Budgeting

I spent my entire marriage lecturing my ex-husband about the importance of budgeting our income. He never really warmed up to the idea and since I was already nagging him about so much other stuff, I left it alone.

We always spent everything we made but we had a lot of fun so it was fine.

Now we are divorced. I have full control over my finances. Crap. Now I have to follow all my lecturing and put together a budget. Putting together a budget is the easy part. Sticking to it is the challenge.

That being said, a good budget is easier to follow than a foolish one.

If I budget 20 dollars a month for meals out I will violate my budget in the first week. Hard to admit but true.

So what to do?

I have to be honest about what I want my money to buy me. Also, I have to figure out not only how I want to spend my money but how I want to spend my time. I was married for 21 years. I’m 45. The last time I was captain of my own ship I was 24. It was 1997. We barely had cable that was worth watching.

Do I want to spend money eating in nice restaurants and paying 14 dollars plus tax and tip for a cocktail?

Not really. I enjoy Target and Chipotle but even I can’t spend all my free time eating burrito bowls and fondling housewares.

I like walking around, eating ice cream and looking at stuff. How expensive can that be?

I guess we’ll find out.

Stay tuned, this will more than likely get much worse before it gets better.