Budgeteer Reflections

As we’re in the final stretch of Project Money, we have really been watching our pennies, and trying to stretch the budget as much as possible. When any expense is discussed, we (somewhat) jokingly ask “can it wait until January?” before making any decisions. The bigger joke has become how busy January will be! A better way to ask the question would probably be “Is it a NEED and is it URGENT?” Anyone in the budgeting process has probably learned to clarify needs versus wants. It seems urgency has helped us clarify that even further. Often it seems when something seems to be a need, but it’s not urgent, something works out in the mean time so that we avoided the expense all together! Using cash also seems to have helped make us more conscious of those choices.

Looking back over the past months and our experience in Project Money, we are so proud of what we have accomplished so far. We still have a long way to go to meet our financial goals, but they now seem within reach. It’s amazing how motivating our total debt reduction and savings increase tally has been. We have our current numbers posted in the kitchen so we can keep reminding ourselves of what we have done so far. When we think of the time we’ve done it in, we get even more excited! Even though we joke about all the projects we’ll have to do in January, we are looking forward to it as a time to refresh our financial goals and maybe even set new ones, as we reflect on what we’ve done in only 7 months. Here’s to a debt free 2011!