Piney Woods Homeschool

I've always used flexible schedules for our school time.  When my oldest was in the early grades, one year I tried putting together a detailed schedule for her with specific times for each subject.  We couldn't stick to the times, as anyone with several young children at home (especially with a baby) will understand, and my estimates for how long things would take were usually too high, but just plotting the work out like that gave us a sense of how much was realistic to expect in a day. Since then, I've used other scheduling methods to help juggle the needs of multiple kids (I have four school-aged and one preschooler right now) as well as to train for independence.  You can see more about how this has worked for us in these posts: Sample Term Schedules Organizing Our AO Year Categorizing Our Schoolwork Organizing Our Homeschool This type of organization of our day really worked well for us, but for two of my four school-age kids it wasn't working as well...

Once they turn five, each of my kids begins choosing and helping to prepare one meal each week.  I work closely with each child at first, and gradually I turn over tasks for the child to perform without assistance.  How fast that happens varies from child to child and meal to meal. Five years ago, I blogged about a new way of organizing our meal plannin g.  I was entering the final stages of a complicated pregnancy with a high probability of complications after the birth, and I needed the meal plans to be functional without much help from me each week.  This system, described in that earlier post, worked well for us with few changes for five years.  But this summer I decided we needed to streamline the process more as well as to shake it up a bit since we had gotten into a rut and, although the food choices were repetitive and boring, deciding what to cook each week was too time-consuming for our current schedule. Pockets store cards not in use. I sorte...

When you budget based on your annual income and expenses, using an "envelope system" can work to your advantage. You have probably heard about people putting money into envelopes to put that money aside for different types of expenses. You might have an envelope for clothing or one for groceries, for instance. When a paycheck comes in, certain amounts are allotted to go in each of the envelopes. Then those expenses are paid from that amount. Using a system like this lets you consider your whole year when you budget while still managing your money month by month or paycheck by paycheck. Putting certain amounts of cash into designated envelopes throughout the year allows you to plan for future needs while still meeting your immediate obligations. If you budgeted for annual expenses that are flexible or unscheduled or infrequent (haircuts that are less often than monthly, clothing, gifts, car maintenance, vehicle registration, and other similar types of expenses),...

Why should you base your budget on your annual pay rather than budgeting around each individual paycheck or month? Many expenses are weekly or monthly, and it seems reasonable to manage those based on your individual paychecks or each month. Then for the expenses that are infrequent or not scheduled, you pay out of the surplus of each paycheck or each month's pay. When you do that, it's hard to plan for expenses that come less often but are fully foreseeable. Also, when you budget based on a short period of time, it's hard to save for those expenses that can be expected but can't be known in advance. Examples: Vehicle registration comes only once per year, but you know exactly when to expect it and how much it will cost. This is a fully foreseeable expense that isn't monthly. Christmas and birthday gifts and celebrations each come once per year at times that are known in advance. You get to choose how much you spend on them, but you can plan that...

When you have a realistic list of income and expenses that has income higher than expenses, you next need to allocate that extra income. It's tempting to use that extra money for spending on things you want to do but haven't budgeted for. In a way, that's what we're going to do, but not as free money. You need to have a nest egg, some money put away for emergencies. To start with, you need to get $1000 put away that can be used to cover those totally unexpected expenses like a plumbing repair or bail.  :-) Some of you will say, "That's easy! Already have that!" Those people can read on after this paragraph. Some of you will say, "That's impossible!" No, it's hard but not impossible. It requires you to take every dollar you can scrape together and put it aside in a safe place and not touch it except when you have an actual emergency. It means you have to do without some things you would really like to have. But it *can* be done,...

When you completed Step 5, you had an estimate of your annual income and outflow, how much money you bring in and how much goes back out again. If your income was higher than your estimated spending, things look pretty good. But check your estimates. Did you forget a category? Did you estimate too low?  Did you include expenses you know will occur but not exactly when or for how much, like car repairs (make an estimate for the year, even just a few hundred dollars) or school supplies? If your income was lower than your expenses, that's not surprising. Now we need to fix that! One way to fix that is to look at those discretionary or variable expenses and see if they can be reduced. But don't be unrealistic! You can't budget $20 a year for clothing for a family of 5 unless you are a super thrifty clothes shopper who receives lots of hand-me-downs.  Another way to get your spending in line with your income is to look at some of the bills we listed to see if ...

Now we add up our numbers, all the amounts we put into our flexible categories plus the amounts we previously listed for regular bills and known expenses. Make sure you are adding up numbers for the same time frame! I think it's easiest to do this initially based on annual numbers, so if you have a monthly number, multiply it by 12 first. Weekly numbers get multiplied by 52, etc. If you're using my spreadsheet as a template, the numbers should already have added up automatically.  Now is a good time to check the math and make sure all the numbers are adding correctly.  If they are not, you'll have to troubleshoot the formulas on the spreadsheet. When you have added all of these up, you have a rough idea of your annual spending. How does it compare to the annual income we calculated long, long ago? If your annual spending number is smaller than your annual income, you have a surplus that you can save. If it's bigger than your annual income, you have a def...

We've figured out how much we have coming in, and we've recorded all our regular bills that we're committed to spending. Now sit down and think about what else you spend money on regularly. Just make a list of everything you can think of. Don't include monetary amounts, just the label. - clothes - groceries - eating out - gas - auto repairs - school supplies - Christmas gifts etc. You can see some items on the spreadsheet I showed you , just as examples.  You can add your own in place of mine or in addition to mine, if you're using that spreadsheet. Let's put some numbers into the categories you listed. For some things, you can make a rough estimate. For instance, how often do you fill up your vehicle's tank with gas, in general? How much does that roughly cost? Multiply that out for the year, and put that number down for fuel (or whatever category you are keeping that in). How many people do you buy Christmas presents for?  How mu...

Find every recurring bill you have.  * If the amount is the same each time you pay, then one copy of that bill will do.  Car payments, mortgage payments, and phone bills often are the same each month. * If the amount varies, gather several copies, ideally a year's worth.  Utility bills, especially electricity or gas, often vary from month to month. Take that stack of bills and sort it. Bills that are the same every month go in one stack. Bills that change each month go in another. We're going to list these bills on our budget. If the bill is the same every month, list that item and put the amount in the column for monthly expenses. If the bill changes, take all of the examples you've collected, add up the amounts, and divide by the number you have. That will give you an average amount. List the bill on your budget and put that average in the monthly expense spot. If you have bills that are more frequent than monthly or less frequent than monthly, you can ...

Now that we've gathered pay stubs or records and we've recorded gross pay over a period of time, let's see where the net pay amount comes from. Look at your pay stubs over a full month, a recent month. Amounts deducted may not be the same for each pay period! Make a list of what items are deducted from the pay and how much. Do that for each of the pay stubs. Some items are a fixed amount, like insurance. Some vary based on the amount of pay, like taxes. *If* your gross pay is consistent, the same each pay period, then for variable items you can just use the amount from one check for your budget. *If* you have a consistent base pay or your pay is variable, then use the amount from your base pay or the lowest check from the last couple of years (the gross pay you're using to budget from). If you aren't sure what to put for the deductions, you can work off of your net pay (the pay you receive after deductions are withheld) or you can make your best estimat...

Think about your sources of income. Where does the money come from? How often? Here's an article that helps clarify , especially if you have a more complicated situation such as a variable income. Don't figure your income on a monthly basis unless you get paid once a month. Figure it based on the pay period you actually have. If your pay is variable, do look back to find your smallest check over the last two years, but also try to get an average amount for the last couple of years. Both pieces of information can be helpful in planning. This is gross income, not net. Don't deduct taxes or other items that probably are withheld from your check. Ultimately we will be planning based on annual income, so keep that in mind. Have you collected some paystubs? (These are probably stored online somewhere. That's good, because once you find that "somewhere" you can easily review a series of paystubs.) Start with either an exact figure, exactly how much i...

Money matters.  When money comes in, we can spend it however seems best at the time, but unless we make a plan ahead of time we'll never be able to accomplish longterm goals with it or make sure that our important priorities are taken care of. Budgeting is not a mysterious process.  There's no one right way to do it, either.  I am going to describe what I do, simply because it's what I know best and because I think it works or I wouldn't keep doing it.  Mostly I think it's critical to know what comes in and goes out, to plan for future needs, to focus on the most important priorities, and to set reasonable limits.  Then money becomes a tool, not a master. Step 1 - Income Step 2 - Deductions Step 3 - Bills Step 4 - Other Expenses Step 5 - Total Expenses Step 6 - Adjusting Step 7 - Allocating the Surplus (Margin) Step 8 - Big Picture Step 9 - Envelopes

Young Man's Guide to Awesomeness The Young Man's Guide to Awesomeness: How to Guard Your Heart, Get the Girl and Save the World is a book I've been looking for for years.  Barrett Johnson has written a guide for Christian teen boys outlining, in a direct and serious tone leavened with a healthy dose of humor, the challenges they face in their relationships and attempts to succeed in life and how to overcome those challenges. The three major sections of the book cover How to Guard Your Heart, How to Get the Girl, and How to Save the World.  Within each section, chapters outline different areas of focus.  In each chapter, the topic is explored within several subsections.  A pithy Big Idea gives a piece of advice.  A body part is highlighted along with an explanation of how that body part affects this topic.  Typical responses or situations are described.  Advice is given for how to respond differently than the norm.  A related lesson from the...

Latch: A Handbook for Breastfeeding with Confidence At Every Stage is a straight-forward, encouraging resource for moms who would like to breastfeed. The book is organized by the stages of the process, starting with prenatal preparation and ending with weaning. *Preparing to Breastfeed * Establishing Breastfeeding * Breastfeeding Through Changes * Weaning from Breastfeeding The tone is matter-of-fact and supportive, and the author does not make judgmental statements. Moms facing typical breastfeeding challenges will find practical advice along with suggestions for where to go for additional help if that is needed. Many testimonials from breastfeeding moms are included, giving a multitude of perspectives on the process and the types of challenges moms face. I have nursed five children, so I found much of this information familiar, but I still saw some new and helpful facts and ideas. I would have liked to see more testimonials from moms who had a smooth experience or at leas...

Whenever I find a copy of Gary Thomas' books Sacred Marriage  or Sacred Parenting  at a discount price, I buy it.  I love to give these books to other people when they are facing challenges in their marriage or their parenting.  I recently learned that he had written Sacred Search , about choosing a marriage partner, and I bought the paperback and the ebook.  I have teenagers now, and I'm always looking for excellent resources to help them transition to adulthood and the new challenges it brings. Sacred Search tries to set the focus of the dating relationship on the purpose of the marriage relationship.  Thomas hopes that Christian marriages will become support systems for lives of ministry and training grounds for new generations of Christians who will form the same types of marriages.  From the beginning and throughout the book he reminds readers that Christian lives should be focused on the kingdom of God, and this means that Christian marriage...