup maybe twice a year (I go au naturale 95% of the time), and I’m lucky if I wear my wedding band for jewelry, no earrings, no necklaces, no bracelets, nada. My fingers are swollen from this pregnancy so I haven’t worn my ring in a couple months now.
The last time we went out as a couple was in June for our anniversary. We went for a walk in the mall for an hour because our babysitter wasn’t able to give us much more time than that and we had no money for dinner or a movie. It was a bad time for family to ask anyone to watch our kids. We were thankful for the hour we had.
I think it would be neat to pass around money saving ideas. Coupons are a no go for me since I shop at Aldi’s or Save-a-Lot, they don’t take coupons. Anyone else have ideas of how to make a dollar stretch?
God bless!
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