Hi Everyone!! I haven't posted in a while and thought I would stop by and see how everyone is doing. I was suprised to find messages from people wanting to know how we are doing! Y'all are so nice!! So here's the update you asked for!!
We are doing GREAT!! January marks one year of our 5 year BK. I will say the first 6 months were the hardest. But once I got into the swing of all the budgeting and learning how to shop it all became so much easier. I lost my job back in April and found it was better to modify our BK then to look for another job. My job was a home based business, so no daycare. When I looked for a new job I was finding that I had to look outside the home and then I would be working just to pay the daycare. So, we modified. Our payment went from $850 to $300 a month. We have 4 kids, ages 12, 9, 4 and 18months. And yes, there is a stack of presents under the tree! Because I have been budgeting for Christmas ALL year!! My eldest is getting his $150 baseball bat and my other son is getting a DSI, amoung lots of other things. We are also traveling for the holidays! We are going to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Minnesota! We are driving and are staying with Grandma and Grandpa.... we couldn't go if we didn't .
Living CC free is MUCH easier then I thought it would be. We basically live paycheck to paycheck. There is room in the budget for savings and I STICK WITH IT! I pretend I don't have it. I buget x amount of dollars each week for groceries, if I don't spend that much the extra goes into our family 'fun' money. The kids get to a movie about once every other month. We do a lot of renting movies through Red Box, they are current movies and are only $1 for the night!! The kids love it. My 2 older boys also play competitive baseball. My eldest played a week long tournament in Arkansas in July. We couldn't afford to go as a family so we sent him along with a team mate's family. We are making sacrifices, but we are still having fun.
We would like to go to Disney in 2 years, but I haven't factored it into the budget yet. I'm waiting to see when my 2 oldest boys are getting their braces. They see the orthodontist on Monday, so I should know soon.
Chapter 13 with a family is very do-able. It's all about how you approach it. Stay positive. If you think this will be the worst thing ever, well then it will be. I think it's the best thing ever. I've learned to budget. I've learned how to shop. I've learned to say NO to my kids. And in the end I think my kids will be better people because if it. I've also learned that my community offers a lot of 'free' activites and my husband and I are having fun with our kids. We go to parks, we hook up the sprinkler outside when it's hot. We are having fun as a family. Love doesn't require money.
Well, that's it in a nutshell. I'm sorry it was so long. I wish all of you a very happy holiday season!
MommyMc
We are doing GREAT!! January marks one year of our 5 year BK. I will say the first 6 months were the hardest. But once I got into the swing of all the budgeting and learning how to shop it all became so much easier. I lost my job back in April and found it was better to modify our BK then to look for another job. My job was a home based business, so no daycare. When I looked for a new job I was finding that I had to look outside the home and then I would be working just to pay the daycare. So, we modified. Our payment went from $850 to $300 a month. We have 4 kids, ages 12, 9, 4 and 18months. And yes, there is a stack of presents under the tree! Because I have been budgeting for Christmas ALL year!! My eldest is getting his $150 baseball bat and my other son is getting a DSI, amoung lots of other things. We are also traveling for the holidays! We are going to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Minnesota! We are driving and are staying with Grandma and Grandpa.... we couldn't go if we didn't .
Living CC free is MUCH easier then I thought it would be. We basically live paycheck to paycheck. There is room in the budget for savings and I STICK WITH IT! I pretend I don't have it. I buget x amount of dollars each week for groceries, if I don't spend that much the extra goes into our family 'fun' money. The kids get to a movie about once every other month. We do a lot of renting movies through Red Box, they are current movies and are only $1 for the night!! The kids love it. My 2 older boys also play competitive baseball. My eldest played a week long tournament in Arkansas in July. We couldn't afford to go as a family so we sent him along with a team mate's family. We are making sacrifices, but we are still having fun.
We would like to go to Disney in 2 years, but I haven't factored it into the budget yet. I'm waiting to see when my 2 oldest boys are getting their braces. They see the orthodontist on Monday, so I should know soon.
Chapter 13 with a family is very do-able. It's all about how you approach it. Stay positive. If you think this will be the worst thing ever, well then it will be. I think it's the best thing ever. I've learned to budget. I've learned how to shop. I've learned to say NO to my kids. And in the end I think my kids will be better people because if it. I've also learned that my community offers a lot of 'free' activites and my husband and I are having fun with our kids. We go to parks, we hook up the sprinkler outside when it's hot. We are having fun as a family. Love doesn't require money.
Well, that's it in a nutshell. I'm sorry it was so long. I wish all of you a very happy holiday season!
MommyMc
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