New Year and Finances. . .

I am curious how everyone is doing with their financial goals and if anyone is still doing the Dave Ramsey plan I posted about last year.  If you are new to the blog, Dave Ramsey is a financial "guru" that says you should not use credit cards and to pay cash for everything.  The hubby and I have been doing his plan for many years.  I read all of his books and followed Dave for many years before I actually took his class, Financial Peace University.  I have to give a shout out to Beth Cotell for inviting me to the class she was taking.  A huge thank you!!  
There is a lot of free information out there for anyone looking for financial help but, be careful who you take advice from.  You would not want to take advice from a financial person that is broke, right?  Dave Ramsey is a millionaire and has been bankrupt too, so I feel like he has the credibility to teach me what to do and what not to do.  The information I share on this subject is Dave's and I give him all the credit.  I am not being compensated by Dave for writing this either.  I truly believe in what he says and how he approaches money matters.
One of the things that I really like about Dave's approach is, he not only uses a mathematical approach but a biblical approach too.  He incorporates what the Bible has to say about financial matters into his teachings and I love it.  His budget system is the first one that I have seen that put giving at the top over and above anything else.   Giving to others is so important in this day and age of the self-involved and self-centered society that we live in.   The hubbs and I have always given to our Church and other charities even when we did not have very much we still gave.
I am very proud to say that with the help of Dave's plan and his cash envelope system we are debt free and have been for two years, except for our house.  We are paying it down though with great speed and we are also saving for College for the boys too.   There are lots of options to save for college; there is the 529 if you are in North Carolina, Roth IRA, and I know that other states have savings plans for in state tuition.   If you are going to do the 529 and you have two or more kids you only need to do one 529.  Put the account in your oldest child's name and if for some reason that child does not need that money then it can be passed to the younger children and even to the parents if they want to go back to school.    These are all good ways to save for college and let's face it, College is not getting any cheaper.
Please check out Dave at www.daveramsey.com and you can follow him on Facebook too.

More Hotcakes. . .

I love my new devotional book "Hotcakes and Hallelujahs"  today I was reading the part about a new beginning.  The verse that begins this sections is 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are new."  This is so appropriate at the beginning of a new year.  You take stock in your life, what things you would like to change or stop doing all together.  There may even be things that you would like to do more of, like growing your relationship with God.  Spending more time in prayerful conversation with God.
I have to share this with you about my Ethics class I am taking for school.  We were talking about what ethical system drives you.  I picked religion, because that is the basis of my life.  I had a young man question how I could blindly follow something I could not see or touch.  He was attacking my faith, but I did not get offended, he obviously did not know any better and was repeating what ever he had heard from someone else.  Again, I was not offended, I took this as an opportunity to witness to this young man that was obviously confused.  He thought it was insane for someone to "claim" to walk and talk with God.   I shared with him the fact that I carried my two boys in my body and gave birth to them was all the proof I needed to know that God was real and that he was working in my life.  I see God in my everyday life, I journal my prayers for my family and when I go back and look at them I can see exactly where God stepped in and moved us along.  We had an interesting discussion on this subject of religion.  I do not know if I made a difference or not with this fella but he has been added to my prayer list.  I know that God puts people in your life for a reason, whether to teach you a lesson or for you to teach them.  I feel like this fella is the later.
How would you feel if someone said these things to  you?  Would you be offended or would you take the opportunity to witness?  Let me know what you are thinking.

Hurry up and wait. . .

Spent an entire afternoon with the hubbs at the eye doctor the other day.  He has a really bad cataract on one eye and they are finally going to do something about it.   He spends 90% of his work day driving and between car lights and sun light he has a terrible time being able to see.   They gave him his eye test and said, without looking at the cataract that it was not bad enough to perform the surgery.   Now let us just think about all this, just for a moment.  He is sitting in a well lit room and reading an eye chart, that is a far cry from driving down the road with lights and sun glare coming at you.   My hubby is quite prideful at times and he had been squinting and tilting his head so he could read those charts and that is the whole problem.   The doctor looked at the cataract and could not believe he did as well as he did on the eye test because of how bad the cataract is.  The doctor could not get a true reading because of my stubborn hubby.  This is why wives need to go with their husbands to appointments like this.  I told the doctor about what was really going on and he did a little test that simulated night time and car head lights coming at you and my dear hubby could not see a thing.   So thankful for tricky doctors to get around those stubborn husbands.
He had his surgery this morning and did well.  They hope he will not even need his contact in that eye.   We will know more tomorrow at his follow up appointment.  He looked a little odd after the surgery because his pupil was the size of an olive.  

School? Will we ever go back?

The hubbs had to go in today and he took the truck so, that means the boys and I are here till he gets home.  I am going a little stir crazy.  We have been home since Thursday last week due to snow.  They have been home since Monday last week with vacation and teacher work days.  
I love my boys but, they are at that stage of fussing and fighting with each other at every turn.  They are exhausting!   I am trying to keep them from letting their brains go to mush with the Xbox.  I have two of the hardest headed boys ever.
In only a few weeks I will be the mother of two teenagers.  Yes, Big T will be turning 13.  I am not ready for all of this testosterone.  They have already come to blows a couple of times.   I have sweet Basil to help add some estrogen back in the mix, but she can only help so much.  
Time sure does fly when it comes to the babies growing up.   I will end with a few shots of our snow Puggle.

Snow, Snow and More to Come. . .

I like the snow, I like to watch it snow, I do not drive in the snow unless it is absolutely necessary.  This is a picture outside my house of our bird feeder with all the birds surrounding it.  My hubby loves his birds and always makes sure they have plenty of food.   We are expecting more snow on through tomorrow.  Who knows how much we will end up with.  We are hunkered down for the big one.  I had to laugh this morning, the news lady was telling how to keep your kids entertained while they are stuck at home.  I laughed because I remember when I was little and it snowed, all I wanted to do was go out and play.   Sprat hates the cold and Big T can take it or leave it.  I only came in to eat and get dry clothes and go back out again.  If you need something to do with your kids here is a little thing my friend posted on Facebook.                                                                                                      

Ask you kids these questions without any prompting.                                                                                Here is how mine answered Sprat is 16 and Big T 12

1.  What is something I always say to you?                                                                                

S - Be quiet, Big T-  Be quiet and I love you    

2.  What makes me happy?                                                                                                          

                           S- peace and quiet, Big T- horses                                                                                      3.  What makes you sad?                                                                                                               

            S- when someone passes away, Big T - me arguing 

4.  How do I make you laugh?                                                                                                     

                                S- tell jokes and the fact that I did not get a cell phone till I was 16

Big T - tell jokes and show me cool stuff

5.  What was I like as a child?                                                                                                     

S- a redneck, Big T - nice and followed the rules

6.  How old am I?                                                                                                                          

S- 47, Big T 47  (the only reason they know this is because I just had a BD this past week)

7.  How tall am I?                                                                                                                          

S- 5' 4", Big T- 5' 8"                                                                          

8.  What is my favorite thing to do?                                                                                              

S- watch Roku, Big T- be with us kids                                                       

9.  What do I do when you're not around?                                                                                    

S- read, watch Roku, cook, and study      Big T- go to school and study

10.  What am I really good at?                                                                                                          

S- Cooking and being mom, Big T- riding horses

11.  What is something I am not good at?                                                                                         

S- no clue,  Big T - playing the Xbox

12.  What do I do for a job?                                                                                                                

S- stay at home mom, Big T- house wife                    

13.   What is my favorite food?                                                                                                          

S-  chocolate, Big T- sushi                                                 

14.  What do you enjoy doing with me?                                                                                            

S- going to the movies, Big T - going places                       

I must say I was a little surprised at some of their answers, try it and see how you come out.  I was surprised that my oldest thought I was good at being a mom.  Some days I feel like such a failure when it comes to that so this little task may make you feel better about what you are doing with your kids.  I may have to do this for my husband too, I wonder how his would turn out.    

Beware of Scams. . .

Let us talk phone sacams.  You probably know the one about the IRS.  They call and it is someone speaking with a harsh accent and they tell you they are with the IRS.  They do not say the Internal Revenue Service, which should be your first clue.  Next, the IRS does not call you about anything.  They send certified or registered letters.  They will never call you and ask for money over the phone.   I must say when I got that call many months ago a shiver went down my spine at the sound of "this is the IRS," that is what they want.  They want to scare you into sending them money.  Please, please, never send anyone money or give out your information over the phone.  These people are criminals and are praying on your fear.  If you are not home and they leave a message it is usually a mechanical sounding voice telling you to call a number or they will send the sheriff  to arrest you.  The IRS does not send your county officials to arrest anyone. 
Now they are calling saying they are Windows and they want to connect to your computer.  I am not sure what they expect to accomplish by getting on my computer other than maybe locking it up and holding it for ransom.   I have heard of this being done too.  They could also steal any pertinent financial information from your computer or even your identity.  These folks made a big mistake calling me this morning at 7am, especially since I was woken up at 5am to be told school was cancelled.   I ripped into this guy but good, he did not have a chance to get a word in.  He said hello and that he was from Windows and that was all it took.  I told him it was 7 am and that it was illegal to call before 9 am and that what he was doing was fraud and I was tracing his call.  I never did let him say what he wanted me to do.  I told him plenty of what I was going to do though.   Windows will not call you to assist you with your computer if you have not called them first. 
Please think before you act on such crazy phone calls, if it feels odd it probably is a scam.  If they say they are with your local government check the number, hang up and call the number that you know to be true.  Your local authorities are aware that these scumbags are out there and they would rather you call to confirm than call to file a report that you have been defrauded.   Please tell your friends, especially elderly family that could fall victim to such fraud.

What to Cook if it Snows?????

With predictions of snow in our immediate future I am thinking what can I fix in the crock pot.  Shocker!   Right?   I do love my crock pot.  I was skimming Pinterst last night to see what yummy things I could put in the Pot.   My hubby picked up a roast early this week and I put it in the freezer for just such a case.   I found a very interesting recipe for a balsamic roast.   There are many crock pot recipes out there for roast, but this one sounded very good to me.  I think the twang of vinegar and the little bit of sweet from the honey will be great.  I have a whole board on Pinterst dedicated to slow cooker recipes and that is where I found this one.  I had pinned it a long time ago.  This recipe is from Robyn Stone at Add a Pinch.  I will let you know how it turns out later this week.  

Here we go . . .

3-4 lb. boneless roast beef (chuck or round)

1 cup of beef broth

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1tbsp Worcestershire

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

4 cloves of garlic

Place your roast in the pot.  Mix your other ingredients together and pour over your roast.   Cook on high for 4 hours or low 6-8 hours.   When you are ready to eat, remove your roast to a serving dish and shred with two forks.  Then pour  the juice over your roast.  

In past posts I have left things out of my recipes but, I am pretty sure this one is correct.   Check out 

www.addapinch.com    to see other recipes.  

Until we eat again. . .