Odyssey

Now we're not getting a minivan, but my wife is still going to watch the kids. Here's how awesome God is. My neighbor has a daughter that Eryn watches. She was talking to Eryn today and offered to watch Noah and her daughter while Eryn goes to pick up the two other kids that she'll be watching from school. Meaning that Eryn can fit everybody in one vehicle and that we don't have to go into debt.
That is so awesome. I was looking forward to getting the van, but I would rather wait to get it until we absolutely had to have it. This way we can hopefully save up some money and maybe pay cash for a van or at least put down a massive down payment on one.
It's awesome how much God blesses you when you honor him with your tithe. I've been really bad about it all my life, but I just switched this year to having it automatically taken out of my bank account every payday. That way there's no debating what we should do with the money because it's already gone.
God is definitely the great provider. JM

Decisions

My wife, Eryn, is probably going to start watching two kids 3 days a week (we'll know for sure tomorrow night). This is in addition to the little girl she will be watching 5 days a week. We talked about it before she accepted the offer to watch the two kids because that meant that she would have to haul around 5 kids if she wanted to go anywhere. Our vehicle will only haul 3 kids.

So there is the problem. The solution? Well, she would be making a lot of money. More than enough to offset the cost of a minivan. So I started researching how much it would be for us to get one. I want to pick up a silver 2004 Honda Odyssey with under 60,000 miles and I want to pay under $19,000 for it.

I guess we'll know soon enough whether or not we need to get the van. But buying it used and asking for at least a 3-month commitment from the kids parents means that we could ditch the car if things didn't work out, and we probably wouldn't be out any serious money.

JM

Paid In Full

We paid off another credit card today. It's such an exciting feeling for me. I can't wait until we're debt free. We're down to about $8,000 in debt besides our house. We should be fully out of debt by spring of 2008. Then we'll get to move into a new house that summer and hopefully never have to worry about debt payments again. My only concern is having to buy a car, but I think we will have enough time to save up some cash to get that used minivan I've always wanted. It's weird to think about, but I really want a minivan. They're just so stinking practical for families. Hopefully I can get an odyssey. I wish I could add it to my amazon wish list. Then maybe somebody would buy it for me. JM