family financial priorities

where do you spend your extra cash? on debt repayment like us for the last couple years? on clothes? the latest electronic gadget? vacations? school? where does it go and how do you decide? do you decide where your extra cash goes?

a little while ago i was reading on babble (via simple mom) about what a family prioritizes spending money on. it got me thinking. for this particular family they value traveling and experiencing the world together as a family. they lived in france, the middle east and different parts of the US.

today {now that jamie's back from rwanda - hooray!} our family went out to the boys' favourite restaurant {the one with the trampolines!} for lunch and while the boys were jumping, jamie and i talked about what we want to give towards and do with the money that we won't be putting toward debt now that we are debt-free {!!!}.
it was fun to dream and plan and so i asked him some of these questions and we talked about things we are passionate about doing together as a family and things that we'd like to be able to provide for our kids.

one thing {but definitely not the only thing} we agreed about was the fact that we don't want or feel the need to live in a large, expensive house. we don't want to be pouring the majority of our funds into a house/home. it made me happy to be on the same page as jamie on this particular thing. sure there are things we don't both value as highly as each other, but can agree upon but for the most part, it was exciting to talk about people and organizations we'd like to give towards as well as considering options that we might not have been able to in the past due to debt {such as taking trips we couldn't have considered before or starting RESPs for the kids and topping up our RRSPs, etc}.

this is something new for us. jamie and i aren't exactly "savers". we don't really plan either. which is part of the reason why we struggled and ended up in the debt that we're finally out of! being in africa as well as making a concerted effort to pay off debt as fast as possible have opened our eyes to the value of being good stewards of our money as well as to the future joy of planning now for later. i would highly recommend Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University as a great financial planning resource. if jamie and i can do it, you can too.

so what are your family's financial priorities? have you thought about and talked about your family's financial priorities and values? do you prefer to spend your extra money on vacations or would you rather renovate your home? do you have any resources that have been invaluable to managing your money and planning for the future? what do you use {a piggy bank? ING saving accounts? a hole in your backyard?} for saving up for larger goals?

please share!

1/2

i am the best person to throw a surprise party for.
simply because i am always completely clueless and totally blown away.

example:
today.
a week or so ago i got an email from my sweet friend jen, inviting me and a few others to join her today to have a little birthday celebration at her place. myself and several others replied saying that of course we'd be there.

today i had lined up a hair appointment that was conveniently right before the party and as i walked in to jen's house with freshly cut hair {whoo boy i needed it: as in i couldn't remember exactly when i last had my hair cut} i saw that jen had a funny look on her face. within seconds a bunch of people jumped out holding signs with "1/2" and "30" on them and it took me a minute to figure out that this party was not for jen, but for my 1/2 birthday. you see, i turn 30 on october 21st which means i'll be in uganda by then.
my amazing friends jen & suz had organized a surprise 1/2 birthday party {i turned 29 and 1/2 on april 21st} for me in the guise of a birthday party for jen so that i would get to celebrate my 30th with my friends!

wow.

there were tears, folks. and then i believe i said that i was thankful i had just gotten my haircut. {oh the vanity.}

and if that weren't amazing enough it was a "1/2 and 1/2" party which means that people gave money in lieu of gifts and half of it i get to give to an orphanage in Uganda when i go! this speaks so deeply to who i am and what i'm passionate about. and my friends know it and are now a part of it.

best 1/2 birthday present EVER.

it was also a really great opportunity to say some good byes and spend some time with people that have been such a part of my life here in guelph and i truly pray and hope that we will stay in contact with each other over the next few years.

i feel very loved and very blessed and am still in shock.
thank you jen and suz. i love you both very much and am trying not to think about how very much i'll miss the both of you. {please write. and call. and skype.}

more tears.

Garage Sale Tips: Part TWO

Check out part ONE of my garage sale tips here.

It was a great day, hard work and quite tiring, but well worth the effort. Here are the final tips and some praises for my awesome team of helpers.

Fifth: PRICING

I found it really helpful to price out almost everything we had (whether it was actual stickers on things with prices or that things were in bins with everything worth the same value, etc.). This made it extremely easy on me on the day of and it also ensured that my friends helping me could make sure they got me a good price (if they were being negotiated with) and could take money from people instead of everything having to come to ME to find out how much things were. It's a bit more of your time, but I would say it's totally worth it. As a buyer and as a seller I would find it somewhat annoying to have to keep asking what the price is for everything. And as a seller who is a Mom and sometimes had to run inside or disappear for a few minutes, it was freeing to know the sale wasn't completely dependent on me.

Also, if I had known where to find out belt pack (aka fanny pack), I would have totally worn it. If you have one, it's probably a good idea to keep the money in one. We just used a little container which was handy to pass around between Shereen, Jen and I, but sometimes felt a bit exposed. I tried to keep bringing in the larger bills so we only had fives, some tens and change outside.

We also had a table set up with music (so people didn't feel awkward talking to each other quietly about prices), coffee and baked goods that people could donate toward Ugandan orphans. We did advertise that a portion of our proceeds would be going to an orphanage in Uganda (we haven't decided which one, yet) and so we were so thrilled with the outcome.

Our grand total of profits made was (drumroll, please):

~$850!!!

I couldn't believe it when I counted out the cash and Jamie didn't believe it either when he called later on to find out how things were going.

I am so thankful and completely indebted to my amazing all-star cast of helpers who gave of their time and energies and even paid ME money to buy some of our stuff!

My all-star cast of helpers were as follows: 

the MVH (Most Valueable Helper):

Shereen (my amazing sister)

Shereen (hardworker, childcare - and everything in between!) came over Friday morning and played with my boys, helped me price things when I was completely overwhelmed and had no idea where to start, stayed in the cold garage all day to sort, organize and price things, went out at 10:30pm to poster with Jen for over an hour, stayed up to chat with me, got up super early and helped all day long with me. She was my go-to girl for just about everything and even helped me pack up and unload the van at Bibles for Missions thrift store with our left over stuff. Thank you a million times over, Shereen!

Next are Suzanne (hardworker, organizer) and Jen (networker, hardworker) who both helped before and during the sale at different points.

Suzanne came over with her little (big) 8 month old guy and helped me sort and fold baby clothes as well as price and arrange them all. She was happy to do it and it doesn't hurt that my boys love her and her son Jacob. Suz also came over in the morning to help me set up and I am pretty sure we couldn't have started on time (as early as we did) without her help getting stuff from the garage to the driveway.
Jen came over the night before and helped price and organize the cold, cold garage and then went out with Shereen to poster up our neighbourhood. Her posters (I'm convinced) are what brought such high amounts of traffic to our sale! She was also there to help set up and stayed for quite some time to help with the sale. Her daughter Hannah even watched the boys for a little bit. 

Suz and Jen - you guys are such great friends. Thanks for your help!

My Mom sent at least 5 containers of muffins and scones to sell at the garage sale and they were "even better than Tim's" according to one garage-sailor. Thanks, Mom! 

And of course my husband, Jamie who watched the boys when I thought he wouldn't be able to, brought us all Tim's breakfast sandwiches and was extremely supportive and helpful during the entire process. (You're the best, babe!)