Hey everyone! So glad you’re here! It’s been a whirlwind few weeks between the Tea Talk, working the weekend at the hospital, and speaking on a panel discussion on menopause last weekend. It’s also been busy at work as usual, and the kids need to go to the dentist, the little one needed new glasses, and I need to finish reading this year’s articles to keep my medical license. Meanwhile, the end of the year is coming! That means my in-laws are coming for Halloween (I love them!), then comes our anniversary, then honey’s birthday, then Thanksgiving. Right behind is Christmas and then all four kids have their birthdays in the 30 days after Christmas. I may just need a spa day to face it all…
Taking a moment…
In the midst of all this, we decided to take Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class at church. My husband has been asking me for years to take this class, but it always seemed to be too much for our schedule. But this time, it was offered during midweek service. So I had no excuse!
Caveat: At the risk of sounding defensive, let me say that I have always thought that the Financial Peace class was a good idea. I just didn’t feel very urgent about taking it. I mean, we carry no consumer debt, and our (old) cars are paid for, and we balance our money pretty well. But we (ok, I) am getting older and I don’t want to work forever. So I really wanted our long term financial plan to take shape. It wasn’t. So I decided that when the class came up this time, maybe if we took it, we (he) would get moving on our retirement plan.
Did you catch that? In my mind, the changes that needed to happen from us taking this class would be his, not really mine. I mean, yes, I do most of the household shopping and therefore most of the spending, but that wasn’t our problem. I figured a management plan for investments would come into play and poof! All would be well. I had reservations about the class though. Did I mention that I break out in a sweat every time a budget discussion comes up? Well, I’m sorry, but it always seems to happen late at night when I’m already half dead, and all I can see is how all the money is already going somewhere, so what about the patio furniture or house painting or that spa day I wanted? I hate budget discussions.
So there’s a lot of talk about the budget these days…
And the first one was hard. But some interesting things started to come from the two of us being in this class together. First, we have assignments due every week. So we couldn’t just put off things for another month. And, since we both work long hours, he couldn’t do all of it alone and then hand it to me to review (which is usually how it goes). So I got more involved in the details, and he had to use my suggestions. And the next conversation was better. He appreciated my effort, and I felt more invested. It wasn’t so tense! Then something else happened. We started talking about our time budget. Now that’s a budget I have a firm grip on! I can probably account for every 15 minute increment in my day. I wake up with a plan on how to spend my day, and I go to bed planning the hours of the next. I can manage the heck out of some time!
So we are getting a handle on our two greatest assets: our time and our money. It’s definitely a work in progress. But isn’t everything? Seems to me that this process of learning to handle our time and money in the best way is part of the preparation for what’s next. I love what I do at work now, but I also love getting to do more teaching and speaking on holistic medicine. I don’t know what will be next, but whatever it is, I’m sure that we’ll need every bit of this training in managing our time and money to be able to do it well. So, I’m learning to love the training and the word “budget” has lost its sting. I can’t wait to see what’s coming!
How do you feel about your budget? What do you do to keep yourself on track? Please share in the comments below!