WE NEED A BUDGET

Oh the joys of family finances... For years we've been talking about ways to cut back on current expenses (and splurges...) and reduce debt, but it's not that easy with two young kids (and inappropriate spending habits)... Childcare from infant to private school, newer/bigger/safer vehicles to transport them in, extra funds to clothe and feed them, and far more doctor copays than two healthy adults were used to, added to debt such as school loans and travel expenditures (years of volunteer, student, and seasonal positions do not add up to a lot of savings for people who lived far from family and wanted to visit at least yearly no matter what their banks accounts allowed for), has equalled a whole lot of "dang it" realizations for us in recent years. And after thinking we were making progress last year only to realize we really weren't, well, we decided to take more drastic action. We went ahead and purchased budgeting software (You Need a Budget) when it was on super sale earlier this month to supplement our spreadsheets, in the hopes that "giving every dollar a job" will get us on track to becoming debt-free sooner than later. So that's what we spent a good portion of the day doing... budgeting and talking and making plans. A productive day, even though it feels unproductive to look ahead at the changes we need to make and how long it will take to be completely debt-free. But it's there in our future, so off we go!

Taking a midday walk break to stretch our legs and refocus our eyes off the computer screen (and television and Kindles... the kids were very good sports about mama and daddy sitting at the kitchen table all day long, possibly because they got to watch movies and play video games to their hearts content) and onto the kids for a while (and yes, her throat was feeling well enough that she could eat tortilla chips, so she ate a lot of chips today...) Hopefully our neighbors don't think we're too crazy, going for a walk in PJs and slippers (and jackets) before the rain blew in... Then again, who am I kidding? That's pretty normal attire for Team Lindsay on Sundays, in or out of the house...

Putting a puzzle together during the 5 hours it took us to go through the program tutorials and set up our initial budget plan (with a little assistance from the kids, but not much - this was a hard one! 300 tiny pieces...)