Anniversaries

This weekend marked two important anniversaries for us.

First, on Friday my husband and I celebrated our five-year anniversary! It was also the six-year anniversary of him getting down on one knee on The National Mall. We have grown a lot, changed a lot, and become a much closer family in these five years. I have no idea what the next five years holds, but am excited for the journey and glad we are partners together. At the end of the day, the only thing I really need is him and our son.

Second, on a less happier note, Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of my attempted layoff. This was the day out of nowhere it seemed to me that my bosses decided the economy had hit its worst and several people had to go. Including me. I said no. I literally begged for my job, because with an infant son and an unemployed husband I had no choice and nothing to lose. I took a 33 percent paycut and managed to get a stay of execution of almost exactly two months.

While I had always been a saver, this event put my savings into high gear and really helped us lay the foundation for when the ax finally did fall. During this past year, we have had periods of no credit card debt, eaten homemade EVERYTHING and didn't go out AT ALL. We now have minimal credit card debt that could easily be paid off tomorrow, but because our savings took such a hit during the layoffs, I want to build up the next egg a big. The $20/month we pay to carry the charge is well worth the piece of mind.

Our saving goal now is to get out of here. Get out of this condo. As I have said before I love our 800 sf of love, but for three people - notably a growing, climbing little monkey -- it is simply too small. I pray that happens this year.

Now that my major project is over though, my main goal is to get back to writing here as I did before. I will begin posting more often the hot deals I find and the little nuggets I use to keep our balance sheet in the black. I appreciate my loyal readers more than you know, because in many ways you keep me on my toes.

Happy Spring! Lets hope that 2010 blooms a little bigger, brighter and happier for all.