THIS IS THE KIM TENNILL SHOW....

Yet again falling behind on my blogger duties here..... I am in need of a financial update, a paycheck time post and of course a few posts on our life in general! Of course my duties at home, out of the home and any other duties I have always seem to consume me first. With that being said why don't I give a quick update and then start seriously working on the posts I just mentioned!

1.) Financially doing well.... taxes came back as incorrect and we lost $1200. Apparently something to do with the stimulus question and from what I have read a lot of people are having the same problem. Yes, I am bummed but I am trying to take the positive approach here. We were unable to totally pay off one of our credit cards but we are working on it and all should be well in the next 6 weeks or so. We did however take care of all of our small "to-do" list items that have been nagging for so long. The small "to-do" list has grown to a ginormous $15oo list.... so we decided to deal with it now rather than let it grow any bigger!

2.) Paycheck post is coming for the paycheck we are getting tommorrow. I am estimating a nice number of left over money to finsh paying for our "second honeymoon" in April and money on the credit card.

3.) Life in general. Busy of course as always, making more time for family activities as well as husband and wife time. You don't realize how much you have missed date nights/days until you start to take advantage of them again! Making some life changing decisions on schools. Matt is taking the steps to go to a 12 week trade school, which I think he will be great at. I am figureing out what I want to go back to school for.... yet again! As if 6 years and 1 degree later isn't enough.

More posting tommorrow! Including, paycheck time and Publix shopping!
HAPPY SAVVY SHOPPING

Every 3 months or so I always have repairs needed on something, purchases of items that need to be replaced due to damage or the item being broken and other misc. items that usually require spending money. These purchases are worked into our monthly budget and get paid gradually throughout the 3 months. We were very fortunate to have all of our previous goal items paid for in the first 2 1/2 months of the year instead of the 3 months. This time I hope to have the 2nd round of short term goals taken care of by April 1st at the latest. This will allow us to hopefully start the summer free and clear, key word "hopefully". I have placed the new goal list on the bottom right corner of the blog. I have already completed 2 of the items which were hefty priced items but much need! I have also placed one of the items in for repair but there is a two week turn around and I don't know the cost of the repair. To be honest I am a little scared of what the number might be :( I am hoping by April we can start putting a serious dent in our farm payment that is due on Nov. 31st!

HAPPY SAVVY SHOPPING!!

I was reading the latest post at Thrifty Florida Mama this morning and I began to think about where my husband and I are in all of this economic upheaval? Thrifty Florida Mama placed everyone in 3 categories:

1. Lots of people are in financial dire straits. They have experienced job loss, foreclosure, or reduction in pay. They may be in panic mode, depression mode, or (hopefully) living off savings they built up before the bottom fell out.

2. Many people are in caution mode. They are worried about the possibilities of job loss, or wage reduction, and rising costs of housing, utilities, and escalating credit card minimum payments. They know that their current budgets would not be sustainable in the event of a major loss to income.

3. The third group is carrying on life as usual, either because they have lived frugally in the past and are reaping the benefits of a debt-free life now or because they feel they and their jobs are immune to the current recession.

Out of the 3 categories I would say that we have been very blessed to be in the 3rd group. Not because we are totally debt free although, we are working at it, but because we are fortunate enough to have a stable income. My husband is military and I know they have cut the military back before, but I don't see them doing it to his job. I am not saying it isn't possible, but the war is still happening and President Obama must deal with the economic crisis before he can deal with the war. Even after the war is over I still have a firm belief that my husbands job will be safe.

If we were in need I could always return to work. If another income was needed I could go back, but at the moment we have decided due to all of the overhead expense that comes with working (ie: gas, work clothing, child care and etc.) it is better for our family if I stay at home.

Lastly, all of our debt but 1 student loan (possibly 2), our home and our property will be paid off this year. This will free up approx. $1200 monthly leaving us with a total of approx $2000 a month left over after bills and all other expenses. We will be working on paying off the student loans next year and then the property. We do have a one or two items we would like to purchase in between our debt payoff that we will also be saving for and paying off.

I am glad that Thrifty Florida Mama placed this post because I haven't truly looked at where we stand during the current crisis. Honestly, I believe I haven't thought about it because the only place we have seen a loss throughout was in our mutual funds and it was a loss of less than $1,000. My family is truly blessed and fortunate for our home, vehicles, jobs and overall lifestyle during a time when so many others are in financial crisis!