Paying the Bills

This is how I feel when I pay the bills: like I'm wrestling my inner self.

 
Paying the bills is bittersweet. It's nice to know that we have the money to pay all of the bills, plus some. But it's still incredibly hard to see that money come out every two weeks. I wish I could just stock pile it all. Maybe somewhere like under my mattress???

I sat down to the computer today and tried to pay the bills. I am in charge of the money because Oswald spends all day every day making the money, so he can't keep track of it.

I hate money. I hate how it stresses me out and how I worry about wasting any of it. I hate how I have felt when I have no money, and I never want to feel that way again.

I feel like because both Oswald and I have college educations, we should never be poor. But, let's be honest, that doesn't guarantee anything this day and age. Life is hard. I wish I could have my life, but none of the stressers!

Anyway, back to paying the bills...when we first got married I would balance the checkbook because I knew how to do it and Oswald didn't. He tracked his spending in his head, down to the penny. But when there are two people spending money, it makes it much more difficult.

So I tracked the money back then. Somehow I managed to always miscalculate on how much money was in our account. I was always thinking we had less than we actually did. It's really bad when I would calculate we had more than we did and bounced a check or something like that.

You see, I'm a writer, not a mathematician. I remember being in 8th grade and sitting in my math class doing those stupid times tables. We would be times as to how fast we did them and how many we got right. I was never very fast and I rarely got them all right.

What are some tricks you have to keep your finances straight?

--We have a running budget that I am constantly changing to fit our specific needs. It's hard to have a budget, but it also keeps is on track. We have goals we set as to how much money we want to save, and that helps us reach longer term goals.

What's your trick for handling Monday mornings?
--I try to have something fun to do with my kids. Last night I didn't get much sleep, but today we're headed to a friends house for some fun. Plus, we're looking for a new place to live...so lots of fun in our future!