Photo © 2007 Ravindra Gandhi CC BY-SA 2.0
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I’m throwing together this Monday post at the last minute, because I got absolutely no writing done yesterday. Because my Beloved and I were busy working on our budget. Because we busted our budget for July. And then after we did the budget, we went shopping.
Okay, I’m kinda jumping to the end of the story.
I sometimes walk in the morning at the mall near my Firstborn’s school. I’ve even been doing so during July, because she’s been going to summer school (which is a different story). One of the problems with walking the mall is that it makes me want to go shopping. Now, I’m not normally the shopaholic-type. But the sounds, smells, sights of the mall, it does something to you. The effect is part marketing genius and part the rush of adrenaline that you get when you buy something. But when you’re on a tight budget, you have no money for shopping. So walking the mall leaves me with this unmet desire.
You may remember that we’re working Dave Ramsey’s system. So far, we’ve paid off a whole pile of extant medical bills and an old ODP account that was charging us at through-the-roof interest rates, and we’re paying cash to send the girls to camp and have already set aside money to fund their bnot mitzvah (that is, more than one bat mitzvah).
The thing about budgets is, you gotta keep track of them or else they won’t work. Dave Ramsey recommends using the envelope system for expenses like groceries. I myself use the “I’m doing all the grocery shopping, anyhow, so I’ll just keep a running total” system. And that actually does work most of the time, when I actually do all of the grocery shopping and when I actually do keep a running total.
This month, though, I kind of let the grocery bill get away from me. The last big items, ironically, were an assortment of dried beans and a 25-pound bag of rice. (Dave Ramsey fans will get that.) I wasn’t keeping good track of how much we had spent, especially through last week. And we kept going back to the store for odds and ends. That’s exactly the scenario that the envelope system is designed to deal with. Sigh.
But there is a silver lining to this story. And that is that even though we busted the budget, especially the grocery budget, we didn’t borrow even one additional dollar on any credit card. (Can’t anyhow, ’cause we cut ’em up.) If we’re borrowing anything, we’re borrowing against our own bankroll (but not touching the emergency fund). In effect, we’re borrowing against next next month’s budget, which is awkward, but can be dealt with. (Money is fungible, as they say.)
Fortunately, next week is when the kids go to camp—and Margaret is on staff there, so I get the whole week to myself. (It’ll be interesting to see what that does to the grocery budget. I have this theory that I basically don’t eat.)
In the meantime, there were several clothing items that the girls needed for camp. And that’s why we went shopping. Most of the bill was paid courtesy a gift-card I had saved up from last Christmas. But at the same time, this outing fulfilled that urge I’ve been feeling lately. I’m no longer jonesing for cash.
Becky Bloomwood, are you listening? 🙂
-TimK
Oh, how well I recall. For a long time, I just did not go to the mall (it was where I typically ate lunch) because it was a dangerous place for me.
It took me three *years* to re-learn how I thought about spending and money, and that was while consistently working a program. It was hard. It was no fun. And it was totally worth it in the long haul.
BTW, one of the most helpful things I read during that period was from a book by former Broadway actor Byron Nease (“Behind the Mask … No More”). He wrote that he sometimes had to remind himself that “Bills are information, not condemnation.” That became my mantra.
Think about the possibility of visiting us. We even have a couch and an air mattress and cable. Just a thought. Stay the course. Mom and I appreciate your resolve.