{ Why Budgets Don't Always Work }

So, I've posted previously that to build a good budget, you have to be honest about everything. What's the point of building a house on half a foundation? It's the same with a budget. If you're not truthful, the numbers aren't supported, if they're not supported, the whole thing can collapse. For the last two months, I've been over budget, so was time for a re-assessement. The thing I wish more than anything to convey is that when you get to this point you can't see it as failure. It's merely a reevaluation.

What I realized is this: I created a budget based on old numbers (2006). Inflation and fuel have taken their toll. Self employement taxes and retirement savings are higher this year. Medical insurance went up. But there's another aspect to this picture that even I missed at first. Debt is debt and it was easy to roll the debt number into long term liability and sort of ignore it...kind of like the mortgage. It became a fixed number in the budget and I got so used to seeing it, I forgot to throw it in the middle of the room and look at it long and hard. After my reevaluation I got on the phone to start shopping interest rates and have concluded that I'm paying too much for my debt and all because I wasn't paying attention. After an hour on the phone, I've got three accounts consolidated into one at a lower rate and am saving 39%. It goes to show that the details matter and nothing should be sacred or assumed.

{ Black Friday...more like Red November! }

AGGGHHH!!!! We're off budget AGAIN this month!!! It's the Christmas shopping...sighh...really, I just didn't plan realistically. A little less to the savings account than planned, but looking on the bright side, at least I'm not pulling from the savings account. So, it could be worse. Dad offered some sage advice last night about the evils of a home equity line and I will be listening carefully.

On a happy note, the nearly grown girl child chose to become baptized this weekend. It's been a joyful journey for her and she seems to enjoy the community her choice has provided her. How they grow and make their own decisions! Who knew?

I'll be with "tribe members" (aka friends)instead of family this Thanksgiving as I've elected to not travel away from home this year. I'll be with them in spirit but will have control over my own television...no football, only hoiday classics!

{ Holiday Pressure Be Damned }

So, here it is not even Thanksgiving and I'm already feeling the rising pressure to "go all out" for the holidays...financially, speaking. I fight this urge everyday not to whip out the credit card and go over board. This year, I am shopping local (that includes my online community too) and keeping it small and thoughtful. Some friends had a craft bazaar this weekend and I spent a tish more than I planned so now I have to run the numbers and cut back somewhere else. With local economics being what they are, I am trying to set aside 10% of Decembers's income to donate to the local foodbank. My resolution in 2008 is to make a regular monthly donation, even if it's small. Reminding myself that my time and friendship is just a vaulable a gift to those I love is sometimes hard, but so necessary in order to live what I believe. So, holiday pressure be damned! It IS the thought that counts!!

{ Simple Advice }

So I am re-reading Suze Ormans, "5 Laws of Money" and as I was very tired only got through the first few pages last night. But what I was reminded of was the simplicity of sound advice. Be truthful. Well, ok, simple enough. And yet, that's so easy NOT to do at times. When I put the book down and began to ponder ways in which I am not truthful in my life about money, I recognized that in the years since I first read the book, I've come a long way. Friends know...heck YOU all know, that I am trying to live within my budget and get and stay on financial track. And yet, I still have difficulty in saying to MYSELF, "you have debt, walk away from that new (fill in the blank, usually something for the house)." In the quiet moments with just myself and I, I still have work to do around need vs want and why I am willing to jeapordize the future for the right now...especially when I know better. The simpliest advice is sometimes the hardest.

{ Need it, Want it }

As I moved two rooms of furniture into my 12x12 dining room last night in anticipation of carpet installers today, I battled inside my head with the reality of paying for a three year off and on remodel. This should be the "final" project but as most people know with remodels, nothing is final. One project always leads to another. Honestly (and doesn't every re modeler get to this point?) it would have been easier and cheaper to build from scratch. As I sit looking out at the gray skies and Fall rain, I am trying not to make the next list of projects...really. I'd love to just pay down the home equity line, have a very manageable mortgage, extra money to max out my IRA each year but then I think...oh, to have a tub in the master bathroom instead of just a shower or we could just paint the kitchen cabinets and then get new counter tops. I go back to what I know in my head...do I need it or want it? In the past, my heart would reign supreme but I am determined this year to stay on budget, to stay focused. So as the carpet layers leave this afternoon I will say to myself, love what I have and abundance is eternal. But I do have enough paint left over to paint the kitchen cupboards...

{ Put up or shut up }

I just posted a blog on Women Take Wing about how to approach a budget. Walking the walk is a hard thing to do when you deal with money. It is so easy to tell everyone how it should be done but I am the first to own that it's a struggle to follow through and do it. This week I am setting the goal of writing my fourth quarter budget for the household (yep, holiday shopping and all) and I'll post my progress here, so that for better or worse, I actually do it.