Even with less available money, I feel more in control
And it is all thanks to the power of budgeting and keeping track of spending to the penny.
Right now, my checking account balance stands at $381.50. We have very little anticipated income (just ~$23 from some sold textbooks and a survey, and maybe $10 from craigslist) coming in until August 10th when my spouse is paid. In the past this would make me really nervous. Not even the distant past, I think I wrote a blog post just a few weeks ago entitled “Close to the Edge” where I talked about only having ~$100 for the next two days and how nervous it was making me.
But July taught me something. It taught me to believe in the budget (in my case specifically, PearBudget). It taught me to have faith in the system I have set up and know that it will work out (even with some unanticipated things out of left field). I know what my expenses for the next 9 days should be (approximately $70-80 for groceries, $10-$15 for a farewell luncheon for one of my spouse’s coworkers, and $50 in gas for both vehicles combined) and I do not have any bills to pay until after that 8/10 paycheck. Even if something comes up that I haven’t thought of or planned for, as long as it is reasonable we should be able to handle it without any visits to our emergency fund.
I feel in control. I feel like I know what is going on and that all my money is accounted for and accountable to me to do whatever I have designated it to do. I don’t remember the last time I’ve felt like this. Even with only a small amount of available funds over a pretty lengthy stretch of time (as far as a month is concerned at least), I feel pretty calm and optimistic about making it just fine to payday.
It feels good.
~J
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Related entries for your reading pleasure:
August 1st, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Glad to hear that budgeting is working for you! I find it doesn’t work as well for me though, so I’m always trying different methods. So far I’ve managed to pay off about $2000 or $3000 using my methods over the last 6-7 months, so obviously something’s working.
Bravo!
August 1st, 2007 at 9:48 pm
It is all about finding the “right” method I think. I’ve tried forms of budgeting before and it didn’t go as well. But as you said, what your doing may not be perfect but it definately is working for you! Keep it up!