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Finances shaping up…

11 Sep 2008 | By

but not because of anything I’ve done.

I followed one of those internet links to get an estimate for how much life insurance for Anthony would cost. That lead to sales calls and emails from the company to get us to sign up for something. While it was annoying, it was the push we needed. (The company is called Matrix Direct so the first time we saw it on the caller ID we joked that Neo was calling). I got on the phone and answered the questions to get a more substantial quote. Then Chris (not Neo) said he would email and mail an application for us to review and to let him know if we wanted to move forward. This is where I would have dropped it. But the nurse who had to do the physical called Anthony and set up an appointment for Wed (9/10). That meant I had to pull the application out of the envelope, review it, complete it, and get Anthony to sign it 7 or 8 places. 

So, without any real initiative of our own, we have one piece of our finances fixed up already!

I wonder if the rest of the month will be this easy!

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End 08 Great – Fixin’ Our Finances

04 Sep 2008 | By

Now, for this month’s challenge!

Here’s my post about what I want to try to do this month.

I already provided a breakdown of how much money we spent on food (restaurant, grocery, personal coffee/snacks/lunch) in July and August (way too much). This gave dh an idea of why he should brown-bag it to work more often and cut back on his sodas. We probably ought to also look at planning our meals more. Especially now that the dear nephew needs lunch each day.

I started looking at getting additional life insurance for dh, we need to finish that this month.

We need to update the executor of our estate and revisit that. Probably useful to combine that with the life insurance. 

We use Quicken so basic stuff is organized.

I’m through buying curriculum so that sucking sound is gone for now.

The challenge is on. I’ll think of more things and report on progress during the month.

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Category: End 08 Great, Home  One Comment

End 08 Great – Face Time with the Kids

04 Sep 2008 | By

Here is the August entry

 

August was the month the nephew came back so this was easy!

Connor came back on Saturday August 23rd. He spent the night with Anthony at the Clash of the Clergy where our pastor and others were racing. We started home school the next Monday and spent time together shopping that night. The next weekend was Labor Day weekend. His brother came up and we spent Friday night at GameStop where he picked out his birthday gift. Then we spent Saturday around the house so he could play his new game. Then we had dinner with friends (for all ages) Saturday night and went to an indoor pool for a few hours on Monday. Plus, Monday was Connor’s 14th birthday. We went out for lunch after the pool and then met up with their dad for dinner at his choice of restaurant (Hooter’s). 

All told, it was a great weekend. This weekend would have been another opportunity with the Roman Army Festival. But Hurricane Hannah threatened and the Festival was cancelled. So, he’ll go spend the weekend with his dad and brothers – which is even better.

 

Some suggestions from the Challenge post:

Here are some fun ideas to get you started:

  • Take the afternoon off with your children. Begin with a picnic lunch, either at a park or just in your backyard. Then spend some time lying on the picnic blanket watching clouds, telling stories, or reading books out loud.
  • Build something with your children. Maybe a sand castle, an outdoor fort or even an indoor tent. When the building process is over, keep playing with them.
  • Let the children see you throw away your to-do list for the day. Then, turn to them and say, “I don’t want to work today. What do you want to do instead?” Then, try to be accommodating, within reason of course.
  • Do something to make your kids feel extra special. Spell out their name in pancake batter, cut their sandwiches into fun shapes, let them stay up a little later and do something fun with mom or dad.
  • Take your children on a one on one “date.” This could be something as simple as a trip alone to the library with mom, or a $1 ice cream at McDonalds.
  • Have a family slumber party. Bring out the sleeping bags and smores and camp out in the living room for a night of flashlight fun.
  • And there were lots of links for inspiration in Joy’s Super Surfing Saturday post this week too.
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Category: End 08 Great, Family  One Comment

End 08 Great – Conquer the Clutter

04 Sep 2008 | By

I came across Happy To Be At Home and they are having a great second half of 2008 challenge.

July was Conquer the Clutter

I’ll take credit for my work in June to clean out the nephew’s room after he went home for the summer.  I took a large trash bag up there, threw out or gave away trash and toys. I also took the storage containers out of his room (fewer hiding places).  Then this past weekend we also had him empty the boxes out of the closet to that room into the quiet room.  That’s a lot of clutter conquering. (We won’t talk about the quiet room.) I tend to conquer clutter once a month in the main living areas. It’s those rooms with closed doors that get out of control.

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