Empowering military spouses to make the most of their money, family, and the military experience.
I swear this was just the other day…
Today Homeskillet and I will celebrate 9 years of marriage. 9 years of laughter. 9 years of ridiculous and some not-so ridiculous arguments. 9 years of booty grabs. 9 years of hugs. 9 years of high fives.
I’d being lying to you if I said it’s been easy. It’s been infuriating (at times), hair-pullingly frustrating (just look at Homeskillet, he’s bald), emotionally draining (good and bad), and amazingly rewarding.
I was out of town at the Type-A Advanced Conference in Philadelphia this weekend and left Homeskillet home alone with the girls and two dogs for the first time, well, ever. As the stay at home parent, I’m pretty used to being the one left behind at home. And even though I do have the luxury of taking short solo trips here and there, he’s never had to take the helm completely. And prepping the girls solo for school and the day? Never.
A couple of years ago, I realized that I am not allowed to die. Seriously. Heaven forbid (not that I’m presuming I’ve earned my place beyond the pearly whites yet), something were to happen to me, I don’t think my spouse would be able to go on. Not in the completely inconsolable way (which he would be, I mean, I’m worth missing), but in the “where do the forks go” sense of going on. We’ve been married 8 years, and to this day, this preeminent military professional doesn’t know where we keep the toilet paper.
It’s that time of year again! 2013 BAH rates finally published and some of you might be dancing around thinking about how you’ll spend that extra cash, if you were lucky enough to see an increase. Maybe you’re thinking about moving or finally grabbing that premium cable, or maybe you’re considering saving the extra cash for a rainy day (my vote).
Oh, and don’t worry. If BAH for your area decreased for the area you’re already residing in, never fear. You’ll continue to receive your same rate…phew! Regardless, this is a great time to reevaluate your housing expenses and make sure you’ve got your budget in check! [Read more...]
As the official family tightwad, Black Friday represents all that is evil and unholy and spend thrifty. But, in true Shakespearian form, “I am fortune’s fool” because I’m married to the number one, Black-Friday shopping ninja, who laughs in the face of a midnight kick-off for rock bottom prices Yes. My husband, the love of my life, packs heat in the form of 5-hour Energy shots to make sure he misses nothing.
I hate watching the clock as the afternoon melds into the dinner rush. I know. I’ve posted about how to make the dinner dilemma disappear, lauded our awesome military family lifestyle, encouraged you to set a dinner hour, and roared proudly about being a military spouse, but today is the day where I need to drop my pompoms and scream. [Read more...]
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Dinner is Hell. I cannot tell you how much Homeskillet’s (read: my hubby) schedule has sucked from day one in the fabulous United States Air Force. Eight years in and it just gets more and more ridiculous and less and less predictable. They weren’t joking when they said mission first and all that jazz. We’ve lost a Saturday or Sunday, or a Saturday and Sunday, or a Christmas Morning (yes…a Christmas Morning), and then there was the ever awesome deployment that was supposed to be three months out that wound up being three days into a vacation. You know, the usual. [Read more...]
Money Chicas and Money Chicos, I’m ba-ack with a brand new bag! I’ve been away beefing up my blogger know-how at Type-A Parent Conference 2012, enjoying some pampering at Mom and Dad’s house (you guys are the best!), and preparing myself to come back to you fully rested and ready to provide you with the very best my grey matter can generate.
As we’ve journeyed together these past four months, I’ve really found myself through blogging. Yeah, like the mid-life crisis kind of found myself. I have battled with myself professionally and personally for…well…I’ll say a relatively long time. I feel a little bit like Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar where he’s kicking his own rear-end. I have beat myself up about everything….having a job, not having a job, staying at home, not staying at home, going to back to school, not going back to school…and drove myself (and hubby) a little crazy in the process. [Read more...]
Click-click. Click-click. Hands at 10 and 2. Eyes glazed, barely tracking the red and yellow flashing lights of the emergency vehicle in front of me. He’s only 30. This can’t be. This isn’t happening to us. Not now. As I sit in our car behind the ambulance barely catching glimpses of my husband through the rear windows, I find myself in a state of total denial.
This is not happening.
That’s right. I said it I’m calling him out. He has it easier. He has it freer. He’s…well…he’s in deep doo-doo. I’m putting this out for the world to see, and I bet my sisters-in-arms will see it just like I do. Get this…
I don’t know exactly when my life became Groundhog’s Day (great movie), but I live an endless loop of getting my kids dressed, fed, to school, from school, through homework, and to bed. Hubs and I? We speak briefly in the morning, share the evening bedtime wrangle, and are totally spent by 8pm. We enjoy a bit of zombie-esque veg time in front of the tv and, as long as we both manage to not fall asleep on the couch, we head to bed and…hey, hey, hey, I can’t share all my secrets!
Guess what? Now that you’ve completed your financial snapshot, you are so much more in control of your money than ever before. You heard. In control. In the driver’s seat. El Jefe. The Boss. You are ready to tell your money where to go and how to get there, literally.
What’s that you’re asking? How? How do you tell your money to do what you want? Goals. Yes, I said it. Goals. Just like your guidance counselor told you. It’s time to talk effective goal setting. You and your honey get to sit down and paint your financial future…sky’s the limit.
My honey is not in charge of the money (big surprise, right?). He has a vague idea about our income and expenditures, but I wouldn’t say that he has a firm grasp of our finances. As a matter of fact, when chatting with his co-workers, he takes great pleasure in being able to state that he hasn’t looked at his LES (civ-speak: paystub) in years. As much as I enjoy calling most of the shots on our finances, my honey is taking a huge gamble by not staying aware of the behind-the-scenes money magic. Are you or your spouse taking that same risk?
Deciding to return to work after having kids is one of the most difficult decisions to make. Or at least it was for me. How could I justify being a stay at home mom while still paying student loans? How could I let my education go to waste? How could I go back to work and leave La Grande (age 5) and La Rubia Peligrosa (age 20 mos) in day care AND hold the house together AND kick ass at my job AND keep my marriage on track? To this very day, I am still at war with myself over this issue.
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