So, the workout train has been temporarily derailed and the money train is still lost in transit. That is the equation for mucho stress for Carolyn. I know one will not fix the other but both of them would decrease my stress for sure! Anyhoo, I had pinned a link for a financial advice blog on pinterest months ago and never really looked closely at it until tonight when I was really panicking about my finances. My ex being the wonderful human being that he is, has stopped paying child support once again and doesn't contribute to the daycare bill at all so things have increased in tightness. I also gave in to some dangerous spending habits during a pretty toxic friendship that has thankfully ended. But, the credit card bills have not ended after that 2 month long spree. Thankfully the damage is not nearly as extensive as it used to get but it isn't good either. Right now my debt is more than one month's income and previously it was 3 times my monthly income so I am doing substantially better than before! WOO HOO! Gotta celebrate the progress! The problem is, I have my car registration due this month as well as emissions and safety and then next month is Christmas and I would love love love to get my family some really nice gifts this year. But, since I's po folk, I am going to have to get really creative and just give them gifts that are either something I can make quickly or gifts of service! Which, in my humble opinion, are much better gifts anyway! Or, I could do those cute jars with the ingredients for a yummy holiday treat!
Moving on..... the part that I connected with most from the blog was that the lady that wrote it was very much like me in her spending habits but she decided that it was just time to grow up and do this! No more panic when the bills are due because the money is there and wasn't spent on something frivolous! Now, it's not that I will never do anything fun with the kids or what-have-you, but it will be within the budget and not every time we are bored or every weekend etc like we do now because every penny counts when things are this tight! She had tips for every way of making those super tight pennies stretch even farther like only drying clothes in the dryer for 10 minutes then drying them on one of those racks for the rest of the day. That would save me tons in utility bills because my dryer is an old electric one. Anyhoo, I am really going to try this month to remember all those little things that can help save money. It will take a lot of effort with the kids to cut down on that waste they do naturally cuz they don't think it's a big deal, but it will be worth it!
Wish me luck!!
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