Fantastic Friday

This week, due to the illness in our house, we weren't able to do much in terms of moving towards our goals. However, some positive things did happen:

~ we have our down payment for our house all set. We're still looking for the right house, and we are very excited.

~ We got hit twice this week with unexpected financial emergencies; but both times, thanks to our smart ways with money and our emergency fund, we were able to take care of both emergencies without dipping into our down deposit.

Hopefully, now that things have returned to normal in the house, we can be even more productive this week.

For now, my birthday is tomorrow and I am looking forward to celebrating. Tonight I am going out for a desperately needed girls night out, and tomorrow night we are going out to eat for a family celebration. I can't wait!

Fantastic Friday

Fantastic Friday

This is the first Friday that I am going to be holding myself accountable for sticking to my goals.

I'm pleased to say that this week we did rather well. I made an effort to stay home as much as possible, because gas prices are really scary right now and gas was seriously cutting into our budget. We watched what we spent and the result was we had some money left over to put into the debt snowball fund.

I'm also starting to get back on track towards my efforts to get to a healthy weight. I joined a weight loss club for motivation and have started excercising again. This week I killed two birds with one stone: I saved on gas money and got some excercise by walking 2 miles to the local park and library instead of driving. I pulled the girls behind me in their wagon. The first day I thought I was going to die, it is mostly uphill, but it got easy pretty quickly, and I'm finding that I am enjoying the walks. I am really bummed that it rained the past three days; I miss walking already. The result? I lost 3lbs.

The Knight and I sat down recently and had a brainstorming session on ideas of how we can reach our goals quickly. It was more productive and motivating than I thought it was going to be. I finally feel that we are completely back on track, and focused once again on how we want our lives to be.

Looking forward to updating again next week!

Fantastic Friday

Fantastic Friday: Screeeeech!

This week I have hit a few bumps in the road.

Weight: Again, I maintained. As a Future MILF, I am getting a little tired on this plateau I seem to be on. Especially when I am trying to win a bet. Any suggestions for getting off this plateau is welcome.

House: House is better this week. I can write a book on how to wash floors, do laundry, and wash dishes while entertaining a teething baby on your back. FlyLady would be so proud.

Finances: This week we had enough to pay off another debt, but the brakes are going in our car, so now we have to use the money for that instead. I'm not sure how much will be left over, if any is left over at all, but it's only a small bump in a road compared to where we were a year ago. Back then we wouldn't have the money to fix the brakes at all.

Environment: I think we got a little lazy for a bit and used disposables more than we normally do. This week we stopped that. We've also been shopping for our clothes at thrift stores, which is a form of recycling.

That's it for this week. Baby steps, right?

Fantastic Friday: Screeeeech!

Fantastic Friday: Keeping Up The Pace..

This week I pretty much kept up the pace from last week but didn't really get ahead in any of the areas. However, I like to think it's better than falling behind.

Weight: Other Future MILF's will be happy to hear that this week I did not gain. I maintained. However, I have to lose weight soon. My mother and I started a bet to see who could lose the most weight in a month. If I win, I get a new ipod. If I lose, I have to make her coffee every morning and feed her dogs every night. Not fun. So wish me luck!

House: The house is still clean, just not as much as it used to be. I did manage to reach my goal this week and do three days of FlyLady missions, and I hope to do more this coming week.

Finances: Moving right along in this area. So far in Step 2 of the Total Money Makeover we have paid of a considerable amount of debt. By the end of the month we should have another credit card paid off, which just leaves us with a small car loan, a small personal loan, and then the three big debts (one large credit card and two student loans). Slowly but surely, we're getting closer to financial peace.

Environment: This week we made the switch over to cloth paper towels. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, and I must say that the cloth ones do pick up more than the paper ones! Goal for this month: make the switch over to cloth napkins.

And that's it for this week. One step at a time, I'm slowly improving myself.

Fantastic Friday: Keeping Up The Pace..

Fantastic Friday: Long Time No See...

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Fantastic Friday: Long Time No See...

Fantastic Friday: Woot Woot!

Another week has gone by, and we did fairly well.

Weight: This week for Future MILF, I maintained. And I am very happy about that. Because on Saturday I had gone to a bachelorette party. With lots of alcohol. And lots of food. Including a Chocolate Fondue Fountain with strawberries and other tasty things to smother in chocolate and devour. Then, on Sunday, I went to a wedding. More great food. More alcohol. Then, for the rest of the week I ate pretty crappy and didn't excercise except for walking. So I'm thrilled that I didn't gain any weight (yay breastfeeding!).

House: The house looks great. Did I do it? Nope. The Knight has been doing more than his fair share with housework these days. So although I have been still doing my FlyLady routines, most of the credit belongs to him.

Finances: This is where is gets really fun. Step 2 of the Total Money Makeover is going great for us. At the beginning of the week we paid off another credit card, bringing the total of debts paid off to two. Next we are attacking my David's Bridal card. And now that we are getting our taxes back, we'll be able to pay off most of my car and finally be able to stop paying insurance on it and take it officially off the road (yes, the car that we owe about $5,000 is junked and sitting in our driveway). Fantastic! We'll also be able to buy the Mermaid the Britax Regent and switch the Guppy over to the Mermaid's current seat, yay! Just when we thought it couldn't get better.....my midwife called. Seems like our insurance company decided to pay for about half my homebirth, when before they said they wouldn't pay anything. More yays! We'll use this money to attack our debt. Fantastic!

Environment: This is the one area that hasn't seen too much action. We're still using our recycling system but we plan on expanding it. Also we made a commitment to try to buy products with less packaging.

Well that it's it for this week. In general, a Fantastic week!

Fantastic Friday: Woot Woot!

Fantastic Friday: Baby Steps

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Fantastic Friday: Baby Steps

Fantastic Friday: Belated Joy

I know, I know...it's Sunday. So I am two days late. But it's been crazy around here lately, and this is the earliest I could post.

So, I had a great week this week.

Weight: I'm closer to becoming a Future MILF: I lost two pounds this week. Which brings my total weight loss up to 15 lbs. Fantastic! And, this was after Easter....after eating two pieces of pudding pie....and thinking how great I did...then eating an entire cheesecake the my mother slyly brought home knowing that I have no self control when it comes to cheesecake! Thank goodness for breastfeeding!

House: I've been doing better in this area. I'm slowly getting back into the FlyLady routines and although I'm still a little behind in laundry, we now how clean clothes to wear. Fantastic.

Finances: Step 2 of the Total Money Makeover is going great. We've paid off our first and smallest debt, and our next debt is going to be paid off by the end of this month. Fantastic! We do have a lot of weddings coming up that we had to budget for (and clothes to buy for me to wear to them) but we're still managing to get ahead, yay!

Environment: Not much activity here. But one thing about my work that bothers me is the enormous amount of paper that they waste and throw away. I'm going to talk to my manager about possible setting up a recycling system there so all that paper won't be totally wasted.

That's it for this week. All in all a fantastic week!

Fantastic Friday: Belated Joy

Fantastic Friday: But it's Saturday!

I've been really slacking this week with posting in this blog. I've tried, but I've had a pretty hectic week. Then yesterday, on my day off, we all catch the stomach bug. So I was busy picking up vomit and treating the Guppy and the Mermaid and I didn't get a chance to post Fantastic Friday.

Weight: For my future MILF post, I maintained. A little disappointed about that. In fact, lately I've been very frustrated. It didn't take this long to lose the weight on WW after the Mermaid was born! What gives? Total weight loss: 12.5 lbs.

House: Pretty much a mess. I'm barely managing to stay on top of my routines and the laundry. *sigh* FlyLady would be so disappointed.

Finances: This is the one good area this week. We finished Step 1 of the Total Money Makeover and we are moving on to Step 2, yay!

Environment: Eh. Compact Life is pretty much out the window right now with Easter shopping. Hopefully I can jump back into it soon.

The thing is, I've pretty much been in a rut all week. Adjusting to working is hard. I've just been feeling "blah" allll the time. What gives? Please send good thoughts and prayers that I can get out of this rut soon!

Fantastic Friday: But it's Saturday!

Fantastic Friday: Wobbling on one leg

Well I've been doing good in some areas and not so good in others.

Weight: For my Future MILF post: I gained 1/2 a pound. My reaction? I am surprised it wasn't more. See, I kind of made a couple of trips to McDonald's for some fries and apple pies while I was working this weekend...

House: Housework has been decent, but not good. I'm still doing all my FlyLady routines but I wouldn't exactly call my house "guest ready". I hadn't done any missions or decluttering at all this past week. Hopefully as I get used to working I can adapt my routines to fit them in. But to be honest, now that I don't see my girls as much, I'm definitely going to put spending time with them ahead of cleaning and I'm prepared to let the house go a little bit. Priorities, you know?

Finances: Well this week I got my first paycheck. Very cool. Next week I get a raise and more hours. We're getting ready to move onto Step 2 of the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. A wonderful woman from my LLL group gave me all his materials so we've been reading up.

Environment: This is where I've really been slacking. It's getting harder and harder to live the Compact Life. I really don't have that much time to go searching through thrift stores and Freecycle for the things I need, especially since we only have one car so I am unable to leave the house during the day. So I've decided that since we don't buy unnecessary purchases anyway, I will still try my hardest to buy used but if not, I'm not about to beat myself up over it.

So that is where I stand this week. Getting a job has helped us in finances but has definitely thrown a loop into the other areas. Hopefully we can all settle in soon.

Fantastic Friday: Wobbling on one leg

Fantastic Friday: Thinning Out

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Fantastic Friday: Thinning Out

Fantastic Friday: Ho, Hum

Well this week has been a normal, non exciting week.

Weight: For my MILF update, I maintained. No loss, no gain. I am going to start measuring myself, however, to see if I am at least toning up.

House: This week, thanks to FlyLady, I've been doing really well. My bathroom is especially looking great.

Finances: For the first time that I can remember, we're actually ahead this month. Which means that we will have Step 1 of the Total Money Makeover done by the end of the month, and then we can start snowballing our debt, yay! I also worked my first day of work and although I am not sure of my schedule yet, I'm excited to be making money to contribute to our finances.

Environment: This is where I've been naughty. Eating vegetarian has been a little hard, but do able. And I feel great. I just have to get used to recipes and meal planning. But I've been really bad at Compacting. I bought the girls some new clothes and the Mermaid a new rain slicker. Time to get my butt in gear in this area.

That's it for this update. If I don't start losing weight I am going to be very discouraged.

Fantastic Friday: Ho, Hum

Fantastic Friday: Wowza!

This week has been a great week for me, in all my goals.

Weight: My Future MILF update. This week I lost....3.5lbs. Yes, that's right, 3.5lbs. And yes, I stepped on the scale 15 times this morning to make sure it was accurate. And I even dragged out another scale to make sure. I cannot stress how good it feels for me to finally see results after all these weeks of no loss no gain.
So, what did I do different? I believe the main factor was that I decided to be a vegetarian. So this week I didn't eat any meat at all. Another factor was that I was just reading that if you change your exercise regime, it may take 4-6 weeks for you to see results, as your body takes that long to adjust and begin to burn fat as well as create muscle. This week is the 5 week mark since I started intense exercising. So my body is finally adjusting and I am losing weight again, yay!

House: Much, much better this week. I'm back on my routines, my house is cleaning again. This week I've been decluttering my kitchen and making more space on the counters, which makes the kitchen look so much bigger and brighter!

Finances: Still the same as last week. I might have a job interview this weekend. And it still looks like we'll be onto Step 2 of the Total Money Makeover by next month, yay!

Environment: This week we've had a huge step towards helping the environment: We became vegetarians. After reading The Mad Cowboy and doing other research, we were astounded by the huge amount of negative impact cattle raising has on the environment. Not to mention the hazards to our health. We're very excited about this life change and can't wait to try out our new vegetarian recipes!

That's all for this week. Hopefully this coming week will be just as good!

Fantastic Friday: Wowza!

Fantastic Friday: Time To Be Optimistic

Well another Friday, another update.

Weight: MILF update; again, no loss, no gain. But, when I put on my belt...I'm down to the last hole. When I first started the weight loss I was about in the middle. So perhaps I am not losing weight but I am toning up? We'll have to see. I am still exercising every day. Not doing too good on the eating part, but I am trying to be optimistic about this upcoming week.

House: I did horrible this week. I had migraines every night of the week so housework did not get done...except for the Knight. He cooked dinner every night, washed the dishes, picked up the floors, and even managed some laundry. I don't know what I'd do without him. I did manage to sweep and wash the floors yesterday and today I got a ton of work done so far, so I'm optimistic about this upcoming week. I've just got to get back into my FLYLady routines.

Finances: Doing really well here. Although we still don't have extra jobs, we're still looking. And it looks like we'll have an extra $1,000 to put towards Step 1 of the Total Money Makeover at the end of the month, due to us sticking to our budget. By next month we should be on Step 2.

Environment: Having a little trouble living the Compact Life. I still have not gotten around to making cloth paper towels and more cloth nursing pads. I hope to be able to go on a sewing frenzy this weekend and get those done. We've got more birthdays coming up, the Knight's grandmother and the Knight himself. I let the Knight choose what to buy since it is his family and his birthday. It looks like he wants some DVD's that just came out, so I'll have a hard time finding them used. Hopefully I will be able to. Still, we don't really buy anything that isn't a necessity. That's how we've been since the Mermaid was 6 months old. Hopefully we'll be able to continue to improve on that.

Well that's it for this week. I hope all you other MILFs had better luck than me! :o)

Fantastic Friday: Time To Be Optimistic

Fantastic Friday: No More Excuses...

Well this week I didn't make much progress, but I didn't go backwards either.

Weight: For my Future MILF post: Once again, no loss, no gain. However, I did notice something interesting. Although I didn't lose any weight, I was still able to fit into a pair of jeans that I was unable to fit in before. So I think what is happening is that I am losing fat to muscle due to my exercising every day. Which is a good thing. However, I am still not doing so well following my WW points. I did join a yahoo support group for nursing moms who are on WW's, so hopefully that will help. No more excuses!

House: This week, I didn't do too hot. I skipped all my daily decluttering sessions and for most of the week, the Knight ended up doing the dishes and picking up the floor for me. I can hear the FlyLady saying "tsk tsk." I kind of fell into a slump, but since yesterday I've been working my way out of it. Yesterday I did manage to get all my floors washed, my sheets cleaned, my mirrors cleaned, and my house dusted. So let's hope I can get back into my routines.

Finances: Still doing good in this area. We're really sticking to our budget and not doing any unnecessary spending. We are also both still looking for jobs. Still on step 1 of the Total Money Makeover.

Environment: So far so good on living the Compact Life. I haven't bought anything new except those things which are necessary. Our recycling center is still going strong.

That's it for this week. For the week coming up I hope to follow my diet with no excuses and work better on the house.

Fantastic Friday: No More Excuses...

Fantastic Friday: Not Again, I Hope

Well it's Fantastic Friday, time for the weekly recap.

Weight: For my MILF update: I didn't gain, didn't lose. Again. I really hope this isn't going to be a pattern. Although I didn't put in as much effort in my exercising as I normally do, so maybe that was the problem. And I really find it a lot harder to follow my WW points when I'm not going to the meetings. I really have to get my butt in gear when it comes to following the points.

House: I didn't do as good this week as I normally do. Although I stuck to my FlyLady routines and my house was always clean, I didn't declutter at all except today. Today I went on a rampage in my bathroom and cleaned everything, including the walls. Now that the girls are starting to finally feel a little better I hope to be able to start doing my daily decluttering once again.

Finances: We've actually paid more than half our bills on time this month. And next month we will be paying them all on time. We're a bit closer to finishing step 1 in the Total Money Makeover. And last night I went to a job interview. I'll know by Thursday whether I made the cut to the second stage of interviews, so wish me luck.

Environment: Our recycling setup is going strong. I'm looking into getting some cloth bags for grocery shopping. And this weekend I plan on sewing up some replacements for disposable products, such as cloth paper towels and some more cloth nursing pads.

Well that's it for this weeks recap. Not bad, but not great either. Tomorrow starts another day, another week, another chance to strive to be a better person.

Fantastic Friday: Not Again, I Hope

Fantastic Friday: Better Late Than Never

This post is a little late today because things have been crazy around here. The Knight was home sick from work and so I attempted to do all our week's errands in one day, which was crazy. Then between trying to keep the house from going into chaos, taking care of the girls, and taking care of the Knight, I just couldn't find the time to relax. When I finally thought I would have time to post...the Mermaid woke up crying and sick. So now I have two sick people to take care of.

I hate the winter.

Ok, so this post will be quick.

Weight: Good news. For my MILF weigh in: I lost one pound. Finally, after weeks of not losing, I finally lost a pound. WOOOHOOO. Of course, it's nice because now I am really determined to lose more this week. That brings my total weight loss to 10 lbs.

House: Broken record here. Even though the sick ones have been taking up a lot of my time, as long as I stick to my FlyLady routines my house stays clean.

Finances: The Knight and I are looking into taking on extra jobs. Right now we are still in Step 1 of the Total Money Makeover and this weekend we are brainstorming to come up with ways to save more cash. This month is the last month we have to pay my midwife, so next month we will have extra money to put towards bills, which is nice.

Environment: We finally set up our recycling system. Very cool. Still following the Compact Life. And I finally found some "used" PUL and other diaper making fabrics that a very cool person is actually giving to me, yay!

On another note, I know I haven't been posting here as much as I usually do. Things have just been crazy around here with the sick babies and now sick hubby. Seems like a never ending cycle of sickness. But I do have a HUGE list of things to blog about, and I haven't forgotten about the third part of my vaccination series. So even though it may be a while, stay tuned and when everyone is well here I will be back to normal, if a little outdated, posting.

Fantastic Friday: Better Late Than Never

Fantastic Friday: On a Plateau

Well, it's Fantastic Friday, week four, and things are not Fantastic.

Weight: You can basically take last week's post and repeat, except replace Doritos with Pizza. But this week I am trying something new. I have to lose this weight, I really do, and now I am fed up with myself enough where I am going to do something about it. So, for my Future MILF info: This week I gained none but lost none, and I ate pizza a lot and didn't follow my points. But I did exercise for an hour each day. Brings total weight loss to 9lbs.

House: Pretty easy, thanks again to FlyLady. Yesterday I got a lot of work done, including cleaning out the wood stove in the living room and wow what a difference! House is guest ready.

Finances: Right now I am applying like crazy to second shift jobs and the Knight is applying to deliver newspapers. If we get these jobs we will double our income and be able to attack our debt, as Dave Ramsey advises.

Environment: Still haven't gotten the recycling system down. But that is definitely on the list of things to do this weekend. As far as living the Compact Life, I still haven't bought anything new except for the things I've already mentioned but I've hit a slight snag. I know a really excellent thrift store where we could get great gifts for FIL and SIL, whose birthdays are this month. But the Knight does not want to get "used" things for his sister and his father. Since it is his family, I let him win this won. I still think we should have at least looked at the shop, but oh well.

Well this is kind of a short post but the Mermaid is wanting lots of cuddles today so it will have to do.

Fantastic Friday: On a Plateau

Fantastic Friday: Harder Than I Thought

It's Fantastic Friday, week 3, and well...I didn't do so great this week. Let's break it down, shall we?

Weight: For the Future MILF post, I have to post weight lost this week. Well, once again, I didn't lose any weight but I didn't gain any either. Now I am very frustrated at myself. I have enough will power to get my butt out of bed at 5:30am to exercise for one hour, but not enough will power to say No to the bag of Doritos that was sitting on top of our fridge. Was being the correct word, since I ate the whole bag. Of course, I felt really shitty and gross afterwards, and hopefully the memory of that feeling will keep me from doing that again. My problem is not exercise, my problem is sticking to my WW's points. I really need to crack down and make sure I write everything down and don't go over my point budget. I really hope I do better this week.

The House: again, thanks to FlyLady, this one is easy breezy. This week I spent 15 minutes a day decluttering my closet. Donated all my high school clothes, including my size 5 jeans (yeah, like I'll ever fit into those again!) but kept my size 7 jeans (hey, a girl can hope, can't she?). There's actually a lot of room in my closet now. And my house is still guest ready clean.

Finances: Well, the Knight and I kind of changed routes with this one. Last week I posted that we were going to go on a debt management plan. Well, we changed our minds. Seems that if you try to get a mortgage after going on one of these plans, they treat you as if you had filed bankruptcy. So, we borrowed Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover from the library and we are going to follow his simple yet difficult to do program. Simple to understand, difficult to do because it means a lot of sacrifices, like no new van. Hopefully, in March, I'll be posting about how we are making great strides in paying off our debt.

Finally, the environment. Sadly, we are still slacking in this area. We still haven't gotten our recycling act together. However, I've still been following the Compact Life with two exceptions: materials for making things such as yarn and PUL, and a bridesmaid's dress for my best friend's wedding. Because really, I don't think she'd be too happy if I tried to buy a used bridesmaid's dress, and I can't blame her. I'm almost done knitting a cotton dishcloth, so no more icky sponges. And this Sunday I plan on going on a sewing frenzy and sewing up some cloth nursing pads, cloth paper towels, and cloth diapers to cut back on our disposables. I've also been reading this great blog about a family's decision to downsize, called Changing Rhythm.

So, all in all, not a great week. I hope this week to do better. Encouraging comments are welcomed, I sure need them!

Fantastic Friday: Harder Than I Thought

Fantastic Friday...Week 2

Well it's Friday again, and that means it's time for me to look back on the week and see how well I did with my goals.

Weight: As part of the Future MILF program, I have to post weight I lost this week and total weight lost. Drum roll, please.....this week I lost......1lb. As you recall, last week I didn't lose any but didn't gain any either, and I figured it was due to the fact that I wasn't following my WW points too well and eating constantly because the Guppy was nursing so much. Well this week the Guppy continued to nurse, and I continued to eat, but I tried to reach for healthier foods when I could. And I also picked up on my exercising. So, I'm happy with the 1lb weight loss, and since I'm nursing, that's the safe amount to lose each week anyway. This brings my total weight loss to 9lbs in 10 weeks. Another fantastic thing about my exercising is that I do a lot of toning exercises, so although I didn't lose much weight, the Knight says I definitely look more toned and thinner. Fantastic!

The house: thanks to FlyLady, this one is actually easy. As long as I get all my routines done, my house stays "guest-ready cleaned". In fact, the morning after my mom came home from London, she looked around the house and asked, "Who are you having over?"
"Um....no one"
"Oh....then why is the house so clean?"
This week I managed to work on some decluttering, so my bathroom is fully decluttered and my kitchen is halfway there. Thank you, FlyLady.

Finances: After much discussion, the Knight and I thought that the best option for us right now is to go on a Debt Management Plan. I checked out the best programs and took some recommendations and the best one seems to be Money Management International, a non-profit organization that helps people get out of debt. After a counseling session, where they explained the ins and outs of the program, we have decided to start filling out the paperwork to sign up. If we had kept up our pattern of paying our debt as we had been, it would have taken us 34 years. On this program, paying the minimum payment, it will take us 4.5 years and they will save us over $22,000 in interest charges, not to mention late fees. I've also started teaching myself the ins and outs of the Knights retirement plan. After all, if we are going to depend on this money when we retire, it would help if we knew how the program worked. I've also looked into other books that I want to get from the library on how to save money and make your money work for you.

Finally, the environment. Sadly, this one is the area I am slacking in. Although I am still living the Compact Life and haven't bought anything new, we still haven't set up our recycling center. I also haven't gotten around to making cloth paper towels, dishcloths, and nursing pads, so we've still been using those disposable products. Hopefully this weekend I will get some time to sit down and complete those projects.

Well, that's it for this week's Fantastic Friday. Not bad considering I had two sick kids to take care of, one of which would not let me put her down at all (thank you Ellaroo Wrap!).

Fantastic Friday...Week 2