Pay Yourself First Challenge

Looks like the challenge is almost over. I'm so glad we were able to save up to our goal. It's been great this past month getting to know our little girl and feeling the security that comes with our FNBO Direct bank account. Can't wait to see who wins the grand prize!

Along the way, we got several ideas, tips, and tricks from everyone. Liz Weston was great, as well as the other challengers. We also got a lot of information from the blog comments. A big thanks to you for that!

While we're waiting for the final results, I thought I'd share a few excellent articles we found along the way that really helped us out:

• Going to One Income: What is Raising a Child Worth?
• Ways to Save Money on Babies
• A Series on Baby Expenses
• Frugal Baby Preparations
• How to Prepare for a Baby without Going Broke
• New Baby Financial Checklist
• Ten Tip for Preparing for a Baby for the Frugal Minded
• Should You Pay Off the Credit Card Debt Before Having a Baby?
• Just Had a Baby. Now What?
• Financial Strategies for Infants and Young Children
• Thoughts of a Pregnant Mom
• Shopping for a Newborn

Feel free to share any tips or links to articles you've found useful. Have a great week and wish us luck in getting the grand prize.

Kate Marie Taylor has arrived! She was born Thursday, February 26th, 2009, weighing 7 lbs 6 oz.

Teresa and I could not be more excited and blessed with her arrival.

In addition, due to the monthly interest being added to our FNBO Direct account over the weekend, we officially completed our savings goal of $7,500. Perfect timing.

Just a quick post to share that I've finished the bookshelf I built for little Kate's room. It took me a couple of weekends, about $75 in supplies and paint, but I think it turned out nice. Was one of the more enjoyable projects I've even done. What do ya think?

Secondly, we found out today that we're about a week away from getting to meet baby Kate. We're anxious, but we feel ready. And thanks to this contest and FNBO Direct we're more prepared financially than we've ever been.

So far, we've met our financial goal for the contest. But it doesn't mean that we'll stop saving. We're going to use these last few weeks to make extra sure we're squared away for all our upcoming expenses.

Looking forward to sharing more with you over the coming weeks.

Valentine's Day is this Saturday. Are you ready?

As I shared in the podcast this month, we're not big on this holiday in terms of spending a bunch of money on gifts, jewelry, or chocolates.

Teresa, my wife, does love her flowers though. I definitely enjoy getting them for her. They make her really happy and give the house a new, fresh feeling. So that's what I'm doing.

I'll also likely try and go out of my way to do some extra special things around the house or surprise her with a nice meal. I think anything that takes some time and shows you put some actual thought into it will do the trick.

So my question today is..what are you giving for Valentine's Day and how much do you plan on spending?

I went to work in short sleeves today. Not an uncommon practice here in Texas, where there's not much to the Winters. For many though, I guess Winter is a time to use up those supplies they stored up back in the Fall.

While we didn't really have to store up much for Winter, we now find ourselves having to store up for baby. We're about three weeks from our due date, so it's warranted.

We typically like to keep things pretty lean around here. Keep the clutter out. But since we feel like the world is going to stop down and we won't be able to leave the house once the baby is here, we're storing up on everything from soups to soap. We know we're probably going overboard. :)

So last week, Teresa went shopping for supplies and food and loaded us up. Made me wish we had access to one of those big discount warehouse stores like Sams or Costco. They have a yearly fee, which has kept us from joining in the past.

Do you use these types of stores? When does the annual fee become worth it?

In other news, I've completed my latest woodworking project: a bookshelf for our baby girl's room. Pics and stats coming soon, as well as pics of the entire room...