It's Been Awhile!

It's been awhile since I've posted here but I think it's time I came back. :)

In the past five months we have seen more than our fair share of Mr. Murphy and we are more determined than ever to kick him out for good!

Now, what makes us so determined?  Little Bean #3 will be joining us in April!

Here's the trouble though:  DH is currently only making minimum wage and while I'm still serving tables 35 hours a week, my business from home isn't quite profiting yet to add to our income.  We're back to Baby Step Zero and trying to get current on our monthly bills.  Our Baby Emergency Fund is E-M-P-T-Y and our only cushion is the $300 in our lovely Jar.

We do have a few slivers of hope though:

• DH is on the hunt for a "Big Boy" job.  A lovely friend created the greatest resume I have ever seen for him (Thanks, Christy!) and he's been sending it out non-stop ever since.  He has a lead and a foot in the door with a company he really wants to work with and will hopefully interview with them next week sometime.  And as a back-up plan, DH has been talking with a couple recruiters about going active duty.
• We have finally gotten a good grasp on meal planning.  It took a few months but I have finally come up with a system that works for us.  Expect to hear more about this in a future post!
• We finally have a handle on the biggest areas of spending that trouble us: eating out and "random" spending.  The meal plan has really curbed our eating out and being flat broke has taught us that spending really isn't that fun.  It also helps that our schedules have been so busy and conflicting that we haven't even had time for either of those activities!

I'm hoping that posting here will help keep us accountable as we try to climb our way out of this hole!

Ready for the stats?
Baby Step Zero: Catch up on all past due bills: Current Total $2225.19!  Yes, I know, it's scary.  I want to hide under the covers every time I see those numbers; BUT hiding under the covers isn't going to get us out of this mess!

The Jar: $323.80  This is our "cushion" account.  We don't classify it with our Baby Emergency Fund, but it's there for us when the fuel tank and the bank account are both on E or for any other small emergency comes up.  It's not much, but DH and I both feel better knowing it's there.  


So why not accompany us on this journey to meet our financial goals and change our family tree!

By April we plan to:

• Significantly increase our income.
• Be able to comfortably live within our means.
• Save $2000. 
• Be able to afford a second vehicle.
• Be able to afford a move to a bigger house.

Would you like to join us in making some financial goals to reach by Tax Day 2012?  Share them with us!