Frugal Love

The last one has been born and it has taken a little bit of this weight off of me. I don't mean that in a cruel way at all. I am very excited for the new little humans on the planet and their parents, some of whom are doing this parental thing for the first time and others who are welcoming their second bundle of joy. I know that it might be uncomfortable to see these children in person, because they are the age that mine would have been, but I can deal with that. There were three friends, ranging from close to friends of friends that all had little ones due this month. Two baby girls and a tiny boy are now here. None of them are mine, but they all belong to the best parents possible. I didn't realize that I was waiting and holding my breath until the last one got here, but now that I've let out the air I was holding, I feel much better. Wishing them happiness and loads of good health.

That's not really what's on my mind today. While it is what has flitted through occasionally, I've been very encouraged by a (virtual) conversation with miss A and felt lots of (virtual) hugs and pings (whatever those are) from AM. Thank you to the both of yous, whatever small impact you think you have on my frame of mind, multiply that by a dozen or so. I usually go home and tell C all about how much whatever you did meant to me. I'm a sap like that.

Anyway, what I've really been doing all day (while not talking to miss A) is figuring out where all of our money goes. I can be, uh, a bit anal about the numbers and locations and who exactly is at fault for spending that $6.21 last Tuesday, so pray for dear C's soul, and more specifically, his soon to be empty empty wallet. We have one of those set ups where the money is mine all mine, I mean, under my control. I make sure that the bills are paid on time and that any debts are paid faster, quicker, and more efficiently. It works most of the time, but since C hasn't taken a look at our account for almost a year, he's got no idea what we have, where it goes, or what we spend. Simply put, he always assumes there is money in the account to spend, and while that may be true, he doesn't realize what finagling I do to ensure that money is always there. So I've been working on a budget for two reasons: wanting to know where the money goes and decreasing the junk brought home while increasing the amount of money saved/to spend on needed things. This process of counting and categorizing (casting blame?) has been enlightening and things are going to change. We are going to be relatively frugal and have set amount of money to spend on what is necessary. Give us two weeks and we'll figure out how well it all works. I'm betting it goes badly, but I am determined to pay off some things and not let Christmas hit us so hard this year. Note to loved ones reading this: if I learn to knit before Christmas, you're all getting a scarf. Or a pot holder. Maybe two. With love.