Lessons from my story vault…Budget is not a bad word
A little over two years ago we moved from a bustling city to an itty-bitty small town with a gas station and one stoplight. It wasn’t my choice, it was all God.
This move was the beginning of a complete realignment in my life. When It first happened I certainly didn’t look at it that way. I was confused, upset, and angry. To be completely honest I felt like a caged animal scraping the sides of a crate trying to escape. I was extremely thankful for the home don’t get me wrong. But it took me a good while to realize all of this moving from the city to the sticks was a realignment and was actually for my good. Can I be completely transparent with you? I hope so because I want you to get to know me better.
Grab a cup of hot tea, coco or coffee and let’s chat. By the way, my favorite is Chai with a little bit of coconut milk and a squeeze of honey…in case you were wondering.
You see, I grew up in a family that was very dysfunctional and never taught me how to manage a home successfully or really set boundaries with finances much less use of a budget. Once my husband and I separated and God moved me and the kids out to this little town I was faced with a new way of life. A do-over of sorts. USING A BUDGET was completely foreign to me. I used to think of it as a bad word really. But this time I was basically being faced with the choice to learn how to live Gods way. You know the whole being a good steward of finances and choosing to put things in priority using a budget. Of course, I had a choice. God always gives us a choice, we call it “free will.” I decided to trust God, follow his lead and see what would transpire. I had already tried it the other way. The spending way too much and asking for forgiveness later kinda way. Yeah, that didn’t go over too well. Budgeting couldn’t be that bad, right?
Looking back at it now it all makes sense.
The first thing I learned from the move is that gas is expensive when you live an hour away from everything and own a gas guzzling machine! I was basically forced to create a streamlined homeschool schedule and a strict budget. This was really hard for me during the first six months. The kids and I were so used to going to several events or field trips every week. Staying home more often took a bit of getting used to. However, I made a choice to stick it out and decided to write down everything I was spending. I also keep track of it weekly. I eventually created this to help motivate me. Putting things in order of priority really helped get my mind and spending on track. Not to mention more productivity began to take place in business as well as homeschool because we were home more. I was able to get much more accomplished without feeling rushed or stressed out.
Everything I was doing and spending before the budget seemed important at the moment. But something happened when I began to keep track of my spending. I was able to take a good overall look at where I could make some improvements. Not to say it was easy but it was necessary. God knew I needed this lesson even if I had no clue till it was right up in my face. I use to think that having one child away in college, homeschooling 3 other kids, managing a home and running a successful business was going to be impossible. But I learned that It’s doable with a bit of planning and effort. I’m going on year 3 and as I look back I don’t know how in the world I ever made it through life before budgeting. YIKES!
My toes literally curl up just thinking about it.
The second thing I learned from moving to the country is there are really good people still left in the world. When I moved in my sweet friend Jessica helped me get everything from the moving truck into the house. Some other amazing friends Jennifer and her husband Andy (plus some of my son’s football buddies) helped get all my stuff out of storage and into the said moving truck. When I arrived at our new home the new neighbors came right over and asked if they could help with anything. A few of my local homeschool moms from town even donated furniture because some of our stuff had been damaged in the storage unit while waiting for a place to move into.
AMAZING people do still exist Y’all!
Have you struggled with overspending? Have you thought about budgeting? Are you ready to get started but not sure how? Download my budget binder “It’s not that hard to budget” here.
By the way, we are really loving the country life now. The slower pace has been so good for my soul and the budgeting has given me peace of mind. Its not such a bad word after all.
Happy Budgeting,
xoxo-Krissy