Last month, I completed our January 2013 Budget Report. It was very detailed. I made pie graphs and everything. :)
I finished it at 2 AM, then sealed it in an envelope and placed it in Michael's lunch. It probably was a shock to him; he's used to getting love notes with his lunch, not financial reports.
At dinner, we discussed everything. Boy, was it was an eye-opener. Neither of us expected to see that we had spent nearly ONE GRAND (yes, that's $981.56) in the category of Food, which included 11 trips to the grocery store ($771.86), one expensive trip to the organic health food store ($76.54), and much too many meals out with our friends ($133.16).
After seeing where our money (and time) goes, we both immediately decided that we ought to put our calendar on lockdown-freeze.
With no second salary and the prospects of us packing, moving, and buying a new house, all while juggling evening classes and our new baby, Michael and I realized that our family time together is at a premium. To preserve some family time together, to save money, and to accomplish what we need to, we'd have to be deliberate.
So, we decided that it was time for us to stop putting new social engagements on our calendar. We would honor that which we already had scheduled (and I usually schedule things a month or two out), but that'd be it. Nothing new.
For the foreseeable future, the social part of our calendar would have to remain BLANK.
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| We'll have a whole lotta nuttin' going on. |
Boring? Yes. A bummer? Absolutely.
But there are financial goals we have to meet first. And academic ones. Career ones. And, most of all, family ones.
Please pray for us, dear readers, as we adjust ourselves to a new routine of less fun and more work. Pray that our friends may be understanding, that friendships will last despite our temporary absence in their lives, and that we will learn quickly the lessons our God is teaching us.
