The Sunday Soup

You might be thinking...what's with the title? Well, I read (okay, stalk) quite a few blogs. One of them does a "Sunday Sound-Out" and another does "Miscellaneous Monday". They're just posts to dump a whole lot of information. So here's my version. The Sunday Soup.

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Ed has to take Edwin to the doctor tomorrow. According to the nurse-line, we've done everything we can do at home. His diaper rash (from the antibiotics to help cure the double ear infection) has morphed into something completely immune to balmex. Perhaps a yeast infection? By the way, I had NO idea little boys could get yeast infections. Anyway, we've tried everything. We haven't used wipes (they can leave a film of bacteria on the hiney), we've washed him with mild soap, changed his diapers as frequently as possible, soaked him in a tub of warm water and baking soda...and the list goes on. Nothing is budging the super red presence on his little butt. I feel so bad for him. So please pray that the docs can figure out how the heck to fix it!!
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On Friday, I gave a presentation at work based on the info we've learned at Financial Peace University. Oh my gosh, what a RUSH!!! I don't mind getting up in front of groups to give a presentation...at the beginning of the year, I presented info about Time Management to about 5 groups at work. No biggie. But this one....oh man. I guess it's because I've become so passionate about getting out of debt...I had a blast! And I received a TON of great feedback from everyone. In fact, it might become something even bigger at work...we'll see. I even brought a visual aid from my grocery game "winnings". The night before, Ed, Edwin & I went to Lowe's foods for triple coupon sales. My original total was $83.20, but we only paid $13.98!!! So I packed up all the food, brought it to the presentation, and made the point that you CAN save a lot of money just by clipping coupons. Very effective.
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I feel bad about this next one... I meant to write about it sooner, but just kept putting off the whole blogging thing. It's called Angel Food Ministries. It's a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families stretch their grocery dollars. You can go to their website to get all the details, but here's the main idea. They take orders several weeks in advance, and are able to get fantastic prices from vendors. You order a standard box of food for $30 which has enough food to feed a family of four for a week!! And this is top-quality food! We learned about it at Financial Peace University...one of the couples told everyone about it. They said the food was fantastic and they couldn't believe how easy the process was. There's no financial qualification, and you're not taking from others who need the service. In fact, their hope is that you'll save so much on your own grocery bill, that eventually you can buy boxes of food for other families in need. Trust me, check out their website! Ed & I ordered the standard box this month (there are add-on boxes, but we're just trying it out first)...I'll let you know how it turns out. Delivery date is October 25th.
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Here's another website you might want to check out. It's called StuckOnWords. I just think it's such a cute idea!! It's vinyl lettering that you can have customized for your walls, your car, gifts, etc. Check out the photo gallery. They have super cute ideas for nurseries, for bathrooms...really for any room in your house. I'd love to do this in our dining room. Currently, we have a giant pic of Edwin hanging up...but we need something else. Anyway, thought I'd pass this one along.
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Have I mentioned Financial Peace University?? Haha! Well, in case you haven't noticed, we are LOVING IT!! This past week, the lesson was all about "Credit Sharks in Suits"...how to handle credit collectors and other related topics. Wow. Listening to the stories of people's experiences with collectors was intense. I've had plenty of my own run-ins with these folks and it is not fun. It's embarassing, it's depressing, it's all kinds of awful things. But we don't have to worry about that anymore. We're current on everything, and actually making quite a bit of progress towards getting rid of all debt for good!!!!!
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One thing I found most interesting in this week's lesson was about the FICO score. Everybody thinks it's your "credit" score, but I think Dave Ramsey has it right. It's your "I love debt score." It's totally based on how much debt you carry, how long you've carried it, etc. In fact, since he (Dave Ramsey) has no debt and hasn't for a looooong time, he no longer has a FICO score. That's my goal!!!
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Halloween is coming!!!! And this means Trunk-or-Treat is coming too. Every year, Port City Community Church has a trunk-or-treat down at Veterans Park (near Ashley High School). Last year was the first time I went...and oh my gosh. I could not believe how much work went into the whole production. It was HUGE! There were giant inflatables for the kids to play on, and the trunks. Um...insane? Yes, that's a good word. I swear, they looked like movie sets!!! I'm looking forward to going again this year. And I'm especially excited because all the fam is coming along for the fun! Edwin is going to be....Wait. Maybe I should make people guess. What do you think Edwin will be this year? (For those of you who know...keep your traps shut. haha)
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Facebook. I've actually enjoyed "running into" old friends on Facebook. But tonight, I got requests from two people that I either don't know, or don't remember. Even after looking at their pictures, I have NO IDEA who the heck they are. Is it rude to decline the friend request?
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Drumroll please........................
Here's my biggest announcement in The Sunday Soup. WE'RE GETTING RID OF CABLE, PHONE, AND INTERNET!!!! Yes people, you read that correctly. In an effort to put an extra $100 towards our debt snowball every month, Ed and I have agreed to ditch the technology. Well, almost ditch it. We're keeping the $12 cable. But other than that....zip, zero, nada. WOO HOO!!!! There are several reasons I'm so excited, but I don't need to go into all of that. But let this be a lesson to all of you out there. Okay, not a lesson. But let it be a giant sign to all of you that we are SERIOUS about getting out of debt!!!!!! This also means that the blogs will slow down. If I want to blog, I'll either have to go somewhere with free wi-fi, or fit it in on my lunchbreak. Either way, there's a good reason for me to go M-I-A. Once we get out of debt, we can have all the luxury items back...but for now, we're going old-school. (sort of)
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Okay, I think that's enough for this Sunday. Have a great week! I'll try my hardest to not be lazy with my blog this week. I'll at least try to keep you updated on Edwin's butt. (Okay that sounded weird)