The farm and farmhouse

2.) Put Up Fencing DONE!

The fence is finished... Well mostly. The gates still have not came in. But I put up some hog panels across the empty gaps, and it works just fine. In fact I hope they dont call me about gates for a couple weeks, so I can pay down some debt before I have to fork out a few more hundred dollars for them.

I came home on my birthday, and it was all done! Whoot, whoot.

The goats are LOVING their new free space. The horse and dogs have also gotten to enjoy it, and they all love to run around and stretch their legs.

After asking nicely, the worker cleaned up his act, and finished the rest of the fence much better. I am happy with it. I would call him again in the future when its time to finish the other half of the pasture. Next time I will be sure he knows clearly how I do and do not want it.

Big news, but another goal will be crossed off later today... Just waiting for the pending status to update!

Hurrah! Trying to celebrate the successes and forget that I have close to $7k in non mortgage debt right now.

Today is my birthday!

This week has been really stinky. It doesnt seem to be getting better either. This morning I realized that I left our garden hose on all night, over 14 hours. Who knows what the water bill is going to be.

Work is so stressful and I want out. I have picked a place as my goal for employment, and I will be taking the test required ASAP. It takes several months to get hired on there, so I need to get on the list quick!

Fence is getting worked on today. I apologized to the worker for being snippy at him last week, and told him nicely what I want done differently. He agreed, and so far it is looking better. He thinks he will finish today, so I gave him the check. (I highly doubt he will finish, but we shall see.) He had a helper today, so Im keeping my fingers crossed.

I just want to go home and cry for a while after the stress of this week. I need something relaxing. Maybe I will take a bubble bath.

Hoping next week is better.

In order to refinance our house hopefully in the spring, we have to finish some remodeling to get the best appraisal we can. I have decided to share my current checklist that needs to be completed before we can refinance our mortgage. I will come back and visit this list later on, to share our progress.

Outdoor

Finish Horse Shed
Build Permanent Goat Ramp
Close In Window on Milk House
Paint Sunroom Windows
Side Bathroom
Figure Solution for Roof

Trim Front Door
Refinish or Polish Floors
Trim Archway
Trim Baseboards

Install Curtains
Trim Windows
Refinish or Polish Floors
Trim Baseboards

Patch Outer Wall
Prime Outer Wall
Paint Outer Wall
Trim Doors
Refinish or Polish Floors
Trim Baseboards
Build Threshold
Install Closet Door

Repaint Walls
Caulk Tub
Replace Window
Install Door
Finish Trim

Paint Door
Trim Doors
Trim Window
Crown Molding
Trim Baseboards

Patch Holes
Paint Wall
Install Trim

Replace Broken Windows

Thank for all the hugs and condolences. I am still very upset, and I am still crying randomly and many times throughout the day, but I guess it is to be expected.

My husband helped me bury Tippy out under a very neat tree in our backyard. (It is about 10 trees growing together.) He didnt complain at all that we had to hack through tons of roots. I picked that spot because it is my favorite place in the yard, and under the tree grows the most beautiful wild violets. So now my Tippy will always be covered in flowers.

They worked on the fence yesterday. You think I would be happy, but I am not. The work they did looks horrible. And maybe it was my already fragile emotional state, but I was MAD. I called him up and told him it looked bad. He brushed me off, and he might be upset at me, but I dont care. I am not satisfied with the fence at all. There are so many little things wrong.

He put the fence on the inside of the corners, instead of the typical outside. It wont be as sturdy, and it isnt going to match up with the old fence. The wood posts are all different heights so nothing looks level. If it was a few inches I would not care, but I am talking there is a foot and a half difference in the posts...

He didnt use the brace pins I bought for the braces he just nailed them on, and he put the braces all the way to the top of the posts. So they braces are more than a foot higher than the fence. It looks bad, especially when it is right next to all our previous braces that are about 2 ft lower.

This is where my gate is going. This one looks especially bad to me. You can see to the far right one of the metal posts. The fence will only be up to the green part. So you can see the large difference. Besides the fact that the brace looks horrible!



My mother and I are going to redo all the braces today if we can get them off. It is going to be hard work, but I just dont think I can live with it.

The rest is permanent and I will just have to live with it. Sigh. I am trying to calm down about it, because it will still do its job. It will keep the goats in, but I feel like after spending $4,000+ it should look nice.

A few months ago I shared the story of my beloved pet Goatie. I also shared how her legacy lived on in her son Tippy who was nearly an identical replica of her.

It is with much sadness that I now share that Tippy has passed on to be with his momma.

Words can not express how devastated and sad I am. I have done nothing but sob and cry for the past two days. I am completely non functional, And it feels like I am reliving the grief of loosing Goatie all over again.

Tippy was 100% healthy before, and suddenly on Thursday he had slight diarrhea. I gave him medicine and got it stopped by Friday, but he acted off. So I gave him vitamins, and several medicines just to perk him back up. He was not walking a lot but he was starting to eat and drink and I thought he was on the mend. Saturday I went to my moms to get him some more vitamins and when I got back he was gone.

To make matters worse, Zoey the cat who was sick and recently got better has completely vanished. She has been missing without a trace for two days. So I can only guess she is dead. We have looked everywhere, and have no idea what could have happened. She was acting completely normal beforehand, and she has never wandered before.

I am still in shock, and hurting very badly. Loosing Zoey is hard, but Tippy was my baby. Please pray for me. I feel so lost.

I have went back and forth with this so many times, and I NEED HELP!

The fact is we need more money. We get by now. We can afford to go out to eat every once in a while, and we save a little money. But we are trying to save for children, and remodel our house, and progress is so slow.

If I was being paid the same as my husband we would have an additional $800 a month. Which would go a long way towards our goals!

I make nearly half as much as my husband does. Ive been working 3 years in an office. I am only making about $1.50 more than min wage. Ive gone to college, I have skills!

My job is high stress, and I feel very under paid, and under valued. Not to mention split shifts, and no benefits.

My husband has cheap insurance (only for himself), he gets bonuses, he gets raises, he gets overtime if he wants, and every Holiday off and paid. He gets vacation. His job is low stress. I am jealous.

I work only 30 hours a week, but it is still 5 days. The split shifts mean I work 2 evenings a week as well as days, and they make me feel like I am working more than 30 hours.

I also have to work anytime we have an event. Probably a couple times a month, in addition to my regular hours. This week I have worked evenings all week. (But still no extra hours, because I have to take a longer lunch and go home a little earlier in the day. Im not allowed to get extra hours.)

I need a different job, but its hard to pull the plug.

I see a couple options.

A.) Apply where my husband works, in the office. I know they have good pay, and benefits, and they are so nice. But I dont know if I would like the work. (Sales & advertising.) Not really my thing, but I would be willing to try it. I do have a friend there, and we would save on gas money by riding together!

B.) Find a different office job somewhere with better pay. Again. I am so tired of being a secretary. But it might just be the place I work.

C.) Pick up a fun part time job. Waitressing, or something similar. Then try to do more freelance web design. This is my ideal. But then I get no benefits, boo. Plus, no guarantee of pay.

I am thinking I need to get a real 40 hour full time job. I think husband is starting to resent that I am not pulling my weight around here with the bills and such. And I have to agree. Especially since I work so hard, and am always so stressed. It is not worth it.

I would like to save for a few years, and then once we have kids I can give more freelancing a go.

But I dont know if I should apply at his work, or seek out a different job. Both? I am also unsure what job I really want. I wont be able to find a web design job locally for a business, and I am getting tired of being a secretary, even though I am good at it. I also have 3 years of experience now, so I am not a beginner. Which is a plus for a resume.

I took a test today and I can type regularly between 80-90 words per minute. That is way above the 40-45 average. So obviously these years of office work have paid off.

I am just so unsure on what to do, but I know I am very unhappy where I am now. The unknown is scary though.

ETA: Another problem I have is that, I have to give my current employers a LOT of heads up if Im going to quit. This job is hard, and I trained for 2 months before I took over completely when I got hired on. If I start looking for a new job and get hired, I will be expected to start work in 2 weeks. Which wont give me enough time to train a replacement.

But at the same time, I dont want to tell them I am looking for a new job, and upset the water at my current place, in case I am not able to find new work in the near future. What to do?

Here are some crappy cell phone pictures.



The 4 wood posts in the middle is where a gate will go. The horizontal braces arent up yet.



This is just to show the fence line in the back. You can see my rolls of fencing waiting to be put up too!

*dances around crazily*

The day has finally arrived when I see real progress on fence. Over the weekend they put in all the wooden posts and all the metal posts. It looks glorious, and they have done a fabulous and quick job. It is unreal that it took them 2 days to do the same work it took us 6 months to do!

I am itching to let the critters out in it. The posts have to set up (concrete) for a week, so they will put the actual fence up this weekend, and it will be finished!!!

They put in more posts than expected, so I had to purchase 11 extra bags of concrete, and 4 extra posts Saturday.

They still need 5 more wood posts, and 10 more metal posts to finish. Plus some more brace wire. $$$. Which is kind of stinky, but I dont regret hiring them at all. The fence will be so sturdy!

Guessing about $250 - $300 more to spend for gates and the extra supplies. I am really hoping the gates come in by the weekend, so they can put them up while they are here and I dont have to later.

Total of $850 on credit card right now. Will be paying that diligently. It wont be due until first week of September. So I am not too worried.

I will snap some pictures, and try to get them on here tomorrow!

I spent some big money yesterday. $715 to be exact.

I bought all the posts, and little things I need for the fencing. Put it on the credit card, and got money transferred from the LOC to my checking account. I will wait a day or two until the transactions arent pending, and then I will pay off the credit card.

I have $1,500 left on the LOC max amount. Just enough to pay for the labor. He is starting this weekend, but I dont think he will be done until next weekend. So I wont owe him until then.

Tomorrow I have to go buy the actual fencing, which will total right around $1,000. I will put that on the credit card as well, and just pay it down as much as I can. When the statement hits, I will just pull from my EF and pay the rest off before it is due.

Then all that is left to buy are the gates. Which will be around $250 I think. They are special ordered, and I have no idea when they will come in. Hopefully I can put it off a couple weeks to save the money. lol.

Everything is going to work out. Money is tight, but I just keep breathing and remember that once the car is sold, and some goats are sold all this debt will go away. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

The fence is going to look fantastic, and the critters will be so happy.

Did some maintenance on one of my previous website jobs. That is an easy and fun $20. That client is an absolute delight to work with, I wish they were all like that! Ha.

Also a friend referred their teacher to me that needed some help with a php web program for a class project. Outside my usual line of work. But I didnt take those classes for nothing I suppose. I was able to rattle my brain enough to remember some programming, and I am quite proud that I was able to complete it in only a couple hours.

I have no idea if he is paying me or not, he did mention it, but I am not expecting it. It would be a welcome surprise.

I usually only design complete wordpress websites for small businesses. That is my specialty, and what I enjoy. But this has certainly got me thinking. Maybe I could drum up a few little side gigs, designing programs. It is always a good idea to keep your skills sharp, in case I need them for a job one day. The pay is a lot less than a full website, but so is the work.

I need to update my portfolio soon. Ive done quite a few more websites. I am about maxed right now, working on 2, and maintenance on 1. But I expect to finish them soon, and then I will be taking more projects again. Need to keep my information relevant.

I have now done 7 complete websites. I get better and faster each time. Eventually I would love to quit my day job, get a fun part time job, and spend the rest of my time doing freelance and increasing my goat herd.

I would have to do at least 6+ websites a year. Which is very doable as far as time. But I am unsure if I could reliably find that many new clients.

If I could find 12 a year, I could completely work from home. That is an awesome idea!

So far this year I have done 4 websites, and the year is only half over. This is also on top of going to school, and my day job. Surely I could do even better if I was doing it full time, and actually trying to get business... Hmm. Something to ponder.

Put back $50 for my car, and paid off the credit card. Also paid the interest for this month on the LOC.

Estimate came back for the fencing. $1,500 for labor. $200 more than I thought, but he has to haul his tractor out to my house to dig the holes, so he wanted to be reimbursed for that and his drive. An hour each way.

Total of the fence is looking around $4,000 now.

The problem is that since my car work is still on the LOC, that there isnt enough space on there for all the fencing. It looks like I am going to have to find a way to come up with $1,500. >.<

If anything I can borrow it out of my EF, but I REALLY dont want to do that. So Im racking my brain trying to figure out how I can come up with that much money in a week or two.

He is starting the fence this weekend, and he said it would only take 2 or 3 days probably! So that is great news.

Other good news, I have two people interested in my Cobalt. My sister-in-laws fiance and my niece are both looking at it. I am hopeful one of them will take it, and then my baby will stay in the family.

I am really crossing my fingers that one of them will buy it this week, and then my money problems will be all solved!

Well I went and bought the first batch of fencing materials. Spending about $428 so far.

I needed 25 corner posts, but all they had were in horrible condition, so I only took 15 and I will have to pick up the rest once they get more in.

The good news is that the price of the actual wire fencing has dropped. So that will save me about $300! The bad news is I forgot about some of the little things I need to buy. So that will probably eat up most of my newly found savings. lol.

The professional fencer is coming out tomorrow to take a look, and give me a real estimate and timeline. I am almost giddy when I look outside and see my pile of fencing materials just waiting to be put in. The grass is already getting tall again! Crazy!

No joke when we left for vacation there was nothing in the neighbors field. When we got back a week later there was corn 4ft high. Now the corn is already way over my head. Probably close to 7ft! It is going to be a good year for crops.

After Snafu had a thoughtful comment, I though it would be easier to reply into a new post.

The first half of the year is over... So how am I doing?

Roth IRA: A+
Completed this goal early in the year, and hope to do so again next year!

Fencing: C
Getting started today, so goal will hopefully be completed soon. The money is going to be an issue, but I will talk about that later.

EF: F
Boooo. I have only added $200 this year to my EF. Shame. Life happens though, and other things took priority. It is still my main savings goal, after debt is cleaned up.

Animal Fund: C
I am not even close to completing this. But I havent sold any goats yet, and I actually did have $1,000 in there... I just used it to buy more goats. So I dont want to be too hard on myself.

Mortgage: A+
Doing fantastic!

So thats the bad news. Things happen, at the beginning of the year I had no intention of driving over $2,000 miles to buy goats, and I had never thought that the engine in my car would die.

It doesnt look like I have made much progress with my goals so far, so where did all my money go this year?

Well I bought 3 new house windows, replaced a car engine, bought a new car, went on a great vacation, bought 3 new goats, did some house projects, paid sky high propane bills, bought some furniture, and a ton of other little things.

If you look at it that way, my money has been put to a lot of use! So what about my goals? I still want them! Looking at our budget, there is no way we will be able to complete my current goals, and pay off the LOC, and the car. But I have a plan to get as close as I can.

The Cobalt is running well, and I miss it horribly! I keep having 2nd thoughts about keeping it, so Father-in-law took it to his house and has it parked out by the road for sale. I have to replace the windshield and then I will list it on the internet and everywhere I can think of.

According to our current debt, future expected debt, and goals, I need to drum up about $12,000 this year! Ouch!

Here is how I plan to accomplish this.

Sell Cobalt for $3,500.
I am still owed $300 for freelance work.
Normal savings will give me another $2,500.
I have $1,900 in goats to sell right now. Some are waiting for pick up.
Husbands Christmas bonus. $500 to savings.

So it looks like I need to come up with another $3,300 somehow.

Freelance work will help the most. 4 more jobs would get me there. I have no doubt I can get at least a couple jobs, maybe more depending on my time of course.

The rest I will have to pray for a miracle, and work and save as much as I can.

So what is the order of attack?

Putting up fencing ASAP. Putting labor & materials on LOC.
Paying off car in 2 months.
Continuing to pay extra $30 a month to Mortgage.
Adding small amount to EF monthly after cars are settled. $200?
Applying all excess funds to LOC until it is gone.
Divert cash flow to EF.
Complete Animal Fund.

To keep myself accountable I have added my LOC total to my sidebar. It will go up tonight after buying fencing!

This is a big undertaking, but I am confident that with a little hard work, and sacrifice I can get there!

The mortgage payment finally hit putting us at:

$50,165.68

Whoot!

We are so close to hitting our goal of getting it under $50k. We may even hit it next month!

Going to buy the first part of the fencing materials tonight. I am already anxious about spending that much money, but I know it has to be done, and I am so looking forward to having all that space for my goaties to run.

Now that the trip is over I am not quite sure what I should be throwing my money at... I think it would be best just starting to pay down the LOC, especially since I am going to be adding so much more to it.

My car has 2 monthly payments left after next week, so once that is paid I will probably start contributing a little to my EF again too.

Animal Fund is no big deal. I will add to that after I sell goats, AND pay for the fence. I dont need that money, its just a cushion for vet bills and such. Our personal EF comes first.

The fencing guy is coming out in the next few days to give us an exact price. But our estimate right now is $1,300 for his labor.

We could cut that in half if we did some of the work ourselves, but last time we did it ourselves it took 6 months! And I need the fence now!

If he does it, it will be done in just a couple weeks. So the $650 is looking like it is worth it. just to save us the time, and the work.

Sadly it seems the fence is going to cost more than expected.

Probably to the tune of a total $3,500. Ouch!

I have no idea how I am going to pay that off, and finish our other savings goals by the end of the year. It is looking impossible. But if there is a will there is a way.

The good news is, that will be the last BIG expense for the house, until we add the basement addition. So after this is all paid off, we will be able to begin to save for other things, like a car for husband.

Paid $100 to the car, and paid off most of the credit card. Only have $75 more due next month. So that is a relief. Trip stayed in budget! Hurray!

I paid the mortgage online for the first time on Thursday. It still says pending... I will give it another day, then I will have to call them and ask what is up.

After posting my goals elsewhere, many people jumped on me about my emergency fund goal of 3 months expenses or $4,500 in a savings account.

They said since I am not maxing out my Roth it would be wiser to stick it in there for more growth, and no taxes.

After some debate, I think I have to agree. Not only would the growth be higher, and no taxes, but my income qualifies for the savers credit. So I would essentially be getting a 20% return just on that!

I currently have $1,700 in a savings account for an EF. My new plan is to get it to $2k or $3k (undecided) then put the remaining EF goal into the Roth.

I feel safe with only keeping that much cash because I will also have all our other saving items in cash, such as the animal fund, and vacations, etc, that I could pull in an emergency. We always keep quite a bit of cash on hand at any given time, and we also have the LOC and credit cards which could float us a few days if we needed to pull money out of the Roth.

I figure if we end up needing to pull from it, which is unlikely, then I really did not lose anything that was suppose to be for retirement anyway. If we dont end up needing it, then that is more tax free growth for my retirement!

I know some people are highly against this, but I feel pretty stable in our jobs, and since we have such a low income anyway, technically we could go out and get any old min wage job and pay our bills in the case of job loss.

My question is, should I keep $2k in reserved cash or $3k in reserved cash for the EF?

I am back from vacation!

We had a great time, and the driving went great. No issues at all, Hallelujah! I am glad to be home though, I missed it.

I believe we stayed on budget, but I wont be able to tell for sure until all the transactions post to the credit card in a couple days.

Zoey the sick cat, is 100% better. She has gained all her weight back, plus some, the only problem now is that she thinks she is a house cat.

I just got a call from the mechanic! My Cobalt is fixed and running great! The check engine light is on, so we will check that out, but so far it looks like we are about ready to sell it. I am picking it up, and it is getting cleaned and detailed today, and then all that is left is to replace the broken window. The mechanic bill came in at $632 instead of the estimated $400. Boo. But I am glad that it is over with, and I just want to sell it and be done.

I admit, I am tempted to start driving it again, and part of me really wants to keep it, but I know it just isnt smart.

The LOC now has $2,500 on it, and I still need to buy all my fencing, and replace a few house windows. Ouch. The car has got to be sold ASAP.

The cat is eating on her own!!

I held her down to feed her last night and stuck some tuna in her mouth which she quickly spit out. Well she must have liked the taste, because she then picked it up on her own and chowed it down. I was feeding her from my hand and she was eating with such gusto that she bit my finger.

Once she got a small taste it is like a flip switched on and she realized she is so hungry. She has been scarfing her wet food. (Small amounts at a time.) And I seen her sniffing around the kitchen floor and picking up crumbs! I am so relieved that I wont have to worry about her on my trip.

She still isnt eating hard food, and I cant blame her. She is still gagging and coughing a bit, especially after she eats, but I think the worst is over. She will get wet food until her throat is all healed up.

We are leaving tomorrow morning and I am excited, but nervous. We still have so much to do, and the unknown of driving across country is a little scary. But I think we will have a great time! Hopefully we stay in budget. Prayers for a safe trip!

I took the cat to the vet yesterday. I am glad I did! It was the strangest thing. I told him that she has been gagging and having trouble breathing and the first thing he did was look down her throat, and sure enough there was something in there! A big abscess!

So they put her to sleep and took a look and she had a big hole about the size of a dime in the back of her throat where she must have punctured something through it. It had become infected, and was really raw, swollen, and had made an abscess.

So on Thursday she probably couldnt breath and just passed out in the yard, then had the heat stroke due to laying out in the sun too long.

They cleaned it out, gave her iv fluids, and gave me an antibiotic. They wanted to put a feeding tube in, but it was going to be a few hundred dollars so I told them no. I did feel like they kind of made me feel guilty, because I told him I had a low budget, and they kept saying things like Well she should probably have a blood test, but since we are so limited on budget I guess I wont. etc.

Anyway. That is why she is not eating or drinking because it hurts! The fluids will keep her alive for a couple more days, but if she doesnt start drinking by then I will have to bring her back in for more fluids. I keep trying to force feed her, but she bites, claws, and spits. Everyday she is making me bleed, and I am to the point where I just want to shake her and give up.

Now its just a waiting game until her throat heals up, and I will keep praying that she starts eating on her own. I spent $150 at the vet. Which kind of stinks, but it had to be done.

The cat is still alive by some miracle. She is up and walking around and acting about 80% normal. BUT she has not ate or drank since Thursday! I have been trying to syringe feed her and shove tuna/canned cat food down her but she scratches, and chokes, and spits it all out and throws such a fit I think it is making her worse.

I can not believe how mean and strong she is for being at deaths door.

When I first called the vet they said not to bring her in, that we would just have to wait and see if she had organ damage or not. Well it seems like maybe she aspirated on her drool during the stroke, and has rattly lungs & sinus drainage and cant smell which is making her not want to eat. So now they want to see her, maybe give her sub q fluids, and some antibiotics for her lungs.

I am praying that this cost doesnt set us too far back. Its $45 just to walk in the door, and I dont have time to run to the cheaper but farther away vet, so I have to take her to the local one, which is known for being pricey. I hate to say it, but I just can not spend hundreds of dollars on a mean barn cat. Both my husband and I are covered in scratches from trying to save her.

As for the trip, my parents are going to look at a truck today. I am praying that it is a good one, and they buy it, so we will have truck to take on our trip in 3 days! If not, we will be taking a 15 passenger van. And riding in a van for 4 days with 8 goats does not sound pleasant at all.


The camper shell which goes on the truck had to have a new lock, and while it was getting put on the locksmith busted out the window! So now we ALSO have to get that to the shop to repair it. There is not enough time to custom order glass, so they are putting plexiglass in it, if we even get time to get it there.

I did get paid for a freelance job. So I was able to put $175 more towards our trip. We now have above our goal saved, and hopefully that will be enough.

I also put another $250 towards my car! Hurray!

I am so stressed right now, with the sick cat, planning and packing for the trip, figuring out transportation. I cant wait until everything is sorted out, and we are on our trip, relaxing!

The good news is that I got paid for a new freelance job, so I put $230 towards to the trip. After payday today I will exceed my goal!

The bad news is....

The truck we were suppose to take on the trip has a bad engine and can not go.

We are panicking and have no idea what to do. It is over 2,000 miles there and back, and we have to have enough room for 8 goats! No one is going to loan us a vehicle for that kind of trip!

Our options are:

Rent a truck and not tell them we will be hauling livestock.

Borrow a truck.

Take our jeep and pull a trailer behind it.

The jeep is the last resort, if husband will even let me take it. It has over 200k miles on it, and he is scared it wont make it. Besides driving with a trailer is going to be so stinky on the interstate, and traffic.

Pray for us!

The other bad news is that my cat had a heat stroke yesterday. She is not eating or drinking, and right now we are just waiting to see if she has organ damage or not. Pray for her.

$50 to car
$100 to trip

Hay expense was $60 less than I had put back. I just left that money in the animal fund for now, but I may pull it out later if I need it.

Sadly, we got a 20 minute unexpected down pour while my hay was sitting out. So it may all be ruined.

Have it drying now, and praying that it will dry out and not mold. Otherwise it will cost me about $1,000 to replace. We should know in a couple days.

Way behind on trip savings. But I am starting a new freelance job today, and hopefully I will get some of the money from it before the trip.

My Cobalt engine arrives today!! The mechanic said he should get it in within a couple days. Prayers that it goes in easily, and works great! I couple really use some good news.

Mortgage payment hit to bring me down to $50,328.04!

We are going to blow past my goal of getting it under $50k by the end of the year. That would be great if we can get it down to cover our closing costs when we refinance and still be under $50k.

I sent payment for the cobalt engine. No going back now!

Prayers that it arrives quickly, and is put in easily, and runs well as expected! I can not wait to get this car fixed and sold, so I can pay off all my debts.

Right now if I get $3,000 for the car when fixed, that will cover the repair cost, and my Neon loan. But I may be able to get as much as $3,800 for the car, in which case it will help me complete my other savings goals.

Payday!

I put $100 back for the hay I need to buy. Now all my misc expenses are covered! Hurray! It is possible I might not even need all that I put back, but I wanted to be safe.

$50 to car payment.

Only able to put $35 in trip fund. But now that the misc expenses are out of the way, hopefully I will be able to put more back before the trip. Only a few more weeks to go.

Cobalt engines are turning out really hard to find! We have been looking for months, and none of them have been suitable. Finally found 2, but can not decide which to go with.

#1 has $85k miles and will cost $1,250 counting shipping. Has a 30 day warranty. From salvage yard.

#2 has $50k miles and is only $650. It is within driving distance, so we can go look at it, and watch it run. No warranty. From individual.

I am scared to go without a warranty... But #2 is half price, and we can go see it in person, so surely if it runs okay there, it will be fine... Ugh. I am not sure.

Opinions?

Shame on me. I spent money on something that is not a need. Welcome to the family, little girl!



Meet our new puppy. I have not picked her up yet, but will sometime this week. We have been casually looking for another guardian puppy to join Kuzco our Anatolian Shepherd. He needs a friend, and a partner to help guard the large goat herd. Anatolians are so hard to find, when this ad popped up on Craigslist I knew I had to snatch her up. Otherwise I would of had to wait until next spring when more puppies are born, and I didnt want Kuzco being alone that long.

I hate spending the money, but I think its a very worthy investment. Herd protection, and entertainment for Kuzco. Plus who could resist that cute face! I will update with more pictures once she gets home. Any ideas for a name?

Very small payday this week, but with the change I cashed in I still had enough to put money towards the current goals.

I put $50 in the car payment, and put $50 in the trip fund. Which means I now have enough cash to pay for the goats I bought. The rest of the trip money is just for gas, food, and spending money. Whoot!

I also put back $50 for some of the unexpected expenses coming up. I already took care of $150 of them. So now I just have to come up with $100 more over the next few weeks.

I am counting down the days until our trip is over, and the car is paid off and I can start contributing to our EF again!

My car had to be jumped twice, and we tested the battery and it was dead. But my mom was very nice and bought me a new one! Thanks mom!

I cashed in the change over lunch. It totaled to $77.53. So just a couple dollars under my guess. I added $75 to our trip fund, and the rest I just put back in the change jar for next time.

Just found out that the neighbor wants to be paid for cutting my hay, instead of the trade we had. So now I will have to come up with money for that.

So between that and the goat refund it looks like I need around $300. I have no idea where I am going to scrounge up that much money. In hind sight, I should have probably applied the extra payday to this, but I am still glad to pay down debt, and I am sure the Lord will provide.

While doing bills I realized that this week was an extra payday! Whoot!

So I put another $50 in the trip fund, paid down my credit card from $300 to $30 and also put back $250 for my next car payment!! *happy dance*

I was going to do a half car payment this month and next, but now I can do the full $500 this month.

I only need another $50 and I will be done with the money for goats I bought. (Part of trip fund)

I am rearranging my sidebar to match what goals & funds I have changed.

Part of the animal fund money was actually for my trip.

I need $1,150 for my trip at the end of June, and right now we are sitting at $640. Hoping to scrape up enough before then, but it is going to be hard.

I am going to cash in one of my change jars today, and put that towards the trip. I am guessing it will be around $80.

Payday today. Bank is closed, so cant actually deposit until tomorrow but I know all the numbers.

$50 to Animal Fund
$40 to Trip Fund
$50 to Car Payment

With the rest I am trying to pay down the credit card, after several needed shopping trips, and eating out with friends too many times. It is not due until July. But I just hate seeing a large balance on there.

Someone contacted me out of the blue, wanting to buy the goat that I have to give a refund on! They are only paying half price due to other circumstances, but I thought I was going to have to eat him, so I am thrilled to be getting any amount of money out of him.

Also finally got a word back on my last freelance job estimate I did a couple months ago. I got the job! I have no idea when I start, so it might be months, but I am so happy to have the extra income I could do a dance.

Not sure if I will put it towards my car, or towards fencing yet. Putting it towards the fencing would be the wisest financially, but I really want to get out of this car loan even if its interest free. So we will see if my emotional side or logical side wins.

Well the good news is I think I have sold another goat. (Wont get the money until end of June.)

The bad news is, another goat which I had already sold, the buyer backed out. She had already paid, and now I owe her $200.

Darn it. There goes everything I saved this month. It feels like I will never catch up.

I can not wait until this trip is over, and the car is paid off. I will be so less stressed about money!