The farm and farmhouse

I sent another $100 to my Roth IRA today. Not much, but every little bit helps.

Despite us raising our grocery & home budget from $200 to $300 this month, we still went over by about $20. Sigh. The week is just starting too. Hoping I don't have to get anymore. I think we will be okay.

We don't eat really expensive, but food is expensive in general, so we have trouble staying in our grocery budget. We have problems when we go to the store and OJ is on sale so we buy it, or our favorite chips, etc.

I think I need to start sitting down, and using my meal plan to make a very precise grocery list. Maybe allowing us each to pick one snack or splurge item a week. And then ONLY buying off the list.

We do make a list now, but we often see stuff we want or that is on sale and we get it.

How do you stay in budget?

My credit card limit has been bothering me. Because we always paid in cash, we had pretty non existent credit scores. We both got a student card with a low limit last year to start working on establishing more credit.

Well I only had a $500 limit, and husband only had a $300 limit.

I use my card for as much as I can. Because I like the reward points. I always pay it in full every month. But it annoyed me that if I even just put groceries on it I would already be above the 30% utilization on the statement.

So I was hoping since I have been using it for some time now that they would raise my credit score. I decided to call them at the beginning of February. And lo and behold, the day I pulled up my account to find their number they had raised my limit to $1,500 on their own. Sweet!

I will never use that much, but I'm glad my utilization is lower now. Now I can also put bigger items on it that I am going to pay anyway, like the propane bill.

Husband got his card a month or two after me, so I'm hoping his will go up soon as well. Although he rarely uses his.

I find myself in an unexpected dilemma.

My grandpa informed me yesterday that he is selling his Dodge Neon.

While I am not in the car buying business per say, the last couple months, especially this month husband and I have been beating around the idea that my car is going to need replaced soon.

My car was bought new in 2006. It is a Chevy Cobalt. Both my mother and I used it to drive to school 2-4 hours daily for several years. We used it to haul goats, we used to to hold farm tools.

Basically it has had a rough life. The outside still looks new, but the inside is very very stained and dirty, and it has 170k miles on it.

It has had countless problems. The electric circuits in it were bad and all needed replaced, the steering wheel had a recall on it, the airbags had a recall, the fuel pump had a recall. The blinker switch had to be replaced.... etc.

A couple years ago it started rattling at start up for a while then it would settle down. They think it is a timing belt problem which is going to cost me $800 to fix...

It also started smelling like gas, and dying when it idled. So I spent hundreds getting it checked out and they could not find anything. Turns out the fuel pump had a recall, and I got it replaced for free.

That made it work great for a couple months. But here lately it has been dying on me again, like when I pull up to stop signs, or I am slowing down in the driveway. Sigh. I do not think they would replace the fuel pump again for free.

I am emotionally attached to this car, I really love it. I think it is so cute, and it has been a great work vehicle. It is starting to make me nervous though because I go to school at 10pm an hour away. And on some of the cold nights I had trouble starting it. It is also embarrassing to die at a red light and people are honking at you.

It drives great though when it is going...

I had just decided to continue to ride it hard, and just use it until it crapped out on me. (Which seems like it will be sooner than I thought.) Hoping I could get a few more years out of it.

But now this great deal has come along, and I am really torn about what I should do.

The Neon is a 2002. So older than my car. But it only had 75k miles on it. A hundred less than mine. It is in PERFECT condition. It has had an oil change every 3 months, he just took it in and got a $900 check up on it. It has never been driven over 50 mph... No joke.

No one takes care of their cars like my grandpa. He has 4... and he enjoys buying new ones every couple years. This is the longest time he has kept a car. I asked him why he was selling it and he said it had too many miles on it.... haha.

It is not as beautiful as my car. But I feel like it would last me a lot longer, and be cheaper in the long run.

He is asking $3,500 for it.

I could realistically sell my car for $2,500. So essentially it will cost me $1,000.

He said I can make interest free payments to him, which I think is more than generous.

Part of me loves my car and wants to keep it. The logical side of me thinks this is a great opportunity to get rid of my lemon car and get something more reliable while I can still sell it for a decent amount.

My car get 3-5 more mpg, which is also a factor. The Neon is also a little smaller, which scares me about snow, and future kiddos.

My parents are urging me to go for the Neon. My father in law thinks he can fix my cobalt and that I should keep it. But even if he does, I feel like 100k less miles would get me a lot further.

I dont think I will find another car at this price that has been so well taken care of. I worry that if I pass it up my car will die on me in 6 months and I will be kicking myself.

At the same time, Id prefer to keep my car, if it will last me another 5 years.

What to do, what to do?

If you have not read part one, see it here.

http://klarose.savingadvice.com/2014/02/19/the-story-of-goat...

Goatie could open doors and gates, and would often get into our sheds, or let the other goats out, so every door had to have double latches.



She LOVED riding in the car. When people would come over, she would try to jump in their vehicles when they opened the door. Often times I would just take her for a ride to town. She would jump in and lay down on my lap and just sleep the entire way. Once she got big she could not fit on my lap anymore, so she would put her front feet on me and her head and just get as close as she could.




She loved me so much. Every time she had babies she would wait until I got there, I witnessed every single one of her 11 births. She would cry for me when I went inside. Or if I sat outside she would lay down beside me, and rest her head on my lap.

After a couple years Goatie grew too fat. We tried to put her on a diet, but since she ran free she pretty much just ate what she wanted. If we locked her up she would cry and cry.

Fat can cause problems when goats kid (have babies) and one time she had a stillborn. She mourned that baby like no animal I have ever witnessed. It was winter so we could not bury it. So we wrapped it in a towel and hid it on the other side of the house. Overnight she actually found it and was standing over it the next morning protecting her baby.

After we buried it it literately screamed and cried for two weeks. She wandered around looking everywhere and under everything for her baby. Because I raised her and made goat sounds to her when she was young, her voice did not sound like the other goats, it sounded like my voice when I try to make a goat sound. It is weird. But her cries were eerily human sounding. It was so sad, that no one wanted to go outside during this time because her mourning was just so depressing.

Eventually she got over it, but we decided not to breed her again because of her weight. She loved babies and was determined and she managed to get in with the boys. So we waited and prayed that everything would go smoothly.

The time came and she had 4 kids. Everything went great, and I was so relieved. She was happy again. Then two days later, she went back into labor.

We have no idea why, there were no more babies in there. The vets could not / would not do anything. They thought her uterus had ruptured and that she was bleeding internally. So I sat watching my beloved Goatie get weaker and weaker everyday.

Goatie was so strong, I thought nothing would ever bring her down. She was still eating, drinking, and walking up until the last day. That is rare.

One night she was doing about the same. I sat down with her and snuggled her, and stroked her head. I wanted to stay with her, but the vet told me that I was probably stressing her out by being with her all the time and that I needed to just let her rest. So I talked for a while, then I kissed her head and went to bed.

In the middle of the night my dad went to go check on her. He found her passed away in the yard, half way to the house. She was trying to get closer to us.

That is my biggest regret in life, was leaving that goat. I should have stayed with her when she was scared and hurting. I should have known better.

I miss her more than anything. She died a year ago, and even now I am sitting here bawling like a baby. Words can not describe how much I loved that crazy animal.

The only thing I have to cherish is that she gave me one last gift, her 4 babies. I kept two of her babies, and gave the other two to my goat mentor who helped me save her all that time ago.



One looks just like her, and they both act just like her. They follow me around, and enjoy riding in the car. I find it so amazing that even though they were not raised by their mother, there is such a resemblance. I look at Tippy (the one who looks just like her) and it makes me smile because I think of her. I had to bottle raise them too, so they have her same voice. They have her eyes. I love them so much.

I also have 2 other babies of hers from previous years.

And that is the long story of Goatie. Eventually I will post about my other goats, but I think I have said enough for today.

A lot of people have been asking about my goats, so I figured it was about time to post about them. I can not talk about my goats without first introducing you to Goatie. My first goat.

Beware this is going to be long, so I am going to break it up into sections.

Years ago we were at an animal fair walking around one day, and we heard a little baby goat crying.



Somehow I talked my mother into letting me take it home. We lived in a subdivision, and had no experience. She was only 3 days old, and had to be bottle fed. No matter what we tried she would not eat and we nearly lost her, but luckily we found a nice family with goats that helped us and taught us how to care for her. (They are still my goat mentors)

She slept inside the garage in a dog bed, and we left the door open and she ran around freely. She stayed in the yard, and played with our poodle. She also came inside the house, and was potty trained. She never had an accident.

About 6 months later we bought a farm, and we moved. She did not like the change at all when we put her outside. We still let her run free, and she slept on the front porch. She would greet people when they drove up, and followed me obediently when I was outside.

This was not a normal old goat. She was different. She knew just as many tricks as any dog I have ever seen. She could shake hands, rear up, twirl in a circle, moon walk, speak, bow, lay down, and I even made subtle hand signals and I could ask her a question and depending on my hands she would shake her head yes or no. So Id ask her, Goatie you are not a bad girl are you? And she would say no.



Every person who came to the farm was delighted with her. And she would willingly demonstrate her tricks. I even taught her how to pull a cart, and she would pull my sled in the winter with me on it.

I took her to parades, I took her treat or treating, I took her to nursing homes, I took her on walks to the park. She was my best friend. We shared a special connection.



After another year we decided she could probably use another goat for a friend. So we went out and bought another. When we brought it home, she HATED it. She took one smell then began spitting like it was the worst thing she ever smelt.

Since she had never been around them, she did not like goats. She would head butt them every time one got close to her.

Eventually we bred her and she found her new calling. She loved her babies. She took such good care of them, and every one she had acted just like her. (Goats pass down their personalities.)



To be continued...

I have several sources of money coming in at this time, and I thought it would be a good idea to write it down so I can keep track of where it should be going when it gets here.

First I will be getting a refund on school tuition. It should be here next week.

Total: $238

I am wrapping up a freelance job, that has a balance still owed. Should be paid within the next 30 days.

Total: $462

I got a signed contract back for another job yesterday. First payment should arrive by next week.

Total: $750

Church Website will be started asap. My payment is sitting in an envelope. I am not going to claim it until the project is well under way.

Total: $500

With a grand total of $1,950!!!

That is pretty dang good for side income in about 6 weeks. Probably the most I have ever had. And that is not counting the tax refund we just got back.


1. $150 to tithes
2. $700 to finish my 2013 Roth IRA
3. $700 to goat money
4. $400 to animal fund

Things are subject to change but this is my current plan.

I am excited to knock out the IRA goal so quickly, and also put back money for the goats I purchased.

I finally had to do it. I had to buy propane.

Our tank had dwindled down to 16%.

The price of propane was still at $3.39 a gallon and no matter what they would not let me only get 100 gallons even though they offered me that deal in the past. Gr. I did not know it was a limited time offer, or I would have accepted it back then.

Total cost was $722.29. That will raise our tank to around 65% I believe.

I just can not get over how I could fill my entire tank for $450 last year...

They let me pay $450 today, which is how much I had in my propane fund. And I will owe the rest by the end of March.

Poop poop poop.

Yesterday I opened my first Roth IRA!!!

The money is not in the account yet, because they have to verify my bank account, but sometime in the next few days I will have $1,300 in there!! Hurray! This is our first retirement savings, and it feels good to get started on that.

I claimed the savers credit, so I have to put $2,000 in the Roth before April. That should be no problem.

I also added $125 to my EF.

There are lots of pending incomes right now, and I wont know my complete total until at least Monday. But it is looking pretty good right now. Finally I feel like we are getting somewhere with our fiances.

Hoping to knock out the animal fund and Roth IRA in the next couple months.

I have a question.

I work for a church. We give 10% of everything we make, our tithe.

Well the church wants me to redo their website, and my fee for that is usually $750.

They are going through a rough patch financially right now, and I can not in good conscious charge them.

I thought maybe I could just take the amount out of my tithes. I would only take out $500. Because I do not mind giving them a deal, but we are talking up to 100 hours of work. As busy as I am, and especially since I have other freelance jobs, I just can not see doing it for free.

Especially since they want it done asap. Which means I will have to devote more of my precious time to the project instead of paying jobs.

Do you think subtracting it from my tithes is fair? Or would you just do it for free?

I am at a loss, and I certainly dont want to short change my church, but at the same time I feel like I would resent doing that much free labor.

Someone just emailed me about a freelance job that we had discussed back in November. I had not heard anything back from them so I assumed it to be a lost cause. Well they are still very interested and apologized for taking so long.

I am currently still working on the other one I got randomly this month. It is about to wrap up though.

So as long as they do not mind waiting until March it looks like I will have another job!

My employer has also asked me to redo their website, so that means 2 more!

After I finish these offers that will bring my portfolio total to 5! Before I even graduate!

I am super excited. Originally 5 completed was my goal before I would start considering dropping my day job and getting a part time work and focusing on my Website Design. Now I do not think I am quite ready for that, but I am a lot closer than I was before! How exciting!

The extra cash flow will help so much too!

Things are not getting any better around here.

It is still snowing almost daily. The temps are still in the single digits, the news said up to -45 with windchill.

It seems like this stupid winter is never going to end. I got my car stuck, we had to deal with a neighbor, our pipes busted, the propane is outrageous. And now...

I went to feed my animals this morning and there were two dead baby goats that were born in the night. They were several weeks premature, and barely even had grown their hair yet. So I am not sure if I was out there when they were born if they would have lived or not.

Of course it was from my best doe (female goat) so that is $600 that I was counting on that is now gone.

The mama goat was acting completely normal before bed, and this morning she was acting completely normal too, as if she did not even realize that she had babies. I had no indication that she would go last night, as she was not due until March.

Now I am worried that the other 3 pregnant does are going to miscarry. They all look horrible because they have been in the barn with no sunlight for weeks and weeks. Goats hate snow and cold, so they refuse to come out at all. I am worried for their health if the weather does not break soon.

I am extremely upset about the babies, especially the what if I had been there. The poor things froze.

Just so upset.

I added $75 to my EF.

Tuesday we got another blizzard. At 2:30pm it was coming down so hard I thought I better leave early from work and get home before it got worse. Bad idea!

It was nearly a white out, and the roads had not been plowed for some reason. The snow was coming down so hard you could only see a couple feet in front of the car.

Then... my wipers started freezing up. They were not wiping the snow and ice off my windshield. Within seconds my entire windshield was pure ice, and I couldn't see a thing. Then it would wipe off for a second, then go right back to ice.

I had to pull over 3 times and scrap the ice off in just a couple miles. By this point I'm starting to panic. You can't see where the road ends or begins, and my window was randomly completely freezing, I mean I could not see anything. I was driving about 10 miles an hour, and looking out my side window to try to judge the distance from where I thought the other side of the road was.

It was the scariest driving I have ever done. The last time I pulled over I started crying, and didn't know what to do. I had also forgotten all my winter clothes at home. I had on yoga pants and a light jacket, with tennis shoes. I was driving blindly, and dear Lord what if a car came. I passed a few people, but luckily my window was not frozen at those exact times.

At this point I was only a couple miles from home, I thought I could make it, I scrapped my window again and started slowly.

Then it froze again. I felt my tires hitting grass... my left tires. I realize that I was driving on the wrong side of the road, with 0 vision. I made the decision to pull farther off, I could nott tell where I was or how far to the side I was, but I did not want to get hit.

My car slid down a ditch and I got out. (In my light clothes, which were now soaked up to the knees from the snow.) My back right tire was off the ground, because I was so tilted in the ditch. I was so afraid no one would see me and I would get hit.

I called my dad, who lives just a mile away. By this time I'm uncontrollably sobbing. He came and got me, but my car was stuck tight and we had to abandoned it.

Later in the evening my dad and father in law got a big truck with a wench and managed to drag my car back on the road and got it home. I am so thankful that I did not get hit, my car was not damaged, and that they got it out without a tow truck.

Today I called the propane company again, I am down to the low 20s%. The price has went back up 40cents since last week, and now they refuse to just bring me 100 gallons, I have to get 200. I wish they would have told me that last week, when they talked me into waiting! I have no idea what I am going to do. I can not afford over $750 for a half of a tank of propane!

I finally upgraded my phone to a smart phone! I am on the share everything plan, so it only cost $10 extra a month. We have no internet at home, and being a Secretary & a Web Designer, it makes it really hard. Internet will cost us $75+ so I figured this was a good compromise to hold me over longer. I really love my new phone. I got a GREAT deal on it.

It was suppose to be $100 but it was on sale for $50. Verizon charges a $30 upgrade fee, so that would be a total of $80. But I checked out Target and they had the phone on sale even lower for $20! If you bought it online they would also take off the upgrade fee! So I ended up getting a $130 phone for $20. Hurray for deals.

I still had not heard back from the plumber so I went ahead and just send him the darn check. It has been a month, and I just want to be done with it.

I paid an extra $80 to my mortgage. That covers the rest of my escrow due, and pays down a little principle. I am glad to have that small debt gone. That brought my mortgage down to $50,853.55.
Hurray! We are down to 50k. Cant wait to see it in the 40s.

Husband and I decided to finally make a trip to New Mexico like we have been wanting to for a couple years now. We are going to pick up some goats to add to my herd. But husband has never been out West so we will site see and use it as a mini vacation too. Best of all is that I will be able to find other people that want goats too, so they will all chip in on gas money. So we should be able to go there for very low cost or for free! It is an 18 hour trip one way though… so boo. I paid a deposit today to hold my goats. Now I will have to come up with another $700 at least before June. Yuck. Just when I thought I was getting ahead.

Today was payday, and my paypal went through.

I was able to add $200 to the animal fund to start saving for fencing and finishing the horse shelter.

Credit card is also paid down.

Our propane tank is currently between 30% - 35% so I called for a fill up. There is a propane shortage across the US. People are freaking out.

The price jumped from $1.50ish to $4.50ish in just a couple weeks!

She quoted me a price of $3 today. But she told me I should just turn down the heat and ride it out as long as possible. They won't even do fill ups right now. She said they won't give anyone more than 100 gallons at a time.

I will just keep checking the propane meter, and will wait until it gets down to 15%. She said to call back next week and see if the price has settled back down. That scares me. If the tank runs out not only will we not have any heat, but they charge a whole lot of fees and have to do a bunch of tests if the tank runs out. Ouch.

Crazy times! It is suppose to get super cold again this week. Last night it was about 65... when I woke up this morning it was under 10 degrees. That is insane! 40-50 mile per hour winds all night too, it felt like a tornado.

I am SO DONE with winter. Spring come quickly.

Praise the Lord!

Someone contacted me about designing a website finally.

The lady is very nice, and has already sent the initial $250. I am very excited to be getting the practice, and getting the extra cash.

It is in the process of transferring to my bank account, and paypal said it can take several days. As soon as it gets here that money will probably be sent to my animal fund to put towards fencing my pasture and finishing my horse shelter.

This money will greatly help me reach my goals.

Well when he stopped at my moms house, she managed to ask his name. She then googled him, and we have his phone number. She tried to call him but his wife answered and said he was gone.

I have not called the sheriffs office yet or AC. Although I do have a friend who works there, so I may ask his opinion.

I am trying to remain calm and civil, it is an 80 year old guy, and he is our neighbor. I really do not want a life long dispute. But really he needs to mind his own business.

I posted a no trespassing sign, and if he comes here again or makes anymore threats he will be DONE.

I wanted to call him last night, but husband is furious. He feels just as violated as me, and is saying how if he comes here again he is going to fire some warning shots in the air. Husband will not let me call him. He says if the guy is going to make threats, he needs to come say it to our face. We should not have to hunt him down.

My mom came out and rigged it up so the horse can go into the barn if he wants to. He has not been in there once yet, and husband wants him put back. (The horse is basically fenced off in the yard and pooping everywhere.)

My animals are well cared for. I have a 20 pound cat for goodness sakes, and a 200 pound pet pig. No one can say my animals are starving... lol. If anything they are overweight. This is all just ridiculous. I am appalled that someone would think I mistreat my animals. It is so the opposite of that.

I have decided to not let it bother me. Mom gave him my phone number, so he has no reason to not contact me if he wants to make empty threats again. We will be taking action against him if he does something again.

Thanks for the support guys!

The neighbor that threatened to call animal control is at it again! I am so mad, I could spit bullets.

Now he has stopped at my parents house. (I have no idea how he knows us, or who they are.)

Apparently he came to MY house today while I was at work. He claims that there were no foot prints to my horse pen, so I haven't watered or fed him today.

Then he went INSIDE my barn and said there were sharp things in there that is unsafe for a horse. He also looked and snooped around and said I had no grain, so I am obviously starving my horse!

#1 There are no footprint because it is 30 mile an hour wind outside, and there is snow on the ground. Of course they would blow over. The water is frozen because it is 14 degrees outside.

#2 I DO NOT WANT people coming to my house when I am not home, and snooping through my stuff.

#3 No duh the barn is not safe for horses. That is why he is not in the barn!!! He has his own shelter.

#4 I have over 200 pounds of grain in there. And even if I did not, since when is it a crime to not feed a horse grain. (He gets hay 24/7 which is all he needs.)

He says if something does not change today he is calling animal control. I just do not understand. I am sitting here bawling. I do not think he has a case, but what if they come and decide he is right and I get in trouble or they take away my horse.

I want to call the police, but I do not want to start anything.

I will be stopping at walmart and getting a no trespassing sign on my way home. I do not think it will help though.

He needs to mind his own business. I know dozen of horses, with NO shelter. Why is he picking me on, when I have a shelter, and obviously well cared for animals. The only reason he even knows is because my house is out in the open and visible to everyone.

My parents are going to come help try to figure something out. But I am scared to put my horse in the barn again. He hates it, and he hurts himself.

Sent out checks for all the bills today.
(Except the darn plumber bill. Still no answer. arg.)
The money is sitting in my account, but I still would like to call and see if I can get it lowered first.

I also was able to pay down my credit card to below $100 and it isn't due until March 6th. So starting next week I should be able to start putting money back in savings again! Hurray!

Hopefully no other big unexpected expenses will come up, and our budget will just continue with smooth sailing. I can not wait to see our EF grow!

In other news, I broke my right hand yesterday. Which I have to use for everything like typing and doing chores. I hope it heals quickly.

Husband got his first big check.

It could not have came at a better time, since our bills are about $120 over budget this month, and the $300 plumber bill. (Still have not got a hold of him yet. We are playing phone tag.)

Since our income will be changing, we finally sat down and I shared my budget plan.

This is a bi-weekly budget.

My Check $470
---------------------
House $100
Tithes $50
Lunches $30
Phone/Insurance $50
Gas $80
Savings $150

Remaining $10
______________________________

Of course other expenses usually come up and eat some of my savings money. But I am hoping that with husband raise we will budget some discretionary money, and I wont have to eat into my savings.

His Check $860
---------------------
Bills/House $300
Food $150
Gas $100
Insurance/Phone $40
Tithes $90
Savings/Bills $50

Remaining $130
_______________________________

Our remaining money will be saved, used for date nights, and remodeling our house.

Just treading water around here.

I tried to call the plumber and see about lowering bill. No answer. I will leave a message and hopefully he will call me back.

Our electric bill was HUGE this month. $230. Most of the year it is around $120. So now I have to scramble for that money.

Trash bill and Water is also due before the end of the month.

Everything will get paid without eating into the EF but I am just trying to juggle what to pay this check, what to what until next check...

Still have another $150 on the credit card.

No money is being saved this month probably. But I am just happy to cover all these costs out of the paychecks and not savings.

We got the plumber bill yesterday...

$305!!!

That is so ridiculous.

The materials cost $5. He charged us $300 in labor.

Which the job should have only taken less than an hour. He just had to replace one elbow in our bathroom. But he soldered the top of it first then when he did the bottom the heat melted the top one and he had to cut it off and start all over again. Which ended up making the job 2 hours.

The second time it took less than 20 minutes probably to do it. But in between he tried other things to see if he could save it before he started over which ate up time.

I dont think we should really be charged for his mistake. But even if he are, is $150 really the going rate per hour? That is crazy! I want to be a plumber, they make more than doctors!

I have talked to a couple people, and they agree it sounds outrageous. Maybe he is price gouging because I am a female? Who knows.

I have the money but I am going back and forth if I should call him and ask him about the bill and see if I can get it lowered, or if I should just suck it up and pay and be done with it.

I dont want to make him an enemy because I may need him again someday, and he works with Father in Law on occasion.

But geez!

What would you do?

I got so wrapped up in the water disaster this week I forgot to post about our fun weekend!

Husbands work had their Christmas party Saturday. Enough cant be said about how generous they are, I have never experienced another business like them. I am sooooo tempted to put my application in as well.

They rented a huge building. It was all decked up and so fancy, everyone was all dressed up. I felt like a queen!

There was over 150 people there, and everyone was so friendly to me. I had at least 5 people come up to me and gush about how sweet and polite my husband was to them. Even the owner. I just told them, you havent seen him at home. lol.

I think the funniest thing about this was that it is a gun warehouse so literately 90% of the people that work there are hicks. So there were people wearing fancy dresses, then there were also men with long scruffy beards and camo pants. It was a hoot.

They served prime rib and chicken cordon bleu as the main dishes. But they had probably 7 other side dishes that were just as fancy. I am not kidding when I say it was probably the most expensive and delicious meal I have ever ate.

It was also an open bar, but neither of us drink. So I had a couple cokes and husband stuck to water.

They gave away a ton of attendance prizes. (Close to 100) Including ammunition, a gun, and other odds and ends like coolers and tents.

We didnt win anything. But every employee got a hat, a very nice jacket, and a box of chocolate bullets.

We was fun to socialize, and I had a great time meeting all his co-workers and friends.


Back to today. All week I have been praying that God would provide for the money for our plumber. Well yesterday husband came home grinning ear to ear. They gave him a $3 an hour raise!!



That equates to about $185 extra a check! Which means we will be able to save another $100 a month at least for our EF. We will have more food money, husband will have more spending money, and we might even be able to afford internet finally!

I am so proud that my husband is a good worker. Last year at this time he was working at McDonalds, and everyone ridiculed him. Now he is thriving in a job he loves. I am so happy for him, he really deserves it.

Well the plumber came out this morning finally.


We have water again!!

But the spot are hard to reach, and it took him an hour to fix it. Then he had a leak and had to cut it all out and start over.

So the little job took two hours.

I am not sure if he will charge us for the extra hour since it was kind of his fault... But I bet he will.

He said he will send me a bill, and I am super nervous to what it will be. I bet a few hundred dollars.

That seems so expensive for a little tiny elbow that needed replaced. It depresses me that we can not get ahead in our savings.

My mortgage payment hit and I am at $51,057.43

I am so close to breaking into $50k!

I am sorely tempted to paying an extra $57 just so I can get there, but I know it is not wise at this time.

With my normal little extra payment $29 went to escrow, so I have about $52 more until my escrow is all caught up. Hopefully by next month.

Baby goats are doing good. And I have about $500 - $750 worth of babies to sell depending on if I keep the girl or not. I wont get that money until at least May though.

My water is still shut off. The plumber is suppose to come today, but I have not heard from him yet. Praying that he comes today, fixes the pipes, and that it cost under $200.

Yesterday my goat had trouble delivering her kids. This goat is the bane of my existence. Worst animal I have ever had, and she has been nothing but trouble. I bought her years ago, I paid a pretty penny for her and she was suppose to be bred when I got her.

She wasnt and we have tried to get her bred this entire time but she never took. We finally get her bred and then we have all this trouble.

She got caught in the fence (at old owners) as a kid and we believe she got brain damage.

She never eats right, and she is super skinny and unhealthy looking. She stares off into space for hours at a time, she walks alone and just wanders around. She honestly acts like a person with Autism. It is the weirdest thing.

Anyway my mom called me that she was having trouble. I am the most experienced at getting stuck kids out so I rush there, and try my best. But I feel a ribcage and a hip... But that cant be right.

We decide to take her to the vet for an emergency c-section. It is going to cost $300...

Mind you I already have spent endless money on buying and care for this useless goat. I have her sold to a pet home for close to nothing, and she was suppose to leave in a couple months. The thought of spending another $300 makes me sick. Id prefer just to shoot her, but cant justify it.

(Warning: This may be graphic to some.)

We get there, and the vet tries one last time to get the baby out. She is really violent about it. We hold the goat up in the air, and it was so messy I thought she was going to bleed out.

She did manage to dislodge the baby. It was literately twisted in half. So I WAS feeling a hip and a ribcage. It looked dead, but it had a really faint heart beat. We tried to revive it for a few seconds. But honestly it looked so broken, I dont think there is anyway we could save it, so our attention turned back to trying to rescue any other kids inside.

She forcefully pulled out two more kids. The first one was one of the smallest babies I have ever seen. It was so skinny, and not breathing. I thought it was gone too. The vet assistant didnt seem to know what to do. So I gently pushed her out of the way and grabbed the kid by the back feet and I slung that baby around like a lasso.

It seemed like this situation lasted forever, but I think from the time we walked in the door to when we left we like 10 minutes.

Im pretty sure the rest of the vet hospital thought we were some crazy people. Think of 3 people holding a goat up in the air, and another person slinging a baby around. And mess EVERYWHERE, including the walls. I felt bad about the mess. But it couldnt be helped.

To clarify, slinging is an old goat trick. The pressure causes anything in the airways to be slung out. It also jumpstarts the heart. Ive saved more than one goat this way, although Ill be honest it looks a little scary.

The baby started gasping for air like a fish. And after some rubbing she came back to us.

In the end it only cost me $50. And I got a mama goat, and two babies which will be worth at least $200 each. So I think thats a pretty good deal.

Mama goat is in shock. I cant blame her with how rough she was handled, but we agreed with the vet. It was either lose all of them, or get them out NOW. Choices had to be made, and the babies were worth more than the mama.

I think she is doing a little better this morning, so time will tell if she recovers. I think she will pull through just fine.

Little baby is very weak and small, but she is slowly getting stronger. She is so beautiful, she looks like a little deer.

Whew. The last babies were born this morning. So goat kidding is over until March. Praise the Lord!

This morning I deposited $145 to pay down the credit card bill. But I think I will leave it in my checking for now, until I find out how much the plumber is going to cost.

These last couple days have been horrible. I am ready to break down and cry.

Sunday we got this crazy snow storm. Temperatures have been below 0 for days now, and windchill has been as low at -35.

A neighbor (I dont know who) called my mother in law and told her to tell me. (What a coward) That they would call animal control if I did not put my horse into my barn. He has an outdoor field shelter, but apparently they felt that was not good enough.

Husband and I spent all of Sunday putting up tarps and walls in his field shelter. Then we decided it wasnt good enough so then we spend several more hours trying to block off a section of our barn. It is full of furniture, hay, tools and junk. And it is not animal safe, especially a horse.

We got a little pen rigged up. Sunday night was fine, but last night he was too antsy in there, and was freaking out. Somehow he cut his leg open and was bleeding everywhere, and I had to end up letting him sleep outside anyway. He was fine BTW.

I dont have many nice things to say about the neighbor who thinks they were being a good citizen... Especially since this entire county is full of horses that live in field shelters.

I had to miss work Sunday and Monday because my car was trapped behind a 3ft high drift.

This morning I woke up coughing and I heard something funny. So I run into the bathroom and our pipes had frozen and busted and water was spraying everywhere.

I screamed for my husband and we tried to shut it off, but the leak was before the shut off valve so we had to run down to the road and turn it off at the main. Which is probably a good 300 or 400ft away.

Under our house is full of water, hundreds maybe thousands of gallons spilled overnight.

Now I have a farm full of animals and no water, and our driveway is impassible.

Luckily father in law showed up with a snow plow from work, and he plowed my driveway.

So I got my car out, and father brought a couple buckets of water for animals.

Hopefully we just have one leak, and it wont cost a lot to fix. Im worried. Plumber should be here tonight or tomorrow. Even if we do get it fixed, it might refreeze. Water bill will be super high.

I just made it to work 5 minutes ago, and my mother called me and one of my goats is having babies and is in trouble. So now she is coming to get me so I can try to save my goat.

Everything is just going wrong. I dont know if I can handle it all.

The

This week I have spent more than I should.

My best friend came home and we went out, twice.

Yesterday I took a couple ladies to visit another friend that lives a couple hours away to see her new apartment. At the last minute they asked me to drive because I had a smaller car (to save on gas). It cost over $25 in gas to get there. They did not offer to help pay, and I did not bring it up. So of course it saved them on gas! lol. I hate to be nit picky about small stuff like that, but all I can think about is the $25 that wont be going to my EF this week.

Now comes my dilemma. I need to put $75 a week into my EF.

I have about $150 on my credit card right now. Not due until middle of Feb. I will be adding probably $50 more this week to it for normal expenses such as gas.

I like to pay off my credit card every week or at least down as low as I can, just to stay on top of it. I dont want a huge bill due at the end of the month.

After bills this week I will have around $160 left.

Should I put $75 in my EF, and just pay down $85 on the credit card?

Should I put $50 in my EF, and pay down $110 on my credit card?

Should I pay off my credit card asap and put only $10 in EF?

Option 2 sounds better because I hate having a balance on my credit card. But if I want to keep up with my saving goals, every time I cut back the amount I deposit, I will have to catch it up another week and that is hard!

So I think savings should come first.

What do you do? How do you chose between savings, and delaying debt payment for a little while longer? Do you pay your credit card in full every paycheck and just put your extra in savings? Or does saving come first?

I met my 2013 goal!

I deposited $100 today to bring my Emergency fund to $1,500!!

That is one month of bills for us. I am excited to finally have a little cushion, and I pray that it just keeps going up from here.

The bad news is I have spent more than I should this week. My best friend surprised me by coming home early from her trip to Africa and I haven't seen her for months. So of course we went out to eat and I bought her meal. We may be going out to eat again tonight, and I have to buy some food to bring to a New Years party. I have about $100 on the credit card right now, that is not due until Feb. But I really need to work on keeping that down so it does not continue to suck all my saving money.

I also still owe the $80ish to the escrow and $50 to my propane fund. So I am going to have to be thrifty or work a little extra for a couple weeks, if I want to meet my saving goals.

What I found today that was really cool is that my savings account is now making me $.01 of interest a day. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but I have NEVER seen a daily amount of interest, in the past I have gotten about $.01 a month or so. So to see that I am making something daily, especially on such a low amount is awesome!

It makes me excited to add more!

First I want to share how I saved $20 yesterday!

Husband bought me a beautiful Carhartt coat for Christmas. But it did not fit quite right. So we went to return it yesterday and get a different one.

Well they were having a 20% off sale on all the coats!

So we were able to return the one he had bought for full price, and buy a new one for 20% off, score!

(I am not too happy about him spending nearly $100 on a coat anyway. But he refused to take it back, and said he got a big bonus and wanted to spoil me.)

Now back to my main point. lol

This year I need to come up with a lot of money that frankly just is not in the budget. So I am going to have to come up with several thousand some how.

I thought I would share some of the ways I plan to make money this year, maybe other people will get some ideas from it.

I breed goats and am expecting at least $2,000 of profit from them. It could be more, but you just never know.

I will be getting between $200 - $400 in grant money back from school.

I will be putting at least $500 from income tax return into savings, but it may be even more. Maybe up to $2,000 depending on how my savers credit works.

I will try to get a couple freelance web design jobs. They bring in $750 for a big job, or $50 for a little job. I hope to do at least 3 this year.

Husband will get another Christmas bonus next year, and some of that will go to savings. No idea how much it will be because it is dependent on the company's profits.

Ebay is always an option, although since we have a new house we really don't have too much extra junk. But I am going to try to dig up a few things.

All these little things add up. Plus it seems like every year extra money is found. Either by gifts, or side jobs, or just whatever.

I am hoping all of this will be enough to meet our goals this year!

So I have already listed my big goals for the 2014 year.
Now I want to share some of my little & personal goals. Not all of my goals have to do with money, but with just life in general.

My little goals are much more likely to change than my big goals, and some are sure to be added later on in the year. But this is what I came up with at the time. They are in no specific order.

1.) 3 new windows. $1,100

We put 2 in last year, 3 this year, and now I need 3 more to finish one corner of the house. The new windows look great, and certainly help with heating and cooling. So I want to get one corner of the house finished.

My parents have generously offered to pay for one of the three as a late Christmas present, but I do not want to count on that too much in case they change their minds or are unable to later on.
The total cost will be right around $1,100 for all three.

2.) Tar porch roof.

We put a new shingle roof on the house last year, but over the porch the slant is too low to shingle and it has tar. It does leak under heavy rain. So that needs to be fixed. I would love to talk to a professional to see if we can shingle it somehow. It's ugly as heck. But I'd be okay with just re taring it if we have to. No clue on cost.

3.) Put in a garden & more landscaping.

Last year and this year was mostly focused on the inside of the house. So we didn't do any gardening, and we only put in one landscape box and a couple little plants. This year I want to spend more time working on the outside of the house, and the yard. I also want to plant a garden, even if it is small. Husband has pet turtles and they eat a LOT of fresh vegetables and fruits that are expensive. So if we could grow some it would save a lot or money.

4.) Decorate the house.

The house has been rebuilt, but it is sooo bland. I want to start adding pictures, decor, rugs, anything to spruce it up.

5.) Spend more time on crafts & hobbies & books.

I am a workaholic. I also go to school. I am so busy that I meet myself coming and going. I do not get to spend much time doing fun things, or things I enjoy. Most times I am just happy if I can keep the house reasonably clean. This year I want to slow down a little. (as best as I can with my current job) I want to ride my horse, read books, do crafts & house projects that I enjoy.

6.) Put the trim up in the house.

Trim is really the last big project left to do inside the house at the current time. We have none of it up, and our house looks unfinished.

It is almost the end of the year!

Yikes! It is time to start thinking about next years goals.

My mind is filled with things we need and want. I know I have lots of little goals, that I will go over later, but I have narrowed a list down to 4 things that are my BIG goals for 2014.

1.) I want to put at LEAST $2,000 in a Roth IRA.

I am anxious to get started with our retirement savings. $2,000 seems so small, but at least it is a start.

2.) I want to get my EF to $4,500.

That is 3 months worth of bills, and I think that is a suitable number for us. Although some people need more, we have no outstanding debts, and we both have steady jobs. We will have $1,500 by Jan. so that means I need to come up with $3,000 more.

3.) $3,000 in Animal Fund.

This is a hard one. I have a goat breeding business that has taken a long time to take off. But we are to the point now, that cost is lower and profits are higher. I had to move my herd to my new house when I got married, leaving behind the thousands of dollars worth of fence that I had purchased over the years.

Last year I paid with savings to have two small fences put up, and a shelter so I could get my horse and herd moved. While they are safe, and the pen does work. They are in a small area, and not as healthy or happy.

I have a large pasture that is waiting to be fenced off so they can roam. I will do half at a time, and it is going to cost at least $2,000 for the first half. I would like to get that done ASAP.

I also need about $1,000 in reserve, that should cover all care and feed costs for the year.

I am expecting a lowball estimate of $2,000 of profit from goat sales this year. So that means I will still need to come up with another $1,000 out of the budget.

4.) Pay down Mortgage to below $50,000.

We are planning on refinancing sometime next year or early 2015. I need to build more equity in our home, so we can take out a future HELOC for remodeling. So I am setting a goal of getting the mortgage below $50,000 by the end of the year. Thats about $1,170 away. So it is possible that it will decrease that much with just normal payments. Lower would be even better of course.

That means I need to come up with a total of $9,170 extra this year to meet our BIG goals.

As I said there is a lot more little goals along the way though. And currently we can only save between $200 - $300 a month. So there is a lot of money that will have to be found to meet all these goals.

I rearranged money to deposit $200 into my EF. I had to put $50 less in my propane fund, but I will replace it quickly. I just really wanted to hit my goal this year, and I am so darn close.

Only need a $100 deposit next week, and I should be able to do that no problem.

I was not able to pay much on credit card this week, but it is low enough that I am comfortable putting it on hold, especially since it will not be due until February 6th.

I got a final answer from the bank. My payment is being lowered to $471.13. Whoot whoot!

I DO owe $81.33 to escrow. But it is no big rush to pay it. So I can just make my normal payments, and it will be paid in less than 2 months.

I am excited about the lowered payment. I will continue to pay $500, and that will lower my principle by nearly $30 every month, which is not a lot, but it is a little boost.

I will be posting about next years goals soon!