This is how we do it. Phase 1.

Do you know what makes me feel really good?

Balancing my checkbook, paying my bills, and getting cash out of the bank.

These things bring me peace.

I am not trying to be funny although most of the time that's all I'm trying to be (Levi would emphasize TRYING).

I am here to tell you that having your finances in order is just bliss.

It matters not how much money you have or make.

Just manage what you've been given and you will feel like you've been to the spa.

If you are not the money person in your home then you may not relate to this but I most certainly do.

I "do the books" as they say and so this is just something that I really relate too.

Having your finances all crazy can just get you so down.

It is such a burden on me when I have not balanced my checkbook, made sure my bills are all paid and forget to get our cash out of the bank (we use envelopes so this is VERY important for our budget).

I also like to make sure my wallet and purse are neat and tidy. You will manage your money better with a neat a tidy wallet. I would almost bet that if your purse is a mess and your wallet is sneezing receipts then you and your finances are not in harmony.

I use the Dave Ramsey wallet b/c it has envelopes and that is what I need. We are going for function not fashion but I will say that the weird tan colored part of the front of the wallet is just paper....it looks like that's just how the front of the wallet is but when it came in I was so glad that it was just part of the packaging.

Anyway.....

Some things you can do to immediately relieve yourself from some stress and tension are:

balance your checkbook
clean out your purse and wallet
make sure all your bills are paid and set them up on automatic withdrawal if you can
pick one thing to get cash out for next month and see how it works for you

I am telling you this is important for your health and your marriage. Get organized. Now.

eBay saved the day.

I got an e-mail the other day from a bride-to-be who is having Mia be her flower girl. She sent me a few pictures of some pretty little froo froo dresses that she was considering.

The least expensive one was $115.00. Gulp, cough, choke.

The most expensive one was $160.00....laughing hysterically.

Lucky for me this bride is so very nice and has given me some wiggle room on the whole situation.

I found this little number on eBay and paid a total of $25.00.

The dress retailed for over $100.

Do not underestimate the power of bargain shopping, eBay, and God's care for the little things in our lives.

He is like our support system through all of this.

When something comes our way he slaps it out of the way like the beaters do the bludgers in Quiditch. (That reference was just for Levi b/c he thinks I'm a big geek for making any sort of Harry Potter reference)

I have a Confession.

Levi doesn't know this.

He may not ever know it b/c he doesn't check this blog.

It's about our 88 Buick.

I confessed it to a new friend, Erin, the other day.

I drove it to 24 hour fitness about 3 months ago b/c I had an appointment to purchase a membership there.

I did all the paperwork and chit chatted with the salesperson who tried to sell me $80 per hour personal training sessions....no thank you.

This is so sad.

I was walking out with my girls in tow.

I am a few feet from my car when I notice.....

the same salesperson was leaving for his lunch break at the same time.

I do not know what in the world possessed me to do this.

I snatched up Jules and began walking (dragging Mia) to Hobby Lobby.

I waited in the lobby until he was gone.

Then I RAN to the car and practically drove off with Mia half buckled.

Again, I do not know what got into me.

I am no longer embarrassed of our hoopty (I had to look up how to spell that in the Urban Online Dictionary......funny).

It is so comfortable.

It is so big and the air conditioner gets so cold it's like being in a car-hotel.

We paid a whopping $800 for it.

It only had 75,000 miles on it.

And here is the best part.

It came with an ice scrapper that has a fleece lined hand muff attached to it and some clip on sunglasses.

And as you've probably guessed it did belong to a grandma...Levi's grandma to be exact.

The only trips it ever made was to WalMart, the hair salon, and the Dr.'s office.

We LOVE our new car.

I really don't want to get rid of it even we have the resources to replace it.

I think we will save it for Mia.

By the time she's 16 she will hate me anyway so this will be totally appropriate.

One week down.

We actually managed to go one week without going out to eat. This is pretty big considering where we live.

It takes from 20-45 minutes to get anywhere in Fort Worth. It is the most spread out place ever.

I drive through Fort Worth, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Euless, and Bedford on my way to the gym.

But really in my head it's all Fort Worth.

Because of this we have to pack our lunches OFTEN.

I really don' t like sandwiches but at this point I'm eating for survival not for pleasure.

I need strength....I eat a sandwich....I've got strength.

The girls think it's the coolest thing ever to have picnics everywhere we go.

Please don't think we are the poor Swinney's who can't afford to eat out.

That's not true.

We have chosen to focus all of our attention to getting out of debt and have JOINTLY decided that for the next three months all of our extra income MUST be used for this purpose......getting out of debt.

We usually want to go out to eat when schedules are hectic, we are dog tired, the house is a wreck and we just don't want to look at it (denial and avoidance...sad but true), or we just start thinking about the divine Chicken Marsala at Carrabba's so much that we are suddenly there stuffing our faces with no recollection of how we even got there. Then, we get the check and have the worst case of eaters regret.

Sometimes you just have to shove everything off the kitchen table into a laundry basket, sit everyone down, and just eat what you've got. Afterwards you will feel like you've won a battle. If you don't want to cook. Fine. Have cereal night.

What? Not good enough for dinner? You eat it for breakfast and that's the most important meal of the day. Case closed. Save yourself $30.00 and pass the Lucky Charms.

I had a talk with my face.

I had a talk with my face the other day.

I had some bad news.

I was just about out of my "Arbonne Intelligence--not so basic--Daily Moisturizing Cream, Day & Night."

I would not be able to buy any more for a while.

I told this to my face and it was not happy.

It remembers the days of Suave.

I asked it to please not break out on me when I use that STUFF on my face in a couple of days.

I also requested that it not be bitter and begin to wrinkle because of this traumatic change in product.

My face and I do believe that the expensive products are better.

I don't care what the "study's show"......$4.99 moisturizer falls under the category of $4.99 breast implants.

It's just a red flag.

That's all I'm saying.

My hand began to shake as I picked up a pen to write "moisturizer" on my WAL-MART shopping list.

Wal-Mart.

Moisturizer.

I think I'm going to faint.

Here's where the story turns good.

I went to Lexi's house last night for some hot-dogs and some fun.

Who would have thought she would be the one to save my face from the destiny that was before it.

I made mention of my sad soon to be chaffed face situation and guess what she said.

"Wait, what kind of moisturizer do you use? Arbonne Intelligence?"

I say yes and sort of stare with my mouth open wide waiting in anticipation at what might come next.

Is it possible that she has some and is going to GIVE it to me?

"I think I have some of that and I don't like it so you can have it if you want."

My face did a flip.

She SO busted out a bottle of the "Arbonne Intelligence Daily Moisturizing Cream, Day & Night" and put it in my hand.

Lexi, you literally saved my face. I owe you.

Now to be perfectly serious. I do not think on this as luck or a coincidence. God shows us daily that HE is taking care of us. He obviously has a sense of humor in providing me with this moisturizer but isn't it neat to see God care about us as individuals. The following scriptures are what popped into my head when this happened......God is good.

Do Not Worry: Matthew 6

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[b]?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Day 1 of Money Hell.

It has come down to the wire. We have a scheduled date of November 30th to be 100% out of debt. We will hence forth be Amish. Levi already looks the part and his name fits quite well too.

No out to eat....zilch. No movies. No ice-cream outings. No beef. Maybe no chicken. We may even have to use our dish soap for body wash. But the funny thing is....we don't care! We are so excited we would wear holey underwear and eat peanut butter straight out of the jar every day b/c we know what lies ahead. Freedom.

If we did not have a goal and a plan for our money then going without the above things would depress us. We would sulk and be bitter and hate YOU if you did any of those things and we couldn't. Life wouldn't be fair. I would complain about how we can never get ahead. Something always goes wrong. Levi has to work too much. Gloom would loom over our family and it would reflect in our faces and our attitudes. Our children would sense it. We would be irritable. Money is powerful whether you have it or you don't.

Although for the next 3 months we will not be eating out it is amazing to me how much MORE fun it is to go out to eat when I have cash already set aside for that specific purpose. Before our financial overhaul we would go out to eat and feel a little guilty...a little stressed....a little uncomfortable....because we weren't sure whether we had the money to be sitting there or not. Sometimes we KNEW we didn't need to be there so we pulled out the plastic.

We don't feel that way anymore. If we are at a restaurant you can rest assured that we planned to be there and we have the money for it. No more guilt. The food tastes better. We are more relaxed. The kids can tell we are having more fun so they have more fun. It is a completely different experience.

We no longer feel deprived or feel sorry for ourselves when we can't do something. We tell our money what to do, where to go, and how to get there. If we don't go out to eat it's because we know we filled our car maintenance fund so that in 6 months when our registration is due we will be prepared. If we don't get to buy that purse from Banana Republic that is like 75% off right now...sniff...sniff....then we know it's because the clothing fund will still have money in it when it's time to buy the kids winter clothes.

It's all about perspective. We will have a great story to tell and laugh back on. What good is it to live your life always being comfortable and never being able to say that you walked in the snow 10 miles uphill with no shoes on just to get to school.

Most of young families in America want RIGHT NOW to live the lifestyle it took their parents 25 years to attain. Getting what you want when you want it no matter what the cost (or means of how you pay for it) is childish. Delayed gratification is maturity according to Dave.

Here is a good example of delayed gratification:

I needed a poster sized white wooden picture frame. If you don't know.....any wooden picture frame bigger than 8x10 is pricey. I had a little cash so I went to Aaron Brothers who was running their penny sale. I found one. It was on clearance. Only problem is I was a few dollars short. I had it on the counter to purchase and decided that I was being childish. I wanted it RIGHT THEN. I walked out empty handed. I was sad for a little while. I think I dreamed about it too. But then I was fine.

Two weeks later I went back in for old times sake and lo and behold it was still there. The price was still the same though. But I decided I would try to bargain with them b/c it looked like it had been there for a while and it was a little scratched. I simply said "Excuse me, but this frame has been here a while and the price is still the same. Do you know why it hasn't been marked down again like the rest of the frames?" She did a price check and by George! it was marked wrong! $7.32 ladies and gentleman. That is what you call reaping the benefits of delayed gratification.

Join us PLEASE! When you are down b/c there is no money...think about the Amish Swinneys...we are right there with ya. Everything is going to be alright! We don't have a house. We have an 88 Buick. We have no cable. For a very long time we had no cell phone until Levi's work provided him with one. God is good.

Be Amish with us.

We aren't scary like the Duggers (I know they aren't Amish but still).