Recently the BFF, Ms. Grace, urged me to begin writing again. Somehow she thinks what I have to say would be interesting. I feel the opposite, so be warned.
The Backstory: When I was young, I didn't have much experience with budgeting. My parents took care of everything and we very rarely touched money. We weren't given allowance like other kids because my parents probably didn't have a steady supply of it like other parents. If we needed something, they would get it, most of the time. One day, about one month post high school graduation, I answered the telephone rather sleepily and somehow managed to receive a $200 credit card in the mail. That was maxed out before you could say Shenanigans. I was so awful with money and had no idea what credit even was. This remained the same through most of my young adult life with my poor parents bailing me out of one situation or another. One day in 2003, I meet The Mr. We worked together and talked often. He was moving to Reno to finish school (in Finance, no less) and I decided to go with him. This took a budget, though. So I taught myself how, so as not to look foolish in front of him. I found it was rather easy for me. See, I'm a lover of lists and spreadsheets. I could spreadsheet your entire life in a day. So I created a spreadsheet. I calculated how much we would need to move and live until jobs were found. With that total in mind, I created a budget. That method has been my preferred method of budgeting since. It has gotten us to England, Scotland, and Ireland on vacation. It has taken us from Reno back to Florida for our wedding and then up to Maine to settle down. It has gotten us through our first child (The Mini Me) and winters in Maine (they're very expensive). It has gotten The Mr. back to Reno for school and me to California to wait for him, both without having to work. And, eventually, brought us to Savannah for The Mr.'s first job as a Financial Adviser. It has been so popular with us that somehow I, rather than The Mr., take care of our finances. Now, because of my awful history with money prior to The Mr. we've been spending a lot of money paying off debts; not to mention every possible catastrophe that the world could think up to throw at us. We have never had nice things. We have bought almost everything second-hand. We have never owned a home. We have only had older cars that we have to fix constantly. We have struggled our entire life together. Our budget forces us to. I have always budgeted with a destination in mind. First, Reno, then the UK, then home/marriage/Ireland/Maine, etc. So we have always done without to make sure we got to where we were going.
The Now Story: The Mr., The Mini Me, and I recently moved to Savannah for The Mr.'s job. With grand illusions of a home, a garden, and new cars, we mapped out our future based on our new location and have set up a budget to get us there. Unfortunately, our budget is faltering. We have been behind almost every month in bills. Our current monthly income is only a smidgen above our monthly expenses. So we basically have a very tight budget. Luxuries such as travel, clothes, appliances, and most importantly saving for our grand illusions, are almost out of the question. This means that for the first time, we are not budgeting with a destination in mind. We are just trying to make enough to pay our bills. One day I would love to own my own home with nice furniture, not the same JC Penney couch The Mr. and I bought before we were married in Reno. Maybe even have some nice decor, DIY or not. Alas, that day is far off. Our goal is to finally start making more than what we owe so that we can start saving for these items. Items that everyone around me seems to have in abundance. It's very frustrating.
So now that you have my entire financial story, here's the point: I am going to keep a record here on this blog of every purchase that I make outside of my budget allowances. The only three areas where I have control over what I spend are groceries, household items, and gas. The rest of our money goes to bills. If I have to report it, I will be less likely to make the purchase. So if I buy The Mini Me some clothes, I have to report it. If I have to pay another $90 to fix my sewing machine, I have to report it. If I go over my grocery or household budget, I'll report it. Do you guys care? Maybe not. Will anyone even read it? Probably not. But will I do it anyway? Yes'm.
Groceries: $300
Household items: $100
Gas: $120
Of course the boring financial reports will be intersperse between posts of other thoughts, which I don't believe are boring at all.
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