Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Broke...

Today I am sadly paying bills and realizing that when I am done grocery shopping, putting gas in my car, and paying bills, there is no more money. Payday is supposed to be fun, but at the moment, I can't think of anything more depressing. Life is not supposed to be this way. What is even more depressing is that I am probably not going to be able to go to school this semester as planned for lack of funds. I really don't want another student loan hanging over us (I have enough of that with Tony's).

Being broke is nothing new for us. It's generally where I have been all of my life, so I know how to deal with it. Still, I was hoping to crawl out of this hole by finishing school, and then getting a real job that will actually be able to pay all of the bills.

How did I get in this really broke state again after almost climbing out? I made a mistake. It really isn't that difficult. One little mistake in our budget, and all is lost for a few months. It's horrible. It really is all my fault, too. It wasn't that we went overboard on spending, it was that my timing was off for one of the paychecks, a payment was made, the money wasn't there yet, and that started a chain reaction that lasted for too long because I was in San Diego and away from my computer.

Usually I spend a long time working on our budget each month, working with the money numbers and a calendar and working it all out. Last month, I worked the numbers and thought I had the calendar in my head all worked out. That was my mistake.

So, here we go again. I am probably going to save up to go back to school in January. Hopefully I will be able to get the cash by then. Fortunately, I am only going to a junior college, and I am not really having to save that much. I'm looking for more corners to cut. I don't know what else I can do without.

Anyone have any tips? I don't have expenses like cable that are luxuries, I'm already cutting down our cell phone plan to only the necessities (we're under a contract, so I can't just drop that). No one is going out to eat anymore for a long while. What else is there. We only run the air when the kids are down for a nap or if it gets really hot in the evenings, so that expense is not too high. The only other thing that I can think of is to not drive anywhere, but how do I attach 4 kids to my bike? Becca will be going to school soon, and while it isn't that far to walk her there, getting everyone up and ready in time to walk would be difficult. I would get a whole lot of exercise that way, though.

Here's some words from Christ:

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?

"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

Luke 16:10-13

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I feel your pain. We have been down that road more than once. I don't think there is anymore that you can do other than what you are doing. And just remember that there is always an end in sight. That thought alone gets me through our lean times.