Tonight, I was checking over our bank's website, looking at what had cleared and was still outstanding, not wanting to miss something going through that hadn't been on my list and I'd forgotten about. Then I realized, the amount left in the bank after all the bill paying and grocery shopping I'd done this past weekend... was not enough to cover the couple of things still scheduled to go through by autodraft before our next payday. It was off by $21.74.
I had $3 in my wallet leftover from the cash I had allotted for groceries and bills and even buying the money order to send the house payment.
I went over the number and the things that had cleared, and it wasn't making any sense. I talked to my husband about it, and we sat down and crunched the numbers again, and it was definitely missing in the cash I had. We had accounted for every single dollar and practically every penny all weekend. The missing money was from the cash I'd withdrawn Friday. So, he said, "Maybe it's down in your purse or in one of your pockets." As soon as I picked up my purse, I remembered!
I had stuck an extra $20 in behind my checkbook, inside the checkbook cover. I didn't want to use the debit card at all, but in case something happened while I was out paying bills and doing shopping, I wanted to have the extra money in case. Like if the van ran out of gas even though the gauge said it was at a half tank etc. It happens.
Of course, I'd totally forgotten that money was there, when I gathered the rest of the cash I had on hand to go get the money order for the house payment.
So, now, my husband will deposit the $23 I have in cash tomorrow, and the money will be there for everything that's still going through this week. Woohoo!
The best part of this is that we actually did it. We made the money we had actually stretch to pay everything that had to be paid this week. It's a very good feeling to see it actually work, instead of something (even myself) happening to mess it up.
Of course we're still behind in stuff, but it feels so much more manageable now. The biggest difference is that I have been really getting my husband more involved in the finances. As I've said before, he prefers if I do it all and he go on with life blissfully unaware of anything to do with money. That just doesn't work anymore. So, after I talked to him about where we stand and what has to be done, he actually had a talk with the girls and let them know that things will be tight for a while yet to come, but if we can get through it, then things will be so much better on the other side.
He was really good at helping make sure we didn't spend more than was budgeted for anything. If it wasn't on the budget sheet and shopping list, we didn't get it.
Today, after paying the bills, I came home with the receipts and cleaned out the filing cabinet. I had stuff in there from 2010. It felt good to throw out all that stuff I'd been putting off. Now I have empty monthly folders, all ready for things I need to keep. The other important folders are much thinner now, with plenty of room for things that I actually ought to be keeping within easy reach.
So, anyway, so far so good. Hope your week is going well.
I had $3 in my wallet leftover from the cash I had allotted for groceries and bills and even buying the money order to send the house payment.
I went over the number and the things that had cleared, and it wasn't making any sense. I talked to my husband about it, and we sat down and crunched the numbers again, and it was definitely missing in the cash I had. We had accounted for every single dollar and practically every penny all weekend. The missing money was from the cash I'd withdrawn Friday. So, he said, "Maybe it's down in your purse or in one of your pockets." As soon as I picked up my purse, I remembered!
I had stuck an extra $20 in behind my checkbook, inside the checkbook cover. I didn't want to use the debit card at all, but in case something happened while I was out paying bills and doing shopping, I wanted to have the extra money in case. Like if the van ran out of gas even though the gauge said it was at a half tank etc. It happens.
Of course, I'd totally forgotten that money was there, when I gathered the rest of the cash I had on hand to go get the money order for the house payment.
So, now, my husband will deposit the $23 I have in cash tomorrow, and the money will be there for everything that's still going through this week. Woohoo!
The best part of this is that we actually did it. We made the money we had actually stretch to pay everything that had to be paid this week. It's a very good feeling to see it actually work, instead of something (even myself) happening to mess it up.
Of course we're still behind in stuff, but it feels so much more manageable now. The biggest difference is that I have been really getting my husband more involved in the finances. As I've said before, he prefers if I do it all and he go on with life blissfully unaware of anything to do with money. That just doesn't work anymore. So, after I talked to him about where we stand and what has to be done, he actually had a talk with the girls and let them know that things will be tight for a while yet to come, but if we can get through it, then things will be so much better on the other side.
He was really good at helping make sure we didn't spend more than was budgeted for anything. If it wasn't on the budget sheet and shopping list, we didn't get it.
Today, after paying the bills, I came home with the receipts and cleaned out the filing cabinet. I had stuff in there from 2010. It felt good to throw out all that stuff I'd been putting off. Now I have empty monthly folders, all ready for things I need to keep. The other important folders are much thinner now, with plenty of room for things that I actually ought to be keeping within easy reach.
So, anyway, so far so good. Hope your week is going well.