Let me begin by explaining why I am starting this blog. After my yoga class this morning, I came home as Hubby was leaving with the girls to run a few errands. I asked him to grab me a skinny caramel latte from Starbucks ($4.25) on his way back. (I am completely addicted to Starbucks. I would live there if I could.) Anyhow, before jumping into the shower, I figured I would check my stats and comments for the mommy blog that I author, Lost in Suburban Bliss. I flipped open my laptop. Hubby must have been paying the bills because our online banking site was still up. Now, I need to be honest; I never, ever check this site. (Please, dear God, do not let Suze Orman be reading this.) I'm not even certain about the password. Before you start lecturing me, I already know that this is absolutely unexcusable. Lazy. Irresponsible. I know, I know.
There was a time when I was financially responsible, but as Hubby and I became more comfortable financially, I paid less and less attention to the numbers. I had my debit card and I always knew that the money would be there to cover whatever I was buying. Now, don't get the wrong impression. I am not a shopaholic. I am not a store snob, either. (For instance, I am a huge fan of Target. I actually sort of feel like Starbucks and Target are my homes away from home.) Yes, I have held down a job. Before I retired to take care of my girls, I had a successful career as an advertising copywriter. Yes, I have lived alone and have adhered to a budget. I moved from Ohio to Chicago when I was 26 and learned the hard way about the difference in cost of living. I guess my point is that I am not naive. Just...lazy.
Back to the laptop. Since the site was up, I decided to check out our savings. Whoa. What? The balance was no where near what I thought it should have been. As I scrolled over both our checking and savings accounts, it dawned on me how irresponsible I have been. Hubby is blessed with a great job, one that he does extremely well at. I have always been so proud of his accomplishments. Unfortunately, our savings didn't reflect all of his hard work.
When Hubby got home, I insisted on a budget meeting. We always say we need to have one, but something more interesting always comes up. Not today, though. With the economy sucking and a basement improvement project already in the works, we both knew it was time to have the TALK.
Months ago we had sort of set up a budget, but without actually looking at any numbers. We just pulled things from the air and decided what would probably work. Keeping those numbers in mind, we sat down and went through one month of our spending.
What an eye opener. When all was said and done, we realized that we spent $350 over our so-called budget on groceries, $500 over on entertainment, and more than $600 over on household items (such as cleaning products, toiletries, kids stuff, etc). We stared at the numbers. "Well, now I know why our savings is being depleted instead of added to," I mused.
Sitting down to that meeting was the best thing we could have done. We re-worked the numbers and made a list of how we can save money and spend smarter. This blog is a journal of how we are going to do that. It will be tough, I will admit it. We have champagne tastes and are big dreamers. We love to have a good time, love to eat, love to drink, love to go out. But we also love our house, love where we live, and love to give the girls what they need. It is time to get serious.
Welcome to our Financial Whoas.
