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Well, I've just gone through my Friday morning ritual of looking at the bank accounts, paying bills and doing the mundane stuff. Then it hit me: my budget actually works.
When I picked myself up off the floor, I doublechecked everything and came up with the same answer. I haven't bounced a check in nearly 4 months (which it when I started the budget). I'm up to date on all our bills. And I have (no kidding!) money I can start putting away for a down payment on a house.
I'm in shock.
Those of you who have known me for years know how easily money usually slips through my hands. The honest, brutal truth is that for years, I have lived paycheck to paycheck, usually behind in everything, trying to simply survive.
However, since I sat down in August, did up a budget spreadsheet and just said, "Okay, it's time to be a responsible adult and make sure the bills are paid before you do anything fun," I've actually gotten us back on track. No more outstanding bills hanging over our heads. No more being afraid to answer the phone, because who knows who might be calling. And now, I'm getting to the back bills, which are going away at blinding speeds. This makes me VERY happy.
Of course, it also helps that Argus is no longer commuting to Westboro and back every day, so we aren't spending $150 in gas a week. But, even with that, it's been a lot of "Okay, we need to pay bills, so even though we'd like to go out to the movies or go to this event, we can't afford to until the cable bill and electric bill are paid." Argus and I have been really good about this.
The payoff? More money in the bank and, when we had catastrophic hard drive AND TV failure in one weekend, we could actually go and replace those things, without wondering which bill wasn't going to get paid that week.
(The other fun thing was going to the mall and blithely dropping $400 on electronic equipment and absolutely blowing my little brother's mind. *grin*)
So, now on to writing. I'm going into work at 3:30 pm, which leaves me 2 hours to write now, and I'm printing everything out, so I can continue to write longhand at work.
Goal today is 5k. I think I can make it.
When I picked myself up off the floor, I doublechecked everything and came up with the same answer. I haven't bounced a check in nearly 4 months (which it when I started the budget). I'm up to date on all our bills. And I have (no kidding!) money I can start putting away for a down payment on a house.
I'm in shock.
Those of you who have known me for years know how easily money usually slips through my hands. The honest, brutal truth is that for years, I have lived paycheck to paycheck, usually behind in everything, trying to simply survive.
However, since I sat down in August, did up a budget spreadsheet and just said, "Okay, it's time to be a responsible adult and make sure the bills are paid before you do anything fun," I've actually gotten us back on track. No more outstanding bills hanging over our heads. No more being afraid to answer the phone, because who knows who might be calling. And now, I'm getting to the back bills, which are going away at blinding speeds. This makes me VERY happy.
Of course, it also helps that Argus is no longer commuting to Westboro and back every day, so we aren't spending $150 in gas a week. But, even with that, it's been a lot of "Okay, we need to pay bills, so even though we'd like to go out to the movies or go to this event, we can't afford to until the cable bill and electric bill are paid." Argus and I have been really good about this.
The payoff? More money in the bank and, when we had catastrophic hard drive AND TV failure in one weekend, we could actually go and replace those things, without wondering which bill wasn't going to get paid that week.
(The other fun thing was going to the mall and blithely dropping $400 on electronic equipment and absolutely blowing my little brother's mind. *grin*)
So, now on to writing. I'm going into work at 3:30 pm, which leaves me 2 hours to write now, and I'm printing everything out, so I can continue to write longhand at work.
Goal today is 5k. I think I can make it.
