At the risk of sounding shallow and, well, completely irresponsible, I'm coming out with it: Over the last few days I put together the first budget for our family ever. This is a little pathetic as my husband and I have been married for four and a half years and our kids are almost four (no they're not bastards...I just got pregnant practically the day after we got married and they were born REALLY early) and we're just now getting this done. As I mentioned in my last blog, my husband is still with the same company, just accepted a new position. It was our hope that in spite of the pay cut his overall hours and stress would drop significantly. In reality, he gets paid half the money, works more and is more stressed. AWESOME!!!! That being said, it is what it is, and after multiple transfers from savings to checking last year it occurred to me we most definitely are spending more than is coming in. DUH!!!! Enter the budget.
I actually had a blast putting it together. Don't get me wrong, the end result ain't pretty, but I feel so much better knowing exactly what is coming in each month and exactly what is going out. I made this pretty little spread sheet in Excel and am now obsessed. We actually do a good job with the frivolous spending, but realized that there are a couple of areas that we can improve on. For one, Starbucks.
Let me just preface this by saying since having kids, Starbucks is my drug of choice. It's my crack. I go every single day (sometimes twice). "Hello, my name is Ann, and I'm addicted to chai." However, when you're spending nearly $300/month there, it's time for an intervention. I have to add that the $300 isn't just me, my husband goes every day too. And after hot chocolates here and there for the girls and breakfast for the four of us at least one day over the weekend, it adds up! So the REALISTIC (really important) goal is that I will only go once a day and I will no longer order food. Let's be honest, there's no way, unless of course I donated my kids to Salvation Army, that I could (translation: would want to) cut it out completely. This is doable. The other big ticket items are tuition and childcare while I'm in school.
Childcare alone is almost $2000/month. Ouch! It makes it hurt even more that I work for free. I'm currently a lowly intern with a monthly income of ZERO dollars. Double ouch! Anyway, as of now we pay for my tuition out of pocket but we're looking into the option of taking out a loan which if I'm not mistaken, is interest free until I graduate (or six months after). The goal would be to chip away a little bit while I'm still in school, even more over summers as I won't incur the same childcare costs, and pay off the balance quickly after graduation. We shall see, still need to look into it.
Another doozie is Comcast which seems to go up every few months. Time to give them a call and let them know I'm jumping ship unless...
The budget is definitely an eye opener. It feels so good to be on top of it though. And, if you haven't done yours yet (which I'm sure you all have as you're likely far less shallow and far more responsible than I) GET TO IT!!!!
I'm a mom of twins living in a suburban circus...and liking it, most of the time.
Friday, January 18, 2013
That Time of Year Again
It's that time of year again. I've been on winter break for six weeks now and the mind is idle. I'm bored. Which brings me back to my blog. I was just reading through old posts and really would like to keep up with this. Not expecting a miracle or anything, let's be real, I haven't written in a year, but, I would like to be a bit more present. That being said, there isn't a ton of time for catch up, but perhaps I should cover a few things that happened in the last 360 or so odd days since writing last.
Still in school and it's going well. I actually love it. I'm still struggling with the balance, but I'm close...closer than I've ever been and that feels good. Given that my winter breaks are so long my mind has a lot of time to wander though. I've been running many possibilities through my head and there are some things I need to take a look at. For one, school is frickin' expensive! In addition to tuition, day care expenses are nearly $2000/month. Plus there's books, parking, and the stupid toll road every time I go to campus (this actually is a life saver, not stupid at all, just costly). I need to figure out how we're going to keep swinging this for another two years. You would think I looked at this before starting, I guess I was a bit idealistic at the time!
I'm also feeling torn because I strive for balance between home life and school, but this snail's pace, part-time thing is killing me. During the academic year, all is well, but come winter break (two months) and summer vacation (over three) I can't help but feeling like it is a colossal waste of my time. I could knock out at least two classes during that five months. Sadly, my program doesn't offer any classes outside of the regular fall/spring semesters. I'm exploring taking classes online elsewhere and transferring them in so that I would be able to attend full time next year (minus the classes I transfer in) and knock it out in a year. Then I'd only get charged the onesie-twosie things one more time too. So annoying that I pay for collegiate athletics and construction fees over and over and over again. It adds up.
Could be an option to put off school next year and wait till the following year when the girls start kindergarten so that I could potentially pull off the full-time schedule without transferring any credit. Still don't know that that's plausible even with the girls in school...who knows?!!?!?!?
I've even been fantasizing about getting my real estate license reinstated. Sadly it's been expired for over three years now so I'd have to retake the exam. I've taken the classes and passed with no problem but that was five years ago. And, the woman at the Colorado Real Estate Commission kindly reminded me that those who attempt the exam without having taken the class recently only have a 20% pass rate. Odds aren't on my side.
Ultimately, I'll just keep plugging along, but holy hell, this is going to take me forever. I guess I'll just have to plan some fun things to do this summer to keep my mind off the fact that I have NOTHING going on.
In addition to school, the rest of my life is good. Here is a family photo taken in July. I know that's an eternity ago, but it's the most recent pic. with all of us so here you go: Ummm, okay, clearly been a while since blogging as I no longer know how to post pictures. Will add some next go 'round!
What else??? Will accepted a new job (within the same company) a little over a year ago and although the pay is MUCH less, he travels every other week and there is more stress...sounds like an awesome career move, right...we're now settled into the new routine. In a later post I'll talk more about the pay. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I just did our first budget over the last couple of days. What an eye opener! Let's just say there's some room for improvement...we're talking $300/month at Starbucks (cringe)!
Girls are good too. Almost four (in March). Much more to update on them, but again, that will have to come in a later post.
Well, that's all for now. It's great to be back and here's to a wonderful 2013!
Still in school and it's going well. I actually love it. I'm still struggling with the balance, but I'm close...closer than I've ever been and that feels good. Given that my winter breaks are so long my mind has a lot of time to wander though. I've been running many possibilities through my head and there are some things I need to take a look at. For one, school is frickin' expensive! In addition to tuition, day care expenses are nearly $2000/month. Plus there's books, parking, and the stupid toll road every time I go to campus (this actually is a life saver, not stupid at all, just costly). I need to figure out how we're going to keep swinging this for another two years. You would think I looked at this before starting, I guess I was a bit idealistic at the time!
I'm also feeling torn because I strive for balance between home life and school, but this snail's pace, part-time thing is killing me. During the academic year, all is well, but come winter break (two months) and summer vacation (over three) I can't help but feeling like it is a colossal waste of my time. I could knock out at least two classes during that five months. Sadly, my program doesn't offer any classes outside of the regular fall/spring semesters. I'm exploring taking classes online elsewhere and transferring them in so that I would be able to attend full time next year (minus the classes I transfer in) and knock it out in a year. Then I'd only get charged the onesie-twosie things one more time too. So annoying that I pay for collegiate athletics and construction fees over and over and over again. It adds up.
Could be an option to put off school next year and wait till the following year when the girls start kindergarten so that I could potentially pull off the full-time schedule without transferring any credit. Still don't know that that's plausible even with the girls in school...who knows?!!?!?!?
I've even been fantasizing about getting my real estate license reinstated. Sadly it's been expired for over three years now so I'd have to retake the exam. I've taken the classes and passed with no problem but that was five years ago. And, the woman at the Colorado Real Estate Commission kindly reminded me that those who attempt the exam without having taken the class recently only have a 20% pass rate. Odds aren't on my side.
Ultimately, I'll just keep plugging along, but holy hell, this is going to take me forever. I guess I'll just have to plan some fun things to do this summer to keep my mind off the fact that I have NOTHING going on.
In addition to school, the rest of my life is good. Here is a family photo taken in July. I know that's an eternity ago, but it's the most recent pic. with all of us so here you go: Ummm, okay, clearly been a while since blogging as I no longer know how to post pictures. Will add some next go 'round!
What else??? Will accepted a new job (within the same company) a little over a year ago and although the pay is MUCH less, he travels every other week and there is more stress...sounds like an awesome career move, right...we're now settled into the new routine. In a later post I'll talk more about the pay. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I just did our first budget over the last couple of days. What an eye opener! Let's just say there's some room for improvement...we're talking $300/month at Starbucks (cringe)!
Girls are good too. Almost four (in March). Much more to update on them, but again, that will have to come in a later post.
Well, that's all for now. It's great to be back and here's to a wonderful 2013!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Simple Life
When did my life become so rushed? Lately I've been longing for the simple life. I know that a farm in the country (another one of my fantasies) isn't realistic today but I would like to slow things down a bit. I want to do more for myself and avoid getting caught up in the fast paced lives of just about everyone around me. This is going to be tough. My husband is the type that can't hold still and usually this suits me just fine too. The first order of business in slowing things down a bit is sticking to my list.
"Hi, my name is Ann, and I'm an impulse shopaholic!"
"Hi, Ann!"
I'm the person who goes into Target for milk and leaves with the shopping cart overflowing with things I do not need. I go to Costco without a list! Anyone who shops at Costco knows that this can end poorly! While the immediate high is nice, who doesn't like grabbing things off the shelves on a whim, the additional stress of having all that extra stuff in my house isn't worth it anymore. So, I'm sticking to my list while at Target and I'm going to be writing a list before any outings to Costco. Not only will this be nice for the bank account, it will limit some of the junk that seems to come through my door each week.
So far so good. Did Target this morning, and would you believe, I left with only two items! I used to wonder why stores even had baskets. Now I know, they're for the list stickers just like myself! In all seriousness though, I do hope that my efforts to reduce the amount of stuff, thus reducing my stress will provide a sense of contentment. I want to be happy with what I already have. Why do we always want more?
"Hi, my name is Ann, and I'm an impulse shopaholic!"
"Hi, Ann!"
I'm the person who goes into Target for milk and leaves with the shopping cart overflowing with things I do not need. I go to Costco without a list! Anyone who shops at Costco knows that this can end poorly! While the immediate high is nice, who doesn't like grabbing things off the shelves on a whim, the additional stress of having all that extra stuff in my house isn't worth it anymore. So, I'm sticking to my list while at Target and I'm going to be writing a list before any outings to Costco. Not only will this be nice for the bank account, it will limit some of the junk that seems to come through my door each week.
So far so good. Did Target this morning, and would you believe, I left with only two items! I used to wonder why stores even had baskets. Now I know, they're for the list stickers just like myself! In all seriousness though, I do hope that my efforts to reduce the amount of stuff, thus reducing my stress will provide a sense of contentment. I want to be happy with what I already have. Why do we always want more?
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
A New Year-Sleep...I hope!
I'm hoping that 2012 is filled with many sleep filled nights for me! I'm embarrassed to admit that it's been over two months now that the girls have been waking up in the middle of the night. Naps have only been okay too, about an hour every day. I feel like a failure as a mom. How is it that I'm not able to figure this out? I've tried everything, cry it out, gates at their door and, yes, physical violence! Okay, nothing too serious...just a spank here and there, but even that's not working.
I had the pleasure of talking to a friend on Sunday who had similar problems with her son and had a ton of insight for me. The solution: splitting them up, using night lights as a cue for when it is/isn't okay to get out of bed, and continually walking them back to bed without saying anything other than, "it's not okay to get out of bed while the night light is still on." I have resisted separating them, well, their entire lives. I have a beautiful fantasy (hmmmm...noticing a lot of fantasizing going on lately) that my girls are in elementary school and have a very civilized discussion about wanting some privacy and space and we split them up then. Not at two because they are being total sh#$*ts and waking up four plus times per night. Oh well, time to let go of that. Is it weird that my fantasies revolve around Pottery Barn and my kids???
It's day three of the "new plan" at nap time. Batting about 500 here: day 1, success, day 2, fail, day three, one is awake and one is asleep. I haven't factored in any points for the fact that I am not sitting in their room in order for them to fall asleep and that they are both in their beds. I guess I could up that batting average a bit. Night time has been better too. We still have A LOT of room for improvement, but Ava, my sleep problem child, actually only woke up once last night, and only because she heard Sophie up. Sophie is a hot mess, sick as a dog, running a fever now for a week straight so I'm not surprised that she has been waking at night, last night at 2:45, 3:15, 5:00 and 6:00. I'm going to continue what I've been doing, as it does seem to be improving things, and once Sophie is back to her old self I'll be a little bit tougher on her. In theory, once the girls prove their ability to sleep through the night and get in a decent nap/quiet time I will be able to bring Ava back into the room with Sophie. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
I guess it goes without saying, I'm tired. Probably the primary reason I'm feeling so overwhelmed right now. I'm just trying to remember that this, too, shall pass.
I had the pleasure of talking to a friend on Sunday who had similar problems with her son and had a ton of insight for me. The solution: splitting them up, using night lights as a cue for when it is/isn't okay to get out of bed, and continually walking them back to bed without saying anything other than, "it's not okay to get out of bed while the night light is still on." I have resisted separating them, well, their entire lives. I have a beautiful fantasy (hmmmm...noticing a lot of fantasizing going on lately) that my girls are in elementary school and have a very civilized discussion about wanting some privacy and space and we split them up then. Not at two because they are being total sh#$*ts and waking up four plus times per night. Oh well, time to let go of that. Is it weird that my fantasies revolve around Pottery Barn and my kids???
It's day three of the "new plan" at nap time. Batting about 500 here: day 1, success, day 2, fail, day three, one is awake and one is asleep. I haven't factored in any points for the fact that I am not sitting in their room in order for them to fall asleep and that they are both in their beds. I guess I could up that batting average a bit. Night time has been better too. We still have A LOT of room for improvement, but Ava, my sleep problem child, actually only woke up once last night, and only because she heard Sophie up. Sophie is a hot mess, sick as a dog, running a fever now for a week straight so I'm not surprised that she has been waking at night, last night at 2:45, 3:15, 5:00 and 6:00. I'm going to continue what I've been doing, as it does seem to be improving things, and once Sophie is back to her old self I'll be a little bit tougher on her. In theory, once the girls prove their ability to sleep through the night and get in a decent nap/quiet time I will be able to bring Ava back into the room with Sophie. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
I guess it goes without saying, I'm tired. Probably the primary reason I'm feeling so overwhelmed right now. I'm just trying to remember that this, too, shall pass.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
A New Year-School
I've been inspired by Kelly and Lindsay to throw it all out there! At the risk of sounding like a total and complete whiner I think I'll break this post into several as not to kill the reader...assuming someone is reading this...hmmmmmm??? Anyway, it's been a long time, I know, I know. A lot is going on but probably of most significance is school. I started grad. school for social work in the fall. This has been a bitter-sweet experience. I am so happy to be doing something outside of the home and I learned so much last semester. Also have to throw in that I killed it! I got all A's. However, I feel like my success at school was at the expense of EVERYTHING else in my life. I had no time for friends, no time for myself, spent most nights and weekends writing papers and away from my husband and kids. The laundry went undone, the house was trashed and I don't know that it was worth it. It is daunting to think that this will go on for four years because of my part-time schedule. And yet, I know it's not possible to go full-time with the girls being as young as they are. Maybe I should rephrase that, I don't want to make the necessary sacrifices to go full-time with the girls being as young as they are.
I started second semester this week and the heels they were a draggin'! I'm dreading Research Methods (CRINGE!!!) and part 2 of Human Behavior in Social Environment isn't the least bit exciting either. Part 1 consumed the better part of my life last semester and I'm not looking forward to kissing it goodbye again this semester. I've been anxiety ridden the last couple of weeks trying to figure out what is best for me and what is best for my family. I'm pushing on, and do think that school is a good move for me. Even though bailing on school, getting a part-time job at Pottery Barn and carving out some personal time sounds heavenly. Side note: In spite of Pottery Barn's terrible customer service AND poor quality of products AND generally bad personal experiences with the company, I'm 100% addicted and can imagine nothing better than getting a significant discount (in my fantasy it's at least 50%) on all the glorious Pottery Barn garb that I can get my hands on! Okay, back to reality: it's Saturday night and I'm sitting at Starbucks taking a break from reading for school. Ughhh!
I'll get into this more in future posts, but my biggest fear about school is that I'm not certain I am capable of juggling it all. As I sit here, with over 100 pages to read for next week, Sophie is home with a fever of 101, Ava is running around like a bat outta hell because she hasn't had exercise in three days due to said fever. Will is packing because he'll be out of town next week and if history is the greatest predictor of the future, the girls will be up at least three times tonight, starting about midnight. How am I going to do this? At times I feel like I'm in it by myself and the weight of the world lies on my shoulders alone. I'm almost always overwhelmed. I am worried about everything all the time and not sure what is the right path for me. While I'm definitely not at peace with this decision, I'm pushing on. Here's to chaos, anxiety and stress...I guess.
I started second semester this week and the heels they were a draggin'! I'm dreading Research Methods (CRINGE!!!) and part 2 of Human Behavior in Social Environment isn't the least bit exciting either. Part 1 consumed the better part of my life last semester and I'm not looking forward to kissing it goodbye again this semester. I've been anxiety ridden the last couple of weeks trying to figure out what is best for me and what is best for my family. I'm pushing on, and do think that school is a good move for me. Even though bailing on school, getting a part-time job at Pottery Barn and carving out some personal time sounds heavenly. Side note: In spite of Pottery Barn's terrible customer service AND poor quality of products AND generally bad personal experiences with the company, I'm 100% addicted and can imagine nothing better than getting a significant discount (in my fantasy it's at least 50%) on all the glorious Pottery Barn garb that I can get my hands on! Okay, back to reality: it's Saturday night and I'm sitting at Starbucks taking a break from reading for school. Ughhh!
I'll get into this more in future posts, but my biggest fear about school is that I'm not certain I am capable of juggling it all. As I sit here, with over 100 pages to read for next week, Sophie is home with a fever of 101, Ava is running around like a bat outta hell because she hasn't had exercise in three days due to said fever. Will is packing because he'll be out of town next week and if history is the greatest predictor of the future, the girls will be up at least three times tonight, starting about midnight. How am I going to do this? At times I feel like I'm in it by myself and the weight of the world lies on my shoulders alone. I'm almost always overwhelmed. I am worried about everything all the time and not sure what is the right path for me. While I'm definitely not at peace with this decision, I'm pushing on. Here's to chaos, anxiety and stress...I guess.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Potty Trained!
I can officially say that the girls are potty trained! Well, for the most part anyway! No accidents in two days. They still wear pull ups for nap and bed but otherwise are potty going experts. So proud of them! Now the tricky part, leaving the house and getting back into our everyday activities.
We went to Target this morning...no accidents. We went to the park as well...no accidents. I think today and tomorrow I'm going to focus on quick outings so the girls can get used to being potty trained while outside of their comfort zone. Hope it goes well!
Such a relief! And the best part of it all is that I will never have to buy another box of diapers, that is until #3 comes along, but I'll cross that bridge when we get there.
We went to Target this morning...no accidents. We went to the park as well...no accidents. I think today and tomorrow I'm going to focus on quick outings so the girls can get used to being potty trained while outside of their comfort zone. Hope it goes well!
Such a relief! And the best part of it all is that I will never have to buy another box of diapers, that is until #3 comes along, but I'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Potty Training: Day 2
Today has gone MUCH better! We had the breakthrough with Sophie that I was hoping for. Ava is still on point too. Two questions have come up since yesterday though. The first is about nap time. What am I supposed to do, pull ups, big girl underwear? Yesterday I did pull ups and it worked well. Both kids left them on and slept. Woohoo! Today went a little differently. I just poked my head in and Ava was awake and naked from the waist down. I decided that I wasn't going to fight her about keeping the pull ups on so she is going commando! This leaves me more than a little nervous as I know I will likely have a wet surprise waiting for me when she wakes up. What to do, what to do?
The second question I have is about bed time. At what point do I need to cut off liquids to ensure a dry diaper in the morning? I realize I've done this a little backwards in that many people don't even begin potty training until their child wakes up with a dry diaper. Due to the diaper removal issues we've been having I had to pull the trigger, so I guess I'll just figure it out as I go. Please, please send me your thoughts!
Overall, day two has proven to be much easier than yesterday...Thank God! I was ready to give up yesterday. More to come...
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