Being honest with myself

How is it that I can do so well throughout the day with my eating habits but at night when others go to bed I think I need the extra helping or 2 of ice cream? And then of course I feel guilty immediately afterward. The other terrible thing is that even if I eat the one with 1/2 less fat it still has damaging trans fats that I know are going to clog my pipes. And my promise to myself that it will be different tomorrow doesn't happen b/c tomorrow seems to never come. My discipline in other areas such as work seem to be in line however my discipline with eating and money are out of balance big time. The same thing happens with the finances - I promise that this month will be different - that it will work and we will have a great deal of money left but seeming every month something comes up at the end of the month and there are extra splurges that exceed the budget. So I strive to find balance in my food intake - that I would be more honest with myself about what I am doing to myself.

Giving up to gain later

Towards the beginning of the year my husband asked if I would join in for a finance class. I have often been the one to suggest such things so for him to suggest it was surprising so I jumped at the chance to participate - well it was Dave Ramsey's FPU. We entered it with a sizeable amount of debt made up of a little credit card, some car and a lot of student loans. We knew when we started that we couldn't start the debt snowball in full force b/c we were expecting our 2nd child in the fall so we put away money in preparation of that. Well in the process we made the decision to sell our fairly new van in an attempt to be quick about knocking out the debt. I wasn't a van person until we purchased it and had since fallen in love with it so needless to say I wasn't happy about the idea. So we tried to sell it in early summer but had no takers. We tried again in October and sold it to the first person who responded to the Craigslist ad for a good but fair amount. Some would call us crazy of course but it certainly takes a load off of my mind to be done with that debt. We were able to find the same model just older and with 100K miles and pay cash for it using what we got from the other van minus the loan amount. So after we pay off the credit car we will have roughly 30K of student loans left to pay off. I would like to feel the light it at the end of the tunnel but 30K still seems like a lot! We are budgeting and trying to cut costs in as many ways as we can - stopped cable, stopped cleaning service, went to pay as you go cell phone. We tend to lose momentum towards the end of the month. Hopefully our recent sale of the van will give us the boost we need to continue to persevere. 

Areas of Balance

This blog will focus in rotating fashion - in no particular order - on the following areas that I juggle - faith, family, health and money. I look forward to hearing from those you who read this blog to hear how you are struggling, striving and succeeding at finding balance in these area. I believe through a community effort we have a greater likelihood of succeeding.

Greetings

This blog's purpose is to share the journey I am undertaking to find balance in my life. With the many distractions and pulls of this modern society we live in finding balance in all areas of our lives is a challenge. Add to that 2 small children and the fact that both my husband and I work outside of the home but choose not to use day care and you have compounded this challenge. Through our daily goings on we are working to become debt free and I am working to get into shape. I look forward to your feedback and tips b/c through our community we are all better people!