A Month of Sundays

We have a saying in the South- "a month of Sundays".  It refers to a long time- such as "I haven't seen you in a month of Sundays", or "I haven't done that in a month of Sundays".  It's similar to "in a coon's age", though I'm going to be 100% honest with you... I don't know what coon's age refers to.  I'm not sure if it refers to the lifespan of a racoon (1 1/2-3 years, in the wild...if you were wondering) or if it's a racial thing.  Since I'm not sure, I try to avoid it...so my preferred saying is "month of Sundays".

Yeah, how's that for a ramble?

Anyway, if you want to do the math on a month of Sundays, you'll quickly realize it refers to quite a while- the average month being 30 days only 4 Sundays to a month (generally. Yes, sometimes you get 5 Sundays in a month.  I don't like Math.  Just go with it).

So.  It feels like it's been a month of Sundays since I've posted here, though I see by the date that it's really only barely a realtime month.  Hm.

I've been doing a lot of reading (and playing on Facebook, but reading sounds better).  I've enjoyed crocheting some new projects, though my current one is a fun pain in the butt.  I'll be sure to post pictures once it's finally done.  God willing and the creek don't rise, that will be soon.  (You're welcome for that fun, bonus southern expression).

I've goofed off enough, time to go play on Facebook- I mean.... get back to my crochet.


-Kristen

It's What?

Christmas Eve..Eve?

I can't believe it. It's not just because it's been in the 70s here the past few days- it just seems that December has flown by.   The gifts are packed to go to my Dad's house tomorrow.  Tomorrow.

Hopefully, no one will be out and about desperately hunting that last perfect gift. I have to pick up a few holiday lottery tickets, for reasons I will not go in to. Suffice it to say, my Christmas Day plans were up in the air until mid-afternoon today.

I'm wishing you all a very wonderful Christmas, full of good times, good food and very, very little stress!

-Kristen

All Quiet-

I've been pretty quiet for a while now and I wanted to give you some idea of what has been going on lately!

In addition to the rabbit shows, which take up my entire day, sometimes two, Thirty One business has been booming!  October and November saw a lot of parties and orders, which I am so thankful for.  I actually made in November what I would have made in a month working my old job.  So nice!

I've also been crocheting up a storm.  I have several orders to finish and want to have them delivered by Christmas- while it is a lot of fun, there is also a lot of work that goes in to each item, and the time commitment can be pretty large, even for small pieces.  Thankfully, I'm down to just one large piece to finish and two smaller pieces.  I think I might take a break for a little while after that, it's been go go go!

I am thankfully done with my Christmas shopping- I just have a few little things to finish up in regards to stocking stuffers for Tim.  It's so nice not to have to worry about all of that!  I hope you enjoyed the 12 Months of Christmas posts.  I very much enjoyed writing them.

Our house is decorated for Christmas this year! It's a major accomplishment, considering last year we pretty much did nothing.  The dogs already have their stocking stuffed, although somehow I bought more toys and treats that will go in the standard Santa-issued stocking.  I guess they get a gift under the tree too. 

Right now I am laying in bed under a very warm faux-down blanket I bought on deep discount at Kohls, dreading the thought of having to get up and get ready to leave the house.  It's 30 degrees outside and there is freezing rain.  Oh joy of joys!

-Kristen

It's Been A While

I have spent the past five days filling in at my old job. 

While the paycheck and change to my new routine was welcome, I am definitely looking forward to sleeping in late tomorrow.

This past weekend, I sold five of the six baby guinea pigs I crocheted.  That paid for a chunk of yarn I purchased to make even MORE dish cloths.  They don't sell as well, but are useful and make great gifts. Plus, I just plain enjoy doing them and that is what it is all about anyway.

I have a Thirty One Party this weekend! I am excited, I'll probably spend some time tomorrow preparing everything so I don't leave it until the last minute. I say that now- I'll probably really wait until Friday.  That's how I roll.  Wish me luck! The last party was a $1200 affair which led to an excellent payday for me and a ton of free stuff for my hostess- I'd love to have a repeat.

We are preparing to head up to Pennsylvania- I can't wait! On the docket are trips up to Gettysburg (150th anniversary!) and some caverns- and of course, we have to spend a few minutes playing around Chocolate World! It will be nice to get away for a bit, though this is mixing business with pleasure, as I am attending the ARBA Convention. 


-Kristen

Organization

I've been reading some articles on organization recently.  We have so much stuff.  It doesn't help that I am a pack rat extraordinaire and Tim is the king of "I'm going to do something with that!"

I've been going through the house with the hopes of getting rid of things we don't need.  I was able to dump several "but I'm going to fix that!" projects that have been sitting around waiting on me for years. 

I also started another Goodwill box.  This is the hardest thing for me to deal with- getting rid of things I might need.  I also hate looking at something and thinking "I spent X amount of money on that, now I'm going to just get rid of it."  You have to ask yourself if keeping something solely because you spent money on it is a worthy reason to store it.  If I keep it 10 years and never use it or look at it, why save it? 

I tend to keep gifts folks have given me.  Long after the giver has forgotten it, I will still store it- moving it from house to house, never unpacking it.  Why?

If you worry about moving something out and forgetting X- Auntie Em who gave it to, the situation surrounding it, that first concert you went to, the summer of '69 or WHATEVER, just take a picture of the item.   It's easier to store a single photo than an entire t-shirt, or a statue of a dalmatian from second grade.

I managed to fill up that Goodwill box today.  I still have a lot more to move- especially stuffed animals.  I have so many from my childhood that just sit in boxes and are useless.   It's time to let them go, even though sometimes it's like saying goodbye to old friends.  Still- I'd rather regain my sanity by getting this house in order, than haul the stuffed toys around until bugs ruin them or they fall apart from old age.

Wish me luck!

-Kristen

Hectic Hectic!

Things have been so crazy lately, this is going to be a general update!

Chickens:
The hens are doing well! Unfortunately the four bantams have pretty much been broody the entire summer, so they are eating, but not producing anything helpful.  Way to go girls.  The Australorp has split her time between broody and making eggs, but by far, the best hens have been the Ameracaunas.  They have been enjoying garden scraps and got plenty of hot dog buns (and a few hot dogs!) courtesy of the youth group not eating all their food at the meetings.  Spoiled girls!

Thirty One:
My Thirty One business is really starting to take off! One of my hostess's just ended up with a $1200 party- meaning she gets $250 worth of FREE stuff, three totally free hostess exclusives and three half priced items- she just can't figure out what all she wants, which is a great problem to have.  That payday for me is going to be very welcome too!

Baking:
With the little extra free time I've been enjoying, I've really been having fun baking!  So far I've managed several different loaves of artisan bread- delicious! My absolute favorite was making the "churro" cupcakes from scratch!   I've taken advantage of the 40% off Michaels coupons to get a pan for mini cupcakes, mini cupcake liners and a few decorating tips.  No- no new business is being planned, I'm just enjoying playing around with decorating my cupcakes!




Birthday: I am old, I am old- I shall wear my trousers  rolled! I recently turned 29- which really isn't that big of a deal.  I've been operating under the delusion I had already aged another year for at least two months.  Man, my mind is going already!

-Kristen

Reorganizing the Guest Room!

Now that I am happily unemployed (well, relatively, I do still sell Thirty One Gifts and work in the nursery on Sundays), I'm working on getting this house under control!

Today I've decided to tackle the guest bedroom- aka the junk room.  Unfortunately, when we moved we downsized.  I've donated, given away and thrown out tons of things in the three years we have lived here, but somehow we still have too much junk!

Part of it is my unwillingness to get rid of some of my craft items.  I want to paint more, I want to cross stitch more- I want to finish those latch hook projects- but I just don't have the time to do it.  Still, I find it hard to move out my items.

Part of the problem is that the house also came with furniture I don't want and don't need- but we have to find a place to "cram".  If we stick it outside in the garage and it gets ruined, it's still our fault, even though we've asked them to remove what we don't want.  Sigh.

So, I'm working on trying to condense what I can't bring myself to donate or give away.   I'm trying to put all the unwanted furniture in the guestroom.  It's not going to give folks who need to stay the most luxurious room in the house, but it comes down to inconveniencing one person for a day or two, versus everyone in the house all the time.

I definitely think this is going to be longer than a one day project!  Accccck!

-Kristen

Almost Free!

Tomorrow is my last day of my last full week of work.

Yes.  I'm leaving my job- and I couldn't be more excited.

I've been working on the crocheting orders I have- hooray!  I've also been throwing myself in to earning money through my online surveys and earning gift cards through Swagbucks.  I've actually already had another job offer, but I'm not interested in jumping in to another position before I've even fully left this one.

The book is on hold again.  I've noticed that if I am unhappy, the first thing to go is any creativity.  Since I've been unhappy in my "real" job for a while, you can imagine the tiny bit of work that has gotten done.  It drives me nuts because I'm so very close to the end and my beta reader has been begging me for months to finish up the next installment. Working on it!

 Speaking of books, I got an awesome and unexpected honor recently!  A friend of mine is publishing her first book soon (I'll be sure to share details of that as it progresses) and she wanted to give me an acknowledgement in it!  That piece of news absolutely has made my week.

So, here we go- I'm about to step out into the world of being unemployed.   I'm excited and plan on reviewing our budget to make sure there are no unexpected expenses that derail my wonderful break!

-Kristen

The Ring, My Precious-

So recently, Tim lost his wedding ring.  In typical Tim fashion, he managed to fling it from his finger while wiping dirt on his shorts (I don't know why he was doing that either) and also in typical Tim fashion, he was 100% certain it was about five feet to the left of where it actually was.

After crawling around on my hands and knees for hours in the grass that desperately needed to be mowed (thanks mower guy, for getting upset when we asked you not to scalp the lawn and now doing a "I will cut the tip off each individual blade of grass approach) and literally cutting the grass with scissors (or pulling it up by the handfuls) we gave up for the night.

Ultimately, it took another hour, this time with a metal detector, before I found his ring- and it was a near thing then as well.

Yesterday, I had to make the hard decision to "bench" my rings. After the weight we have lost (around 35 lbs for both of us), they don't fit.  For some reason, yesterday was particularly bad, as they nearly flew off in spectacular fashion at least a dozen times.

I guess I'm going to have to decide if I want them cut down and resized, or if I think a ring guard will suffice.  I have heard the ring guards can be immensely uncomfortable, but I also worry about permanently resizing the ring, only to end up unable to wear it if I gain weight back (which I am not planning on doing, but you know how plans go sometimes.)

Oh well, at least I will know the rings are safe and sound for now, not ready to leap off my finger at any given point in time, never to be found again.

It just feels really weird to be without them.

-Kristen

Spring Cleaning

Despite it being an absolutely gorgeous day outside, there were some chores that absolutely needed to be taken care of. Oh well, every day can't be a play day.

Tim headed outside to clean rabbit cages.  We've had a request to purchase rabbit manure for gardens, so he had to sacrifice a little extra time to bag up the poop.   The dogs got to spend a lazy day playing outside and the chickens got significantly more free range time.

While Tim was working on rabbit cages, I decided to tackle the house.

I hate to clean.  Hate it.  Usually my approach is get a bit done here and a bit done there and ultimately I spend hours piddling around and not getting much done.

I decided today to tackle one room at a time.  First up- the dining room.  We don't sit at the table that often, so Tim tends to toss his junk on that table and go on about his business.  It took quite a while to sort through the junk and throw it out, then put the useful items in their proper place.

I did some dusting, which I also despise, and spend the next 10 minutes sneezing around the house.  Ughhh dust.

I found some old blankets tossed in a chair that the cats had been sleeping on- they went into the washer and are being dried now.

I spent a good hour cleaning the garage (also a site of "just toss it and forget it) and setting up the new heavy plastic shelves I bought from an estate sale yesterday.  Then I gathered up all the various boxes of mason jars for canning season and moved them out to their new home on the shelves.

All in all, I spent 3 1/2 hours working on the garage and the dining room. There is still plenty of cleaning that needs to be done, but I think I earned a bit of a break!

-Kristen

Overwhelmed

Sometimes I feel like I keep too many irons in the fire.   There is a case for why I feel this way-  currently I am:

• Learning to crochet more complicated patterns
• Working on the book
• Working two part time jobs
• tending to 3 dogs, 3 cats, 9 chickens and a barn full of show rabbits
• Starting a new business (I'm a Thirty-One Consultant!)
• Couponing for our daily needs
• Maintaining two blogs

And that isn't including the regular business of trying to clean the house,  cooking dinner, maintaining some semblance of a social life, rabbit shows, etc. as well as finding time to enjoy reading and my other hobbies.

I'm also noting that it has been dark, dreary and cold the past few days here- all recipes for seasonal depression to rear it's ugly head.  Feeling overwhelmed is generally an early warning sign for me, as is obsessing about money. In this case, I find myself beginning to obsess about thirty-one product sales.  Always gotta be obsessing about something!

I am thinking I need to sit down and prioritize things in my life right now, figure out how I can enjoy all my hobbies and balance those with work.

-Kristen

Taking Control of the Clutter

I'm slowly trying to take control of the clutter in this house.  Unfortunately with Tim sick and us being so busy, it has gone to hell in a hand basket.

With the addition of the new tv and the new tv stand, we suddenly have so much more room in the living room.  This has led to our ability to move an old bookshelf in to the living room to put our movies and tv shows on and remove the wobbly old stand that didn't hold nearly enough of what I needed it to hold.

I cleaned out under the china cabinet and boxed the dishes and things I wasn't using up.  They are headed out to the storage building first thing in the morning.   I filled up that space with extra kitchen appliances- one of the four crockpots went in, as did the dehydrator.  I'm hoping I can get something else under there, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  As it is, it's nice to have these two items off the counter.

I organized a closet recently- that yielded a Walmart bag full of clothing to go to the "Common Threads" clothing giveaway that Tim's churches trade off hosting.  A box full of old games are going to find their way to Goodwill, along with some duplicate books and knick knacks that are just gathering dust.

I managed to find a half dozen items that still had decent value on Amazon.  I'm pleased that the most expensive one has already sold! It's not much, but it is one less piece of junk to sit around and a little more money in my pocket!

Several additional Christmas gifts have been wrapped and are under the tree.   We may not have many decorations up and there won't be many presents, but hey- the ones that are there look good.


I've discovered why I can never get ahead on the house work.  I had been working for only 20 minutes or so when Tim started urging me to stop.  I think he was terrified I was going to ask him to help.

-Kristen

Controlled Shrinkage

I went shopping with my sister-in-law this past weekend.  We were just messing around before we went out for her birthday dinner, so she suggested we stop in to Cato and see what they had that might interest us.

I found a black shirt I really liked for only $6.99, but it was a Large.  I've lost over 30 pounds at this point, so Larges aren't really in my range anymore.  Still, she convinced me to try it on and ultimately convinced me to buy it, saying it didn't look "bad", even though I thought it looked entirely too big.

I get home, get ready to put it on and it's even bigger than I remembered.

I have two choices at this point- donate it, or try something a little risky.

I went with risky.

Tim is the King of shrinking clothing. I can not tell you how many shirts I've lost to his washing "skills" over the years- far too many, believe me.   I was trying to tap those powers of evil for a greater purpose this time.

I tossed the shirt to him and asked him to shrink it for me.  He looked completely confused, obviously trying to figure out if it was a trick.

"What if I shrink it too much?"
"Doesn't matter, I can't wear it now anyway, just go for it."
"Ok, well that won't be hard. You can't get mad at me."

So away I went to work and away he went to do the oh-so-possible...shrink my new shirt.

With trepidation, I tried the shirt on today.  I could tell it had shrunk right around an inch in length (it's black with a lacy front on it over an attached black shirt).  I put it on, he waits, breath held-

It fits!
Tim did the perfect job in his attempt at "controlled shrinkage".  It fits beautifully (well, it still could have gone down a little more and that would have been fine).  I wish you could have seen his face- he beamed and then began telling me his "method" for shrinking the shirt.

Whatever, I'm just happy it fits!

Note to self: Don't believe the sister in law when she says things look fine.  She is lying.

-Kristen

Shopping

Contrary to popular belief, I do enjoy shopping- if I have a good enough coupon.

I had one of these for Kohls recently- one of my favorite clothing stores.  Not only were they running their "Kohls Cash" promotion (purchase $50 in items, get a $10 coupon back for use the next week, no limit), there was clearance around- and I had received a 30% off coupon in the mail.

Yes.  It was clearly time to go clothes shopping.

Now, to begin with, there is one thing they do not tell you about Kohls cash.  It has to be $50 after coupons. I've always thought that was kind of tacky.  It isn't like other stores where you can stack a manufacturer's coupon with a store coupon and really walk away with a steal- you can only save as much as they let you, because they control the coupons and the wording.

Hmpf.  But anyway-

I found several things I wanted, then headed to checkout.  My total rang up around $75 and I probably whipped out my 30% off coupon.

"Oh, are you going to use your Kohls Charge?"

"Nope!"  I had been planning on using my credit card, which is netting me 5% cashback currently.  Take that Kohls and your tacky policy.

"Oh- to use this coupon you have to use the Kohls Charge."

Eurgh.  I will some day remember to watch the fine print on those stupid coupons they send me.  So fine, I whip out the Kohls Charge, because saving 30% is better than 5% cashback and my total before tax drops to $50.10- just enough to get me that $10 in Kohls Cash.  Buwahaha, couldn't have worked that out any better if I'd been using a calculator.

Much to the annoyance of the cashier, I insisted on turning around and paying off my charge balance right then and there.  See, that's yet another tricky thing about Kohls. You can only pay off your balance with cash or a check.  It takes a magic trick to figure out that the interest rate is 21.9% on that card- 24.9% if you are late making a payment.

Coupons are all well and good, but I don't play the interest game. Because I know I have to look for a separate bill (one I am not used to seeing and wouldn't notice if it was missing) if I use the Kohls charge, I insist on paying the balance off 100% at the time of purchase, even if it takes two transactions to do it.  I'm a pain in the rear that way.  Having been burned once with an unscrupulous credit card company that would hold transactions until right before they came due, charge them to the card, then hit me with 20+% interest, I tread very lightly.

So- moral of the story is always read the fine print.  I guess.  Not really sure what the moral of this post is, other than I got some new clothes on discount! Buwahaha.


-Kristen

Gone a week, gone a lifetime

We spent the past week in Florida with my in-laws.  It was warm down there- some days drenching us in sweat, though by the last few days it was beautiful.

When we returned home, it felt like we had been gone more like a month!  It's cool here- approaching cold at night.  The trees, which had just begun to color their leaves when we left, are nearing their full Fall splendor.  My poor in-laws live in the mountains and they came home to bare trees and dead tomato plants!
Our garden is mostly dead as well, time to pick the very last of it's produce. 

My junior bunnies (those under 6 months old) have undergone a metamorphosis since I have last seen them- mostly for the better!  Still, in just a single week my "babies" have turned in to mini adults! Time flies in earnest when you're gone.

We did have one mild heartattack when we came home- the chickens were all out and two were missing.  I saw tons of feathers everywhere and assumed the worst, but luckily everyone is still alive.  The other two girls were apparently off on a field trip somewhere.  Note to self: fix the coop door.

-Kristen

Shop Til You Drop!

Yesterday didn't start out being a full day of shopping- but it just kind of turned in to that.

We started off at Mimi's Cafe for lunch, since we had a B1G1 lunch coupon.  It was delicious and Tim and I both brought our huge muffins home, because we simply couldn't eat them.

Then it was off to Bath & Body Works to pick up my free 2oz. Aromatherapy Body Wash (coupon which is making it's way around Facebook, but which I can no longer post on the blog because of the format.  Sigh.  Run to their Facebook page to get it!).

We ran to Petsmart to take advantage of their Friends and Family 15% off event. The majority of my money left me here, since we stocked up on cat food, dog food and cat litter.  I had coupons to stack (just for the dog food) in addition to the 15% off, so we ended up saving around $30.  Hey, that's not bad at all!

We ran to Belk to get new pillows, since ours were flat and dead.  This is where we ran in to some unexpected news- Belk is having a huge clearance sale! I picked up five new shirts for work, since my others are definitely starting to be too big (yay), a t-shirt and the two pillows.

Kohls yielded a new shirt for Tim- also on clearance.  It was marked down to 80% off! Cha-ching!

We hit the local Goodwill stores, looking for items for our Halloween costumes.  We finally found a great shirt for Tim (once we do a little bit of dyeing) and he also found two new pairs of shorts! I picked up a pair of jeans that fit perfectly and are a size smaller than the shorts I was wearing.  Talk about a confidence booster!

Then, we ended up going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  Believe me, I hadn't planned on eating dinner out again but we were hungry and we were there.  Since we both ended up bringing food home, at least that helps cut the cost down.

A quick trip to "The Sock Store" in search of knee high black and orange striped toe socks was fruitless (c'mon Sock Store...), but I found a great piece for my costume at a Spirit of Halloween store. 

It was a full day yesterday, including our meals, we spent right around 8 hours out and about.  I feel great though, we got things we needed, our costumes are almost done and we did it all on one trip to the same town, which ultimately will save us money in gas!

-Kristen

Feeling Good

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself lately.  I've done a lot of canning, I've started a second job- oh and I've lost 25 lbs :).

It wasn't an all at once thing and I'm actually at 26 lbs lost as of this morning.  Still working on getting down to my ideal weight, but I'm very pleased in general. 

We are going on our vacation in just a few weeks.  That thrills me to death, though I'm starting to stress a little just on general principle.  I've just got a few little extra things to do that can all be done in a day or so, but I haven't done them yet.  I'm planning on finishing up this week on the planning so I can do nothing but start packing and getting excited for a week off work!

The weather has been gorgeous the past few days- cool temperatures and sunny! I love this time of year. I don't think I ever feel as good as I do in September and October. 

-Kristen

Sunburnt but fun!

Man-

We went to Hillsville Virginia this weekend for their annual Flea Market and Gun Show.  They estimate in 4 days 500,000 people will walk through there.

I believe it.

We just got home and I am sunburned (despite walking around under an umbrella that looks like a dinosaur- I got many compliments!) and exhausted, but it was so interesting to see all the junk people had.   Unfortunately, like everything I am afraid, the Hillsville venue has been overly commercialized.  Rather than regular people hanging out selling items, it was a lot of bulk socks, knives clearly purchased in huge lots, buy outs of places going out of business- oh and "antiques", aka so rusted no one can tell what it is.

I did manage to find a small Tigger plush dressed as Darkwing Duck (Let's get dangerous) which was adorable because it combines my favorite Disney character with Tim's.   I also found a beautiful painting for only $15!  I am painting broke now, I believe I'll have to sell a few of mine so that I can hand this new one!

Tim purchased a record and a 15 round magazine for his .30 Carbine.  My dad, who went with us, found nothing! That was the big surprise.

Oh well, we had a good time, spent very little money (yay for more money going in to the savings account) and we spent all day getting exercise instead of sitting on the couch!  I count that a successful day.

Now excuse me while I go recover by sitting on the couch and watching tv.

-Kristen

Lessons in Nail Painting

I've finally managed to stop biting my nails.  This is big news for me, I've only had nails twice in my life- once in High School and when I got married!  Inevitably I have found myself forgetting and biting them- or one breaks and I get frustrated, or I get stressed and I gnaw them off.

So far, none of that has happened this time.  Dare I start to hope that the habit is truly gone?

I let my friend's daughter paint my nails last night.  She was thrilled.  Meanwhile, I had forgotten a very important rule- or pair of rules- for nail polish.  1.) Bright teal is probably not the best choice to go on your nails.  2.) Make sure your manicurist is over 10 years old.

So today I am sporting remnants of having my fingers painted.  It made her happy and it wasn't hard to remove most of the color.  How she got the paint under my nails, I will never know.

-Kristen

Don't give up

Have you ever dieted?  You know that one day where you lose your mind, can't take it anymore and end up eating half a cake by yourself? Or maybe it's a whole pizza or a pint of ice cream.  What happens? You end up getting upset at yourself and more often than not, you give up on the diet because you've "blown it anyway".  Maybe you don't give up totally, but you stop being as strict with yourself because "it's not as bad as that day where I ate that whole pizza".  You stop losing weight and eventually you are right back to where you were.  Maybe you even self justify it by saying "Well, I'd be worse off if I hadn't dieted that two weeks- I'd weigh more."

Money management is just like dieting.   There will be some point where Murphy (you know, Murphy's Law- what can go wrong will) will pop up and slam you with some big bill- new tires for the car, a broken leg, a vet appointment- something will happen.  Or perhaps you end up taking an unexpected and unbudgeted for trip.  Maybe you just can't stand it and run out to buy the new iphone. Whatever.  Things happen.  This is no time to give up on money management or your long term financial goals.  Don't think about how you saved $20 that month and said "well, good enough, I can quit."  Don't say "I blew $1000... I'm so dumb, I am just not going to try anymore."

There is no need to throw good money after bad (which is one of my favorite sayings ever).  Get back on track.  So what, it will take a little longer to reach your goal, whether that's to pay off all your debt, or whether it's to save a specific amount- or for a specific item.  If you stop now, will you ever hit your goal otherwise?  How many times have we all said "I wish I'd stuck with that diet in January, I'd look so much better in this bathing suit now in August".   "I wish I had started couponing twenty years ago, I'd be so much better off now."

Stick with it.  Accept there will be mistakes and mishaps along the way, but it's the trying that counts.  Every $20 you save, every penny you shave off a bill, is moving you towards a better life- one including financial freedom and hopefully financial security.  So you had to take $500 out of savings to blow on new tires for your car- at least you had it to begin with.  It isn't on a credit card that will ultimately cause you to pay even more than $500.  You aren't having to beg family members to loan you the money and straining relationships with them.

You can do this! Even if it takes you a little longer because of setbacks, don't give up.

-Kristen