In the middle of all this chaos, that I like to call my current life situation, house hunting, being a taxi for the family, balancing our new budget, trying to get out of any debts that will hinder financial success after we move, still trying to pack the last bits and pieces of our things, some how in all this (and there is more my brain is just too mushy to think of it all at the moment) I am finding peace.
Its amazing what God in teaching me through this process. This morning I have discover how much joy and peace it brings for me to be able to live within our means. We have sold off so many "extra" things we had and the cleaner the house gets (or the emptier however you want to look at it) the happier I become. Its like when you are a young teen and you get so excited to start driving! Yeah the idea is amazing, to be in "control" of your transportation, to feel so responsible. But then reality hits, now as a legal driver of the family you get the responsibility of helping transport all the other siblings or family members that are unable to drive. Or how about when you got that first piece of mail? Oh I am so grown up I get mail! Then you realize oh wait!! Its a bill!! lol. Well I've learned home ownership is quite the same way along with all the things you choose to fill the house with! If you own it that means its YOUR responsibility! Heater breaks YOU get to pay to have it fixed. Busted pipe YOU again! How about all the little crap, clothes, toys, electronics... it all comes with responsibility. Im not saying I want no responsibility but I have learned I want very little I have enough when it comes to my husband and kids. To add more to that only creates chaos in my mind. I am a simple person really, I want to go for bike rides and hikes, maybe lay out on the beach for the weekend, spend sunday at the church loving on and growing with my church family, take the dogs for walks, go to the local parks and play with my kids. But when I have a house full of crap that is now all over the floor my mind says no you cant go do all that, you need to clean the house! Which of course with 3 young kids running around never happens right! So whats my answer to this problem I have? Simplify. Do I really need all the things I have to be happy? Will it make me a better mom? How about a better wife or even a better christian? No. It in fact makes me worse at all the above. Why? Well now that I have all these other responsibilities on my plate I cant even get to the responsibilities that matter. This past year I was so overwhelmed by our mess of a house the list of things needing fixed the bills that only continued to pile up the lack of time I had with JT and the girls that I went into what Id like to call financial denial! I STOPPED paying the bills, I refused to look at the bank account balance EVER and I would just say yes to everything. If JT wanted something he would ask are we good can I get this? Id just say yes! If the girls needed something or I wanted to go out and buy them something I just did. I would pay the bills whenever the bill collector's would call. Which of course only made it worse! We were basically paying double because of late fees and I didn't care! I guess you could say on top of the denial I was also in a financial depression. Lucky for me I had a very dear friend come over help me get back on track and frankly snap me the ?$%# out of it. She said "Liz its your JOB! Like it or not we don't always like our job's but you have a responsibility to your family" She even challenged me to cancel my weekend birthday vacation we had planned(back in August) because looking at our budget the truth was we couldn't afford it! Which I did not do I took it as a fresh start. We weren't so bad off that we could not go we just had to be "good" about the money while we were gone. Which we did :) That was the start of this journey.
We are now nearly debt free and each day we get rid of more things we do not need. I am learning to say NO a lot more to the things that do not matter and YES to the things that DO!! I feel more free every day and as we look to the future, the idea that we may have to stay with JTs parents for a little while, for once I look ahead with joy and peace. It wont be easy to stay in someone else's home but it will be nice to use the time wisely and get back on track with what really matters. I can proudly say we are now a month ahead on all bills, along with having a little bit of savings and take in to account what we can COMFORTABLY afford when going out to make ANY purchase. It's not easy saying no to things and trying to stay on top of it all the time but all the hard work is well worth it in the end when we get to be at peace knowing that all the bills are paid and we are financially free.
Lesson learned, I want what I NEED not what I WANT!! Its just better that way :) Thanks for reading!
LT
Friday, January 13, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
YOU LOSE!!
I cant believe its been two month since my last post! I LOVE my blogs. They are a great way for me to keep track of things, get things off my chest or simply share what is going on with our family at the moment. I was doing really well blogging every couple days. But some major changes have accord in our house and life, that in a nut shell put our "life" on hold!
For starters we have decided to short sell our home. This was a very hard decisions to make we bought our home almost exactly 5 years ago and have put a lot of hard work special touches and love into it to make it our home. I have made very good friends here in our neighborhood and Alisa has too. I am thankful though, to know that these friendships are built on Jesus Christ and our mutual love for Him so I have faith that although we will be leaving the area they will continue to grow stronger through the years. In fact I cant help but feel, looking back on our past five years here that maybe THEY were the reason God had me here. I mean why else would he move me to a place just to move me back out a short time later? I have also learned a long list of lessons since being here, too many to share all in one blog maybe if I can get back to this on a daily bases I can share it throughout the next year :)
The decision to short sell came with its consequences, I was forced to find a home for my horses and sell all the ranch equipment I owned. That was really hard on me. I loved my animals. I can happily say that we are keeping the dogs. Tarzan can be considered a horse though hahahaha.
The cool and scary part about this whole thing is I know God has been with me all the way!I have been through an emotional roller coaster almost everyday. Between hunting for a new home falling in love with and losing homes we had hopes for having to sell a lot of what I owned.
I also was in a very bad car accident and my car was totaled shortly after that we sold our "fun" car which meant we were a one car family. This has put its toll on us. Having to be a taxi for the entire family has left me exhausted! It didn't help that christmas was over before it began because my husband worked both christmas eve and christmas so I took the girls and stayed with my Mother in Law. We made the best of a bad situation :) the girls had an awesome time and that made my heart happy!
So here we are after the holiday rush selling our House a week after listing it losing a car selling a car finding homes for horses finding homes for us having kids on christmas break! Im beat and hoping to get back to a some what normal routine soon! Quite honestly the biggest lesson I have learned in this last two months is that frankly I do not care where I live or care about what animals I have or the car I drive all I want is for my family, being Jt me and the girls, to be happy, healthy and loving God in all we do! I want to spend more time with my kids and less time trying to build the "perfect" life for them! I want to spend more quiet time with my husband then worrying whether or not our house is clean and well presented. I want to walk the dogs instead of having so many animals that I have no time for any of them!! Im ready to start a new, and what a perfect time to do so right at the start of a new year!! PS I did not plan that one... so Im giving God the credit ;) he knows about my OCD.
I cannot wait to see what God has in store for my family and Ithis coming year and years to come! I anxiously await it with open arms!! Ill do my best to keep you all up to date but can promise you this if I have to choose between my blog and cuddle time with my husband YOU LOSE!! But I still love you all ;) As always thanks for reading!!
LT
For starters we have decided to short sell our home. This was a very hard decisions to make we bought our home almost exactly 5 years ago and have put a lot of hard work special touches and love into it to make it our home. I have made very good friends here in our neighborhood and Alisa has too. I am thankful though, to know that these friendships are built on Jesus Christ and our mutual love for Him so I have faith that although we will be leaving the area they will continue to grow stronger through the years. In fact I cant help but feel, looking back on our past five years here that maybe THEY were the reason God had me here. I mean why else would he move me to a place just to move me back out a short time later? I have also learned a long list of lessons since being here, too many to share all in one blog maybe if I can get back to this on a daily bases I can share it throughout the next year :)
The decision to short sell came with its consequences, I was forced to find a home for my horses and sell all the ranch equipment I owned. That was really hard on me. I loved my animals. I can happily say that we are keeping the dogs. Tarzan can be considered a horse though hahahaha.
The cool and scary part about this whole thing is I know God has been with me all the way!I have been through an emotional roller coaster almost everyday. Between hunting for a new home falling in love with and losing homes we had hopes for having to sell a lot of what I owned.
I also was in a very bad car accident and my car was totaled shortly after that we sold our "fun" car which meant we were a one car family. This has put its toll on us. Having to be a taxi for the entire family has left me exhausted! It didn't help that christmas was over before it began because my husband worked both christmas eve and christmas so I took the girls and stayed with my Mother in Law. We made the best of a bad situation :) the girls had an awesome time and that made my heart happy!
So here we are after the holiday rush selling our House a week after listing it losing a car selling a car finding homes for horses finding homes for us having kids on christmas break! Im beat and hoping to get back to a some what normal routine soon! Quite honestly the biggest lesson I have learned in this last two months is that frankly I do not care where I live or care about what animals I have or the car I drive all I want is for my family, being Jt me and the girls, to be happy, healthy and loving God in all we do! I want to spend more time with my kids and less time trying to build the "perfect" life for them! I want to spend more quiet time with my husband then worrying whether or not our house is clean and well presented. I want to walk the dogs instead of having so many animals that I have no time for any of them!! Im ready to start a new, and what a perfect time to do so right at the start of a new year!! PS I did not plan that one... so Im giving God the credit ;) he knows about my OCD.
I cannot wait to see what God has in store for my family and Ithis coming year and years to come! I anxiously await it with open arms!! Ill do my best to keep you all up to date but can promise you this if I have to choose between my blog and cuddle time with my husband YOU LOSE!! But I still love you all ;) As always thanks for reading!!
LT
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