My Debt plan just blew up!

So God is doing some major work in my life.  This is both very exciting and very scary.  To make it worse I do not know how on board my husband is with the whole thing and that scares me.  

I made a debt thermometer and posted a number that was a reach, but pretty likely obtainable ($25,000).  In the back of my head I had a larger number ($30,000) I had not spoke this number to my husband as he wouldn't be able to feel it or see it. Yet God was speaking to me of an even larger number ($48,000).  My mom and I were talking and she felt got was telling her I am supposed to pay off $100,000 in debt.  I do not see this without God.  In no way can I fathom that number.

Well I am a very analytical person.  I analyze everything over and over again especially when I cannot see the probability of it.  I know we serve a mighty God, but I will be honest that number scares me.  We do NOT have a 6 figure income how are we going to pay off 6 figures?  Well I may not see it, but God does so I will put my trust in him.

This last week I have been feeling we are supposed to sell our van.  I am not sure if this is me (trying to figure out what God is doing) or if this is from God.  I asked a friend how do I know if something is me being analytical or if it is from God?  His reply was that I was asking an analytical person who has back up plans for his back up plans so he had no idea, but how was I planning to pay of $100,000 in debt?  I froze.  I had not shared that number with anyone at all.....that number was between mom, God, and myself.  I looked at him and asked where he got that number?  To which he replied that is what came to mind....I take that as confirmation, but that is still a VERY scary thought.  $100,000 I honestly do not see it....I can't even imagine how.  I am trying hard here to believe it.

I really truly do know and believe God can do it.  He is the almighty who can do anything.  I am excited to watch this year unfold.  I am excited to see my husband grow in his faith.  This year is going to be exciting.

How I am going to pay off $25000 in 2016

Debt Payoff

So as we close out 2016 I have decided I want to be more aggressive with our debt.  After all we are not getting any younger.  I would like to think very optimistically and say I want to be debt free by the time I am 40, but I do not know how realistic that is.  Right now we are sitting with a debt payoff date of 9/2020.  So to be debt free minus the house isn't bad for the next 4.5 yrs right?  WRONG!  I do not want to still be paying debt off when my 14 yr olds are out of school.  I want to do it before they are out of school.

Right now we are approx $118,000 in debt minus our house and we still have kids to buy cars for. That in and of itself is a scary daunting thought.  And realistically in 4.5 yrs I will no longer NEED mini van as I will only have 3 children left at home and 2 of them will be teens the oldest of them nearing graduation.  I want to be FREE well before then.

So how do I plan to do that?  First I plan to add everything I make doing daycare to debt on a monthly basis.  Some months that will be more some months that will be less, but non the less that is my first order of business.  So on top of regular monthly payments that is approximately an additional $400 going to debt (yeah not as much as I would like).  I also plan to snowball our funds.  When we pay off a debt add that payment to the next and so on and so forth until we have no more debt.  My husband thinks my goal of $25,000 is high.  I think it is low and that I need to figure out how to be more aggressive.  I would LOVE to see that number jump easily to $30,000.  

Now for my actual plan....I do not want to spend money we do not need to spend.  We are a family of 9 and easily could spend everything extra on going out to eat and other things.  First no going out to eat, 2nd no gas station food if not traveling, 3rd I need to stay off of eBay as a buyer and only use it for selling.  I also need to figure out how to follow our budget better :)  Sounds easy enough right?  For us maybe not so much.  I have started by eliminating my cell phone, even if only for 6 months that along with the iPad being paid off is an extra $80 a month to put on debt.  So add that $480 to the $4800 I am planning and I have an extra $5280 a year.  Without the assistance of extra money we are already on track to pay off $20,000 in debt (see why I think $25,000 is a weak goal).

I also believe we need to go back to using cash for EVERYTHING we do not need to pay out of our account cause saving change is a fast way to build up extra money.  

I am also going to update regularly to hold myself accountable and state what we did or did not do to help our gains and our fails.  So here is wishing us luck to a HUGH decline in debt for 2016!

Homeschooling

So we have decided to send Brandon to school at Grandview.  I am not 100% sure what I think if this.  I am feeling a little uneasy in my stomach at the thought.  I am starting to question if I am doing the right thing or if I once again and doing my thing.  I am afraid I may have fallen upon deaf ears and ignored God's call for us right now for a matter of connivance.  I am worried I may be doing the wrong thing and not trusting in God.

Dear Lord,
     Please let me know if I am doing your will or mine.  Please help me to know and to do the right thing.  I know he wants to go to school with classmates, but if that is NOT what you want please help me know so I am able to do YOUR will.  Please once again I am asking you to be OBVIOUS in your direction on my life and my sons education.  Help show Mike what we are to do as well.....I really do want to follow your lead!  Was Brandon getting accepted into Grandview a test and did we fail?

     Please just show me one final time in Jesus Name....Amen!


Well getting Brandon into Grandview did not work out.  He homeschooled for 4 months then my grandma fell ill and I had to put him in school due to caring for her.  He has done amazing!

Back Burner

Operation Organization took a little bit of a break.  We went on vacation and then had only a couple days before school started.  I wanted to enjoy those days with my children instead of working on my organizing.

Tomorrow I am gonna get back to organizing my house and my life!  I am still excited to get this process going.  One thing that will make life easier for us as a family is FREEZER MEALS!  Yes that is correct Freezer Meals.  Not only will they save me time in the long run, but they will help a lot when it comes to having to cook and find time for homework or sports.    I spent part of the day today preparing meals.   I have 6 meals frozen and the 7th went into the crock pot for dinner tonight.  Yes we had our first unfroze freezer meal today and it was fantastic....Even my Monet ate it.  Mo does not eat anything so this says a lot.

I bought each child a hamper and I plan to wash each child's clothing separately and see if that makes laundry easier.  I really cannot imagine it won't help in some form.  I bought baskets as well to put their clothing into so they can bring it to their room put it away and return my basket.  So far only my sons room is complete, but I am headed onto Ren's room and that shouldn't take much longer.

My kitchen is a crazy mess.  Well partially because I have spent the day in their making meals to get us through most of the month.  I am hoping by Wednesday I can get to the kitchen and get it organized.  That will be a process in and of itself as I need to go through ALL of the cupboards and get them organized.  I need to scrub down the cupboards, fridge and stove.  Then I need to go through our bakers rack and organize that again as well.  My kitchen is a horrible mess of ugliness so even when it is clean it feels grimy to me.

Life in a nutshell is crazy....and I love it!

Following his lead

Am I insane?  Have I gone completely off the deep end?  I feel I am being led to home school Brandon, but everything about it scares me.  Do not get me wrong it intrigues me as well, but seriously...It scares the daylights out of me.  What if I fail?  What if God is not calling me to be my son's teacher...what if this is all me and I am turning a deaf ear to what I am being told?  I am truly scared of making a mistake.  Children are so impressionable what if....Then I think if this is from God he will not let me fail my son.  He will give me the tools and guidance to do right by him.  He will show me how to be a good teacher as well as mother to him.  I CAN do this.  One of my biggest reasons I believe with everything in me that this is God's calling on my life is I have NEVER been for homeschooling. I have been looking forward to having my next 2 yrs alone with Ren.  And there are a multitude of other signs...my husband in agreement with me (which is a biggie).

Though now that I have decided to take on this task part of me is sad.  I have wanted this time with Ren since she was born.  I finally have it and feel like I am giving it up.  Yes I will still be home with her, but it will not be just her.  I am feeling a bit resentful that God has changed my plans.  I believe God has a reason for all he does in our lives.  He will make things work.

As crazy as things are I am putting my trust in God.  I will continue to pray about God's direction for my life.  I will pray for wisdom, knowledge and a patient heart.  I will pray for God to show me his way and to give me strength.  I will pray I am following his will and not my own desires.  For he is my strength.

Right now I have a darling 3 yr old birthday girl wanting my attention and guess what....I am gonna give it to her gladly <3 font="font">

Day 1 Operation Organization Success

Yes I know I am rather odd.....I am writing in Green because I organized my first room today and it just so happens to be GREEN :)  I cleaned my sons room though I have not yet emptied his car table it has all the books on it that need to find a home.  He has shelves in his closet that we turned into a drawer-less dresser and under the bottom shelf we put a cute little wagon for a dirty clothes hamper.  We also have coordinating cloth baskets for socks, underwear, and pj's.

 

I think it looks pretty neato if I do say so myself and he LOVES it!  Granted his bed does have a dresser in it as it is a junior loft, but we put summer clothes in that to help him keep organized (or so I hope).  I will have to add a picture of the rest of his room at a later date as he is sleeping and I do not have one on my phone.

When you look at the whole of the day I feel pretty accomplished as I got my son's room in order and I cleaned out the basement fridge.  I also reorganized it which there is not much in it so that was pretty easy.  I am also going to organize their snacks in that fridge.  

I am really excited to continue with this project to get my life under control.  Right now not even fly lady can give me a solution that will work for me.  I am just glad I am able to start getting things in order.  The sad part is that I go on vacation Saturday for 5 days.  Normally this would be fantastic, but....it will only spur the procrastinator in me....after all procrastination and I are on regular speaking terms.  I have several things that need to make it to this fridge that are not there yet, but soon very soon this will be the "extras" fridge and the "snack" fridge.  

The final thing we were able to accomplish today was going through all of Monet's clothing.  We have everything that is to small for her out of her closet and her dresser and ready to either freecycle or sell.  Two children down (we did Brandon's as we organized his room) and and 4 more to go.  The reason I picked Monet to do today was her dresser is in Brandon's room for right now.

I have all sorts of fun tricks I cannot wait to get going, but one day at a time, one post at a time, and one idea....and it will all come together soon enough....or at least this is my hope!

Tomorrow is my kitchen and the fridge in that room.  I am gonna save the cupboards until after vacation because that is entirely too much to tackle in one day.  I want to get this done the right way....I need to do it the right way.  Overwhelming myself is NOT that way.  It felt good to get my kids involved to.  Normally they give me so much grief about helping that I get sick of listening to it and today they were rather helpful :)

Well now that I am done with another boring update I think it is time to fold the towels and go to bed!  I could possibly be in bed by 11PM.  That is pretty exciting at least to me it is!

OPERATION ORGANIZATION

It has been forever since I have taken time to blog....I guess you could say that life has been a little on the "WILD" side or in most cases hectic.

Having 6 kids needs a plan.  I am NOT good at planning.  I am more of a wing it type of girl.  I am also finding out this is NOT working for me.  I need to do something different.  As our kids get older life gets a little more crazy and seems to spin a little more out of control.

There are several things I would like to do to make this journey a little less chaotic and a little more fun.  So every few days I am hoping to update with how my journey is going.....

I have decided that I am on a mission.  A mission to get things organized and under control.  I call this "OPERATION ORGANIZATION"!  This has been a LONG time coming and I am still not exactly sure how this is going to happen.  Right now I am gonna take it 1 day, 1 room at a time and see what happens.  

Right now my entryway in shambles at the moment and everything is in my living room.  That does make this project a little more difficult as I would like to start at the front of my house and work my way to the back, but...since that is NOT an option I am starting in my sons room.  The goal is to completely empty out his room and go from there.  So far all of his toys have made it into a box.  I am clearing it out and making room (funny huh) for OPERATION ORGANIZATION.  

Yeah me and organized never seemed to have gotten along in the past. Wish me luck!  I wasn't smart enough to take before pics of my sons room, but with any luck I will take after and post them...Hoping this all works out.