The BUDGET

As an adult, money can be a tricky thing. Here the devil is on your left telling you to go out and buy that new $2000 micro-fiber sectional for the basement, but the angel on your right is telling you to put what money you do have toward paying off your debt, you know you'd feel so much better. Sometimes the devil wins, and hopeful more then that you let the angel win. Either way it sucks!
Then there's the moment when you think you have money to burn, it's usually on something stupid and frivolous and later you wish you hadn't have made the purchase (and sometimes you're really glad you made the purchase, that's not the point!) Other times you DO buy what you want, feel overwhelmed with emotion because you have it and then turn to your bare fridge and hope you have enough food to feed your family for the next week. I believe we've all been there, and if you're the one soul who hasn't, then you need to fill me in on your secret!

In our family, I'm the one who makes sure all the bills are paid each and every month. Everything down to the registration on a vehicle to paying off student loans. I see the money come in and then instantly see it fly right back out of the account! It can be very depressing at times. But on that one rare occasion I see the money come in, and then I see a little stay. That's when I think, "hummm, maybe this weekend I can finally go out and buy those pants that Shott needs so desperately." Or, "Our house needs another touch of love, maybe I'll run down to Lowe's and pick something up." It's amazing how going into a store and buying something, even groceries is INSTANT gratification for me. I love the high. I know it sounds really silly, but it's totally true. Am I alone in this?

Then there's the ONE thing I can not stand about managing money......The BUDGET! When ever Shott calls, or pulls me aside and says, "let's look at our BUDGET.", or "Can we sit down tonight and go over our BUDGET?" I feel like ripping my arm off and hitting him with it. I despise doing a budget! It ruins my day if I know I have to go home and "go over the budget." Shott has to usually make a deal with me to make this event even happen. "If you sit down with me tonight and do the budget, we can go outside and do yard work." (I love doing yard work) or "When you come home from work this evening, we can go pick up that movie you've wanted to rent." Pretty pathetic huh?!
I think the reason I hate it so much is because we evaluate what we owe, what items we need to put on hold, and what we can't have for a while.

"I need to buy a gift for a friend at work."

"Nope, sorry, it's not listed here in the budget."

"I need to go and buy some milk for those rolls I'm making."

"Can't this week, but you can on the 11th."

"Oh look honey, I got a bonus from work."

"Great, we'll put that toward those student loans."

It's really not that bad, I merely made up (some) of those comments for laughs, or "I know what you mean, we've been there before" type of situations. HA HA HA

Now, don't get me wrong. I have a testimony of budgeting. We were able to purchase a home thanks to budgeting. I was able to pay for college thanks to budgeting, we have been on some great vacations thanks to budgeting. But whenever Shott yells from down stairs, "Hey let's do the budget." I roll my eyes, grab a pillow, and scream into it as loud as I can.
Ah, the joys of being a responsible adult.