Do I NEED any of these?  No way.  It’s nice to window shop though.  Maybe one day I should open my own antique store or something.  I doubt there is any real money to be made there though.

K.

That way of thinking is not only ridiculous but it is completely untrue.  I don’t believe it.  This is the kind of crap that society wants us to believe, that we will never have real control over our finances. By telling us we will never have control over our finances we start to believe we have no control over ourselves and if we have no self-control OF COURSE we will never get control of our finances.  It’s sick actually.

If you don’t know who Suze Orman is then you’d better do a quick Google search and get with the program.  Here’s her new mantra…”LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS and WITHIN YOUR NEEDS”.  She seems to be one of the few telling us that these days and boy do I get it.  I REALLY get it.

I don’t need a new fancy house, car, computer, wardrobe, furniture, gadget…whatever.  If I CAN’T AFFORD IT…I DON’T need it.

So before you start feeling all preached at I’ll get to the point.

I want my kids to understand financial responsibility so Big and I are getting with the program and becoming financially responsible.  We have a plan internets.  And that plan doesn’t include big vacations, new stuff or even leaving home much….unless we can afford it.  And to be honest, I can tell you right now we can’t afford ANYTHING for at least 5 years.  We aren’t going to live paycheck to paycheck anymore.  We are going to pay off our debt and we are going to start saving for the future.  We are going to start living BELOW our means.

First off, we are staying put in a house that is too small for us.  BECAUSE WE CAN AFFORD IT.  Second, we are paying off all our debt and I’ll be keeping you posted on how that is going.  Our first milestone should be in and around November 1st when we will pay off Big’s car.  It will be only the second car we’ve paid off outright.  We are going to pay his car off 2 years early.  It’s going to take some dedication and watching how we spend, but I am EXCITED to do it. It will give me motivation to start our third goal…to pay off all our credit cards.  And that will take a little time.  It all snowballs from there.  In just under 3.5 years, we will have NO DEBT with the exception of our mortgage.  And that is BIG.  And after all that debt is gone, we will have the finances to decide how fast we pay off our mortgage.  Our idea is to pay it off completely in half the term of  how long the mortgage has left.  And that is BIGGER than HUGE.

Sure, this is going to mean that we are going to cut back on stuff.  Big and I will get real with our spending on ourselves and each other.  The kids won’t be getting all the newest and greatest gadgets out there (it’s not like they do now anyways). And the kids will UNDERSTAND that it’s not because “we can’t afford it”, it will be because “we are being responsible with the money we have for our family”.  And perhaps in a few years we can all go on a fabulous holiday together and not have to go into debt to do it.  What a special vacation that would be, right?

This is probably the most boring blog post you’ve read in a long time but I am PUMPED…I am READY for this.  April 1st is when we start this adventure as a family.  In the long run, the pay out will be huge.  Not only our financial freedom but in how we feel about money and how we feel about ourselves.

And I can’t wait for that.

K.

We’ve owned our home since 2006 and I finally feel like I can make it my own.  As a result, I decided it was time to decide how to make this place work.  After all, back in 2006 we were buying a home for a family of four.  We are now a family of six. Let’s just say, we are *slightly* under-housed.  We live in a lovely neighborhood, in a 3 bedroom plus den, 2 bathroom split level home (which is hard to find here in Alaska), with a teensy tiny kitchen, no formal dining room but a large living room and family room space, and no basement.  For a basic 1980′s house it’s decent (despite the two previous owners who I’ve talked about before) and I didn’t want to have to start from scratch by buying a new home. Basically to move, we’d lose all our equity from the past 5 years and have to start all over, that is IF we could sell this one.  PLUS for what we paid, we were looking at at least a jump of $150,000 to upgrade to the size we need for the size of our family. Long story short, we are staying put.

Recently, I’ve realized that perhaps I need to be more grateful for what I have versus what I *could* have.  So I started there.  I’ve decrap-ified my home (aka: put the stuff I want to store/sell/throw away in the garage to deal with in the spring, much to Big’s dismay), thought long and hard on how to make this space work and got to it.

The first was to make a space for ME.  I didn’t have a spot where I could go and relax by myself.  The only space that I could really claim is my bedroom.  I poured over Craigslist for just the right dresser and nightstand.  Found it after 6 months.  I had a quilt made on Etsy.com (how I love you Etsy) and bought a new duvet and cover from Target.  I re-purposed some curtains I had in the closet, brought a little side table and bench upstairs, got a great deal on a chair on Target.com and got to work.  Here’s the result:

Sorry I have no before pictures…just trust me that it didn’t look like an adult’s room until I did the makeover.  The dresser and mirror are HUGE.  I didn’t have one as my children needed dressers when we moved in so we gave our old set to them.  Shopped for dressers lately? Crazy pricey!  This dresser is perfect for almost every piece of casual clothing I own leaving my closet freed up for other stuff, like my million pairs of shoes.  Nah, more like 30 something pairs…but the point is that I have SPACE in my closet where it was jam-packed before.

The ceiling fan was bought 2 summers ago and I LOVE that it gives super circulation in the summer months but doesn’t require four blades…I find ceiling fans ugly at best but this one is fab.  We spent two very DARK winters though, as the light fixture takes only candelabra bulbs and it wasn’t until this year they came out with candelabra based regular wattage bulbs…so we can see again.  So word for the wise, you don’t need those ugly drop lights on ceiling fans to get bright light.  Candlelabra bulbs can now do the trick and are hidden from view.  The bench at the bottom of the bed give me a little more storage and a place to display a few little trinkets (because I hate cluttering up the dresser top with stuff).  The side table matches the dresser and has 3 ample sided drawers for all of Big’s miscellaneous crap (and he seems to have a lot).  The bed we bought we we moved up here as the movers destroyed our old one.  This one is a sturdy black heavy wrought iron. The rug helps with echo and noise reduction in a room with all wood floors.  I do love me some wood floors in the bedroom though…even in Alaska.

A few years back, we took off the ugly bi-fold wood closet doors and swapped them out with glass sliding doors from 2 other rooms in the house.  What a difference it made for light and the appearance of space…because for a master bedroom, this is one tiny room.  It is only 16′x16′-ish.  See the first of two awkward corners?  OY…it was a challenge.  A Target chair and 18″ round pedestal table fit just right.  it looks cramped but it is actually perfect.   You get a close up of the patchwork quilt I had made on Etsy too.  I wanted a basic Pottery barn style patchwork and it turned out better than I could have imagined.

Whomever designed this house created a useless corner conundrum and put the door to the en-suite bathroom in exactly the wrong spot.  A small bookshelf hides the cords to the wall mounted tv.  Instead of books, I put baskets.  I hate cluttery books, hence why I think the Kindle was the best invention in the 2000′s so far.  Every room should have candlesticks too.  LOVE candlesticks.  I don’t actually burn the candles ever since Scentsy was invented, the second best invention so far in this decade.  Some people say a tv has no place in the bedroom…a bedroom is for two things and two thing only.  One being sleeping.  You can figure out the other one.  I don’t know though, I enjoy watching a movie in bed…much more comfy than sitting on any couch don’t you think?

At any rate, I am supremely pleased with my new bedroom.  It’s amazing how my attitude changed once I realized my “house” is indeed my “home”.   No more “renters” mentality for me.  So internets, give me some constructive criticism. What would you change, what would you do differently?

K.

You know what that means too don’t you…school will be out soon.  The most dreaded time of the year for stay at home parents around the world…but I digress.  I have z-e-r-o solid plans for the next week.  Why you ask?  I have 4 kids.  It’s a lot of whiny testosterone to drag around the city all at once people.  Really.  The world needs small doses.  Truly.

So here is to all you moms and dads that get to “enjoy” having all their school aged and younger kids home all at the same time!  I might have to take up drinking after all.

Wish me luck!

K.

PS: for those of you without a sense of humor, the post-note should read that I DO in fact love my children and I am certain they won’t spend too much time locked in the dungeon this week.

It’s senseless.  I cannot process it.  I am devastated for her.

I cannot imagine.

Today.  What I do KNOW is this.  Without a shadow of a doubt.  That families can be together forever through the grace of a God that DOES exist.

Whether you believe it or not, HE exists.  I am sorry if this offends some of your sensibilities out there.  I know many of you will think I am deluded, that I am brainwashed, that I am trying to pressure you into believing what I believe, that I have fallen prey to the “religion myth”.   I am sorry you feel that way.  I am sad for you.  I am sorry you have chosen not to participate in God’s great plan, I truly am.  I know I am a reasonably smart woman who is not easily duped and I don’t have all the answers, not in the least.  But what I do know is that I am here for a reason higher than myself.  I feel God’s presence EVERY.SINGLE.DAY in my life and I am blessed by Him.  One day we will ALL know exactly what that plan was.

My friend will see her husband again, whether you believe it or not.

Tomorrow.  I know that if God sees fit to take young, GOOD people so early, then a storm is coming.  I am going to do my best to prepare myself and my family to stand ready for when it hits.  Whether you believe it or not, it is coming.

I hope you are ready too.

K.

I’ve decided not to do a recap entry this year because they are boring, so last year and to be perfectly honest I don’t at all have the energy to do it, OK?!   I want to start this year fresh…the year of decision, the year of action and the year of results.  Deciding whether to continue blogging is on my list, although I don’t buy into resolutions so don’t expect a list of those either.  One thing I do know is that 2011 holds a lot of promise for our family.  We have plans you see…plans that will in the end make us a much happier if we can just stick to them.  Again, no resolutions.

Life is good on this side of the pond.  Changes ahead.

It’s been a long time internets…how have you been?

K.

On Monday I woke up to weirdly damp carpet in just one spot.  It looked like a child had spilled a little water from a cup.  I used a towel, it seemed fine.  About an hour later I stepped in the same spot to pick up a toy and my sock got wet.  I wasn’t quite sure what was going on but I remember telling the boys to find the rogue sippy cup that was obviously somewhere in the family room.  Smudgie has a habit of filling his mouth with water and spitting it out all over.  No one could find the sippy cup.

I blame lack of sleep and general stupor of thought for not cluing in that the furnace room was right behind that spot on the carpet.  The furnace room with the very VERY old 50 gallon hot water heater in it.  A few more hours go by and it becomes very clear to me when the water starts seeping up from below that the hot water tank has just blown.

Many of you know the problems we have had since buying this house 4 years ago.  A sewer line break, flooring issues, a new garage door, a new roof, new insulation, new furnace…and now a brand spanking new water heater.  To be perfectly honest I am SO sick of it.

But it got worse.

On Sunday the gas regulator broke on the gas meter.  Let’s just say I am glad none of my neighbors smoke…it could have been a serious problem.  I know I shouldn’t blame this on the previous owners, but I do.  I am so sick of owning a house that for 20 years was clearly used and abused, then cleaned up to make it look nice when it came time to sell. We got ripped off, scammed.  And right now I am making a promise that if I EVER run into the previous owners I will not hold back and play nice.  They are just lucky we didn’t track them down about the sewer line issue…that they new about but didn’t disclose . We should have gotten a lawyer.  I know better now.

Oh…did I mention that I got to deal with (and am still dealing with) the clean up from the water tank all by my lonesome…Big is still out of town.  At least one thing I know for sure.  I can handle it.  I am a strong, resilient, intelligent woman who can deal with the big stuff without too much panic or indecision.

If anything, I have that…and a new hot water tank and gas regulator.

K.

K.