Today was kinda a not so great budget day. You know one of those days when you sit to do your budget and it's not all fleshing out the way you had hoped it would. A few reasons for this were some expenses that popped up that were not originally accounted for in the initial budget... and then you have to take the money from other categories to cover them.... And so this chopped our usual grocery budget down a bit and also our spending money as well, as those are really the only fluid categories we have at this point. Man I can't wait until we get that changed.... We need sinking funds for other areas of our lives...and clothes categories and spending categories and so on.
I had planned on having my hair done ($90 with tip) but since I didn't have all the cash I needed saved up I would have had to take that from another place and didn't feel comfortable doing that. So I opted to cancel my appointment and hold off. Our 12 year old wanted to go by some shirts - she doensn't need them just wanted them. And it's just not in the budget right now... so we are going to go through her closet and see what she has. She may have forgotten what she has in there and find some hidden treasures she's been overlooking. Christmas is also going to have to be really intentional and really trim this year as well. Going to have to foster a feeling of abundance without a lot under the tree this year. Last year was IPads and this year... well let's say there are not going to be any IPads or amazing gifts.... but we know it's about Jesus and not about the stuff anyway. Just sometimes I know we parents feel some guilt is all.... But keep trying to remind ourselves that once we are debt free it will feel like nothing else for all of us in the house... and that is worth keeping committed to.
I've been thinking about looking for some more part time work... it's hard because there are a lot of times I can't work if Bry's not home and we are not comfortable leaving the kids for long stretches. Bry was seriously also considering some part time work.... For Bry he's got a lot of balls in the air right now with his testing for other areas of his job and it would be great for him to be able to stay focused on that stuff right now. So I don't really want him to go this route as it would mean he can't do the testing options for his current job for promotion, and if he does promote that would be a huge jump in pay and also a nice jump in retirement pay long term... so lots falls into decision making here.
We do feel like we have a decent size shovel with $1052 going toward paying off debt. But I guess sometimes you just want to see that needle move faster.
I also have to be honest and say that I feel that a good bit of this credit card debt falls squarely on me. And that makes me feel guilt.... I want to be a help to my husband not a burden and by digging us into debt I have been a burden....
I think my worst mistaken was doing a balance transfer of a USAA card I had to a 0 interest with discover.... but then charging up the USAA card again... (hangs head in shame) WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING!!! But yeah I did that.... With two cards actually which makes me feel twice as angry at me..... 0 interest for me is not a fix.... I hear people call into Dave's show asking about transferring balances all the time and I think man.... I wish I hadn't of done it.... What a mess I've made.
The next payday is on June 24th. I like to do them in advance just to make sure I get the basics covered and then tweak as needed the day or two before the payday when we have our budget meeting... So that one had me lacking $101 to pay bills... I was kinda freaking out trying to figure out where to get that money from... So I ended up paying a few of the smaller bills (Nextflix and Hulu) from this paycheck instead and then altering the grocery budget and the family spending money next time to cover the difference. God willing I will be creative and do a great job with meals the next two weeks and have some stuff prepared and be able to do a smart grocery trip that pay period.
Good luck to all working Dave's Steps! May God bless!
