Wednesday, August 3, 2011

I'm at the end of my rope..

Money has been on my mind a lot lately.  I don't know how it can't be... I have hungry children to feed and narry a dime to feed them with.  I'm not kidding.

We are currently running alongside a cliff, the edge of financial doom, slipping on the loose gravel.  I have lived the life of paycheck-to-paycheck for so long now, I don't really know how financial security is supposed to feel.  What is really scary though, is when you drag your dependants along with you.

I am frustrated enough, tired enough and scared enough that it is time to make some pretty radical changes to how we handle money.  My husband is too.  Of course we have been saying that ever since we got married, but it gets scarier every time we go through a mini-financial crisis.

Our current debt crisis began building about several months ago.  I liken it to the ripple-effect, and I blame the boy scouts.  And karate.  And oh yeah - swimming lessons.  And four children's birthdays.  I blame the boy scouts because of the sheer amount of gear that we have needed to procure in the past six months.  The karate and swimming lessons because they didn't ask me to run numbers and see if the monthly fees actually fit within our budget.  They are supposed to remind you to do that, don't you know?  And four birthdays.  Four very expensive birthdays.  Two in February and two in May.  All of it paid for by a buy-it-now, figure-out-how-to-pay-for-it later kind of thing.  Problem is, there is no more room at the end of the rope, now.  We have never used up all of our rope before.   Scary business.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Constant interruptions...

Sleep, riches and health to be truly enjoyed must be interrupted.
- Jean Paul Richter