Stupid Tax

It's been one of them kind of weeks....

I'm usually pretty on top of things...organized...efficient...productive...
but lately, I just can't seem to get all my eggs in the right basket.

Well, this week, my lack of focus came back to bite me in the rear and I had to pay a hefty stupid tax...you know, money you shouldn't have had to pay out, but because you didn't do "x,y,z" it cost you dearly. A tax you placed on yourself so to speak.

It really started a couple of weeks ago...when I paid a bunch of bills and was so proud of myself for having paid them...EARLY! I was looking forward to this week when I knew we'd be money ahead. HA! Somehow in my bill paying frenzy, I forgot to write down the electric bill payment in the checkbook ledger....please tell me I'm not the only one to have ever done this (and I'd like to say it's the only time I've ever done it, but I'd be lying). Let me tell ya...when you count on every dime and there's not much wiggle room to begin with, an error like this is not pretty. It bit hard this week! I've been so mad at myself!! What should have been a week to be able to pay ahead on some things has ended up being a struggle to put food on the table!

As always, God is faithful. It could've been worse...trust me, it can always be worse. I have enough to pay the necessary bills for the week with a little left over. God provided food for our cabinets by way of some very dear friends of ours that wanted to thank us for showing love to them over the past year. And I'm pretty sure none of us are walking around naked. Do we have all we want? Of course not, we're human and insatiable. Do we have all we need? Absolutely!!

Matthew 6
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

God is good.

All the time.

What Will You Do?

Crystal over at Money Saving Mom was talking today about how long you'll wait to turn on the AC and it prompted me to think about the ways our family is lowering our expenses.

For one, we're planning on not turning on our AC until May 10th...we'd really like to hold out till June, but we're starting with a small goal and then we'll take it a day at a time from there. 16 days to go!! I'm hoping this will be a significant boost in our savings.

Another thing we've done is disconnect our home phone (actually did this today...been talking about it for months!). We rarely used the house phone and I honestly can't remember the last time I actually talked on our "land line." We all four have cell phones and most people we talk to are in our network of free mobile-to-mobile. This one step is going to save us $65 a month...woo hoo!!

We've been eating at home and have only ate out twice this month. Huge improvement! Even at McDonald's, our bill is around $20, so another big way to save...and I'm actually enjoying cooking and planning meals frugally. Baseball season has started, so it's a little challenging on game days to get supper on the table and get to the game on time...but so far we've done pretty well. I've also been taking snacks from home to work. Another way I'm saving on our food expense is byalso taking part in Krystal's May Grocery Budget Challenge. My goal is $100/week for a $400 total for the month of May spent on groceries. That's about a $50/week cut from what I normally spend and a savings of $200 for the month of May.

A few small "changes" equals a little more "change" in the pocket! So, how about you? Are you feeling the economic crunch? What are you doing to "save for the rainy day" or just make it to the next month?