What I'm thinking about lately

We've been really blessed lately. I know why... I just can't go there right now. We might be getting an outside wood boiler- FOR FREE!!! Well nothing is free, but the basics of it is- plumbing it underground into the house will cost us some and building a house around it will also cost, but the units themselves are somewhere between $5-7000 if you were to purchase them! And the way I understand it, it will hook right up to our existing furnace and we can still have have fuel oil back up. This comes after our first of the season bill with fuel oil nearly knocked our pants off. For only one month- 100 gallons, $287! We've never paid over $2.15 a gallon before and now it's $2.76- probably higher now. My poor dad is paying more than that a gallon for his semi. And this is why everything is going up!

Ever wonder why cheese is so expensive- well those happy cows in California in the parking lot pasture send their cheese over to Wisconsin and vice versa. Now we all know the happiest cows are in Wisconsin and I don't want that smelly cheese from California- but you really don't have a choice unless you shop at a specialty cheese shop in WI. I guess I really need to take an economics class to understand why this is ideal. I know that importing and exporting is good commerce- but within our own country- it's just weird!

Tyler caught strep throat Wednesday night. We didn't know it was strep until last night's ER visit though. When he told me his heart was really pounding and he was unable to get dressed after taking a shower- it was time to go in. He stayed home yesterday, but his throat was okay- I thought maybe he was having a head cold or sinus draining. He had a fever all along, but I try to wait it out a little longer to see if their immune will kick in on it's own instead of going in to the Dr. right away and starting antibiotics. So we replaced all our toothbrushes and we're hoping none of the rest of us get it. It's even moved into his ear!

I had to make a bunch of cupcakes for our turn at bake sale today for Katia. I'm making a pumpkin pie for Mom today for her birthday- it's her favorite dessert she says. I also made my second batch of parmesan corn chowder last night. It's so yummy! I had gotten the recipe from Bev Kriegl a couple weeks ago. I made a batch about a week ago, and we had enough for each of us to have a healthy bowl, but no leftovers. So this batch I doubled and we have plenty.

I got a copy of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover about a week or so ago from the library. I've read most of it and we're giving it a shot. I've read Tia's archives about it and our way of thinking has changed. Paying cash for gas is a pain with a toddler, but to stay on track- we'll do it. More than anything, we're tired of living paycheck to paycheck with not much of a grocery budget. I can see that the treasurer job has given me insight into the budget part of it- so that's why God put me in that position! I started selling some "stuff" on ebay this week. The charges you incur to do that is kind of bummer, but I've been saying- well this stuff is making money rather than sitting in our basement making zero. The part that has been always so hard for us is budgeting with an unpredictable income. Paul doesn't get paid hourly and we don't usually know what his check will be until the last day of the pay period. And it can fluctuate $300-400 or more per pay. So we have our work cut out for us. We'll budget on the low end of the spectrum and then start to pay down our debt in the latter steps. I didn't really think about the whole retirement thing being irresponsible until reading the book. Irresponsible if you are using credit. So we'll stop our 401K in November- it's the soonest that we are allowed to make any changes. I'm excited to get the snowball part of it rolling, but we have to get some money saved first. Concentrating on the step you are on seems to be good advice.
So this weekend, we might be cutting wood. Paul has to cut 10 cords for his Dad tonight and tomorrow. It's been our way of paying for ice racing. His dad doesn't pay him for doing it, but instead pays his entry fees each week when they ice race. Paul painted his sprint car this week- his dad gave him some leftover "candy apple" red paint and while I don't think it's actually the renown candy apple- it does look pretty. He's got the fever!
Well, I have extra laundry to get done today and it'll be a good day for hanging some outside. So that's it for now:-)