This whole blog starts with a conversation I had with myself, and then repeated to a fellow mom-friend of mine recently.
How is it possible that I'm staring down 40 years old and my checkbook balance is equal when I was in college, waiting tables and paying $250/month in rent? I was half my curent age and probably only earning 25% of my/our current income and yet my savings accounts are nearly identical. Seriously. That is to say, I'm not seeing a positive cash flow.
Nothing has stumped me more than personal finances. Admittedly, nothing bores me more than thinking about dollars and cents. Nothing leaves me colder than when my dear husband sweet talks me about family budgeting over a glass of wine and candles. But... I must admit that nothing discomforts me more than wishing payday would get here already since my kids hate rice and beans for breakfast. I hate living on the (personal) fiscal cliff. My husband makes a decent wage (although we have recently seen a substantial decrease due to cutbacks). But when we get our tax info from his employer and I see the numbers, it does leave me wondering how we spent all that money on... groceries? Shoes for the kids? Seriously, where DID it go??
With all that frustration on the table, I hereby proclaim myself growed up enough to face this thang dead on. I'm going to stop pretending that as long as banks aren't mailing me pieces of paper with detachable sides, I'm good. I'm going to try to think about money for once, and recognize that it has power of good (providing my family with things to eat and a roof over our heads) and the power of evil (robbing me of sleep because there isn't enough of it).
Here's what I'm doing with this blog: Being honest. I'm not going to provide the numbers (at least, not all the time!), but I am going to be very honest about my/our money habits in the hopes that some accountability will either make me reign in cash where I can, or get some back up when I'm doing as best as humanly possible.
Join me for the ride.
