Extra Money!

The company Jarod works for and the union that represents Jarod and his fellow co-workers recently came to a mutual agreement and created a contract for the next four years, which means we don’t have to stress and save up for a possible strike as well as the appearance of a very generous bonus that wonderfully appeared in our checking account the other day.

Sparkly ring. Want.

We blissfully thought about all the shiny and expensive things we could afford and have. My personal dream list includes a shiny, sparkly beautiful vintage engagement ring, a Canon Rebel and a new big screen TV. I picked out my sweet, beautiful wedding ring when Jarod and I got engaged and it was exactly what I wanted at the time but for quite awhile I’ve been wanting a gorgeous, sparkly diamond to look at and admire and love. Jarod wants nothing more than to get me everything my little heart desires and (possibly an even bigger factor for him is for) other guys to see the huge chunk of a diamond on my little-ol'-finger and stop hitting on me, which is probably the true reason.

Amazing camera. Want.

I want a Canon Rebel so bad it hurts. I want to take amazing pictures of my children and lovingly admire their innocence and cuteness for years to come but those cameras are expensive and cost a very pretty and very shiny penny.

Also, we embarrassingly have a television that we have to warm-up to use; I wish I was joking. I believe it’s about a 52 inch LG television and in the process of moving multiple times, having children that love to throw, natural aging, etc. it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to turn on. Our almost four-year-old will ask if we can warm the TV up so he can watch cartoons. It’s as sad as it sounds; slightly funny but still very sad and so annoying.

Big screen TV that doesn't need to be warmed-up. Want.

There are so many material things that we wish we owned but we’re determined to get out of debt so Jarod and I sat down and decided exactly where every dollar of that bonus would go. We paid-off a school loan (we’ve paid off three so far, YAY!!), took our family vehicle to get it’s brakes done and a few other services that were needed and we replenished our emergency fund, which recently was depleted to fix our other vehicle.

It will takes us awhile to get out of the mess we created for ourselves but I’m so proud of us for not succumbing to the brilliance of marketing and forging ahead to a better life, one in which we will be debt-free, have a house completely paid-off in our 30‘s, a lucrative retirement plan and very cushioned college funds for our babies. We’re making baby steps but we're going to make it.