FINANCES

March 21, 2016

Desiderata

This lovely word came up in my "word of the day" from the Dictionary.com app. It described exactly a list that my husband and I started making. It means: "things wanted or needed."

Yep, that's our list. With an understanding that our funds are limited, we wanted to get on the "same page," so to speak, and have a visual reminder of things we need to purchase and things we want to purchase. And then as funds become available, we look at what is most urgent or necessary or possible.

It's nice because we then have a place to express our needs and wants, and we can discuss what is really important or necessary. I have to admit, we still both kind of purchase things arbitrarily sometimes--but at least there is discussion and working together regarding big purchases. And it helps me see if what I want is really necessary. At the same time, if it is something I want--there is motivation to work towards it or find a way to make it happen. :)

August 23, 2015

Priorities

My husband and I just had a re-evaluation and discussion about our finances. I have been going along, having been given a budget amount of $120 a week, and just buying groceries and some discretionary items. I may not have always made the best use of it, but I tried...while also trying to be generous to others. Not very easy. It's been difficult for me to have to say "We don't have money for gifts or extra donations" (whether it be for family or whatever)---and then see that we apparently have money to have and maintain a boat. I guess the boat is a priority over many things, because it is basically one of our biggest hobbies and we enjoy it together as a family. Yet we are also living on one income. That income provides for all of our needs, yet also limits much of our wants. We have been blessed in so many ways, yet we want to be wise in our stewardship of what we've been given...and share with others as we should.

I had to get more involved in seeing specifics in our finances because sometimes I would fudge a little on the budget and think "Oh, we should have enough for that". When in reality, we really didn't. So I'm still having to work on the skill of saying "no" to myself for things that aren't really necessary but that I think would be nice. My family is worth it-- my husband's time and efforts in his job are worth my dedication to staying within the boundaries that will keep us out of debt. And I can strive to feel more content with what we have rather than what I wish we had sometimes. Everything has its proper time and place. :)

February 23, 2015

Getting Things in Line

One of my life-long issues has been living within my means. I did not have great saving/spending habits as a youth, and that continued into my college and single years.  I justified many a purchase, counting on future income to cover it. But then there were always other things that came up, and credit cards and such were used in non-intelligent ways.  I happened to graduate from college without student debt....but I had plenty of consumer credit card debt for all the other stuff I had spent money on. 

When I started a full-time teaching job, it was so fantastic to have a good salary. I thought for sure I'd be able to climb out of my mess in no time. But for some reason, that still proved difficult. All in all, I really don't know where all my money went...and that was probably the issue. I just spent whatever I felt like and figured it would all eventually work out.  I knew I needed to make changes, but I was still in the process of finding out how when I met my husband.

Well, we both discovered we had debt issues. But we both wanted to be better and get out of that situation. It turned out amazingly, and we were able to eventually eliminate all our credit card debt in a year or so.  I don't think I could have done so well on my own, but together we did it!  This is not to say I didn't still struggle after that. In fact our entire married life of 7 years I have been trying to do better with budgeting. We finally had to go to a cash system for me when purchasing groceries and other items because it was continually an issue for me to reign in spending when using a card.  That has been a great system for me, and I've acquired much better habits. In fact, now we are starting to use cards more, but I am now better at tracking and limiting the spending that occurs.  It is great peace of mind to know that while we may not have a lot of extras, we still have what we need and more...even while staying in a budget. My daughter likes to organize her toys in lines sometimes, and I thought it was a fitting picture to describe how orderly life can be when priorities are lined up in the ways they should. :)