Organizing Chaos!

 When we bought our house we bought it for the killer deal, school district, the property, and it was down the street from our best friends.  We did NOT buy it for it's sq. footage!  Everything about this house is small so cramming 4 people along with their belongings into this space means there can be NO clutter and NO junk! Everything has a place and if it's not being used then it gets the boot.  It's cut throat around here, prove your worth or it's to the donate pile you go! 
During Nursing school, I have to admit, the house didn't even make the Top 5 on my priority list, so during long breaks I implement new ways to organize the chaos! These are just some of my favorite ways to provide extra space. I will continue to update this post as I do more.  Hope something can help those who are space challenged like me :)

Bathroom: We did a major remodel to combine 2 bathrooms into 1 to provide more space, so when we picked out a new vanity we chose one with as much storage as we could find...HUGE improvement! Hung a mason jar for toothbrushes/paste, jars on the counter for floss/q-tips/cottenballs, Container to keep all meds/first aid stuff in. 

 Kitchen: Just got this idea off Pinterest and LOVE it!  Cheap little $ store bins for snacks.  1 for the fridge(Cheese, yogurt, veggies, also have fruit and ranch/yogurt dip) and 1 for the pantry (Roll up's, granola bars, cheez its, peanuts, cereal,and fruit snacks)  I used snack bags to measure out for little hands to grab and go! Plus you've eliminated all the snack boxes from taking up so much space in you're pantry/fridge. Yay!!

Also added a backpack/coat/calender station on a wall in the kitchen. Both kids have 2 hooks and their names separate each side (Lord knows a fight WILL ensue if someones coat is on the others backpack hook lol)

Laundry room/Pantry: We are just about done with this remodel and will post more soon for this :)

Amber's room:

I keep ALL toys under her bed in baskets ($4.97 @ walmart), with a sm basket inside for items like Lil Pets. More sm baskets in drawers for socks etc.


You can use those cute little bags that sheets and pillow cases come in for things like Barbie clothes. Also a cushioned storage cube for extra storage and to be used as desk chair that can be pushed under desk to save space.
I also hung a hook on the inside of her closet to hang all those purses, over the door shoe rack, and plenty more sm plastic bins for her desk supplies, etc.
Drew's room (aka.The closet):
So small that you can't fit a bed AND a dresser inside, so all toys go under the bed just like Amber's. His favorite giant collection of cars (he plays with them daily) found a home in a 2 tier plastic bin with the top taken off and wheels put on so it's mobile.  He rolls that sucker around everywhere!

His closet had to become his dresser so we put in shelves and there is a bin for everything. Pj's, socks, underwear, winter gear, shirts, jeans, and anything with a collar gets hung up. 
Shoes in a over the door shoe rack also.

Our Room:
All the closets are the same size so Bill and I trying to share one is difficult to say the least! We use under the bed storage, over the door shoe rack, a 4 tier shoe rack in closet, and extra bins in the top of the closet for t-shirts/purses.

                                                 Basket I had laying around for my scarves

Paperwork:
Keep all unpaid bills/waiting to be filed papers in a simple wall rack. I have a 3 drawer file cabinet that is hidden in the hall closet that holds all paper work and other misc items, like gifts bags, envelopes etc.

Carport: We have a detached garage, but that is Bill's playhouse and believe when when I say he uses every inch of it!  So When it come to stuff like the kids bikes we had to find a way to keep them covered without being in the way of my truck parking in the carport.  Simple answer, just took forever for me to think fo it. Ha!

That's it for now! More to come, I'm sure, as this house always has a new challenge to overcome :)

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*My journey in college...so far*

    It's hard to believe that I have not only finished my first year of Nursing school, but that I have now been on my college journey for 2 years!! 

    Let me go back to the beginning.  I got married when I was 18, my Senior year of high school to be exact, and contrary to popular belief or assumption, we were NOT pregnant lol.  We wanted to get married and that's that!  I think the fact that we're about to celebrate our 10 year anniversary speaks for itself. ;)

    Anyway...I was always a very good student, spent my life in private school and was proud of all the accomplishments I had made.  Life got complicated and being on my own, making my own way and doing it on my terms became the MOST important thing to me.  Bill and I got our own apartment and I made the decision to drop out of high school in order to work full time. I was a straight A student, I just felt that my time was better spent working then going to school. I have never regretted this decision nor any decision I have made since.  We got married and decided we wanted to have kids right away (I was 19 with my first and 21 with my second) and we both knew that me staying at home with them was top priority for both of us, regardless of what sacrifices needed to be made. Believe me, there were a lot. Bill joining the Army was definitely the biggest blessing, yet biggest sacrifice we made for our family. 

Stay-at-home mommy days!

    We had a plan and we ALWAYS stick to our plans!  I would stay home with the kids until they were both in school, then I would go back to school to move our family into the next chapter of our lives. So I stayed home full time for 7 years before college ever came into the picture.

    I felt very judged for staying home, never understood why my decisions for my family were of any concern to others.  The stereotype of staying at home is by far the DUMBEST one there is.  To assume a women is stupid, can't make it in the work force, or lazy because she stays home makes me beyond angry and says a lot about the people making those assumptions.

   When it came time for me to start college I felt I had something to prove, I knew what I was capable of but to others I was just a young, high school dropout who hadn't "worked" in 7 years.  I have never cared what people thought of me before, but for some reason my intellect being judged really bothered me.

    One day I decided I needed to get my GED because the dream of going to college was becoming more of a reality and I needed to get my ducks in a row.  I called that day (2009) to see when the next testing date was, it was in 1 week. I decided it's now or never and put my name on the list.  I spent that week freshening up on my algebra by taking a couple of online tests, showed up the next week and after being mistaken for the instructor (Ha!), blew that test out of water making high enough scores to receive a 2 year scholarship.  I have to say that the handwritten note from the instructor about my scores made far more of an impact then she will ever realize!  For the first time in the 7 years, since leaving high school, I felt like someone saw what I could do and gave me the confidence to believe I really could do this.

Taken the day I received my GED!

    I took my new found confidence and registered for my first ever college classes for the Fall of 2010 (talk about intimidating!!).  Being a total college virgin I had no clue what I was doing! I looked up what I needed for Nursing school and signed up for 5 classes + a lab all on campus and 1 at night totaling 16 hrs (English Comp I, Human growth & Dev., College math, A&P I + Lab, & computer concepts).  I was able to go to school, be out in time to pick up my youngest from pre-k at 12:45 everyday, and attend my night class 1 night/week.  I finished with a solid 4.0, straight A's.  WOW!  I couldn't believe I did it and I was seriously proud!

    During that first semester I knew I needed to get my ACT done in order to apply for Nursing school the next semester.  I had never taken it before so I decided to take the first one as a trial test to see what it was all about and not put too much pressure on myself to do well.  I needed a 19 to even be eligible for the program and had already planned to retake it the next month, convinced I'd bomb it.  To my utter shock (seriously, I cried!) I made a 24 on my first try.  All I can say is God had a plan for me and paved the way cause I couldn't have done it on my own.

    Having my results in hand I knew I needed to knock out as many pre-rec's as I could the next semester and get my application in to be eligible for Fall 2011 entry into Nursing.  I registered and took 14 hrs all on campus, including 2 labs and 2 night classes (Gen. Psychology, Ethics, A&P II + lab, Microbiology + lab).  I had been told I was nuts for taking Micro and A&P II together and looking back, I was, but I finished out still holding that 4.0. I have to give a HUGE shout out to my A&P/Micro professor, Dr. Shaffer, because not only is he the best teacher on campus he is the toughest and if it weren't for him pushing me I wouldn't have made it in Nursing school. He tested in a way unlike any class I had before him and as the semesters would pass you would see there were fewer and fewer people still standing.  But the main thing he did was believe in me and NEVER took it easy on me. 

    I was told not to expect to get into nursing on the first try so I applied to 2 schools to up my chances.  Talk about feeling humbled when I got 2 acceptance letters and had to now decide* where to go!  When I read those letters and saw 800+ people had applied at each school for about 60 spots at one and about 80 at another I yet again was brought to tears.  How on earth did I* do this?! Other people do this, not me.  Every single piece was falling into place perfectly almost as if God was just waiting around for me to make my move. 
                                                      
                                             "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to   prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

    I chose to attend NWCC and boy did it feel good when I called to turn down my spot at the other school knowing someone who got a letter being told they were wait listed, would now get a call telling them they got a spot!
It's hard to explain how amazing this school is.  I did my research and this is one of the BEST nursing schools around.  Their brand new facility is being used as an example to other schools.  The lab alone is enough to blow your mind, but throw in the instructors we have and it's just beyond words.  To say the students of NWCC Nursing are blessed would be an understatement!

Some of the class of 2013!

    I just completed my 1st full year of Nursing school and held down solid B's both semesters.  I'm finally at a point that I don't give a *&%$ what people think of me, my intellect, my decisions, or anything else.  I have proven to myself* above all else that I AM capable and no one will EVER make me feel that I am not good enough or smart enough to do anything!  After all, no one can make you feel inferior without your permission and I do not give my permission*

     Is Nursing the hardest thing I have ever done? No.  Is it the most demanding? No. Is it the most rewarding? No.  Being a stay-at-home mom will always hold those titles no matter how people decide to define us.  But I do not have babies anymore, they do not require what they did before. Nursing is now something that really fulfills me, challenges me, something I'm good at and most importantly, what I love to do! 

     These last few years, to include my husbands deployment, have taught me more then the last 20 years combined.  My marriage and the choices we have made to get us to this point, have been reaffirmed.  I'm proud of our journey as a family and I make no apologizes for how we've decided to do things.

    My journey is not by any means rare or exceptional. I have done nothing that millions of others haven't already done. Mine is average to say the least. Some may read this and think it's no big deal at all and that's just fine, because this journey is just simply mine* 

My life, my challenge, my goal, my success and I find that exceptional!

Back to the Basics!

So I'm a saver by nature.  Being a SAHM for as long as I had been, it became my job to save money.  We've been blessed over the last couple years with a good job that has given us much more freedom then we had before, which has made me going back to school and all the expenses that have come along with it an easier task.

I handle the money, always have, and I'm good at.  Bill doesn't question me and trusts me to do what's best for the family.  In my attempt to reduce all unneeded stress during Nursing school I put budgeting to the side and took on the mindset, "as long as it's there I'm not gonna worry about it"...STUPID!!  I am literally sickened with the amount of unnecessary spending that has been happening and no saving!  We don't have big bills or real debt (other then the truck and house) so there's NO excuse not to be saving.

I made the decision to put our bank account on LOCK DOWN!  Thankfully, my husband listens so all I had to do it inform him of the new "rules" and put in into motion.  So, what did I do? For starters we decided to take advantage of these crazy low interest rates and refinanced our house which is saving us about $150 a month on our already low mortgage. (Tip#1: Buy BELOW your means, your mortgage will be way less then you can afford and you'll never have to worry about being "house poor") We are now in the process of refinancing our car loan as well. (Tip # 2: Buy a car because you plan to drive it until it dies, not until you can trade up...not having a car payment feels way better then a new car does!) Next I decided to start shopping for 2 weeks at a time instead of 1. I spend about $30-$40 more for 2 weeks then I was spend in one.  I don't know why it works that way but it does!

So now down to the most important part, I have put us on an ALL CASH budget.  When Bill's check hits the bank (his checks are bi-monthly and are never the same since he's commission, so I can't budget too far ahead) I pay all the bills out of the account first then transfer a predetermined amount into savings.  I then figure out how much I need for groceries, gas, gifts, kids lunches, extras (Ex. this month it's camp and a new pool), I give Bill and myself an allowance for the 2 weeks, and then leave some in the account for emergencies or in case I underestimated expenses.  I go to the bank and pull out that money in cash and divide it up into envelopes (very much like the Dave Ramsey thing).  As I use the money I put the receipts in the envelopes and subtract the amounts on the back to keep tract of where I'm at. For Bill I just give him his cash and when it's gone, it's gone :)  If there's any money left I put it into the savings account along with what I left in the account and start all over with the next paycheck. 

The debit cards are NOT being used....period!  That seems to be the key, when you don't have a card to swipe and have to break a $20 for a $2 purchase your way less likely to purchase it.  You have a visual of what you have and tend to spend WAY less on those little things you don't need and put much more thought into whether or not you really want it to begin with. 

So far I estimate I have saved over $700 in one pay period alone by making us accountable for ever little purchase.  That's HUGE!! When I see something working it becomes more of a challenge to see how much more I can do.  So I am now in the process of shifting some bills around to get better deals (cable, Internet, phone etc.).  Bill and I enjoy our extras too much to cancel any of them, but I will not pay more for something I can get cheaper somewhere else.

So my next goals are to work on paying off the truck, putting more towards 401K, and making extra payments on the house.  We don't plan to ever sell this house.  We plan to stay here while we build our next home and then rent it out, so paying it off is a priority for us.

 I'm thrilled with the way this is working and plan to do it long term.  I hope this motivates some of you who have been wanting to make a change to just do it!  I will continue to update on our progress  post any new ideas to save money. 

Happy Saving!!