Its that time again - the first of the month when I look over our expenditures for the past month and freak out.
We had a couple of big expenses this month: we had wills prepared, purchased life insurance for Jay (woot!), and paid for underground utilities to be put in at our 5.5 acres. Those expenses caused our regular monthly budget to be doubled!
I don't like seeing our money leave like that!! (Although the subdivision will be so much nicer with underground electric.) Crunching the numbers we're exactly where we planned to be for the year, but I still see plenty of places that we could trim things down a bit, and that stresses me.
I shouldn't worry about it. Even with the those extra expenses, we're still living on about half of what we'll be earning this year. I'd tell anyone else that the were kick @$$ rock stars for achieving that - so why do I feel guilty for buying myself running gear? Why do I want to kick Jay's rear for spending $75 on tobacco?
I'm paying someone to change the oil in my car today. It desperately needs it (5,500 miles) and Jay's been too busy working to change it like he normally does. An oil change is a need - I don't get to feel guilty for that.
But that leads me to my question of the day - I really want the interior of my car cleaned up. Jay certainly doesn't have time for it. Tomorrow would be my only opportunity, but I'm not sure I'll be able to or not. Remember my list?
I'm running 8 miles tomorrow, which will take about an hour and a half, plus general household leaning for a couple of hours, plus 2-3 hours worth of flowerbed weeding. When am I going to fit in vacuuming, windexing, and cleaning the upholstery of my car?
I could pay someone to do it, but then comes the guilty. A clean car is a want, not a need. Then again maybe its worth $20-30 to get the stress off me?
What do you think?
I think you are doing awesome and if it's important to you, and would make you feel better in the middle of the busyness, you should just have it done. However - if it stresses you to pay for it, wait till next week so you can do it yourself.
ReplyDeleteMaybe work a little piece of cleaning in between other weekend tasks. If you really want to save the money, you can make it work.
ReplyDeleteProps for living on half your income..wish we could do that! Darn student loans!
Good for you! It all sounds great. I think I would take some time out for you--pay yourself in getting someone else to detail the car.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing!! I say reward yourself w/a clean car :)
ReplyDeleteYou are doing amazing with your money and I think paying someone to clean the inside of your car is not something to feel guilty about. You gotta weigh your priorities...you have a lot on your plate right now so having someone else do the work is perfectly fine. And you'll also get to enjoy a clean car.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way with our money...when we have big bills hit all at once (like property taxes and auto insurance), it kills me to see all that money going out the door. But then again, it's nice to have it all paid for the year and not having to worry about it anymore. I feel lucky that we're in a financial position to even pay those bills in full when they come, and not just on a monthly basis.
THanks for the encouragement on my page, appreciate you dropping by. Now, if only I COULD budget...haha..and i work at a bank. lol
ReplyDeletesometimes a want turns into a need depending on what else you got going on! you are seriously doing a great job, and i can't wait to hear about your 8 miles ps!
ReplyDeletealso, it only becomes a spending problem if you *only* get your car cleaned by someone else and i'm pretty sure that's not you!
Hi Brooke, it is so nice to be in a blog that glorifies God's name. :)
ReplyDeleteI think you're doing amazing. Following you're lovely blog now:)
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!