Bye Bye Bye!!! (Another One Bites the Dust)

So, I have an announcement to make...

(Although it's less traumatic, therefore less dramatic, than quitting the iPhones...Nonetheless, it's still noteworthy.)

I chose to not renew my Sirius Satellite radio!  The subscription ran out yesterday, and while I had negotiated down to $25 for five months, I decided that money could be better used for let's say the much needed  eye doctor appointment I have, or electricity, or food, or (almost) a whole tank of gas.  All of those things are more important than listening to "commercial free" radio.  

A few months ago, I discovered that on Channel 2 "Top 40 Hits" the same songs are playing at almost the exact same time as the free radio station... Then I move to Channel 3 "20 on 20" and again, the same song is playing!  If you are taking a long car trip, you will discover the same 2 or 3 hours loop the entire weekend... 

Why am I paying for this again?  I doubt I will miss it as much as I do my iPhone, but it's just another expense we can live without while we are on our road to debt freedom!

No Yogurt For You!!! (Insert Sad Face)

Has there ever been a time in your life where you are doing things you know you shouldn't, and God steps in and intervenes for you?  No, I don't mean robbery or something like that... Let me explain:  One of our biggest hang ups is eating out on the run.  Like most Americans with kids, we are busy people... driving everywhere, eating in the car, wasting money on gross food... It adds up fast!

This time of year is extremely busy, and I haven't made time to go grocery shopping.  Therefore,our lunch supplies are extremely lacking!  In other words, we are out of yogurt, my daily breakfast (insert sad face)

So on my way to work, I call my husband and explain the situation, asking if it would be ok if I stopped at Tim Horton's for yogurt.  He says sure... so I swing in, and wait... and wait... and wait... the line doesn't move.  Literally the cars sat there for FOUR minutes.  When I can finally move, I swing out of line and head to work without yogurt (insert sad face) Instead I raid my work mom's stash for free...

Later on this evening, I really wanted a Dr. Pepper... so I swing into the drive thru at the gas station, and there is a line I've never seen before!  FOUR cars ahead of me!  So, I say "OK God, I get it... no junk food today, I'll save the money"  and just head home.

Doing the right thing on our own isn't always in our forethought... Sometimes we all could use a little intervention from above right?

Eureka!!!!!!!!!!!!

iPods came in from Apple today!  The Fed Ex guy was joking with me and said I needed to show him ID... I said I don't hardly think so!  Everything synched beautifully with iCloud and tomorrow for real I need to catch up the ynab... I also need to read some Bible as well...

I miss my YNAB app...

One thing I dislike with a passion is recording things in the checkbook register... I was forever telling my accountability partner that I needed to catch up on the checkbook.  She finally convinced me in a way that I could convince my husband that this program called "You Need A Budget" (YNAB) would be a life saver for us.

We aren't into reports or data tracking with out funds (not yet) we are nerdy free spirits, not nerdy nerds.  (Dave Ramsey terms) But this program YNAB is a smart phone/iPod/iPad app with a desktop interface that syncs through Dropbox.  Since we don't have iPhones anymore, it syncs as soon as you hit wifi and hit the little "transactions to sync" button.  It sounds complicated, but it's really not... not so much really. What do I love about it??? I'm glad you asked!  

My husband can record his transactions with his app, I can record my transactions with my app, and they pull from BOTH the checking account AND the budget at the same time!  We only used it for a week, but that week changed my outlook on my checkbook register!  I LOVED IT!!! I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders because now all I had to do was mark items as cleared and make sure the balances matched the actual account.  It was my new best friend!  And I miss it... 

I am sure it is the first thing I will do when the iPods arrive Wednesday.  We will have a reunion like those you see at the airport! 

In the meantime... I need to catch up on my checkbook register 

POIDH (Pic or it didn't happen)

This morning I came to the realization that we no longer have a camera readily at our fingertips... At least until Wednesday.  I have a good(ish) camera, but it's kind of expensive to take fishing, or where there is mud things like that... Not to mention that sharing them on Facebook is such a pain too!  And we all know how important sharing photos on Facebook is! With the world of social media everything is immediately available. I have found my patience is pretty narrow, and it narrows the older I get.  I thought it was part of the aging process, but maybe the "have to know right now, let me look it up on my iPhone" mind set has something to do with it?

I am quickly realizing that the device can be so convenient, but also can run your life in more ways than one.

OH THE HORROR!

So our iPods should be here on Wednesday... in the mean time I feel like we should be chiseling out messages on stone tablets, or at the very least using messenger pigeons!  If I felt disconnected before, man do I ever now!

Yesterday, my daughter texted me asking what the name of a store was.  I wanted to answer back "YOU have an iPhone!! you can look it up!!"  But she, along with several other people, are used to me being their "411" operator, so I had to walk to my laptop and Google it from there!  OH THE HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She also texted me a cute pic of her dog.  At least I have to assume it's cute because all I can see is a 1x 1/2 inch blob on my phone screen... again... OH THE HORROR!!

I haven't felt as if I have been interacting with people lately, but yesterday at soccer practice, We actually talked to the people around us instead of having our heads buried in our phone screens.  Hmmmmmmm maybe we are onto something here???

Cold Turkey Time...

It's funny that since I am now carrying around this glorified iPod (iPhone), AND a cell phone, people are constantly asking me "why are you carrying two phones?"  "Are you having a hard time since giving up your iPhone?"

Well kinda!  It's not like a crack addict carries around a pipe with him right?  I am just torturing myself carrying this iPhone that is glaring back at me with the "no service" message.  Is there a twelve step program for this?

Tuesday, my son asked me to take him to Game Stop so he could sell his iPhone 5.  It was amazing watching him go through the process and calculating which would be the better deal... store credit or cash?  He ended up walking out of there with a 64gb 4th gen iPod touch and $260 in store credit!

Fast forward to today and my husband wants to sell His iPhone 4s so we go to a different Game Stop.  His goal was to be able to get an iPod, and a cell phone with a qwerty keyboard... He did!  He picked one up for me too.  The phone I had been using was missing texts because of it's age.

I decided to sell my iPhone 5 also... as I'm sitting here typing, the realization of what I've done is sinking in, and QUICKLY!  My calendar/appointment book, my alarm clock, my YNAB app (that's another blog all together) WHAT AM I GOING TO DO????????????????

I am going to use part of my cash for an iPod 5, but a refurbished one has to be ordered.  It won't be here for a week.  I'm sunk

And I'm being so drama right now, but wow, what DID I do??

This is cold turkey folks!