30 by 30 #24–Learn to sew

I took Home Ec in grade 7 and learned to sew on a button. And that was probably the last time I actually participated in that task. Since then, my mom has fixed everything for me that required any sewing. Even now that I've moved out, I save up a few things and send them over for fixing. Since I have my own kid now, I figure it's about time I at least figure out some basic sewing.

Project #1 - the button on my winter jacket

Project #2 - my nursing pillow

30 by 30 #27–Host a family Christmas

The plan was to check this one off during Christmas 2010, but circumstances changed and we weren't able to do it. So 2011 was our year.

Spending the 23rd and 24th in Mississauga meant some planning ahead of time, but we had lots of help, especially with the food. We came home Christmas morning after stockings and breakfast, started the turkey and got some snacks together and even fit in a quick vacuuming.

In the afternoon, both sides of our family arrived, 13 people total. We ate snacks, opened gifts and spent some time together while the turkey cooked. My only regret is that you really can't cook dinner ahead of time, so about 30 minutes before dinner, we were all in the kitchen trying to get everything ready. That half hour was a little stressful for me, but everything turned out great, including my first-ever turkey - success!

It was great to have everyone together. I'm not sure that I would want to host Christmas like that every year, especially once we have a toddler, but I really enjoy entertaining, so this won't be the last Christmas at our place.

30 by 30 #2–Make a calendar in Photoshop to give as Christmas gifts

I'm no graphic designer, but I work with some at work and I've picked up on some techniques and played around a little at home. I really enjoy taking a blank screen and creating something out of my ideas. So, for Christmas this year, I decided to make a calendar for each of our moms with some of my favourite Kai pics out of CD jewel cases. They turned out really well, so maybe it will become a yearly tradition?

30 by 30 #22–Pay off our debts

AJ and I started out our marriage financially better off than many people. We were both able to pay for college without accumulating any school debts and we paid for our wedding out of money we had already saved up. This was a huge blessing.

Then, just after we got married, it was time for AJ's car to be replaced, so we bought a new Mazda on a 5-year term. A couple years later, we were ready to leave the condo and get a bigger space, so we bought a house and took out a loan for the down payment. We're very careful with our credit cards so we don't have any debt there.

Neither of these loans were too much for us to bear financially, which was great, but they were loans nonetheless. We do, of course, have a mortgage as well, but the house is what financial planners are calling "good debt" so we're ok with that.

In November of 2010, we paid off our down payment debt and on November 27 of 2011, we officially paid off our car loan, making us totally debt free!

We took a financial planning course through church and are sitting down together every month to plan out our spending before the month starts to ensure we are living within our means and hopefully with some margin. This has been a great tool especially with me on maternity leave, which has cut our income significantly this year. We're planning on keeping my 2003 car around for a few more years so we can save up some money and buy my next car with no debt if possible.