Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry CHRISTmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas! Remember, JESUS is the reason for the season.

Luke 7: 28-35

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Lots of cooking/baking on my to-do list today.....

I haven't done this much cooking/ baking in a long while. Since Christmas is tomorrow, there is not too much to do..thank GOD. Here's what I'll be doing:
Pound Cake
Lasagna
Brownies
Fruit Salad
2 batches of cookies
Salad
In addition, tonight I am bringing a cheese, pepperoni, and cracker tray; which I will br putting together myself. It saves me a ton of money this way.

Did you to any Christmas cooking/baking yet? If so, what is on your to-do list?

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

I Know, I Know.....& Finacne Updates

I told myself I would post here more frequently, but haven't; so sorry everyone. I do love this blog and coming up with different posts, but have been preoccupied with other things. I will schedule posts so that if I happen to be super busy on a given day, this blog will still remain current and up to date.

Now with that out of the way, how is everyone? How is your financial progress coming along? For me and my family, we are coming along at a slow but stead pace. I usually try to save $600-$700 AFTER bills, mortgage, tithes, loans, credit card pymts, husband's play money, our fun money, misc, house, food, medical, gas, taxes and other expenses. I figure that savings number is pretty good, considering I am a stay at home mom, therefore our household have just 1 income. I try to save/conserve as much as possible without limiting some fun or life experiences.

As for the upcoming new year and goals; my husband and I have talked about this and have came up with 6 simple goals that will be useful for us to complete for the upcoming year.
Here they are:
1. Read the bible in it's entirety- This is something I've always wanted to do.
2. Save $5,000-can be accomplished by saving at least $416.00 a month-not including tax refunds, bonus, etc.
3. Save $2,000 for down paymt on car- both our cars are older BUT paid off. We still want to be prepare just in case we HAVE to get another car.
4. GO TO DISNEY WORLD-we are looking at October 2010!!!!!!!!!!!
5. Spend more time praying, reading, talking, and playing with my family; without outside distractions.
6. Be a better wife and mom-I can always improve in this area.

There ya go, our goals for 2010. Sounds pretty simple, huh?! Let's hope so...LOL.

Now, during the beginning of each year, we usually have some big bills; they are 2 car inspections (on older cars), registrations, home warranty renewals, and Car insurance renewal; plus my husband is turning the big 3-0, so I have to do something very special for him. Boy that sounds expensive just typing it....smh. However, we do have a little tax refund we get..usually no more than $500-$1,300 depending....and my husband does get a nice bonus in the beginning of March, so that is good.

As for reflecting on this past year, there are so many things that I am thankful for. We have been blessed more than we deserve and owe it all to GOD! He is truly AMAZING! We became homeowners, my husband received 2 raises and a promotion, we have our health, shelter, food, and transportation.

What about you? What are you thankful for this past year?

P.S. We are finally done with Christmas shopping and are very proud of the fact that we stayed within our...ok we went of over budget by $5.00 or so, which isn't bad; and that includes gifts for my hubby and I, our daughter, pollyannas, gifts for others, etc. We are VERY proud of ourselves as it is VERY easy to over spend this time of year!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Really, Has it been a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, it's been like forever since I posted on here. Truth is, I became addicted to facebook..lol. (BTW-if you're on facebook, leave your screen name in the comments and i'll send a friend request to you). Nothing has changed here too much; but our mortgage payment will increase by $28 AND since our mortgage company UNDER estimated our escrow accounts, we had to send in an additional $504 in to them. Also, as of this post, we are done all our Christmas shopping except for me and my hubby. I can't believe Christmas is almost here...we'll I'm going to enjoy it! Time moves so fast and rarely do we sit back and smell the roses. My Thanksgiving was very nice. We went to visit my grandparents and had a blast. It was VERY nice to see everyone again.

Here are some pictures I'd like to share:
Here is a picture of our tree last year. This was at the home we rented.
Here is my hubby hard at work....
Here is some really good nacho I had at the Hard Rock Cafe & they were soo good!
Here is my precious baby girl; we'll my BIG girl....


I will be posting again regularly; especially after the holidays!

Don't forget to enjoy your family during this wonderful holiday season!