Nothing
soothes my worries as soundly as Budget Day! With check stubs in hand, the hum
of the bright computer monitor beckons my fingers to the number pad like a pig
to slop. Ahhh yes, Budget Day has quickly become my favorite day of the week…
favorite ‘week’ day anyways. It’s funny because I don’t even realize
I’ve come to a point of questioning if we are making the right decisions, if
this will all work out, is it’s all worth it, until we hit that re-energizing
moment. (Queue the choir build-up here) When we’ve sat down and plugged in the
numbers from our check into our allotted payments and other categories for
saving. Then freedom escapes me like a giant sigh… (HALLELUJAH!!) Like solving
a nasty math problem that’s been hounding you for days. “Why is six afraid of
seven? ……because seven ate nine!” (Yes, that is my version of a ‘math’ problem.
But seriously, why is there no Numbers In Distress outreach program available
that could have kept seven from going rogue anyways?!) Somehow, it all works
out and I can quiet my nagging mind (without the use of a large glass of wine).
Victory is becoming ours!
Slowly, I can feel this new reality
sinking in. Yesterday was my first trip to the grocery store with my hubby
since our financial diet began. It wasn’t as hard as I had thought it would be
to ignore my impulses. Especially since I never actually left the
car…(kidding!) I actually felt good about saying no to myself and even pointed
out things that I would’ve liked to buy but that were not something that
we needed. I admit, it might have looked a little odd from a bystander’s
point of view to see some ‘crazy’ lady gazing forlornly at a fresh loaf of
Artisans Sourdough like it was my long lost love…but you know… I moved
on…eventually.
We also had to plan and put aside
money for our trip to the fair this past weekend. I had bought my husband
tickets for Larry The Cable guy back in April for his birthday. So we saved up
in our ‘entertainment’ fund, took advantage of our free fair entry for our
whole family and took our little monkey to check it out. We had a blast and I
never felt like we skimped or missed out on anything, although we still came
home with half of what we had taken to spend left over! (A great feat in
itself!) I think the biggest thing is that we are both making conscious
decisions with our later in mind instead of just the NOW in front of us.
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| *Enjoying the fair food* |
I do feel like there are a lot of
things we have to say no to, but at the same time I’m amazed that we are living
our life without feeling like we’re on lock down. And we’re still managing to
put extra money towards paying off our debts. I love it!
With all of that being said, I am
about to enter my own personal money war zone. The Holidays! I will elaborate
more on that in a later post, but let me just say this will be a REAL test for
me. I am the #1 fan of the Holidays. I love crafting and creating, decorating
my home and sharing in family traditions and I can easily find myself spending
a lot of green in the process! Luckily, we have already been putting aside in
anticipation of this season of spending. But it will take more than reining in
my overly zealous buying habits. I don’t think I’ll get to the point of
desperately rifling through the dumpsters at the JoAnn’s, but I’m going to have
to put my creative mind to work finding ways to still indulge my inner child
but at a much lower cost.
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| *Decorating for Fall* |
I have to admit though, as long as I
have a crackling fire (well mine doesn’t crackle since it’s behind glass and
ignites with the flip of a switch butttttttt this is MY daydream, dangit! And
no, this luxury is not lost on us since our last home we lived in had an old
brick fireplace with an iron insert that we never could figure out the flu
system on and a fan that was about as quiet as a hydroplane), a cup of sweet
peppermint cocoa warming my hands, Christmas music playing softly in the
background, surrounded by the family and friends that I love, an ever-growing
little snuggle bug curled up in my lap, my husband’s hand in mine and at least
one good snowfall this season… my heart will be full and happy J
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