cutting back some more

I went back and read through the last few months of posts. They were really depressing. Almost every one was about being disappointed and frustrated with ourselves. We decided we need to change that....and quickly. I have felt pretty horrible about the debt and we both have a good deal of regret from our over spending. That just means we have to stop spending.

I had a coupon at a maternity store that ended this past Monday. I could really use another pair of jeans and had been planning on buying another pair, but I have no budget for them. I almost went and got them on the cc, but I didn't, and I feel great about it.

You might remember me saying in a past post that we were going to treat each of the kids to dinner out for their birthdays. Taking a family of 5 out to dinner can easily cost $50 or more. It would not have been a big deal if we hadn't spent all the other money we did this summer. As much as I felt bad about this, it's turning into an even better plan for them. We already took Isaiah out for his birthday and we all got to enjoy that. We decided to take Mykah to the free zoo for a picnic for her birthday and I have a coupon for 2 free lanes of bowling for each of the kids that we are going to use for Jonah's birthday. This way we will get to enjoy 3 different activities as a family. At first, the kids were disappointed, but it did not take long for them to come around. And we were very honest with them about why were changing the plans. We told them we spent too much over the summer and didn't have enough left over. It's another lesson that we can pass on to them. Dan and I are both very hopeful that talking to them openly about what we are going through will benefit them in the future. I think they are learning a lot through us.

This is the start of good posts. I feel really good about this one. It feels SO MUCH BETTER to say no and be disciplined then it does to go over the monthly lack of progress. Nothing we spent money on made it worth it. I hope this means we are leanring good lessons as well.


love
love
love