Budget Living

Our family has gone through a couple of changes in the last year financially. First I quit my job to be able to spend more time with Annabelle. We couldn't afford for me to do so without any income so I watch a few kids during the week to bring in a little bit of income. I don't have any kids full-time, but what I bring in is enough to cover all of our "fun" stuff during the month. (Eating out, seeing a movie, picking up cute outfits for Anna etc.) Anthony got a new job with a local school district and got a significant raise from his previous job. We are able to pay all of our monthly bills and necessities like gas, and groceries with his pay check.

Staying home has made it easier for me to end some okay a lot of my extra spending. It was very easy to stop on my way to work or on my way home at Target and find a lot of things that we didn't actually need and waste money on them. I was also the queen of eating out.. a few days a week  everyday. $10 a day for lunch and $5 for breakfast adds up.. $300 a month on just my breakfast and lunch. I can buy groceries for our entire family for around that. We also went to a one car family in January, it has been a rough adjustment for me since Anthony works so much. It's hard to not be able to hop in my car and go to the grocery store if I need something but I am making it work.

We are trying to live a way that will allow us to have no debt as soon as possible. There is too much we want to do to be tied down to owing someone money.

-- Mel