I find it a constant battle with my husband, sometimes. He does not have the same level of 'frugalness' that I have. We often times have to have discussions about whether or not it is something we want or something we need. In the end he typically comes around but it's a bit depressing to have to tell him no because I know in reality it isn't something we actually need to spend our money on. His co-worker is facing foreclosure (I have no pity for a man living well beyond his means) and is selling the majority of his excess. He has some things my husband wants to buy. Shelving units. Tools for work. Random other things. I don't see where we would put the shelving units in our current house. The only thing I suppose would be useful would be a tool for work but if he can just borrow someone else's as it isn't something he would need often, isn't that just as good?
We decided to take a vacation this year. We haven't been anything since our honeymoon two years ago. Josh gets a paid vacation starting in October after his one year mark. I've always wanted to go to Disney during the Christmas season and since we moved back to Virginia before I could see it this year, we've decided to hit up the off season and go this December. My father has two weeks a year at a resort and a few extra years banked. We're going to borrow one of those and go to Florida (where else?) the week before Christmas. I was a little hesitant to allow my father to book the week for us because what if we move back to Florida before December? But as Josh pointed out, we haven't gone anywhere in a long time and nothing says we can't still go. The point of a vacation is to get away from home, who cares if home is only an hour away from your vacation spot? We can still go and have fun! The 14th-21st. While that is a bit closer to Christmas then I wanted to go, it's worth it. One week for $165 in a two bedroom five star resort. It works out to be $23.xx a night. I couldn't even find a flea infested motel for that price. On the down side, flights are more expensive then a week or two earlier but we're thinking of driving as it would be cheaper then flying and renting a car anyway. My plan is to put away $100 a month between now and then and I will have the majority of our vacation expenses already paid for.

$165 housing
$275 gas and food on the road
$450 park tickets (may vary depending on whether or not we decide to do a day at Universal)
$150 food
$200 shopping ($100 each)


Rounding up for anything unforeseeable that's $1300 for a eight day trip. Or $81 per person a day. Not shabby! I'm of course going to keep my eye out for any ticket deals, bring all our own snacks and a cooler full of things so we only have to purchase the basic items there. Too bad December is nine long months away!

Work has picked up for Josh and we're looking at being able to put $1300 into savings this month and have $500 extra to put toward the two credit cards which will make one payment $550 and the other $350. It will leave us with about $500 left over after $100 vacation fund comes out. Roll that over into next month.

I wish deciding to move or to stay was less emotional. Emotionally I want to live in Florida where we went to Disney twice a month, where Josh had only a 15 minute drive to work, where he only worked one Saturday a month and only until one pm. But I know we are better off money-wise here. I know that. Too bad that doesn't outweigh the part of me that doesn't care and wants to go back anyway.

I recently had one of those light bulb over your head moments. Where it's like all of a sudden everything becomes clear and you've had the most brilliant, clear understanding of something. I understand now that at the pace we are all going, our life styles and our world can simply not keep up.
I suppose I should give a little information about myself before I dive head long into anything. My name is Britney. I'm 25. I've been married for two years, April 1st. I'm the mother only to furry four legged babies, quite a few of them actually. I live in a smaller town called Winchester, Virginia. My husband and I in the past year made a round trip move from Virginia to Florida and back again. We regret leaving Florida and are actively deciding whether or not it makes financial sense to return. It would undoubtedly make us the most happy to return where life just seemed simpler but is it worth it in the long run? Anyway. We are now back in Virginia. My husband is a mechanic. He works incredibly hard to allow me to not have to work. We also have a roommate and have since the first day we lived together (only one month after we first met!), she is my dearest friend. That also helps with expenses. That's the basics.
It started first when my husband and I started to look for our first house. But nothing was affordable. Apparently only millionaires can afford to live in my area, which being ranked the most expensive area in the country I suppose there are quite a few millionaires out there. We just aren't among them. So I started to browse housing blogs just before the housing bubble went bust. From reading those I became much more aware of how much this country is on the financial brink of break down. The dollar is worthless. Gas prices are going to soar well above $4. Banks are likely to fail. All of this was the beginning of my awareness. My husband and I have debt. Credit card debt. These housing blogs made me much more aware of how we should be actively doing everything we can to become debt free and save as much as possible.
Our debt is between two credit cards and one student loan. That total amount is $8904.24. Wow. $1334 of that is my husband's trade school student loan. A very, very worthy debt considering he is the sole bread winner in our family. He works long, hard hours so I don't have to work. I love him endlessly for that. My husband also had fairly large debts before we met. We worked hard to pay off his past debts to help fix his credit. We've paid well over $6000 in the past two years. I would say some of our credit card debt is a bit of some of those payments. When you get notices threatening legal action with court dates, you tend to pay whatever you can, however you can. Now if I had started this blog a mere two weeks ago that number would not have been $8904. It would have been $11154. But thankfully my husband was able to sell one of his project cars for $3000, allowing us to put $2000 on our highest credit card debt, $1000 in savings.
I have no problem saving. I'm cheap. I'm frugal. I'm in the constant mindset that I am broke. It helps, I suppose, to feel like we do not have money or else perhaps I would be constantly wanting to spend what we do have. I clip coupons religiously, only purchase something if it's on sale. But I recently discovered a whole world of bloggers living their lives in a way I want to! They are incredible inspiration to me. I want to have a simple life. I want to have some land. Raise some chickens. Make all my own bread, rolls, bagels and such. Plant a huge garden. And ideally, live off the grid, completely self sufficient. I want to owe no one anything. I want to allow my husband to retire early.
So, this is my blog. About staying motivated to be debt free in the next 12 months. About deciding to take a pay cut and return to where we were happier in Florida or staying in Virginia and having more financial security. About wishing there was still a way to live ala Little House on the Prairie (well, except with indoor plumbing).
This is for me. I need to be able to stay focused and motivated. I am promising myself now that I will not slack off on this. There is no failing.