We are Giving Our Finances to God

Taking control over your finances is a life altering.  Everyone wants a piece of their life that they can control and one's financial status and how their money is spent gives people a sense of control.

My husband and I have been working on our financial situation for 2 years now, but not once have a let God take control of our financial situation.  This is scary because I feel like I am losing the control of my money.  But after working on our budget for 2 years, we don't have much to show for a debt pay-off besides paying Ryne's student loans.  To some, that might seem like a great accomplishment, but if we would have stuck to our plan, we should only have three years left, and all our student loans would have been paid off. And, we are not there.

It is time for us to let go of our control and give it to God.  When I created our budget in December for January, I forgot to plan for our title licenses for our vehicles and for some dental work that Roarie has to have done, so now we have to add this to our budget.  Roarie is having her dental work done Tuesday, and we have to pay for it up front. This is an expense that is a one time fee, but now I know to set aside money for in the future.  

Because of this, I have to rearrange our budget.  This makes me very nervous because then we have to cut out from another budget.  But by putting my faith in the Lord, he reminds me:

        "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body,           what you will put on.  For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing." 

                                                                                                                            Luke 12:28-31

I have to remind myself every day that God will provide. 

         

         "And my God will supply all your need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

                                                                                                                           Philippians 4:19

What will you do with your Tax Refund?

As Ryne and I prepare our taxes, we are in debt of what we should do with our tax refund.  Last year, we used our return to put on a down payment of a new vehicle.  The year before we used that money to go on vacation.  This year is a different story.

As we look at our financial situation and the debt we owe, we are just tired of owing others.  We want to be debt free and be financially comfortable.  We have a couple of options of what we can do, but no matter what it is, we are going to pay off something.

Once have one of our debts paid off, we will be looking at putting that money into a Snowball Effect. We have two two serious options that we are looking a 1. the monthly payment is $43 or 2. the monthly payment is $125.  A no-brainer would be saying pay off the $125 debt.  Well, it will all depend on the amount of refund.  The payoff of the $125 dollar debt is twice the amount of the $43 debt.

Regardless, we will have $43 or $125 to put in toward our next debt that we would like to pay off. The challenge is to make sure that money with going towards debt, not other daily expense. One trick that I use it on my budget form is to add the overage, in this case, $43 or $125, and add it to the monthly minimum right away.

I know that I am just excited to get something paid off,  A small accomplishment can make a huge weight feel like it came off our shoulders.

DIY Gymnastics Bar

Last summer, as a fun activity, I put my girls in gymnastics.  Little did I know that they would love it. I could not pull them out or it because they looked forward to it every week and it gives them something to do.

Putting them Keelie and Roarie in gymnastics I have seen many changes in them.  Roarie, 4-year-old,  has gained confidence in herself.  Before she would always say, "I can't do it."  But now she tries new things and gets back up and tries again if she doesn't do it right.  She is somewhat of a perfectionist and wants to do it right the first time, so her failing is made her a better person.   Keelie, 2 years old, she is pretty fearless when it comes to trying new things. The balance beam is Keelie's biggest fear.  She can walk straight but walking backward or sideways she thinks she needs help.
Both girls have learned strength.  Roarie is now able to do what is called "straight arm"  and is learn some other movements

 Since the girls love doing gymnastics, they have been using the big love sack as a "pit" to do flip, our little trampoline to practice different jumps, and now they have a bar to practice doing swings and flips.

Ryne and I spent some time over this Christmas break putting this together.  We used

4- 8ft 2x4
2- 8ft 2x6
1- 72" 1 1/4" dowl

I cut the wood.  All the 2x4s were cut to 4 feet in length. Then I cut the ends of 4 of the 2x4s at a 45-degree angle.  It was only my second time ever using a miter saw, so my cuts aren't perfect, but they got the job done.

The 2x6s were cut to the length of 82 inches long.  With just a guestimation that is how long I cut them and it is the perfect length

The 72" dowel was cut down to 48".

I have a fear of screwdrivers.  So I let Ryne predrill and put in screws into all of the pieces of wood. We tried just screwing the screws without drilling first, and that did not work well.  The pieces of wood were sliding around and did not align as they should.

Ryne also had to buy a new screwdriver because the Black & Decker we had was not powerful enough.  So he when went to Lowes and got Porter Cable an impact and a regular drill.  They worked really well and got the job done quickly.

Ryne measured about a down to drill 1 1/4" notch into the wood for the dowel to fit.

As the where Ryne put in the screws, well he put them where ever he felt would be the most sturdy.  He predrilled down at an angle to set the holes and then put screws in the wood.

We did put in a 2x4 going a cross to hold that frame together for alittle added stability.  We also have a couple of memory foam pads under the blanket to give a little padding to the floor.

We did not have much of a plan for this Gymnastics bar.  I found a sample of one from Pinterest.