Me, Myself and Mommy

This is a learn as we go situation, so keep treading water with me, as I figure this out. I’m still trying to find the best way to share our earnings and spending with you. I don’t want to bombard you with a post for every single purchase and bank deposit we make. I also don’t want to save it all up for one mac-daddy (did I just say mac-daddy?) post at the end of the month like I have been so far. You’re going to take one look at it and go, “That is way too much information in one post.” CLICK. You would close the window and never return. I’m making this up as I go along. As you’re tagging along, I could really use your advice. After all, one of the main points of Me, Myself and Money is to learn from each other.

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In the mean time, we had an interesting evening here the other day with a piggy bank and an old purse. I had a revelation, or a rerevelation because I have a feeling this thought has crossed my mind before.

Steve’s best friend, Andy, gave Moanna a piggy bank for Christmas. It was a big pink pig with her name on it. Andy told Moanna that it was for, “Saving money to make her dreams come true.” Moanna didn’t care about the dreams; she was excited to have a new place to put all the change she finds around the house. If she finds money laying around, it’s hers.

We decided that Moanna should move all of her money from her old piggy bank to the new one. It would be a fun project for her. It would also be a great opportunity for us to teach her about money. Before Moanna was born, even before we were “dating,” Steve and I had many conversations about how important it is to teach children about money. The new pig was our segway into teaching Moanna about compound interest, credit cards, supply and demand, negotiating, residual income… Slow down? Too much information for a two-year-old? You’re right. We’ll start her financial education by letting her play with money and getting familiar with it.

We dumped all of her money out on the table, and let her have at it. For a short while, she was fully engrossed in her little project. I even had her separating the money into piles. Her enthusiasm quickly waned when I tried to turn her fun into a learning project. She got impatient with me when I tried to explain that the big one was a quarter and the pink one was a penny.

Steve took over. They took turns dropping change into the pig, and giggling. I think Steve had more fun than Mo. When they got near the end of the pile o’ change, Steve told Moanna that I had more change for her. Her interest perked up at the prospect of more money.

“I do!?”

“Yes, in  your old purse.”

“Really? I had no idea.”

I fetched my purse and began digging. After pulling out several dollars in change, and a few dozen pens, I realized Steve’s alternative motive was for me to clean out this purse and get it off of our bedroom floor. Sneaky. I continued to pull out handfuls of change, pens, markers, hair ties, receipts, medicine, gum… You name it. It was in there.

As I looked at this pile of stuff that I had pulled out of my purse, I was suddenly horrified by how much money it represented. Correction, how much wasted money it represented. Not only did I hand Moanna $10.00 plus in change, but I had pulled out hundreds of dollars in receipts. Receipts that were mostly for things that I had eaten rushing to-and-from work, or things that I no longer owned like a calendar or makeup (I don’t even wear makeup 95% of the time). I came across several expired coupons – really good coupons – coupons for things that I buy on a regular basis.

I stopped counting pens and markers when I got to twenty. Do you have any idea how many pens I have purchased because I couldn’t find something to write with? I found a bottle of pain killers, and a bottle of expired vitamins. I also found four stray prescription painkillers. Those could have really come in handy this winter. I discovered several hair ties and hair clips, a pack of mints, a pack of gum and a brand new tube of chap stick.

How much money does all of that stuff add up to? $50.00? Easily right? Add that to the $10.00 in change and the tons of receipts. That equals a crap ton (official financial terminology).

Unreal.

Maddening.

I went to bed wondering, if I found that much wasted money in one medium sized purse, how much more money had I let go to waste because of my disorganization, poor planning and stupid purchases? If I cleaned out my car or the desk, what would I find? How about the boxes and boxes of stuff that were never unpacked after we moved for the eighth time in two years?

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Here are some things to think about this weekend…

How much change is in your purse? Car? Nightstand? Couch?

What do you do with your change? Give it to your kids? Save it? Donate it? Buy yourself something pretty? Pay down debt? Buy dessert?

How much money do you waste because of disorganization, poor planning and stupid purchases?

I have a feeling these kinds of questions are going to come up again and again as we learn about money. I just hope my answers become less embarrassing over time.

Thank you all so much for participating, and showing your support for Haiti.

I’m excited to announce that Anika was randomly selected for the $50.00 donation! Anika’s charity of choice is the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints.

I’m also excited to announce that Auntie Jill will be matching the $50.00 donation to the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints! She was debating what charity she should contribute to in support of Haiti, and decided that she would make her donation to the charity selected in Haiti Aide.

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It’s been two weeks since the tragic earthquake in Haiti. We have continued to watch the nightly news, and have stayed in constant contact with Andy. Everyday new stories unfold, both heartbreaking and uplifting. It’s still hard to believe that something that lasted less than a minute can change so many lives.

The more we learn about Haiti, and how much help is desperately needed there, the more we want to help. The desire to help in a big way has become palpable for our family. In the coming weeks, I will continue to post about Haiti. I will give you more opportunities to help Haiti, and I will share the things that we are doing in our family to help.

Please continue to keep the people Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. Don’t let your desire to help fade as the news coverage dwindles.

When I am under an immense amount of stress, be it physical, mental or emotional my Fibromyalgia symptoms intensify. When the weather is brutal cold my Fibromyalgia symptoms intensify. Sometimes for no apparent reason my Fibromalgia symptoms intensify.

In the past few weeks, I have felt pain and exhaustion that I have not felt in several years. I wake up, and feel like I never slept. No, I feel worse in the morning than I did when I went to bed. The pain throughout my entire body is so deep that I can’t find comfort anywhere. My mood is down. My patience is shot. My outlook on life is not what it should be. I am not a fun person to be around, and I don’t even like being around myself when this happens. If I could get up and walk away from myself, I would.

When Fibromyalgia takes control, it takes everything I have to make it through the day. I can only do the bare minimum. It takes everything in my being to get up in the morning and go to work. You can forget being any help or support to my family when I get home from work. They are lucky to get frozen pizza for dinner on a bad day. Laundry, cleaning, writing and playing are not an option. Relaxing isn’t even on the table because that is how much it hurts and how exhausted I am.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when I can fight it and push the pain and exhaustion away, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to fight back. When, Fibromyalgia takes control, I’d rather be somewhere else – somewhere far away from where I am now, far away from me.

Long before the shattering earthquake on January 12, 2010, Haiti has been in desperate need of help. It’s hard to imagine that less than 800 miles from Florida lies the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the forth poorest country in the world. Now more than ever, the people of Haiti need to be heard and helped.

For us, this  tragedy has been on our hearts and minds nonstop. Steve’s best friend, Andy, is from Haiti. He lives here in the US, so he is safe. His sister and mom also live in the US. However, they have a lot of family and friends in Haiti. They have had contact from many of their close relatives and friends. They’ve also received a lot of heartbreaking news of those that did not make it, and there are some that are still missing. It’s impossible to imagine what they and hundreds of thousands of others are going through.

I’m grateful that so many reputable organizations are sending help to Haiti. I am grateful that countries from all over the world are coming together to bring Haiti the support they need to get through this tragedy. I am grateful for the individuals that are donating money, supplies and time to the people of Haiti. I’m hopeful that this aid in all forms will continue to pour into Haiti as they begin to rebuild their country, and their home.

I know so many of you are doing what you can to offer your support and prayers to Haiti. Thank you. I hope that you can continue to donate your time, money, resources and prayers to Haiti long after the media buzz wears off. I encourage you to take time to learn about the people of Haiti – their history, their government, their culture. It is only through educating ourselves that we can begin to understand what these people are going through, and how we can best help them now and in the future.

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GIVEAWAY

To help you make a difference, I am going to  donate $50.00 in your name to the Haitian-related reputable charity of your choice.

To enter, simply leave a comment with the name of the organization you would like to donate to. Again, this organization must be reputable, and the money must go to Haitian relief.

If your comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t panic, it will show up shortly.

On January 25, 2010 (Monday) at 10:00AM, I will close the comments and randomly select a winner.

The winner will have $50.00 donated in their name to the organization of their choice.

** Family, you can enter this one too. If the randomly selected winner, happens to be a family member, I will select a second winner.

Thank you so much for participating and supporting the beautiful people of Haiti.

Today I am grateful for silence. I love the between moments when there is no noise and no movement. The house is empty, the TV is off, there are no appliances running – everything is peaceful and quiet. Sometimes in these moments, I can even turn off my thoughts.

These moments don’t come often in this crazy life. For me, they happen when everyone leaves the house and I’m suddenly alone,when I’m sitting in the car for a minute before getting out to go inside, or just after lunch when I return to the office before anyone discovers that I’ve returned. It’s nice to just be still and melt into the warmth of the silence. Sometimes it only takes a minute or two of solidarity to rejuvenate and refocus yourself.

I am thankful for  the brief moments of silence that come and go throughout the day allowing us to take a deep breath and let the tension. I am also grateful that I am learning to recognize these opportunities for silence and take advantage of them.