Sitting and waiting

I always hate when I am sitting around and waiting for responses on things.  It drives me CRAZY.  But on a good note, at least I'm relaxing some and also getting to sip some more delicious press coffee.  YUM.  Silver lining, yes?  I'm trying to appreciate the little things more and see the brighter side.  I've never been much of an optimist, but as I get older, I see the benefit to seeing the good side in things and I want to do that MORE.  So, good coffee and relaxation are it! 

Even though I just posted yesterday evening, I think, I've been a busy girl and gotten a few more things done.  I got them done late yesterday.  I want to say I mentioned that I finished purging and packing and organizing the upstairs.  SO happy with that!  I also ended up hiring the neighbors lawn kid to mow our grass.  He did a good job.  Not great, but good.  And hopefully I will only need him a few more times.  Anyways, after all of that, I stayed up after the kiddos went to bed to go over finances, balance the checkbook, do the budget, and all of that jazz.  It was quick since I've stayed on top of it.  The best part is that I was able to pay off the USB card from the dog's surgery and the remaining balance on our remodel card from a few years ago with BofA!  SO HAPPY!  The debt that is left is the EcoWater and AmEx.  I'm not terribly worried about the AmEx, but I do need to get the balance back down.  I'm trying to decide if I should hold on to our money for now for the next house, or apply it to the current debt.  We've gotten little bits of money here and there and some great money, too.  So, one part of me is like get rid of that debt and the other part wants to hold.  I do know that I'm donating some to a friend's cancer fund and a bit to a friend's cross country fund for her daughter.  I may do some more but I also know that I need to plan what to do for the rest.  Getting rid of debt has been my main focus for so long, it's hard to focus on saving.  I know we need to do both. 

I think it's hard to get out of the mindset of getting debt free to saving.  I want to save as much as we can so that when we go to buy another house, we can get the one we want, and not just the one we can live with.  I also want to have a 'safety net'.  I know I need to start my own retirement fund.  I have SO MUCH I need to do, but I just haven't done it all.  I've been doing great at paying off the debt.  We have a small cushion in savings.  We have a decent HSA for medical (I am not sure how this will change with the job change...).  Now I just need to get the rest in gear!  I think my issue is that I need to diversify and I just haven't gotten to that point, yet.  I know we need to change banks for our move but I'm thinking I will open a couple of different accounts instead of just one.  I'd like to open one through Ally.  I'd like to do all of our savings there -- possibly even a Roth IRA.  But it looks like all they offer is the CD's.  Hmmm...  I also need to start accounts for the kiddos because the money is starting to become more and more of their daily lives as they learn to save and earn, too.  Decisions decisions.

I guess I just don't want to screw things up.  I want to get rid of our random debt and build a 6 month emergency fund and also a retirement fund.  Then a savings/retirement account for my kids.  I'm 35.  I need to get this done.  I need to do more research.  We do have retirement money in hubby's pension and 401k, but I want my OWN.  I think in the end, it will help us tremendously to diversify and each have our money available and working.  I'm starting to think I need advice from a pro.  I wonder if Dave Ramsey covers retirement in detail?  Maybe I need a trip to the library....  oooh... I wonder if there is info in the online library!  TEE HEEEEEE!!!

Ok, I'm off to do some research.  My brain is going now and I want to take advantage.  :D