Rainbow Braces

Phase One of Jersey #2's orthodontic treatment has begun.

We are visiting the Orthodontist 5 times in 5 weeks.  What an adventure!

The first visit was for me to take a very large chunk out of our Health Savings Account, and pay a down payment for the treatment.  I will just pause for a moment and Praise God for that HSA!  We started this account two years ago, when The Referee began a job that offered one.  The first year, we did not fund it to the full extent we actually needed, and came up short.  (I think that lesson has plagued us for years---not really realizing the full extent of healthcare expenses we need to budget, and coming up short).  This year, we thought we were much smarter to plan for our expenses.  Not only did we think we had enough money coming out of The Referee's paychecks, and into the HSA, to cover our healthcare expenses, but we thought we had planned for a little extra.  Wrong!  We did not plan for orthodontics to begin this year.  (We also did not plan for me needing a root canal this year---what a VERY EXPENSIVE dental procedure to try to save a tooth!)

Such is life.

...at least for us.

But, we did have that extra in the HSA, so the down payment was made, and the monthly payment plan was set up.  And, the crown I need, myself, will have to wait until January, when it is a new HSA year of funds (an amount that we will be increasing during the next open enrollment).  I have finally learned to not add credit card debt anymore.  (Yes, Dave Ramsey has changed my life!)  

Money matters aside, Jersey #1 also had impressions made during that first visit, and various other measurements taken.  Spacers were fitted between her back teeth, to make some room between her molars to hold the bands that hold the expander.  She was briefed about how she could no longer eat sticky foods (caramel, Starbursts, etc), or else the spacers would be pulled out.

I was briefed that if her spacers came out before the week was up, she needed to return and get them replaced. 

Sure enough, a spacer came out.  She wiggled it out with her tongue.

On a Saturday night.

I just knew this was going to mess up the whole orthodontic schedule.

I was on the phone with the Orthodontist's office when they opened Monday morning.  Jersey #2 was given an appointment to return on Tuesday morning to have the spacer replaced.  Thankfully, her Wednesday appointment would not be affected, and the full schedule could progress.

Of course, every single one of these visits requires a very large dose of Amoxicillin to protect her heart.  (Antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent Endocarditis).  At least I remembered to talk to the Pharmacist in advance, and learned that the bottle could last in the fridge for 14 days, leaving me with plenty on hand for these unplanned dental appointments.    

The Wednesday appointment was a big one.  It was suppose to last 2 hours.  I secured childcare for my youngin's, so I could devote my attention to the appointment with Jersey #2.  This appointment involved more measurements, placing brackets around those molars, taking more impressions for the expander device (with the brackets on the molars), and adding braces on 6 front teeth.  

There was also a big discussion about how teeth cleaning habits had to be modified to accommodate the braces and expander.  Jersey #2 was given a big bag of goodies to get things started right now.  She is to brush her teeth 3 times a day (instead of just 2 times), and for 3 minutes at a time (instead of the previous 2 minutes).  Plus, she is to add a fluoride treatment at night.  The list of banned foods was increased to include hard foods and hard objects (no chewing on pencils), and excessive sugary drinks/foods (no soda or bubble gum).  

The dental assistant informed Jersey #2 that she could pick up to 3 colors of rubber bands for her braces each time she visits.  She knew she was getting 6 braces, so she was planning to pick 6 colors of the rainbow.  Her favorite color is still "rainbow."  So, I asked the assistant if she would be willing to do the rainbow for this first visit only.  I was prepared to throw in the "it's her birthday next week" comment too, but that was not necessary.  The assistant immediately agreed, then leaned in and told Jersey #2 that if she asked nicely, the other assistants would probably be willing to do the rainbow for future visits too.  

The Orthodontist commented that Jersey #2 is a "great patient!"  I found that amusing.  I suggested that she has had a lot of practice being a patient.  He agreed.  I let him know that she was intrigued by his office, and all the new procedures, tools, posters, and gadgets he had all around.  She is a curious child, so she was using any down time to peek around and check things out.  

She has also taken the baton for questions.  Typically, The Referee and I are the ones who ask a slew of questions about every treatment and procedure.  For this Orthodontic treatment plan, Jersey #2 is making the Orthodontist and his assistants explain every single tool and procedure, before they do it.  She is drilling them with questions, and I am just sitting back listening and observing.  She really is a great patient.  She has already learned some skills on advocating for her own health.  She also questions them further if a suggested treatment does not seem necessary to her.  When they went to take an additional impression of her jaw, she made them explain why they needed a 3rd, when she only had 2 jaws.  I don't think they are accustomed to having a child interact with them like that.  I have been totally impressed by the way they take the time to explain everything, with joy.  So far, it seems they are happy to share more details about their job, with their patient who has such an inquisitive mind.  

It turned out that the 2 hour appointment only took 1 hour.  Jersey #2 really is a great patient.  Her cooperation made a big difference in their efficiency.  She left the office smiling from ear to ear with rainbow braces.

 

Chore Chart

The kids are earning money! This picture is from their first pay day. They were quite excited about it.

We are following the recommendation of our financial adviser, Dave Ramsey, and paying the kids a commission for working their assigned chores each week. It is not an allowance. Dave says that allowance is like welfare. He calls it commission, because they have to earn the money in order to receive it. That concept reminds me of something my Mom always says, "You don't work, you don't eat." My Mom is a big advocate of working hard and earning your way. I want my children to learn the wisdom of this principle as well.

I also want a cleaner house. So, I will secretly admit that one of my biggest inspirations to starting this chores/commission path was my own personal gain. I decided to start with the new school year. I designed a chore chart. I listed out a handful of chores for each child, based on age and ability. I am hoping the list will serve as a good template for what the kids should be doing each day, and the money will be the motivation to keep working at it.

Each child has the chore of making their bed, cleaning their bedroom, brushing their teeth, and picking up their things from around the house. The older kids have rotating chores as well. The rotating chores involve the cleaning of one room....the schoolroom or bathroom, for example. They are assigned that chore for 1 month, and then it will rotate off their chart and a new chore will rotate in. I am hoping that I will be able to teach them how to properly clean that chore item initially, and then they will maintain it without my assistance for the rest of the month.

So far so good. We have been utilizing the chore chart for 2 weeks. The biggest improvement I have noticed is that the bedroom floors are much more visible every day, and the kids' stuff is not all over the living room. It has been nice to have help with some of the other chores, like vacuuming and wiping down the kids' bathroom. Overall, the house has been cleaner. I pick 2 days out of the week that the kids have to complete their rotating chores, so that everything is cleaned thoroughly. I even gave one child the chore of cleaning doorknobs around the house, in an attempt to cut down on the spread of germs.

The commission prices average about 25 cents per chore. That is pretty low, but it is a start. I am expecting the prices to increase as the kids get better at their chores, and as the family budget is better equipped to pay them. Right now, the kids are pleased. They are learning about money...learning about saving, giving, and spending. We have even had a discussion about sales tax.

We have already had the experience of a child not completing all his chores, and not receiving all the commission. That is a tough lesson, but it was quickly learned. Jersey #3 is ready to tackle his chores this week, with much more enthusiasm.

Jersey #2 is the most money motivated of our children. She has been paying real close attention to my bedroom inspections, and working hard to keep her room cleaned up, and her rotating chores completed. She does not want to miss out on a single penny of her commission.

Jersey #1 has started asking to help out even more. She was eager to learn how to wash a load of her own laundry. I quickly complied with that lesson, and praised her for her efforts. Then, I made a mental note to start teaching each of the children to wash their own laundry when they turn 8 years old too. (That way, I only have 6 more years of doing kid laundry!)

The schoolroom is a big chore. The kids come and go, and leave messes all over. Jersey #1 was dreading that rotating chore on her list. I totally understood that. So, I empowered her with the authority to call back her siblings who made the mess, to have them clean up after themselves. She is asked to help the youngest two siblings clean up, in an attempt to train them (and I make sure they work with her), but her older two siblings must return to the room and clean up their mess when she asks. All of a sudden, those rotating chores took on a new look.

When the kids were able to remind their siblings to clean up the messes they made...instead of having to clean up after their siblings....suddenly everyone starting doing a better job cleaning up after themselves. That improvement alone has been worth every effort I put into this process.

Food & Finances Friday

Last summer, we made the commitment to manage our finances according to Biblical principles. We read books, and listened to broadcasts from both Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial Ministries. We listened to their advice, and started making drastic changes to the way we viewed money matters. One of the biggest changes we made was to shred all of our credit cards and become free of debt.

(It is actually going to take us a couple more years to be entirely rid of our existing debt load, but we are moving steadily forward in the right direction).

We do not acquire new debt. We save. We budget. We plan. We pay cash. We assess needs versus wants. It is a whole new way of living for us.

It is working GREAT!

One of the ways we cut major expenses was to stop eating out at restaurants and fast food, and instead cook at home. That meant I had to learn to cook. I have not been very skilled in this area, so I have had quite a learning curve. I have finally gotten to the point of being able to make tasty meals on a regular basis, and even preparing meals for others when needed.

We are impressed with ourselves right now. But, we are even more impressed with God. He has blessed us beyond measure. Our church family, our extended family, and our friends rallied around us and gave generously to help us out with all of our travel expenses for Jersey #2's surgery. We started out with a budgeted amount in mind that we needed to save up to cover the expenses. We were given that EXACT amount by other folks. All of our needs were met....just like the Bible says....But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

In addition, our church family has filled our freezer full of meals and continues to bring meals to the house. It is such a blessing to be able to unwind from the recent stresses and not have to worry about meal preparation or grocery shopping. The ladies from our church have really taught me that there are many, many meals that can be prepped in advance and frozen for later. I had no idea such menu options existed.

I have been re-working our household budget now that life is taking a calmer course once again. The Referee and I have been discussing our priorities for our family, making plans, and making changes to the budgeting categories.

One area I hope to improve upon is the level of financial assistance we can offer to other folks going through challenges. I thought we were fairly generous before, but I was shown a whole new level. I was so humbled by the number of folks who gave us money, in addition to tithing regularly to their church. That is generosity at its best.

The next area I hope to improve upon is preparing more meals for folks who are going through challenges. No matter how big or how small the life challenge, a meal can really ease a burden. Everyone needs to eat. So, a prepared meal can be a real show of love.

We have just received an outpouring of love and blessings from our community, in the exact areas where we have been working hard to improve...food and finances. It seems our efforts have been greatly rewarded. And, our eyes have been opened to just how helpful those things can be to a family in crisis.

Our next step is to pay it forward...

Food & Finances Friday--Credit Card Debt

I really thought we had endured all of the games that the credit card industry play. I was wrong. They are at it again. Last Fall, we dealt with a series of interest rate increases, credit line decreases, minimum payment increases, and random changes of the payment due date. These were all attempts from the credit card companies to get more fees out of us, in anticipation of the changing laws dampening their business. Those laws took effect in February. Now, they are playing new games.

We have a signature loan debt with a company that also offers credit cards. The account statement this month showed a payment that was much larger than the "fixed" payment we have had for the past couple years. I called to inquire about what suddenly changed.

The first account assistant could not figure it out. He looked over our account and saw that the payments have always been on time. The interest rate had not changed. There were no additional fees. So, he transferred me to someone else.

The next assistant to get on the phone took a while looking through our account. She finally blamed the government. I actually laughed out loud at that response. She explained to me that the new laws require them to set payments to the extent that credit cards could be paid off in a "reasonable time," which she casually said was 8 years. I informed her that we were speaking of a loan, not a credit card, and the loan was specifically set up for 8 years, with a fixed interest rate and payment. She stumbled over her words, and tried to blame the government some more.

After she realized I was not going to accept her faulty information, she changed gears and informed me that the first assistant had actually transferred me to the "hardship" department. She said she would be willing to look and see if there was any way she could change the payment based on hardship. I was curious about what options were available, so I let her try.

We spent a few minutes going over details of our income and expenses. I shared that The Referee was going to be on furlough by the end of the week. She gasped at the amount we spend on medical expenses. She took the info and ran it across the system and came back with a slightly smaller payment, and a referral to a consumer credit counseling service.

That was an interesting response.

I let her transfer me to the credit counseling service rep, more out of curiosity. Since I am not sure how long we will have paychecks to pay our bills, I thought it would be good to know what the next step is in the process. I know of 1 friend who used a credit counseling service years ago, so I already had a bit of an idea of what they were about.

What I learned was that they have nothing to offer us.

When someone signs on with a credit counseling service, they go through an assessment of their budget with a financial adviser. The service then sets up a monthly payment that the consumer pays to the service, and the service distributes the payment to all the creditors. This service is for unsecured debt. The service also charges a fee, somewhere between $10-$50, depending on what state you are in. The service claims to talk to the creditors and get a decreased interest rate and payment, in an attempt to pay off the balances sooner. The consumer is encouraged to close up the credit cards and no longer use them. With this service, credit card debt is paid off in 3-5 years.

I explained to the rep that we had already shredded all of our credit cards. We are paying on them every month, in an attempt to pay them off. The payment schedule we are using will pay off our debts in less than the 3-5 years offered. (We are following Dave Ramsey's plan, which does just about the same thing, without the fee!)

I explained that we were talking about a hypothetical situation anyway, because if the paycheck goes away, there will be no money to make credit card payments. That is when the rep recommended that I call back to the internal hardship department of that credit card company. She shared with me that they are able to do much more for their customers, but tend to transfer them to consumer credit counseling as a way to brush them off and get someone else to deal with them. She assured me that the company has many other means for dealing with my debt and circumstances. I find that very interesting.

I have not pursued it anymore so far. Right now, we have the paychecks to cover the payments, so our accounts remain current. If that status changes, I will deal with it then.

Food & Finances Friday--Debt Snowball

OUR DEBT SNOWBALL IS GROWING!!!

A debt snowball is the collection of "extra" money from our budget that we can apply toward paying off debt. I believe the term was created by Dave Ramsey, and is part of his Baby Steps plan for achieving financial peace. Paying off debt is Baby Step 2 in his plan. That is the step we are on.

We have been gathering snowflakes of money together, in an attempt to pay down our debts for the past 8 months. We shredded our credit cards last July, and made the commitment to become debt free. It has been a slower process than I wanted. There were so many unexpected expenses along the way, that really thwarted our efforts. It took us a while to even recognize where our biggest budget problem (medical expenses) was in the first place. Even when we finally got our budget to a workable level, every extra penny we can find has been going into savings toward expenses for Jersey #2's upcoming heart surgery.

Just making the change to not acquiring new debt has already moved us in the right direction. Even paying just the minimum payments, the debt balance goes down. It just takes a really long time. Now that the new credit card laws are in effect, the statements we receive in the mail are telling exactly how many years (or decades) it will take us to pay off our accounts if we only pay the minimum payment each month. So, we are moving along the right path, one snowflake at a time.

Six weeks ago, The Referee took on a weekend job driving a tourist shuttle. He makes a nice commission for each driving run he does, plus any tips that may be given. He has worked hard every weekend, and some late evenings or early mornings during the week. We decided to put his tip money into savings and apply the commission checks right to our debt snowball, attacking the first credit card on our list.

The commission checks arrive once a month. I have had the joy of getting to write checks out twice now, to make extra payments to our credit card balance. Since The Referee worked every weekend in February, that commission check achieved snowball status, not just snowflake!

It was just the inspiration I needed to keep moving forward, up this challenging financial hill.

For the Love of Family

This is what happens when your Mom reads your blog, especially the posts about the challenges at the beginning of our financial journey to become debt free....

In hindsight, I probably should have explained to my Mom, in advance, that a blog was a personal journal with public viewing. It is not a cry for help!

All of a sudden, she was ready to send us money and food...whatever we needed. She asked me why I didn't tell my parents we were struggling, and ask for help? After a few phone calls of reassurance, an exchange of emails, and gratitude for all of her generosity, I thought I had convinced my Mom that we are not suffering or starving. She still brought a ton of food and gifts at Christmas time....some planned, and some "just to help." These T-shirts were to remind us to laugh when life got tough.

We are completely re-vamping the way we manage money, so that we can become debt free, build wealth, and be better stewards of the income we are blessed with. I was simply writing about the journey in my blog.

Rest assured, that we are making ends meet. We have food, clothing, shelter, utilities, and transportation...along with a steady income and insurance....the basics are all covered. We pay our bills on time and are current with all creditors. After that, we are tackling the messy financial mistakes. There is a learning curve, or else we would not be in the situation we are in. We had to change the way we thought about spending. We have to learn how to track and operate a working budget. We had to change our behavior patterns. We had to cut back and live below our means.

We have read different financial books and websites, and even attended a seminar. We like Dave Ramsey's style, so we are following his Baby Steps program. He assures his fans that folks will think we are crazy to be so intent on living debt free.

He did not warn me that I would scare my Mama!!!!

Food & Finances Friday--What am I missing?

The Referee & I had to sit down and have another financial brainstorming session recently. We appear to be leaking funds, which was straining our budget. We wanted to find the source of the problem and mend it. It has been just over 3 months since we started getting extremely serious about our budget. We shredded the credit cards the end of July, breaking the debt cycle completely. No new debt. We made the commitment to live entirely within our means.

Obviously, we would not be in the financial mess we are in, if we had applied any number of common sense principles to our money from the start. Since we lacked that common sense, we chose to listen to and study the principles laid out in the Crown Money Map, and Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. We were convinced by their logic that it was in our best interest to lower our standard of living and work hard to get out of debt. And, that is just what we have been trying to do.

The first step to breaking the debt cycle was to set up an emergency fund of $1000 in a savings account. It seems that the vast majority of unexpected expenses cost less than $1000. That has held pretty true for us. We have certainly had a series of unexpected expenses too.....the death of a dog, car repairs, plumbing, more car repairs, dental work, etc. Our emergency fund has served us well to enable us to pay cash for these expenses, instead of adding credit card debt. Looking back over the past quarter, I'd say that this emergency fund step has proven successful.

The second step is to apply every extra penny we can squeeze out of our budget, to the existing credit card debt. This was the step that I was so very anxious to tackle, at the time that we shredded those cards. I could not wait to knock off those debts and be rid of them. We brainstormed a list of ideas for how to build a "snowball" of money to put towards the debt. We sold things in a yard sale, on Craig's List, and on Ebay. We lowered our food and gas expenses, cut out some activities, and made a series of lifestyle changes to reduce costs.

Our intensity was good. But, it did not have the effect that I was hoping. It has been a much slower process than I'd prefer. Coincidentally, at this very time that we were cutting costs to add money to the debt payments, those very debt payments were increasing due to various credit card company games (increased interest rates, increased minimum payments, etc). Thankfully, our efforts were enough to allow us to remain current with all of our creditors....and to have a tiny bit of extra to pay on the principle. I do not know how other debtors are handling this credit card madness right now! Every time we have to dip into our emergency fund, we divert the "extra" funds away from our debt snowball, until our emergency fund is fully funded once again. Even though I know this system works, it still frustrates me that the debt is just not going down faster!

Lately, it seems to be a challenge just to keep our emergency fund fully funded. That is what inspired a new brainstorming session. Surely we must be doing something wrong, if we are dipping into our emergency fund so frequently. What am I missing?

Medical.

We found the answer--medical expenses. We have been bombarded with doctor-related expenses and dentist-related expenses lately. That assault is not going to ease up anytime soon (and I won't even start stressing about how negatively we are going to be hit by the health care legislation the government is currently pushing). Our week of family flu cost us $100, just in office visit copays and prescriptions. We have fairly decent insurance coverage, compared to what's currently available. Even so, the 10% we pay for medical procedures really adds up when we are talking about the field of cardiology. The 20% we pay for dental work really adds up when two kids need work on at least 2 teeth each. I have not yet figured out the math on prescriptions. (My experience has been that if we have the funds, our copay on prescriptions is small. If we are low on funds, those prescription copays are huge!)

I've paid at least $600 in dental bills last month, with a possibility of more to be billed soon (after we see what the insurance is willing to pay). The compilation of bills that have arrived from the 1 cardiology check-up in August, has tallied over $300 already. (I flinch at the thought of what the bills will look like from that MRI procedure last month....those bills have not started pouring in yet). Add that to the $100 flu, and $40 in copays for well-child visits, and I literally wrote checks to cover over $1000 worth of medical bills in one month!

It is easy for me to see where our monthly budget plan is falling short. I budgeted $80. I spent $1040. Um, yeah, that math does not equate!

It was easy for the Referee to see how we've gotten into so much debt. He was thinking eating out and impulse buying can only get us so far.....especially considering we've been steadily cutting down on those behaviors over time. In the past, before we established an emergency fund, we would simply charge the credit cards with all of those "extra" medical expenses that did not fit into our budget.

Ouch! That really adds up. $20 copays every time we visit the doctor. A $600 annual deductible that we meet faithfully every year, before the insurance will kick in and pay its portion of the expenses. 10% of all medical expenses. 20-50% of all dental expenses. 10-30% of prescription costs. All that on top of our portion of the insurance premiums that the employer takes out before the paycheck arrives.

For the average, healthy family, these percentages would not be so expensive. For us, these percentages are a blessing, especially considering our complete lack of alternative insurance options. The Referee has been willing to deny himself certain career options in order to work for companies who can offer us this insurance. Our budget looks at these percentages and screams CARDIOLOGY IS EXPENSIVE! We have been willing to pay higher percentages, in order to receive a certain quality of care for our children. Investing in our family's health like this, carries a large price tag.

Somehow, we need to find a way to fit that price into our budget. With a heart surgery looming in our future, the numbers are going to go up for a while, before they can come down again. That is our reality, and there is no sense in whining about it.

During our brainstorming session, The Referee and I approached the situation from 2 very different directions. I took the emotional route, and advertised our need to back off from being disappointed that the debt is not reducing fast enough.....and replace that with praise for the debt still decreasing slowly, when our circumstances would suggest it should increase. I realize now that I need to keep cheering us on for breaking the debt cycle, and staying committed to that!

The Referee took a more calculated approach and declared that we need more income in the short term.....and we need to consider looking for a way to get better medical coverage in the long term. Since the long term ideas involve job change and possible relocation, those are on hold until surgery is complete, and the impact of the government's actions are known. For the short term goal, we are seeking additional employment, tightening the purse strings even more, and looking for more junk to sell off.

We must increase the medical line item in our budget.

Food & Finances Friday--Emergency Fund

I am a big fan of the financial advice I have heard from both Crown Financial Ministries, and Dave Ramsey. Their methods of getting a grip on our finances are tried and true. I have studied lessons from Crown for years. My husband finally got on board when we listened to one of Dave Ramsey's CDs. Their styles are a bit different. As a friend explained, Crown will hold your hand and encourage you through the journey.....Dave Ramsey will come at you with a brick!

Both resources list their first step to set up $1000 as an emergency fund. This fund will help eliminate the use of credit cards, because when an unexpected expense shows up, there will be cash to cover it. Unexpected expenses will arise. Trust me. It was not long after we set up a savings account funded with that $1000, that the dog became deathly ill and had to be put down. In the past, we would have managed that expense with a credit card. This time, we withdrew the amount from our emergency fund. We now work to put every extra penny we can find back into that emergency fund until it is funded at $1000 again.

A degree of stress is reduced when this emergency fund is in place. It is comforting to learn that emergencies do not have to become a financial crisis.

Food & Finances Friday--Purge the Junk

I have been on a mission this summer--a mission to purge the junk from our house. We have a lot of junk. We've been caught up in the materialism mind-set, along with the fact that we are pack rats. That is a dangerous combination...we buy it and keep it along time...and that adds up to a lot of junk!

I joke that I am a recovering pack rat. A few years ago I decided that all of this stuff in our house was cluttering up the place, and was cluttering up our finances, so it was really unnecessary. I suggested to my husband that if we purged most of the stuff from our house, it would be much easier to clean and care for, freeing me up for more important and enjoyable activities with the family.

Last summer I met a family whose home was destroyed by flood. As I listened to them describe that experience, it dawned on me that they had to run for their lives with just the basics of life...their health, and a change of clothes, and a handful of their most prized possessions. They inspired me to start thinking about what was most important in my life. If my home was flooded, or if we died today, how big of a mess of junk would be left behind to clean up? Suddenly, all that stuff did not seem as important.

Shortly after, I met a couple who was taking a leap of faith and going out to the mission field. They were leaving behind their nice home, job, and social life, to work for the Lord in a much more desolate environment. They spoke of yard sales and getting rid of most of their possessions, only packing and hauling the very basics they would need to live. I was impressed!

I have been inspired to go through our entire house and purge every room and closet of all that unnecessary stuff. I am not quite ready to live in the mission field. Thankfully, I am not dealing with a flood or a natural disaster. I am able to clean out the clutter from my life, and free myself up to enjoy the more important things. I value time with my family, outings, activities, and birthday parties! I do not value cleaning house or complaining about the clutter and junk left out all the time. I have let go of my packrat tendnecies, and I am starting to focus on what REALLY matters to me. I am much happier for it!

Then, in perfect timing, I started listening to a CD of Dave Ramsey talking about how to dump debt. He says "Sell so much stuff the kids think they're next. Name the dog 'Ebay'!" I was inspired to hold a big yard sale by the end of this summer, after purging our entire house of junk. As my husband and I cleared and purged, we would quote Dave Ramsey to each other, and laugh. It worked! We emptied a drive-way full of stuff out of our house, and sold it in a big yard sale last weekend. Towards the end of the day, we were practically giving the junk away. At the very end, we loaded up the rest and donated it to a thrift store.

Nothing came back into the house!