Hello friends. I have decided to make some changes in my life for 2014. Tim and I made the decision that he will take over paying the bills and handling the money for the most part, with me helping here and there. I am glad to hand the reigns over to him. I have been working on getting a list of the bills together with due dates and amounts due so it will be a bit easier on him.
I have been watching Jamie over on You Tube for a while now and she has some really great ideas about budgeting and saving. She also does financial vids, cooking, crafting, and more. She's very entertaining to watch.
Last year she did a vid on using the Dave Ramsey money envelope system. I had read his book, but it seemed like a bit of trouble to use this system. Jamie showed the way she does her household budget using the same system with some tweaks and it seemed much easier. I decided to try it for 2014 and see how it goes.
You can buy the wallet and envelopes from Dave's site, but I decided to make my own. I just took some ivory 8 1/2 x 11 card stock, but it 8 1/2 x 8 and used my Martha Steward Score Board, some sticky tape and a black Sharpie. It works just as well. I also sat down and separated our bills into three sections, as Jamie explained....Fixed Expenses, which are things that remain the same every month...Variable Expenses, the bills that fluxuate... and Other Expenses, which are things that you want to save for, money you want to set aside for things like Christmas, Vacation, etc. Once you have those written down, you can label your envelopes. The purpose of the envelopes is to go to the bank, take your money out every pay day and put the cash in the envelopes. Once that cash is gone, that's it. No more money til next payday. No using the debit card or credit cards. The goal is to have a $0 budget. That means all your money is allocated somewhere for the entire month with none left over.
So, that's my goal for getting out of debt this year. I am pretty excited to try it and have given myself the challenge of seeing how much money I can save this year. We need a new car, so we are saving for that. When I get everything typed out and ready to use, I will take some pics of the envelopes I made and the form I used to write out our bills. I won't show dollar amounts, but you will be able to see what I'm doing.
My second goal of the year is to use up my craft stash. I have set myself on a spending freeze with the exception of ATG Gun tape, glue and pop dots. I already told Tim that I do need some Valentine's paper and Easter paper because I don't have any. Those are the only things I am allowed to buy. I have a wish list a mile long, but it's going to have to wait. I want to use up what I have. Since I learned to make my own roses and really like them, I can do that. I also have made my own alcohol inks and glimmer sprays. Now, I may find something as I go through the year that I really need, but for the most part, no buying.
The third goal is to follow along with the Christmas Card Challenge so that I have enough Christmas cards come November so that I'm not scrambling at the last minute to get my cards done. Each week there will be a new sketch on the blog to follow and you have one week to get your card done.
And my final goal of the year is to read my Bible everyday and pray more than I did last year. I got the word DISCIPLINE as my word for this year along with the Scripture Proverbs 3:5-6, which is posted at the top of my blog.
So, these are my four goals for this year. I don't believe in making resolutions because they are too easy to break and when you break them, you feel bad. I'm not all about feeling bad about myself because of resolutions. Goals are a much better way of changing your life for the better.
Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you liked my goals for this year and feel free to join me in any of them if you so desire. Have a wonderful day and God bless y'all.
Showing posts with label discipline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label discipline. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2014
Monday, October 3, 2011
Dealing with an angry child
I love my daughter more than life its self, but there are days when I want to slam her through the wall. Today was one of those days.
We had a great school day. 6 math lessons and practiced spelling words. All done in 21/2 hours. Great day. Then 7 pm rolls around. I don't know if she is just overly tired or what, but I was waiting for her head to start spinning around.
Kierstynne went upstairs and got her daddy's guitar..which is ok..daddy told her she could play. She plays in the living room for about 20 minutes ( she's pretty good too not having any lessons) then she comes in the kitchen where I am eating dinner and reading a book...Multitasking my way..lol She wants to sit in here with me so that I can watch her play. No problem. I pull out the chair for her so she has enough room and won't bang the guitar off the table. She sits in the chairs, puts the guitar in her lap and proceeds to start huffing and puffing. You would have thought she was the big bad wolf or something. I ask her what her problem is and she looks at me with this look that made my palm itch to smack it off her face. She proceeds to yell at me that it isn't working. That she is angry. I, very calmly, say to her, "Ok. What isn't working?" You could see it in her eyes that she wanted to slam the guitar down and start yelling. I gave the look..you know what I mean..and she thinks better of slamming her daddy's guitar. She starts yelling and fussing so, being the good mom that I am, I, not so calmly this time, tell her she better watch herself because she is about to get in serious trouble. WWWEEELLLLLLL....she looks at me and says, "WHATEVER."
Oh no..she had done it. She turned me into my mother. I looked at her and ask her what she just said. She looked at me, all brave and whatnot, and said, "I said..whatever." Do you have any idea how hard it was for me not to backhand her out of the chair. I think I probably would have if she hadn't still been holding her daddy's guitar. I was losing it. I felt the anger well up.
"Hang on to your sanity", I thought. So, I told her to put the guitar up. She leaned it up against the bookshelf. No, I told her. Put it in the case, go brush your teeth, put your pjs on and go to bed. Well, that was just the icing on the cake. She flipped. She starts crying and stomping around. I sat in the chair thinking to myself, "Do I beat her now or wait until I calm down?" My anger was feeding off of hers. Not a good sign. I gripped the edge of the table, looked at her, and in a very low voice said,"You have a choice, either go do what I asked you to do or I am getting the paddle, pulling your pants down and going to beat your behind." Needless to say, Mommy won this round.
What has gotten into my child? A year ago she was the sweetest, most loving child ever. Now she has been invaded by aliens. Aliens that know exactly how to push my buttons. I don't like this new Kierstynne. I want my sweet little baby girl back. I know she is growing up and those hormones are beginning to kick in, but this is ridiculous. She even told me I was the meanest mommy ever. Yeah ok, she has never watched Mommy Dearest. I know I am not mean, but it hurts when your child looks at you with tears running down her face and tells you how mean you are.
After she got ready for bed, I called her to me. I calmly told her that I loved her very much and that I was sorry she became so angry. I explained to her that even Jesus got angry, but that the Bible says we aren't supposed to sin in our anger. I explained to her that it was her choice to fly off the handle like that not mine. Her actions got her sent to bed early. I prayed with her and hugged her and told her again how much I loved her. This time, she told me she loved me too.
So, as I sit here writing this blog, I feel drained. Knowing that this isn't the last time I will have to deal with alien Kierstynne's anger and attitude, I pray for strength. I pray God will show me the right things to say, the correct way to punish her when she disobeys, and that He will give me the patience to see her through. I love my child so much and only want her to grow up to be a well rounded, good person who loves the Lord with all her heart, soul, mind and strength. I hate it when she has those fits. Will she grow out of them? I surely hope so.
We had a great school day. 6 math lessons and practiced spelling words. All done in 21/2 hours. Great day. Then 7 pm rolls around. I don't know if she is just overly tired or what, but I was waiting for her head to start spinning around.
Kierstynne went upstairs and got her daddy's guitar..which is ok..daddy told her she could play. She plays in the living room for about 20 minutes ( she's pretty good too not having any lessons) then she comes in the kitchen where I am eating dinner and reading a book...Multitasking my way..lol She wants to sit in here with me so that I can watch her play. No problem. I pull out the chair for her so she has enough room and won't bang the guitar off the table. She sits in the chairs, puts the guitar in her lap and proceeds to start huffing and puffing. You would have thought she was the big bad wolf or something. I ask her what her problem is and she looks at me with this look that made my palm itch to smack it off her face. She proceeds to yell at me that it isn't working. That she is angry. I, very calmly, say to her, "Ok. What isn't working?" You could see it in her eyes that she wanted to slam the guitar down and start yelling. I gave the look..you know what I mean..and she thinks better of slamming her daddy's guitar. She starts yelling and fussing so, being the good mom that I am, I, not so calmly this time, tell her she better watch herself because she is about to get in serious trouble. WWWEEELLLLLLL....she looks at me and says, "WHATEVER."
Oh no..she had done it. She turned me into my mother. I looked at her and ask her what she just said. She looked at me, all brave and whatnot, and said, "I said..whatever." Do you have any idea how hard it was for me not to backhand her out of the chair. I think I probably would have if she hadn't still been holding her daddy's guitar. I was losing it. I felt the anger well up.
"Hang on to your sanity", I thought. So, I told her to put the guitar up. She leaned it up against the bookshelf. No, I told her. Put it in the case, go brush your teeth, put your pjs on and go to bed. Well, that was just the icing on the cake. She flipped. She starts crying and stomping around. I sat in the chair thinking to myself, "Do I beat her now or wait until I calm down?" My anger was feeding off of hers. Not a good sign. I gripped the edge of the table, looked at her, and in a very low voice said,"You have a choice, either go do what I asked you to do or I am getting the paddle, pulling your pants down and going to beat your behind." Needless to say, Mommy won this round.
What has gotten into my child? A year ago she was the sweetest, most loving child ever. Now she has been invaded by aliens. Aliens that know exactly how to push my buttons. I don't like this new Kierstynne. I want my sweet little baby girl back. I know she is growing up and those hormones are beginning to kick in, but this is ridiculous. She even told me I was the meanest mommy ever. Yeah ok, she has never watched Mommy Dearest. I know I am not mean, but it hurts when your child looks at you with tears running down her face and tells you how mean you are.
After she got ready for bed, I called her to me. I calmly told her that I loved her very much and that I was sorry she became so angry. I explained to her that even Jesus got angry, but that the Bible says we aren't supposed to sin in our anger. I explained to her that it was her choice to fly off the handle like that not mine. Her actions got her sent to bed early. I prayed with her and hugged her and told her again how much I loved her. This time, she told me she loved me too.
So, as I sit here writing this blog, I feel drained. Knowing that this isn't the last time I will have to deal with alien Kierstynne's anger and attitude, I pray for strength. I pray God will show me the right things to say, the correct way to punish her when she disobeys, and that He will give me the patience to see her through. I love my child so much and only want her to grow up to be a well rounded, good person who loves the Lord with all her heart, soul, mind and strength. I hate it when she has those fits. Will she grow out of them? I surely hope so.
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