I've been working on a monthly budget today... sad to say, the first reckoning in years. I've kept a mental budget in my mind and it's allowed me to stay within my means, but not much more. Somehow, during the past year, I've crept into some bad habits that have started to take their toll. I blame turning 40. But that's a whole other story.
The good news is that upon careful review, I think we'll be able to make a few thoughtful changes and get back on track. So I've proposed an actual itemized budget to John and we'll see how it works. One thing I'm trying out is a spending journal. It's like a food journal when dieting: whenever I spend money, I track it in my journal. I think it will help me be more mindful of purchases and at the end of this month I'll have a very accurate, detailed list of where the money went. Then I can tweak my budget where needed. Wish me luck!
Final thought, stolen from an online discussion: when did modesty become exclusively about how you dress?
2 comments:
Good luck! I am sure you will do great! I prayed every day for help with my budget and that helped me, too.
We've been working on making some course corrections for the last few months too. We learned one thing from a class at the library that has helped a lot: the teacher and her husband had a date the first Friday of each month specifically to budget. I spend time that afternoon trolling through the accounts and trying to present a snapshot of our assets and liabilities. Before the food comes, I lay it all out there and we talk about it over dinner, scribbling down the month's budget as we go. I'm finding that we have enough time to go over the calendar too, and it has helped a lot.
The other change is that I'm switching to cash for several things, and changing my wallet has helped me to remember not to pull out that card (such an automatic reflex)!
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