Get A (new) Life

Ever since we moved, Steve and I have made several changes in our lives. Some intentional, some not. The first thing that changed when we moved was our eating out habits. They stopped. We love our house so much that we want to spend lots of time in it which means staying in on the weekends and actually enjoying it. Steve loves cooking in the kitchen and I just like the fact he’s cooking. Saturday night he made a wheat crust pizza from scratch topped with shredded chicken, kalamata olives and sauteed mushrooms. We paired it with a delicious Syrah and enjoyed the movie Death at a Funeral. Much better than spending money at a noisy restaurant and healthier.

The second thing that’s changed is how we look at money. I really love to shop, I don’t think that’s any secret to anyone who reads this blog, but I needed some limits. Some friends of ours took the 13-week course by Dave Ramsey so we decided to try it ourselves. It’s been a real eye-opener for us. We’re on week seven and have created a budget (which isn’t really done yet), set limits and discussed goals. We’ve also paid off three credit cards and are halfway through another. The biggest change came on Saturday when we sat down to pay bills. It was the first time in months we hadn’t ended up in a fight. When it was done, I showed Steve the checkbook and grinned. We had money left for the things we’d budgeted for! We didn’t fight! It was so nice. I realize that for many of you budgets are a way of life, but Steve and I just never took the time to do them. First of all, I’m not interested in working numbers. Second, we think we can handle things without having a written budget but we really can’t. Third, we both tend to waste a lot of money on crap.

I’m not saying all is perfect and we’ll live happily ever after, but I do think we’ve finally gotten on the right road to the future. Now let’s just hope we don’t get sidetracked!