Baby Steps

Over the past year we have been pretty lax in our budget. It's just been one of those crazy times - we were moving, switching up jobs, learning to be parents, walking through loss, celebrating our growing family - it has been easy to push our financial goals to the back burner. After paying off $45k of debt in the first three years of marriage, we turned around in year four and bought a new house, a new vehicle to fit our growing family and also splurged on a few too many renovation projects. I would still say that we were "reasonable" in all of those purchase categories, but when you don't have money to spend I guess $1 might as well be $1000 because it's still not your money. With a new baby coming in just a few short weeks, we have decided that it's about time to buckle down and gain back the momentum we had going on our baby steps.

I'm definitely the nerd in our marriage as Dave Ramsey would say it, and pregnancy has given me a lot of open hours when no one else is awake, so I have spent a considerable amount of time planning out our baby steps. It's a different animal this time around, because we are now a one-income family with two babies as opposed to a two-income family with one baby. We definitely have our challenges cut out for us in the time ahead, but I was pretty shocked to find out that on a really strict budget we could potentially make it through the first five Baby Steps in under 18 months. It's going to take a lot of planning, several side jobs, and ALL OF THE SELF DISCIPLINE THE WORLD CAN OFFER, but it is doable...on paper anyway. I'm not dumb enough to assume that nothing will happen in the next 18 months that we aren't planning for, but still I'm excited to see how close we can get to that 18-month mark. I love a good challenge...and this will be the mother of all challenges.

We have currently completed Baby Step 1 - save a $1000 emergency reserve as well as Baby Step 2 - pay off all debt except for your house, and half of Baby Step 3 - save a 3-6 month emergency reserve; however, with the new vehicle and a couple house projects on credit cards we are sliding back to  Baby Step 2. Our goal is to complete Baby Step 2 by May 2018! This time around I really want to focus on disciplining my spending. Anyone can pay off debt, but I think it takes a lot more work to learn how to live outside of that cycle.

I am going to attempt to write weekly updates on our journey through the Baby Steps. I know it's really encouraging for  me to read about other people's progress, so I hope I can be encouraging to someone else as well. A life of financial freedom is possible, and we are excited to make it happen for our family! I would love to hear any suggestions, ideas, and success stories, so comment away! You can get blog updates by following me on Instagram or by following Three Fergs on Bloglovin . Thanks for reading!

XO

Maxie

Struggles of a Pregnant Type-A Ultra Nester

So...nesting is for real. Someone please back me up on this. With Walker it didn't hit me until like the beginning of the third trimester, but this sweet baby boy due in August must be a lot like his mama, because the nesting bug is already in full force with 17 weeks to go. It doesn't help that I already lean toward the side of extreme organization and over-preparedness on top of all of these raging hormones telling me to GET READY. Exhibit A: I woke up at 4:00 this morning in like emergency mode with the realization that I don't have a car seat or DockATot for this child and it needs to be in my house pronto as if the baby will undoubtedly be sleeping on the floor and riding on Walker's lap if I don't get these things at least three months in advance.

I'm also in full house mode trying to get all of my projects done before August, and last night alone I painted my front door, removed a kitchen cabinet, painted the wall (the wrong color of course so there's that) and ordered all of the shelving I still need for the entire house. It's exhausting and it's expensive, and I just thank the Lord for gifting me with a patient, understanding spouse who will love me unconditionally despite the many boxes that will be arriving at our house over the next couple of weeks...

With all this craziness going on in my brain the last thing I'm thinking about is my wardrobe. My regular clothes don't fit like they should, but maternity clothes are still a little weird looking. Every day I am looking for something in my closet that I can just throw on and go. The Julia dress by Lularoe is like a literal godsend. I can throw it on with leggings and sneakers for a super cute casual Target run or dress it up with booties and a necklace for church. It gives me the confidence I need to make it through a full 12 hours of toddler wrangling without losing myself and the flexibility I need to get 25 things accomplished at once. I'm thrilled that the soft, stretchy fabric fits me now with my bump and will also look amazing postpartum so that I can continue with my low key, minimal effort wardrobe in the midst of double the diaper changes and a fourth of the amount of sleep. An added bonus for me is the modesty of the neckline when it comes to all the bending and twisting and leaning of momhood.

I am so excited to be partnering with LulaRoeJulieForster to offer a chance to win a $25 LulaRoe shop credit! You can find out more details on my Instagram page. Make sure to check it out!

My Little Social Media Hiatus

Okay so my 40-day social media fast turned into a two-week social media fast, which I still think is pretty good. Forty days is waaaaaay longer than I thought and in my personal opinion perhaps should be reserved for fasts by more disciplined people...like Jesus. (I am the monkey emoji covering my face in shame) Here are some things I learned/observed:

 1) I am not addicted to social media. One thing that scared me in the past when I contemplated coming back on to the social media scene was becoming addicted to it. During the last two weeks it  was pretty refreshing to be out of the loop for a little bit. I would say that I spent a similar amount of time on my phone just doing different things. I figure I maintain a good balance, because I didn't have a sudden breakthrough realization that I waste so much time on social media or anything. I think my routine is roughly the same with or without.

 2) It kind of surprised me that a good deal of my social interaction is via social media, and honestly I'm not sure I see that as a bad thing. Even though I see and talk to my closest friends on a regular basis it's nothing compared to being involved in their day to day experiences as well as the other people I follow. I enjoy getting those sneak peeks into everyone's days - it makes me feel more connected to my far away besties and helps me become more acquainted with newer friends. I might have previously found this to seem unhealthy as if I were spending time developing/maintaining "fake" relationships or whatever, but the friends I choose to follow on Insta are pretty much just real people who post their real lives. Just an interesting observation, because I have definitely viewed social media as a negative in the past for whatever reason. I think it has more positives than I  realized.  

   >>> Side note: This is really interesting to me. I have heard many people reference social media as an arena where people post their fake, perfect lives; however, I view Instagram for example as a place to share the best parts of my day with an obvious understanding that that's what I'm posting, the best parts. Do you view a "curated" feed as a false advertisement of someone's true life, or as a place for good memories like our parents' photo albums? Do you find yourself comparing your worst to others' best, or do you find yourself enjoying the happy break from negative things for a  minute? I naturally tend to lean toward the second, so I'm genuinely curious to know if I'm alone in my view on this subject! <<<

 3) I take waaaaay fewer pictures when not using social media. On a positive note, I feel like I was maybe a bit more "all there" in the moment playing with Walker or spending time with Tom, but the downside is that my sleep deprived self is not going to remember a lot of those moments without the pictures I normally have to refer back to. I don't know why I am not naturally inclined to take pictures, but I literally don't think of it until after the moment has passed (notice I had literally not one picture to share on here from the last two weeks lol). Wanting to be able to share my special moments with my friends and family motivates me to document more, and as long as it doesn't become obsessive or too much I think I will appreciate having snapped those pictures in the long run.

Well there you have it. Lessons learned from a social media break. I'm happy to be back.

XOXO

Maxie