Budgeting for January

Going back to November my hope was to have a "No-Stress" November. That didn't really start until Thanksgiving break. It was during that time though that I realized how much I was "missing" (if that is the right word to use) my family. I really felt that although I would spend time with them, it wasn't quality or intentional time with them. So, for December I spent the month focusing on family and friends and making sure that I was spending quality time with them. Here is  small example of how I spent one day last week with Logan (normally I am a task driven person. I have something around the house I want to get done, and so I do not want to be bothered until it's finished. However, I promised Renae I would be around on my break to be with them as much as possible...so I loosened up and had some fun!) :

As soon as Logan saw me sit down, he came right over to me with a smile on his face. I decided I'd bring his tool box over and teach him a few things about tools.

Even though his drill shakes, he still thought that mine was cooler and wanted to play with it.

I taught him electric work how my dad taught me...but then Renae brought up a good point, that I just taught him it's ok to stick a screw driver in an outlet...

Then I showed him how to saw...perhaps his arm.

I guess I'm off to the right start of getting the "Parent of the Year Award" I apparently also taught him that it's cool to stick a drill in his mouth...

Then we played with tape measure because he found it fascinating.

But when I caught a wiff of something, I knew that play time was over.

He dropped a bomb on me, and Renae was there to catch it on camera!

Going forward into a new month, I still want to keep that perspective on family and friends. However, I want to add a new challenge to my life. When Renae and I first got married we had our small trials, and one of them was me quitting my first teaching job. That brought on a ton of financial stress for a few months. During that time we learned to budget and save. Then after I took a job at a small private Christian school as a middle school teacher we really needed to learn how to budget and save in order to save up for a house and to start a family. Luckily Renae and I make a great team when we are on a mission. I would voice what I thought was smart to do, Renae would research how to do it and come up with a game plan, and then we would both spring into action.

Somewhere along the lines we have strayed for our budget and we (I feel like it's me more than she) have to get back on track. We are back down on one income (just mine as a teacher) and we have been cutting into savings each month for the past four months. So look out not only for blogs about the family and what's going on, but also on how to budget, save money, cut corners and make ends meet as a family in a new home with a new born on a teacher's income....this ought to be interesting.