Money

  I have a confession. . . I am a nerd!  I love charts and lists and numbers and keeping track of things and organizing and thinking things through.  So this past month I decided we need to get serious about a budget.  We were married at 18 & 19 and never really thought about budgeting so we are now trying to crawl out of our youthful indiscretions.  We have tried to budget before but it never fully encompassed all the expenses that pop up.  So we would end up dipping into savings to cover things and having to wait until the next pay day to do something.

  Yes, we both have good jobs and a nice house and animals and cars, etc.  We have never really done without necessities, but we were not using our money wisely.  I was raised to believe God gives you these things it is not happenstance or fate.  And we should use it as a gift.  I believe I am a dental hygienist in an awesome office not by coincidence, but because that is where I am supposed to be.  I finished my schooling in Georgia and when we moved to New Mexico it wasn't even a factor that we thought about when choosing a place to live.  So to find an opening at a dental office in the mountains where the Dentist is generous and takes care of his staff and all of the staff is friendly and have proven to become some wonderful friends is not just luck.  Trav has had his job in the Air Force for our entire marriage and we have been grateful for that stability.  In times when people were loosing jobs and worrying about insurance we had the knowledge that we were ok.

  So, I got on our bank account and used the tool to chart our spending for the previous month.  I made lists of all the little things that take money out of our pockets, eating out, coffee, pet supplies, clothing, supplements and vitamins.  Anything I could think of.  I then started looking for some sort of way to keep track of all this information.  Through a friend I found out about a website called PearBudget ( https://pearbudget.com/?ref=chocolate-127571 ) where you can enter the income and the expenses and even those odd expenses that are not just once a month.  It was super easy to set up and they gave me a free month to try it out.  I was hooked!  I set up a quick link on my phone so I could see the balances and enter receipts, like gas, on the go. 

  We are on the second half of the first month of this budget, I know still early, but we are doing well.  I have put money into savings and pull out cash for certain categories and have successfully stayed within the budget for groceries, eating out, clothing, haircuts, etc.  With having to use cash it has made me think twice about spending money on things.  Glitches have been worked out during this first month so it will make it easier to bring Trav on board when he gets home. With Trav being gone right now we are hoping to be almost out from under the majority of our debt by the time he gets back, if he ever gets paid correctly that is.  He will be home soon and has still not been paid for actually being gone or for being promoted back in August.  Oh, finance you are the bain of my existence.  On the plus side we have wrangled our money without the extra income.  So once they finally figure out how to click the right button under his name it will be gravy.

  Being a grown up is hard and budgeting is not fun but with a little nerdy fun it can be done, I am hopeful we will continue on this path and will be using our money wisely as we are supposed to.

Farm life continues

  As we close in on the end of November I am amazed at how quickly times has flown by.  I have been busy with work and kiddos and the farm, family and friends visiting and a couple bouts of sickness for me and the kiddos.

  My Best friend Kristen came out to visit at the end of October.  It was wonderful to have her here, spending time just talking and shopping and watching movies in our Pjs.  There is something about a best friend, no matter how far away you are and how long you have gone without actually talking none of that matters.  They know you better than anyone else and in my case she has always shown me love and been there for me in prayer.  She has answered phone calls in the late night and early morning hours.  I am blessed to call her friend and love her very much.

 For Halloween we went to a trunk or treat on base a couple days before Halloween and ventured out Trick-or-Treating on the actual day.  Yes, I took Chloe and two friends and both boys out into town by myself.  It went pretty well, Kayden was totally into it and went up to the door with the girls, Ethan rode quietly in the stroller dressed as an elephant.  It started getting a bit cold and boys getting tired but we survived and the girls had fun and I felt very accomplished.

  We acquired a new cat this past month too.  I had been searching for a barn cat to help keep mice away but was worried about feral cats and little ones.  I was contacted by a lady on Facebook who had a friend of a friend who was having to leave and couldn't take her pets.  She said this cat is used to being outside and sweet. He was an instant hit.  Killed a mouse in the first two hours he was here and has no issues with horses or dogs.  He is very sweet and friendly, which is good because Chloe would have been heart broken if he wasn't.  Midnight kitty is now the newest addition to the Willingham farm.

  Veterans Day came and our sweet teens from church came out and helped me get the pile of wood that has been sitting in the drive way and another that has been by the barn since we bought the house.  It is all under the carport now nicely stacked for the most part.  They also moved some branches into the pile we have that is waiting to be wood chipped.  It was amazing how much they got done during the short time they were here.  Things I had been meaning to do but just hadn't gotten around to. What a blessing they were on this day when my veteran was gone.  They also spent the morning helping some elderly ladies in town by raking leaves and cleaning up yards.  What a wonderful way to spend a day off of school.

  Our Chickens have finally started laying!!  We are getting an average of 3 - 4 eggs a day and just started getting brown eggs.  We ate some for dinner the other night and they were wonderful.  Chloe kept commenting on how good they are.  It is exciting to see that hard work paying off, the nail through the finger a couple months back while building the chicken coop and all.


  With the wood stove being our main heat source there is maintenance that goes with that.  So I become a chimney sweep sometimes.  I put on my cover alls and grab my brush and up I go.  Yes, there is usually some singing of "chim chimney" that occurs but who could blame me.   Just the fact that I have coveralls on is a win because I am one of those girls who just jump into a project without changing clothes.  The joke around here is if a product can survive me it is a keeper for sure

   Thanksgiving is coming up and with the passing of this holiday Trav will be heading home shortly there after.  We are both ready.  He is tired with constant shift changes and trying to work in time for us to talk into his schedule and with the time change I am actually getting up at 3am to chat with him before he goes to bed.  3 am is an interesting time. It is quiet and peaceful and nice.  I make coffee and start the fire and sit in my bed with my heated blanket on and enjoy time chatting with my husband.  After almost 15 yrs we can still talk for hours about anything and everything.  It starts my day off on the right foot and ends his on a sweet note.