DEBT FREE!

If I could shout this from the rooftops I would! But there's a sleeping baby in the other room so sharing it with the internet will have to do;)  For those of you who have been reading my blog for the last year or so might remember my financial posts:

My student loan story
Financial Advice
How To Grow Your Savings

We have steadily been paying off debt for the past 6 years that we have been married.  We have paid off 2 cars, 1 motorcycle, $18,000 in student loans, $6,000 in medical bills, and around $5,000 in credit card debt.  I've already gone in depth of how we paid a lot of that off in the above-mentioned posts.  The Lord has definitely been providing for us this past year as usual.  I received significant raises at work and Howie started a new job that pays more as well.  With Howie going to school full-time he also received more grant money this year.  We tend to live beneath our means as much as possible but still do fun things.  Using Dave Ramsey's snowball method kickstarted our debt payoff and to see it through to the end feels great!  

Even with paying extra on debt, I've still been contributing to my 401(k) at work and been increasing my contribution with raises, I'm excited seeing how much its grown in just 2 years.  We've also been able to keep our emergency account healthy.  

The main new debt we had was medical bills.  First off our insurance was terrible, I had a $3,000 deductible and $6,000 max out-of-pocket.  Having a baby can be expensive with crappy insurance.  I had to prepay my Dr's office $2,000 before I delivered.  Hospital bill was over $3,000 and then the miscellaneous bills that came as well.  We just paid off the hospital bill and when I called to pay it off I asked if they offer a discount for paying in full versus payments.  Thankfully the hospital I had Westley at offers a 10% discount for paying in full.  If I had paid it earlier they could have done 20% but I was waiting on my $1,000 refund from the Dr's office.  It still helped save almost $200 on the remaining balance! 

We had about a year left on our car loan but decided with our tax return to pay it off.  It didn't save us a ton on interest but its less money going out each month.  This was especially important because this fall Howie might be in a program at school that wouldn't leave him time to work.  Currently working on trusting the Lord to work all of that out because we will still have living expenses. 

I write all this not to brag, although I am quite proud, but to show it is possible to be debt-free even while being considered "low-income".  We do live very much below our means and sometimes it feels like a sacrifice but for this time in our life it works.  

Our next financial goal is to live just on Howie's income and save mine.  I only work 1-2 days a week but it should still add up quickly. I would also like to make a little bit of side money with this blog, if anybody has tips on making that happen let me know!

If I have inspired or helped you on your debt-free journey I would love to know your story and please feel free to share any posts!

Westley's 5 month update

I cannot believe Westley is already 5 months old!  I love writing these monthly updates to look back on some day:)

Sleeping Patterns:  Westley is all over the place with his sleeping.  A couple of nights this month he slept a solid 6-7 hour chunk which was awesome.  Of course Sam woke up both of those nights so I still didn't get to sleep a whole night.  I'm really not sure why he's waking up so much at night, maybe he's gassy, hungry, hot, I have no idea.  He's basically in our bed the whole night because I nurse him back to sleep whenever he wakes up.  Its the easiest and fastest way to get him back to sleep.  On a positive note he's getting into a really good daytime routine.  He wakes up around 730-8, naps around 10 until 11:45-12 then goes back down around 2 until 4:30-5.  Because he wakes up pretty late from his 2nd nap we haven't been doing a 3rd nap unless we're not going to be home for him to be in bed at 7.  Sometimes I nurse him to sleep for his naps and sometimes I just lay him down and he goes to sleep pretty easily.

Eating:  We have made it to 5 months exclusively breastfeeding, the only little issues have been him not wanting to take a bottle as well recently.  One night I was at work form 3-9 and Howie was only able to get him to take one 4 oz bottle and that was broken up.  Normally he would take 2 bottles in that time frame.  It does take a little pressure off of me for making sure I pump enough.  Maybe he's eating just enough to take off the edge until he can nurse?  I just bought some baby cereal (oatmeal) to start trying in the evening, hoping it might help him sleep better although I really don't think it's because he's hungry.  I'm getting desperate though!  Still planning to wait a couple of weeks before starting other foods.  

  

Accomplishments:  He's not screaming as much in the car seat.  He's able to sit up unassisted for about 20-30 seconds before toppling over.  Still not rolling back to belly.  Able to grab toys and put them in his mouth to chew on.  Loves his kick and play piano.  Has to be buckled into his swing/bouncer or he shimmies himself right down.  He thinks peek-a-boo is hilarious.

Places we went:  Disney World when he was about 4 1/2 months old and he did amazing!  He napped on the go and rarely fussed.  Also got to go on some of the rides.  He slept pretty good those 2 nights we stayed because he was so worn out.  We also went to the zoo and the strawberry festival, he's really such a good baby when we're out.

Westley is around 19-20 pounds and 25 inches long.  He started what sounds like growling a week ago.  I think he was just overtired but it was pretty funny to watch.  Other than that he is a really quiet, content baby, sometimes I worry that he doesn't babble very much but try to remember every baby is different and he is a boy (they tend to babble less?).

Here are some of my favorite pictures from his 5th month!

Happy baby at Disney World.

Daddy and Westley at Animal Kingdom.

He was only terrified because Rafiki touched his arm.

Grandma and grandpa came for a quick visit!

Sleeping babies melt my heart:)

Giant smile!

Sitting like a big boy at Chick-Fil-A.

Fun at the Strawberry Festival.

Playtime with daddy

He wasn't sure what to think about sitting in the shopping cart!

Disney World Tips With Kids!

Having just come back from our first trip to Disney World I wanted to jot down a few tips, in case anyone is interested.  Leading up to our trip I was reading tons of blog posts with tips, I like to be prepared;)  This trip was made with an almost 4 year old and a 4 month old.  We were there from Tuesday late afternoon to Thursday late afternoon.  On Tuesday we went to Hollywood Studios, on Wednesday to Magic Kingdom, and Thursday to Animal Kingdom.

Tip #1:  Stay on property.  All the perks of staying on property outweighs any cons.  We stayed at a value resort (All-Star Music) for $122/night.  Didn't have to pay for parking, shuttles are every 20 minutes starting quite early in the morning, extra magic hours, magic bands included, earlier access to fast pass reservations, and there's probably more I've forgotten or didn't know about.  The rooms were small and basic, didn't have a coffee pot (we brought our own!) but did have a refrigerator.  Next time I will try to find a good deal on a moderate hotel just to have a little more space.  Credit to my sister-in-law for really pushing me to stay at a Disney resort!

Our coffeepot from home:)

Tip #2:  With young kids, take a break in the middle of the day!!  There was extra magic hours on Wednesday night for Magic Kingdom and my thought was, we'll take a break in the middle of the day and then stay later.  Um no!  I was done by 8:45 pm.  We did start early though, we were on the bus by 7:15 since we had an 8:20 breakfast reservation at Be Our Guest Restaurant.  Which brings me to...

Just hanging out while brother napped.

Tip #3:  Keep checking fast pass reservations and restaurant reservations in the days leading up to your trip.  I was determined to get a reservation at Be Our Guest but that's not easy to come by, I checked every morning and night to see if one would pop up.  The day before we were leaving I found a lunch one, but pushed a wrong button and it was gone that fast.  Found a dinner one (ended up cancelling) and got that but the next day on our way to Orlando I found the 8:20 breakfast one!  I had read that getting a breakfast reservation before the park actually opens for the day is a great way to beat the crowds, and that was very true!  I was also constantly checking Animal Kingdom fast passes for one of the Avatar rides, more because I thought Howie would enjoy it and managed to get one for the river ride that we could all go on.  In retrospect, I don't really understand what would make people wait 2 hours for that ride, thankfully we only waited about 10 minutes.

Breakfast at Be Our Guest

Tip #4:  Use fast passes for what your kid is actually going to enjoy the most.  For Sam that was meeting the princess.  I used all 3 at Magic Kingdom for meeting Rapunzel, Ariel, and Belle.  We got there early enough to wait in line to meet Cinderella.  Once those were gone in the evening, I started getting fast passes for rides. even though the wait for It's a small world was only 25 minutes there was a fast pass time available so we literally walked right on to a boat (no wait) and that's what I did the rest of the evening, as soon as we checked into one ride I would find the next one.  So we rarely waited in line. In a span of about 3 hours we rode probably 7 rides with little to no wait and had dinner.  

Meeting Rapunzel

Dancing with Belle

Tip #5:  Share meals and mobile order.  Sam is not a huge eater and the kids meals come with a decent amount of food so I shared quite a bit with her and would eat a bit of Howie's as well.  We tended to be ready to eat at the same time as everyone else so if I saw the line was long I just ordered on the Disney app and I would get a notification when it was ready, super easy.

Tip #6:  When looking at the different crowd calendars, know that "light" days still mean a massive amount of people.  I wasn't expecting that.  I will never go when "heavy" days are expected (at least not with young kids).

Tip #7:  Say "yes" to your kid a little more often than you normally would:)

Bonus tip: Just because your kid meets the height requirements doesn't mean they should ride!

Rode the Little Mermaid ride twice!

Bought her a light up wand, one of the times we said yes when we normally wouldn't have:)