Too close for comfort
We're cutting it just a little too close for comfort with our bills this month. So close that I'm trying to time the mailing of certain bills just perfectly so they are received after Jody gets paid again on the 15th, but before they are technically considered late. Actually some are getting sent late - the ones that don't have any penalties for being received a couple days past due.
Like our mortgage was due on the 1st, but we have a grace period until the 16th. I mailed it today and hope that it gets there on Monday or Tuesday so the money is definitely there and we can avoid any late fees.
Ugh. How did we get to this point?
Seriously, I don't think we've ever had a month this bad before. Usually there's no worry about bills getting paid on time or having the money to cover checks. We've even been able to afford to send extra money to pay down our one credit card. But it's back to minimum payments on that for a while.
I'm not sure exactly what happened to get us to where we are now. We did have a few larger purchases recently (a grill and a Dyson vacuum), but we paid for them using our tax return from last year. I think it may be as simple as living on one salary has finally caught up to us. Eep. (Although going over a year has certainly been a good run and I feel fortunate for that.)
Anyway, I'm carefully monitoring our funds and we'll be living even more frugally for a while as we try to play catch up.
Jody is up for a raise in another month. I've got a small business venture in the works to help us make some extra money. And I need to continue to focus on a photography business, but I really am having a hard time with spending money on a new camera that we can't afford.
I know it will all work out ok, but I hate feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place. Maybe I should start playing the lottery. :oP
posted by Crunchy Domestic Goddess @ 11:47 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
The mantra I tell myself when it gets bad (which is now every month--5 years on 1 income) is "it's only money". I'm waiting for it to comfort me :)
These things happen. Staying within a budget is so hard. My husband and I have categorised how much to spend on what- yet categories seem to be going up. This month i felt i wanted a new look. I justified myself by saying this is the first time in teh two years of our marriage. *New Look* turned out more expensive than i had expected and I've run out of most of the money for the month... and it's not yet the 15th. I do, Thankfully, have some savings i can turn to- but i feel guilty. Savings are for emergencies etc no?
We've got some savings too (though it's been dwindling lately because we have needed to dip into it) and I want to keep what's currently in there in case of a real emergency - like (God forbid) a job layoff or something of the like.
Nino- what's your more lucrative career?
R2Ks- good mantra, but I wish it made you feel better.
BW- so have you shown off your new look on your blog? :) I got my hair cut at a salon in July and it cost nearly $50. I love the stylist and love the cut, but I can't justify spending that much every 4-6 wks. So my hair is growing out now and it's very blah.
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