December 2011

In this economy, I think that everyone has to budget their money. And with twins, it is even more important, because their Doctor visits, Diapers, Formula, clothes, daycare, etc. So my wife and I sat down and looked at where we were financially and started making some tough decisions on what we needed to cut out. I will break out what we did before the boys were born, what we have done since the boys were born and what we are working on now.

Before the boys we did the following:
1) Read the Dave Ramsey book The Total Money Makeover
2) Used the Debt Reduction Calculator and we keep this updated on a monthly basis. This allows us to know where we are at any point in time each month.
3) After we found a nanny and decided on a price for her to keep our boys, we started taking what we would be paying her each week and putting it into savings. We needed to see what life would be like without that money. And because I have been asked a few times, we used Care.com to find our nanny and were very pleased with the service.

What we have done since the boys were born:
1) Canceled our gym memberships and instead, we take the boys to the mall and use that as our family exercise. This has saved us approximately $80 a month.
2) Cut back on eating out. We are fortunate that our boys are pretty well behaved and are very laid back when we are out in public, but cuts needed to be made and that was an easy one. So instead of eating out 2 – 3 times a week, we only eat out 1 time every two weeks. We now cook more at home and cook more so that we have enough leftovers for 2 – 3 meals. (I’m working on an entry on recipes and sites that can help with cooking) This has saved us approximately $80 a week, and actually probably closer to $100 a week if you factor in taking our lunches now.
3) Coupons and more coupons. See more about what we our coupon experience. This has saved us approximately $25 – $30 a week.
4) I would stop at Starbucks at least 5 days a week and wouldn’t think twice about it. Now, I only go once a week. A savings of $20 a week.
5) Hand Me Downs – Don’t judge. The reality is that kids only wear clothes usually a few times before they have outgrown them. With twins, double the cost, it only makes sense to hook up with someone with older kids that have outgrown their clothes, it definitely saves a lot of money.

What we still need to do:
1) Almost 2 years ago during a snow storm, pre-twins, my wife and I upgraded our Comcast package to the $200 a month plan. Now, we watch only a few channels, primarily The Food Network and sports, so we will need to scale our cable package down.  And we love Comcast and the service that we have gotten thus far, we just don’t need to spend $200 a month right now.
2) Signup for the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class.
3) Learn how to process our own food to cut down on paying for solid foods.
4) Increase our coupons, as this appears to be a huge savings for us.
5) Buy in bulk. Unfortunately for us, our house is small, which makes buying in bulk very limited, but when we can, we do stock up on the essentials, like diapers, formula, toilet paper, paper towels, etc.

I hope that these tips help. I have a feeling that this will be updated on a regular basis. If you have any ideas/suggestions, please feel free to share them with us.

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The day that we found out that we were pregnant, my first thought was “How much is this going to cost me? Weddings, college tuition, etc.” Then a few days later we were told, be open minded to twins and then it really hit, 2 weddings, 2 kids going to college at the same time, etc. With all of the added costs, we are limited in what we can do financially, but college is important and the cost is only rising.

Instead of my wife and I carrying the entire burden of paying for our son’s college tuition, we have asked that our parents contribute instead of buying them Christmas gifts and Birthday gifts. And since I have been a member of USAA for the last 20 years, we are looking at the USAA college savings plan.

Talk with a financial planner and ask what they recommend for the best way to pay for your children’s college tuition. But start as soon as you can, as the cost of college is only raising.

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On the way to work today the lady in front of me slammed on her brakes, causing me to rear end her. Many thoughts have since gone through my mind since the accident, but the one that comes to be mind is grateful:
1) I am grateful that the boys were not with me. Even though it was a minor fender bender,  I would rather them not be in a car accident;
2) I am grateful that we have great insurance with USAA. I can’t image being with another insurance provider.
3) I am grateful that no one was hurt.

So, even in dealing with this inconvenience, both from a time and more importantly financially stand point, I am grateful.

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Being the father of twins and being the one that looks at the checkbook on a daily basis, the added expense of twins took a toll on us financially. But we have taken some steps to help us save money each week:

1) Coupons – We actually subscribed to two weekend only newspapers for our area. The cost of these two papers were $60 for the year for the two papers. In the first month, between the two newspapers, we were able to use enough coupons to pay for the entire year. Our average weekly savings is about $35 a week at the grocery store.
2) Discount sites – We signed up for Living Social, Groupon, and local coupon websites and they too have been helpful. Whether purchasing oil changes, gift cards to consignment shops, etc, every little helps.
3) Loyalty Programs – For somethings we are not brand loyal, but then for somethings ,we are. One thing that we did was to immediately signup for Gerber and Pampers Rewards programs. We get coupons on a regular basis, which help with our weekly purchases of formula and diapers.
4) Friends, Family, Co-Workers – All of the above help us by bringing us coupons on a weekly basis. I’m not a fan of it takes a village philosophy, but with twins, it takes those closest to you to help.

We on average spend $50 a week on formula and another $10 – $20 on solid food for the twins, so every little bit helps.

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I always remember hearing how hard it was to be a dad and raising 1 child, but I could not image raising two. The stress. Life changes. Raising my sons to be good boys and ultimately good men.

The Stress – Obviously the financial side immediately popped into my mind, but could I love two equally? What would they be like? Would they have their own personalities?

Life Changes – Would I still be able to hang out with my friends? Would my wife and I be able to travel as we wanted? Work and a work life balance?

Raising the boys – Would I be able to be a good example, so that the boys would be good contributors to society?

I don’t know of any guy that is truly 100% ready to be a dad. But the one thing that I have learned, is that I can love my boys equally, they are both unique and I love that about them. My job has provided me with the flexibility to have a great work/life balance. My wife and I have traveled now twice with the boys and we survived. I have made it a point to see friends for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings once a week for wings and beer.

Life has changed. But life has changed for the better and I think that I’m doing a pretty good job of not only being a dad, but building the foundation of raising of good young men.

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For me, it was a no brainier on who was going to be the boys Godfather.  But, to be fair, my wife and I sat down and when I asked the simple question, “if something were to happen to me tomorrow, who would be there in a minute, if you called and needed help?” And when she answered the same person that I had in my mind, we just knew. But, in saying that, selecting a Godparent is an important thing and shouldn’t be taken lightly. And for us, we only selected a Godfather and that was only because we couldn’t decide on a Godmother.

The things that my wife and I discussed were:
1) Who would be there for the boys and raise them the way that we would?
2) Who would raise them in a way that they would know right from wrong, be raised in a Christian home and
3) Who would love these two boys as their own

Hope this helps.

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