Settled In Full

So, with the new year and the changes it has brought, the focus of my blog is a bit more broad these days.  Of course, I'm still trying to find my style and get organized, but I also need to sort through my financial house.

It's been an ongoing battle, finances.  Once upon a time I was good with money and good at saving.  As I aged and many things in my life changed the grip I had on my finances slipped away.  Bad decisions, unfortunate situations and a million surprises all contributed.  So, for the past few years we've been working on being better, doing better and fixing our past mistakes.  It's more important now then ever, because the future is so uncertain.  For the last 15 years, even though times were rough, we knew he had a job and we had a place to live.  Now, with less security, it's imperative that we focus on how to make life work with the resources we have.

Yesterday, I received in the mail, a settlement offer for one of the bills I've been paying.  I've been paying it religiously, for a good long while.  They have offered me, in the past, settlement offers and I've wanted to take them, but never had the money when they made the offers and of course, they always have a time limit.  This one, like the others has a time limit and it's short.  I have less than 10 days to make the decision.  Because I have paid so religiously the offer they made this year, is much lower than last years and it seems possible that I can get the money to them.  This would free up a few dollars per month going forward and that certainly is a good thing.  I have a couple of questions about whether or not they can, or will, sell the "forgiven" portion.  If they do that, what's the point in taking the offer?

Either way, I'm on the fence about this.  I'm guessing that with the amount of interest that's been paid as I pay this off, they've recovered more than the original amount I owed.  If I don't take the offer, I'll be paying it off for another 2 years (interest charges and low monthlies are killers!), I believe that it will show as "settled in full" on my credit report which some would argue is bad for my credit, but honestly, it's in shambles at the moment now as it is, I can't see this making it worse.  We'll see how it goes.

Meatless Meals to Save ?

A while ago the hubs and I watched a Ted Talk that had to do with going meatless during the week. We talked about it a few times, wondered if it was something we could do, wanted to do, etc.

Last night, after discussing a few things, our current situation, our future (his military retirement is so close!), money and our health, the idea of being meatless during the week came up again. We've decided to give it a whirl. We'll aim for 5 meatless dinners a week (I'm not ready to do 5 meatless days, I'm already struggling with menu planning, tyvm!) and if we miss our mark, no big deal, we just try again.

Part of the reason is that meat can get expensive, another part is we'd like to eat better overall (we eat pretty healthily most of the time, but we've noticed an eating out trend recently.. not very thrifty!). I have some concerns though...mostly one. How do I make creative, tasty meals that are not one gigantic carb-fest? I'm not interested in meat replacements either. Once in a while would be okay, I suppose, but really those can be as pricy as the meat. I was searching the web for meals that moved me and I found some. Lots, actually, but so many had such a high concentration of carbs that I felt a bit worried. Should I not worry? I mean, I can just make sure breakfast and lunch are lower in carbs and higher in proteins I guess.

My only other concern is that my 10 year old isn't a huge fan of beans and I found lots of great recipes that take advantage of beans. I mean, he likes some beans, but I can't see him being thrilled about beans 5 nights a week. ;)

If you have any recipes, tips, tricks, hints or general ideas on this, I'm all ears!

Goodbye New Kitchen Table and Chairs....or not?

The hubs and I started saving for new furniture.  It's time.  After our last move, things started ... disintegrating.  Patches peeling from the arms of the couch (hidden under pillows) a crack in the leg of our kitchen table, the movers lost a couple of pieces of the hardware from our bedframe (but we didn't see it till 2 years later when we took the bed apart to have the carpet cleaned) and their "fix" has compromised the integrity of the frame.  *sigh*

We were fortunate in that we found ourselves in a place to be able to start saving for it.  Until about 2 weeks ago.  My oldest son needs some extensive dental work.  NOW.  Nearly 2 grand worth.  (That's the part that's not covered by our insurance!)  Very unexpected.

Goodbye furniture fund.

Feeling a bit deflated by the loss of my new kitchen table dream ( I want REAL furniture, grown up stuff!) I engaged in a pity party.  It was small, I promise...my kiddos dental health is far more important to me!  I started looking around online and for some reason, I decided to look on Craigs List.  I don't know why it didn't occur to me <before> I didn't have money to spend, but it didn't.  In the past week, I've found at least 6 different things I'm in love with.  3 dining room table sets (one that I've seen at the store costing well over 1500 bucks) for $150.00.  In beautiful condition.   I've seen others in the same price range that aren't my style,  but with a bit of sanding and some stain could easily be pieces I love.  I've been drooling over 2 dining room hutches for roughly the same price and one that was stunning, as is, for 50 bucks.

Obviously, I can't afford anything right now, but I know where I'll be looking as soon as I can.

Thrifted Styles for Kids?

As I've mentioned, I have two boys.  They're 9 and 10 and don't care a lick about fashion.  Still, buying clothes for them can be a challenge and it gets pricy.  They grow fast, they're tough on clothes and they may not care too much about fashion, but I still want them to look decent.

Generally speaking, I get them jeans from Old Navy when they do their $10 kids denim sale that happens in August.  They begin their life as new school clothes and what happens from there... who knows.  This year, my oldest got all 12's in August.  He tried them on, they fit, well.  We were happy.  By November they were snug, but still wearable.   December?  Not so much.  We were seeing sock on a daily basis.  With no sales on jeans that I could find and not being thrilled with the lower priced choices, I wondered if kids clothes in the higher sizes made it to the thrift stores.

I'm guessing that those of you more familiar with thrifting already know the answer.  It's yes!  I had some good luck finding 2 pair of jeans in a size 14, that were stylish and in great condition.  Seams in tact, zippers working, no wear at the knees or scuffs at the leg openings.  Sold!  Washed up and ready to wear, no more high waters for my kiddo.  Each pair was 3.59.

See that little lump under the covers?  That's my pooch, deciding her comfort was more important than my picture.  She's a princess.

Anyhow, the color in the pic is a bit odd, but the bottom pair is nice and light with fading and a boot cut.  The top pair is more charcoal than that washed out black that the pic shows.  They're a straight leg and a slimmer fit.

I wasn't looking for shirts, we have plenty, but I took a peek, just in case.  The store I was shopping had almost nothing in larger kids sizes (strictly speaking of shirts now).  Tons of toddler sizes though.  I will, of course, check again the next time I'm there.