I can't blame anyone else for my debt except myself. In fact, I don't even think he guilted me into any of the purchases. My son didn't sign his name to any of those purchases. I used a credit card repeatedly for things that I can't even tell you. Because I watch all of that so closely, I feel I am able to save for a decent Christmas.
I keep up with my bills and making sure their aren't any errors made. In fact, the poor kid celebrates his birthday right before Christmas, so any showering of gifts happens in December. He's not showered with gifts and huge wardrobes and electronics just because he asks. He doesn't get whatever he wants during the year. Nothing against those who have a larger family, but I knew our limit. I think I'm a rarity, just because I have only one child. It's never too early to start saving! Even if it's a little bit here and there- it adds up and saves your sanity once the reality of Christmas is right around the corner! Start saving on January first for the next Christmas. You have ample warning 365 days ahead of time for you to get ready for the holiday. Here's my thoughts on budgeting and my thoughts follow what I later heard from Dave Ramsey:Ĭhristmas is not an emergency. I've been asked about my holiday budget ideas. It's still worth it to me and it's not like I'm not already sitting at my computer anyway, right? I'm thankful that I have enough in my ChaCha account to go Christmas shopping without cringing. It's a good yin and yang that we always seem to have going on.ĬhaCha has been going through some growing pains this weekend (which is spreading into the week), but all is good. So while my dh slows down, I'm picking up. There is nothing worse than not having enough to do to fill your day! It drives me buggy. I've been able to pick up a few extra hours here and there and I'm able to fill my workdays with things that keep me busy. The roller coaster of work is going great for me lately. The nest egg can grow a little more while we wait. What this ultimately means we bought a little more time before surgery. He's transferring us to the University Hospital in Madison. We got the results of the dh's MRI and while the doctor didn't have much to say either optimistically or pessimistically, but we don't have any new answers - however we will have a new doctor. The snowball just gets stuck on the hill for a little while. Thankfully, we've done so much to get ahead and the stockpile is to a point, that I don't think it will effect us in the least. They are on 40 hours a week and not a minute more. All over time has been cut - which isn't a bad thing considering his knee problem has gotten so much worse. The economy has caught up with my husband's workplace.
(my son pays into this for his phone)Ī little bit of this - a little bit of that
Utilities: 530.29 - this includes phones, cable, electric, gas, and water sinking fund. Transportation: 452.05 - this includes insurance, gas, tags and repair sinking fund. Personal: 250.00 - this includes blow money, life insurance, misc household needs, Netflix subscription, and the hair cut envelope. Medical: 35.00 - we have a surplus in this envelope to cover medical co-pays and scripts, I just added what I could this month. Housing: 1465.20 - this includes mortgage, taxes, insurance, and membership to the heating/cooling repair place.
We have decided to hold off on the snowball and do mins for a little bit, just to make sure we have some extra money for the holiday and any impending problems we may face.ĭebts: 675.00 - this includes the car and card payments.įood: 370.00 - this includes school lunches, groceries and a dining out experience. In fact a scattering of layoffs has hit the plant as of last week. As noted previously, the overtime has ceased at my husband's job.