Wow, can't believe six months have passed since my last entry. I still have money on the mind (like many people). DH can expect 10 furlough days this year and sees his retirement investments dropping like a stone. He hopes to retire at 62 and my goal is to help him do that. My deferred comp accounts don't fluctuate much, but I expect that my job will furlough people soon. I need to hang in at least six more years (26 years) and then hope to find a job that pays for my insurance. That is, of course, if all goes well. The news is full of stories about people who thought they'd planned and then are hit with a medical or family emergency that wipes out the cushion they believed would help them get by.

Six months ago, I was complaining about our leaky roof. We're finishing up with the repairs to the car decking (wooden ceiling) and will have a check for the new roof in the mail to the roofing company this afternoon! The rains can come... although our part of the country is experiencing summer, finally.

My money plan is to start my financial year from 7/25/10 and to track our spending patterns for a year. Our rough budget is:

*insurance-(car, house and medical co-pay): $250/month
*car payment (low interest) - 355.00
*house payment- (including 500 principle pay): 2280.00
*house bills- (water/sewer/garbage,electric,phones,cable):600.00
*food: 300.00
*spending-300= 150x2
*gas- 150= 75.00x2
*travel- 377.92
*propane- 125

The remainder of any check will go to the "E" fund. A large part of the fund was used to pay for the roof which makes us both nervous--more reason to start saving!

Hey, didn't spend anything today. I packed food for all day (chicken casserole and fruit) and managed to keep myself from thinking about spending money at the mall or the grocery store and was able to find something more useful to accomplish. Tried to get caught up at work and cleared files off my desk.Tonight, DH made dinner out of the freezer with enough left for lunches. Hope to have another day of using up food from the pantry, filling up my coffee cup from home and avoiding traffic from christmas shoppers. We have about 600.00 in major bills (insurance, propane, phone) to take care of this month. It is so nice to not be worried about where the money will come from. The next step will be to continue to add to our emergency fund.

Today will be dedicated to cleaning and maintaining. Boring but necessary- sharpening a couple of knives(done)--wiping down cupboards--cleaning drains(baking soda and vinegar makes a great show, done)--cleaning out the car--checking tire pressure--wiping off floor mats(done)--coloring hair (done)

**clothes ready for the work week--**consolidating household files--
**manuals for appliances in one place--**clean off pantry counter. That ought to take rest of the day. No spending today. Dinner out of the freezer and refrigerator. Chicken stew with vegetables. Made a lot--leftovers for lunches for most of next week. We'll be out of town from Friday to Tuesday. Will use stuff up that might perish.

I've had the flu for the past couple of days. Hope to be well by Thanksgiving day...or sooner. I've realized that a function of financial responsibility is to hold tight and try to enjoy the day without thinking about spending and consuming. It's challenging to balance planning and deferred gratification.