Year in review: financial edition.
Hello, you fine people.
'Tis the last day of 2014. As such, 'tis the season to reflect on the year gone by and to firmly resolve to "do better," whatever that means, in the year ahead.
And that's what I was going to write about.
Instead, I'm sitting here balancing the family budget and checkbook and wondering, "Where in Franks Balls did all of our money go?"
You see, we had two pretty big events this year. Had a baby. Bought a house. (Remember I said we hoped to buy the house we moved into some months back? Well, it's been bought. Yippee!) I'm incredibly grateful for both of these things.
Is it bad to call my baby a thing? Well, you know what I mean.
I was reminded in church the other day that you can't have the joy and love of a family without also having the responsibility of one. Similarly, I now fully realize, you can't have the joy and love of a house of your own without also having property taxes, homeowners insurance, and armadillo invasions. Which leads me to the following PSA.
Public Service Announcement: Savings accounts are wonderful things. They keep your tushie from getting too tight when you get that bill for the $1500 homeowners insurance that's due IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT.
Yep, having a little money tucked away is a blessing. But when you've spent all summer using your savings as a cushion for your slight overspending each month ('cause you had a baby and couldn't be bothered to track receipts for a while) and then you have 'dillos, and a rusted out hot water heater to replace, and a heater that stops working in December, and a land survey, and a lead-based paint test, and you buy a house, and then get homeowners insurance AFTER spending that summer dipping into your savings, you suddenly realize:
WOW. BYE BYE MONEY. I MISS YOU.
And you write your money a little song about how you never appreciated it until it left you. Just take any bad country song talking about "girl, I shouldn'tuh let you get away" and just pretend your money is female.
And you start thinking and realizing more things:
...the little ways you frittered away a hundred bucks here, $50 there, and how that added up.
...that you have to play catch-up and get some money back into those sadly depleted savings accounts.
...that come January you will have to start saving additional money so you can pay those property taxes and the homeowners insurance next year without crying.
...that you increased your auto insurance coverage, so you have to save more for those bills as well.
...that you just signed your baby up for Florida Prepaid, and that starts withdrawing in April.
...in addition to all that, DECEMBER. (Enough said.)
And finally you realize, wow. Some serious belt-tightening is about to commence.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm so thankful that we are ABLE to save money for these things each month. I'm ecstatic about getting Sutton into Prepaid (for really realz). And I'm thrilled to have written that first mortgage check. I'm not even joshin' ya.
But that doesn't change the facts, Jack. Come January, our financial lifestyle is changing. Rather than thinking of it as a financial diet or as having to cut back, I am trying to think of it as simplifying. Perspective and attitude make all the difference, right?
Yes, we're simplifying. More money is being shunted away into savings and for those inevitable once- or twice-a-year bills. That will mean more humble meals. (Maybe more beans. Rumor is they're good for the heart.) Less eating out. More scrutiny of the little things we spend our money on that we don't really even pause to consider anymore. That will mean I will start scouring the personal finance blogosphere in search of ways to be thrifty and nifty and frugal and, um, brugle.
Dr. Seuss, I ain't. What I AM, though, deep in my heart, is a frugal person who has stopped paying close attention to frugal things. So I'll start making my laundry detergent again. Maybe yogurt, too. Start using my drying rack for more than just our delicates. Be more diligent about turning out lights. Stay away from the Carter's website (because it would all look PERFECT ON MY BABY AND SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE HER AND MUST BUY HER ADORABLE CLOTHES!) and start scouting out consignment and second-hand stores. I might even finally wander into a public library to see how those things have changed since, oh... 1999-2000.
None of these things are huge, but it's a lot of little changes. Thankfully, I have full faith that the Good Lord in heaven will help us figure out how to survive this shift with mindfulness and without becoming cheap.
I hope he helps me find a way to keep using my fancy face lotions and Aveda shampoo and conditioner, but we'll see about those.
Beans and bills to you and yours,
xo
'Tis the last day of 2014. As such, 'tis the season to reflect on the year gone by and to firmly resolve to "do better," whatever that means, in the year ahead.
And that's what I was going to write about.
Instead, I'm sitting here balancing the family budget and checkbook and wondering, "Where in Franks Balls did all of our money go?"
You see, we had two pretty big events this year. Had a baby. Bought a house. (Remember I said we hoped to buy the house we moved into some months back? Well, it's been bought. Yippee!) I'm incredibly grateful for both of these things.
Is it bad to call my baby a thing? Well, you know what I mean.
I was reminded in church the other day that you can't have the joy and love of a family without also having the responsibility of one. Similarly, I now fully realize, you can't have the joy and love of a house of your own without also having property taxes, homeowners insurance, and armadillo invasions. Which leads me to the following PSA.
Public Service Announcement: Savings accounts are wonderful things. They keep your tushie from getting too tight when you get that bill for the $1500 homeowners insurance that's due IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT.
Yep, having a little money tucked away is a blessing. But when you've spent all summer using your savings as a cushion for your slight overspending each month ('cause you had a baby and couldn't be bothered to track receipts for a while) and then you have 'dillos, and a rusted out hot water heater to replace, and a heater that stops working in December, and a land survey, and a lead-based paint test, and you buy a house, and then get homeowners insurance AFTER spending that summer dipping into your savings, you suddenly realize:
WOW. BYE BYE MONEY. I MISS YOU.
And you write your money a little song about how you never appreciated it until it left you. Just take any bad country song talking about "girl, I shouldn'tuh let you get away" and just pretend your money is female.
And you start thinking and realizing more things:
...the little ways you frittered away a hundred bucks here, $50 there, and how that added up.
...that you have to play catch-up and get some money back into those sadly depleted savings accounts.
...that come January you will have to start saving additional money so you can pay those property taxes and the homeowners insurance next year without crying.
...that you increased your auto insurance coverage, so you have to save more for those bills as well.
...that you just signed your baby up for Florida Prepaid, and that starts withdrawing in April.
...in addition to all that, DECEMBER. (Enough said.)
And finally you realize, wow. Some serious belt-tightening is about to commence.
 |
| Don't forget. We got that acre peas kinda money. Word. |
But that doesn't change the facts, Jack. Come January, our financial lifestyle is changing. Rather than thinking of it as a financial diet or as having to cut back, I am trying to think of it as simplifying. Perspective and attitude make all the difference, right?
Yes, we're simplifying. More money is being shunted away into savings and for those inevitable once- or twice-a-year bills. That will mean more humble meals. (Maybe more beans. Rumor is they're good for the heart.) Less eating out. More scrutiny of the little things we spend our money on that we don't really even pause to consider anymore. That will mean I will start scouring the personal finance blogosphere in search of ways to be thrifty and nifty and frugal and, um, brugle.
Dr. Seuss, I ain't. What I AM, though, deep in my heart, is a frugal person who has stopped paying close attention to frugal things. So I'll start making my laundry detergent again. Maybe yogurt, too. Start using my drying rack for more than just our delicates. Be more diligent about turning out lights. Stay away from the Carter's website (because it would all look PERFECT ON MY BABY AND SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL AND I LOVE HER AND MUST BUY HER ADORABLE CLOTHES!) and start scouting out consignment and second-hand stores. I might even finally wander into a public library to see how those things have changed since, oh... 1999-2000.
None of these things are huge, but it's a lot of little changes. Thankfully, I have full faith that the Good Lord in heaven will help us figure out how to survive this shift with mindfulness and without becoming cheap.
I hope he helps me find a way to keep using my fancy face lotions and Aveda shampoo and conditioner, but we'll see about those.
Beans and bills to you and yours,
xo
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