Comments on: Financial Shape in 2008: Monthly checkup

By: Jenna

Jenna — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:45:21 +0000

What did you use to set up the mutal fund for your children? I’ll admit I’m not very financially savy when it comes to investing… but I’d like to go beyond just putting money into my retirement plan and IRA.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:45:56 +0000

thank you all for the support. I will look into the programs again, Thank you!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:26:26 +0000

Thanks for the update – it’s an encouragement to see you pressing on despite your setbacks. I think we all have those months at some point.

By: Cassie J.

Cassie J. — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:41:22 +0000

Our emergency fund will take a hit this month also from medical bills. We had to change medical insurance plans a few months ago and they excluded allergies from our coverage for my 5 year old son. Well, he now knows that “nut” and “peanut” are the same thing and I know that when you mention “peanut allergy” they get you in to see the doctor really quickle in the ER! Total bill $760.00.

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:04:26 +0000

I would love to win the couponizer… it looks like a great tool!

Sue Nodes suenodes1966@aol.com

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:14:52 +0000

Indeed you are blessed! Your house savings goal for this year is more than my husband makes in a year! Wow! And I thought you all lived on a “modest” income.
I’m not complaining-God certainly takes care of us and we have everything we need.
I guess I’m just still a bit amazed!
By the way, I love your blogs-you have helped me so much!

**********************
Money Saving Mom here: Alyssa, we do live on a modest income (he recently got a raise-yay!-so it’s about average income right now) from my husband’s 9-5 job; however, we have worked hard in the cracks of time in the last few years to put a lot of extra side-income-earning things into place. And those months of effort are finally starting to pay off! Read this post for more:

http://money-saving-mom.blogspot.com/2008/03/increasing-your-income-without-getting.html

Hope that helps!

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:58:04 +0000

Your attitude and the rush of sweet comments from everyone is so encouraging. My husband has been unemployed for 4 months now – at first because of a serious injury, and now because the job market seems to have dried up while he was out. 4 months ago I was getting ready to start our debt snowball with 5k, but we have had to use that for medical bills and living expenses. I am working full time while he looks for a job and watches our 7 mo old. I am struggling with self-pity, selfishness, complaining, jealousy, bitterness because I never wanted to be a working mom, fear about what will happen if these interviews don’t turn into jobs – you name it. But God is using many different avenues to change my heart for the thousandth time – hehe, He’s the God of the internet too!

And Tasha, thanks for what you said in your comment – very moving. I printed it out so I can re-read it over the next few weeks.

By: Dian

Dian — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:21:33 +0000

Crystal, can you make a post about your health insurance ? My hubby has a POS health insurance from his place of work, BUT it’s expensive ($550 for the whole family) with approx total of $1500 deductible. This year, we’re thinking of going to the catastrophic plan (over $200 per family), but the deductible is way too high ($13K). We always get insurance from his place of work. In his last job, it was like $180 for the whole family with $2000-ish deductible for a PPO plan, which is very good. His new job provides with better income, but the insurance sucks. We’re ready to venture on individual insurance. I’m sure you’ve done your homework in regards to insurance. Can you share with us ?
TIA

By: Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:48:13 +0000

Months like that are hard, aren’t they? I know we’ve had our fair share of them. The thing that keeps me grounded (and grateful) in financial stuff like that is that God is not surprised by it at all. He already knew the month you would have, the car expenses, the frustration and disappointment. He’s already made provision for you, and His grace is enough. Perhaps the money will be made up in unexpected ways, perhaps it will push your savings goals back a month or two. Either way, rest in His plans, not yours- He is absolutely good and faithful!

I know that you know all of this, but I know that sometimes I need reminders too. I often (oh so often) lose sight of the bigger picture, and forget that life cannot go as I hope or plan it might (which I know is a really good thing!).

It’s encouraging to see the goals that you have achieved so far this year. I haven’t been participating in this challenge, per se, but we are working through the baby steps as well. We are currently working on our savings, having finished off our car debt last December (after already having been out of debt once- oops), and started to live off of last month’s income a few months ago. Savings are going full steam ahead, and we hope to be close to the 3 month savings mark by the end of July! Yippee!

By: Tasha Via

Tasha Via — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:28:47 +0000

You guys are doing GREAT. And like you said, nothing is a surprise to God. He knows what you can handle. I mean, you are such a great source of encouragement for thousands of women trying to learn how to be good stewards of what God has given each of us. Josh and I have been struggling this month financially. We are a self-supported ministry who went to lead worship for all the Eastern European IMB Missionaries in Hungary last month, Josh’s book just got published and I am sitting in the studio recording a new worship album. We are more broke than ever before, but God has orchestrated all the details thus far, who am I to doubt Him and even suggest that He will fail to provide for us NOW, even when we don’t know when we will get our next pay check. Thank you, thank you for your honesty and help on this journey!

By: Tara

Tara — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:53:07 +0000

Jenni,

To add to the other comments you have received… Some hospitals have a program called something like “Hospital Help.” They won’t tell you about this and you have to ask. But if you make under a certain amount of money you can fill out some paper work and they may write off a portion of your expenses. I know people who have done this. You should see if the hospital you are using has something available like this.

By: kelli

kelli — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:15:29 +0000

Maybe your dream home has a delay in coming on the market, so your budget had to have a month’s delay (with car bills) so that your dream home will be all ready and waiting when you reach 100%!

I don’t know… I’m just trying to make it feel better!

By: Brenda Hanley

Brenda Hanley — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:11:05 +0000

Before I even heard about Dave Ramsey, my husband and I had to sell everything we owned. He was in construction in CA and I owned a Day Spa in CA and business was slow for both of us. We realized we had to make a major change. So, I sold my business and he packed up his and we decided to sell everything. We had been in our house for 12 years and I had a hard time letting go of it. I thought I would be in CA forever. My clients were like family to me. But, God had other plans. It was a miracle that we were able to sell our house and our stuff, pay off our debts and have a good amount of money left over. My husband tried to get hired with a company in CA but after 6 months with no offers we prayed about what to do next. We decided to buy a 38′ trailer and travel to find my husband work. We ended up in Texas and he found a full time job. He is making a modest steady wage and we are happily living in our little home. There are so many benefits 1. It takes only 30 minutes for me to clean it. 2. We have become closer as a family living in a smaller space. 3. The cost for our space, utilities, wifi, pool access is only $500 per month!! We are following the Dave Ramsey plan and I am enjoying my children. I do plan to get back to work as a teacher so we can buy a house on our 2 year savings plan. I am so thankful that we were able to start over and have a plan and hopefully pay for a house in full. I am learning to be thrifty and use coupons and stay within our budget. I just want to encourage other women struggling with their budget! YOU CAN DO IT! Be grateful and thankful for what you do have! Even if they are small things. Oh yes, stay out of debt!!! Drive a beater car and be proud of it!

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:55:11 +0000

For Jenni:
If you are pg and have had to stop working, you should find out about government health insurance. I know in FL pregnant women are covered if necessary through Medicaid, and there is also a plan called “medically needy adult” where the state pays part of the bills accumulated for medical care if the patient can’t. Your doctor’s office may be able to help you apply for these programs, or call the hospital you plan to deliver at and ask them.

By: gina

gina — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:15:27 +0000

I’ve been reading your blog for about three months now and I’ve cringed everytime you’ve had one of these financial shape blogs – because we’re not anywhere near where we need to be and I’m afraid to even try. This month however I really appreciated your sharing that you weren’t able to put anything towards your goals. It would have been easy to not share this. It blessed me – really it did.

Thanks for your honesty.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:53:24 +0000

Crystal, I’m really happy to see you achieve these goals! We’re working hard on ours and our steps seem so sloooow at times. But, I know it will come and I’m always encouraged to read the walks of you and others!

By: Dana

Dana — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:45:07 +0000

I love this post. So encouraging! Thank you for sharing!

By: Kacie

Kacie — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:05:34 +0000

Crystal–It’s easy to get discouraged when you hoped to put more than $0 in the house savings fund this month. I’m glad you’re looking at the bright side! And maybe God has a reason for this (I’m sure He does). Maybe delaying getting into your next home by a few weeks/month or so means you’ll get something even better than you would have otherwise! Who knows?

@Jenny– I’m sorry to hear about your mounting medical expenses. I’m not sure of any grants that are available for medical expenses. Even though $1k can be a scary sum of money to face while pregnant, try working out a payment plan with the hospital.

Typically, they’ll work with you as long as they know you’re willing to pay the entire balance. Good luck!

By: Lyn

Lyn — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:58:27 +0000

To Sarah – the best advice I can give is to work out a payment plan with the doctors/hospital. You don’t want to delay or they will send the bills to a credit agency. Let them know what you can afford for payments and be faithful to it. If you can pay a bill in cash, see if they will give you a reduced rate for doing so. Of course $1,000 is a lot of money, but for several hospital stays that is not much compared to what many people have to pay. Best wishes.

By: Tripnmama

Tripnmama — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:54:24 +0000

We too had a not so stellar month…it always seems to be random medical things that set us back. I guess with triplet toddlers I should really budget more in the “medical” category

But luckily we have great insurance so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Just curious about your Goal #4…why the mutual fund instead of a 529? Or maybe this is something in addition to college savings???

Anyway, love your blog!!!