A Dime at a Time

Navigating life and finances

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It is not too late to start planting!

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“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” –Chinese Proverb.

A few days ago, a fellow blogger over at One Family One Income reminded me of this old Chinese Proverb, and it got to me thinking.  She didn’t refer to directly to this Proverb but was questioning why the previous owners of her house had never planted a single tree or shrub.  She and her husband were now looking at various options of what to plant.  They also wanted to give their landscape a jump start by planting larger trees.  Additionally, they have been taking other necessary measures to spruce up other areas of their yard by cleaning up junk left behind and now thatching and reseeding.  When it comes to many things in life, including our finances, the very same concept can apply.  That is what I love about this old saying. [Read more…]

Onward and Upward

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My seasonal job has officially begun!

The past week has been one of getting reacquainted with my seasonal position of last year.  With this being my second year on the job, many things are thankfully very familiar.  I’ve never been one who enjoys a lot of change or surprises.  Change, however, is often to be expected, whether we like it or not.  We do have some new faces on staff and also new software.  So far it seems to be a relatively easy program to navigate.  As for the new faces, they all appear to be friendly. [Read more…]

Beyond The B Team

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Which team is yours?

 

Have you ever looked at an area in your life and thought “Wow, I’m really on the B team with this one!”  I believe that it is safe to say that at some point or another, we all have felt that way from time to time.  Let’s face it, while it would be awesome to automatically excel at everything we do in life, that simply isn’t reality, or at least not for the majority of us! [Read more…]

What I won’t give up while digging out of debt.

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Getting out of debt takes sacrifices, but there are things that I still won’t give up!

Looking in my pantry earlier today, I couldn’t help but wonder about the pantries of others who are digging themselves out of debt.  Lately, my pantry looks beyond sparse.  I’m sure anyone else taking a look would have to wonder what I even eat!  There is some store brand canned goods and other basic cooking supplies (can we say beans and rice!) but then almost sticking out like sore thumbs, there are a handful of name brand items.  Yes, there are some things we simply won’t give up, no matter what the cost.  As we travel this road, there is are also 2 (yep, just two!) other things that are also non-negotiable.  So then, just what are these things?   [Read more…]

Murphy is Lurking

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We will heed the warning and stop him!  

Clocked wind gusts of 70 miles per hour, pelting rain and dime-sized hail, no electricity for 10 hours, no internet for 16 hours, no heating pad for 10 hours, no running sump pump for 10 hours and worst of all, water in the basement!  Murphy  Mother Nature, we will heed your warning! [Read more…]

What are you waiting for?

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On average families who complete Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University pay off $5,300 and save $2,700 in the first 90 days.

Wow!  That is an $8,000 difference in just 90 days!  I don’t know exactly how these figures are calculated, this is simply something I pulled from Dave Ramsey’s website.  One thing I can say is that my husband and I did indeed see an $8,000+ difference in our own finances in the first 90 days of following Dave’s plan.  While my husband and I didn’t actually go through a class, we did read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and we also listened to Financial Peace University (FPU) on CD.  With my husband’s crazy work schedule, attending a class simply wasn’t a feasible thing for us to do together.  I can’t help but wonder how much more we might have been able to do had we attended an actual class.  Still, I am beyond thrilled with our progress. [Read more…]

Home Sweet Home

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So good to sleep in my own bed!

My mini road trip went well.  I made it back home late last evening.  Even though I was only away for two nights, it sure felt good to sleep in my own bed again.  Have any of you ever sleep on one of those older pullout couches where you feel the bar across your back?  That’s what my dad has in one of his spare rooms, and that is what I endured!  When my mom was still living, she would put an additional mattress on top of it for overnight guests.  The only thing that made it even remotely tolerable was the scent and weight of the wool blanket I used.  The smell and feel of the blanket reminded me so much of my mom as she always used wool blankets on the beds in their home.  Funny how certain things will bring you back in time. [Read more…]

A quick trip.

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A road trip while paying off debt.

Hey all, I am finally going to take that road trip I talked about several weeks ago.  I had originally tried to do this back in February, but we were hit with a huge snow storm which then caused me to cancel.  On the bright side of the delay, I will save some money by not needing to rent a vehicle.  We added the insurance back on our Summer car and shortly after I get back, will drop the insurance on our Winter car.  Now my challenge is to see how inexpensively I can make the trip.  Already planning on taking snacks/beverages for the drive.  I’ll stay with family for two nights, but would like to take my elderly father out for a meal.  Other than the gas and meal out, this trip shouldn’t break the bank.  No matter, it needs to be done.

With all this being said, I don’t think I’ll be online much if at all.  I’ll catch up with everyone in a few days.  Stay frugal and stay focused on your goals.  You know I’ll be doing the same!

April Goals No Fooling!

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Because…”If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time!”  ~ Zig Ziglar

A new month is upon us which for me means setting some more goals.  While I may not always hit my goals a list gives me something to strive for.  I also feel these monthly goals go hand-in-hand with the old saying “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!”  It goes without say that my ultimate goal is for us to become debt free, but unless we win the lotto (we don’t play!) there is little chance to no chance of that happening in the next month.  So for now, the best I can do is take it month by month until this debt is all gone.  My goals for April are as follows: [Read more…]

March 2017 Debt Elimination Update

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How much debt did we pay off?

It is almost the end of the month and time to add up our numbers.  With only two days remaining this month, I highly doubt anything more will be sent to our debt.  Should we do so (hey, you never know!) I’ll tack it on our April update.  My goal for March was to reduce our Baby Step 2 debt by $1,000.  We came ever so close!  Try as I might, I simply could not squeeze anything else in our budget to help us reach that number.  So, how much debt did we pay off in March? [Read more…]

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