2018: Off to a busy start!

Some work-related, some self-created, and some of it just life in general!  

Wow, I can’t believe it is already almost the middle of the month!  Where does the time go?  In spite of my utter lack of posting over the past few weeks, Hubs and I have stayed on the straight and narrow with our quest to dig out of debt.  So, other than keeping our noses to the grindstone, what have we been doing since 2018 rolled in?  

Work, work, work!  Hubs left a couple of days after Christmas, so he is most definitely doing his part.  Had a slight snafu in his first paycheck, but that will be straightened around on his next check.  His company is good about making things right, but it sure would make life easier if  they’d just get it right the first time.  Thankfully in spite of this, we remain current on all of the bills.

I have settled into working more hours.  In about a month or so, work will slow down again for a bit which will be just in time for me to start attending class.  My boss is paying for me to take a course in Quickbooks.  I currently use Godaddy bookkeeping for my side business so it will be interesting to see how the two compare.  The timing of this class works out in that I’ll be finished with it just in time to start my seasonal job.

As for the self-created busyness of the year, I’ve been doing a lot of extra cleaning and purging in the house.  A good friend of mine and I have an informal challenge going of making daily lists of things to accomplish.  Amazing what one can achieve when they set their mind to it!  I have found when checking things off my own list that it usually leads into doing a lot of other things as well.

Life, in general, has been busy, too.  Hubs mother had another fall, this time resulting in a broken wrist.  He saw her just before Christmas, so thankfully no need to make an emergency trip to see her.  I’ve also been trying my best to handle the health issues my dad is currently experiencing.  Since it isn’t anything urgent, at least for now, I’m dealing with it via emails and phone calls.  Still, these things all take time and mental energy.

Additionally, this time of year, I’ve become very familiar with our snowblower!  I frequently remind myself that every time I clear the driveway, I am saving $45.  On average it takes me about an hour and a half, so well worth doing it myself.  Admittedly, I’d be a bit happier if it weren’t so darned cold!  Most days we are doing good to be in the single digits.  Brrr!

Spending (or rather NOT spending!) has been in check so far.  In addition to my cash envelopes, I decided to add an expense tracker to my budgeting system.  What I am keeping track of are items not paid from our checking account such as groceries, gas, trips to the post office, etc.  Should I make an online purchase, I’d include that as well.  Even though the money is already set aside, I am finding that I still spend less because of this extra step.  I also hope it helps me see any trends in our spending.  So far I have recorded four purchases:  a prescription ($9.45 paid via our FSA), grocery shopping ($44.94), gas ($27.50) and the post office ($10.50).  Not too bad of a start for 2018.

So there you have it.  Pretty much a whole lot of everything, or as Hubs often tells me, life! Stay tuned for my mid-month debt update…I’ll put it on my list of things to do!