Ways to Improve our Home

1. hire a housekeeper
2. rent a storage unit
3. take advantage of donation places pick up service

Traveling Expenses

Our two trips / vacations were very different. One was spent traveling, hotel rooms and attractions while the other consisted of renting a home, grocery shopping and a few attractions.
It will be interesting to see which one was better financially. I guess it is time to tally the expenses!

Keys to Success

Pray, Eat, Live and Love (Repeat)

And don't forget to surround yourself with good friends.

Have a great day!

Credit Card purchases for the Summer

Here is a look at the percentages for July
Gas 37%
Food 17%
Dinners (out) 15%
Drug Store 5%
Gifts 5%
Car Main 5%
Baby items 4%
Online services 4%
Toys 3%
Hair Cuts 2%
Entertainment 2%
Clothing

August
Gas 45%
Eat out 21%
Entertainment 12%
Gifts 11%
Drug Store 5%
Groceries 2%
Internet Services 2%
Parking 1%

Normal Expenses

To follow Debt Defier's, a writer at Happy Rock, post regarding his expenses; here are my normal expenses for a four week period.

Savings $40 a week (160)
Savings for Tuition/Pool $90 a week ($360)
Babysitting $100 -not normal
Cleaning $160 (that was for two weeks)
Auto Insurance $200
ATM Withdrawals $100 (varies)
Credit Cards $1300 (no financing)
Church Donations $500
Groceries $600
Mortgage $1200
Snowball Payment $1000 (250 per week)
Water $50
Electric / Gas $300 -seems really high
Cell Phone $100 -would love to drop this one lower
DSL $ Phone $100

debt defier July expenses

Money Spent with a Zero Return

93 -$100 deposit to a dealership to hold a new car
93 -life insurance policy to pay off a car in case of death
97 -warranty and maintenance plan on a video camera
00 -charged for a night hotel stay for a hotel that we did not end up staying at
00 -paid for a gift certificate that was not used by the recipient prior to the shop becoming defunct
05 -charged for a night hotel stay that we did not use b/c we left early
08 -charged $600 for returning a lease vehicle
yearly -charged $3.50 each month to pay a bill monthly rather than biannually

Fun With Numbers

Today my lesson plan is to work with numbers. Son 1 needs to be able to write his numbers while son two needs to be able to write his numbers and recognize his numbers.
The goal today is to work with numbers 1 to 10.
I have one Word (Microsoft program) table for each child with the numbers 1 thru 10 in order.
I have a scrambled table where each child can cut the table up and paste the numbers to the other table or put the numbers in order.

Next step is to gather the books together that have numbers. We should have several.
Curious George is one.