I sat down and reviewed our budget the other day. I was getting annoyed with the fact that we were having a credit card balance every month that was causing us to not be able to save as much as we should. Over the past couple of years, we have paid off several items, lowered monthly payments on many things, got out of a lot of debt. Yet here we are, spending ourselves broke each month. It was time to check in and see what was up.
After accounting for EVERY expense--including children's allowances, $850 that currently goes to savings and allotting $450/mo for "miscellaneous" each month, we SHOULD have....drumroll please...$1800 a month extra. Eighteen HUNDRED dollars every month! That is very nearly a third of our monthly income, and we have been literally frittering it away. Wow. WOW!!!!
I have been a die hard Suze Orman devotee for several years now. Following her advice, I managed to get us out of almost $20,000 worth of unsecured debt, paid off two cars, and set us in a much more comfortable life position. Quite clearly, however, we've gotten quite a ways away from towing the Suze line. And it's fairly embarrassing to realize how much money we've wasted over the past couple of years.
So we're back on the budget very tightly. We're saving more, spending cash only for "extras", and we have every expense accounted for. I hope we can stick to it.
On recent episodes Suze has drawn the comparison between being out of control with money and gaining weight. Well, I gain weight at the drop of a hat and always have. But I HAVE gained a pretty significant amount of weight while I've let the money situation get out of control.
So here's my challenge to myself--I've been back in Weight Watchers (for the gajillionth time) for two weeks and I've lost 6 pounds. I'm daring myself to lose weight at the same rate that I save money. Even if you've never met me, wish me luck--I am SO going to need it!
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