Forgot One!

oops...I blogged my 2011 Goal list on Monday and forgot a biggie

I have promised Beau that I will be more aware of our finances...
and I have asked him to keep me accountable to that.

that doesn't mean I'm going to shop less...
I'm actually not a huge shopper,
I shop when we need something....
end of story...
well, my 'needs' do change when I walk into JoAnn's or Michaels...
but I am pretty good at not over-spending...

the problem is I tend to have the head-in-the-sand approach to money...
I spent the first half of our marriage being the one in charge of the finances and H.A.T.E.D. every minute of it...so when I finally handed it all over to Beau I took a 'vacation' from thinking about money...
when Beau would start to talk about money I would go into Charlie Brown Teacher mode...
'Wawah Wawwaa Wawawah'....

in the last few months I began to realize that I needed to be an active part in the decisions that are made with our families money...not that Beau hasn't been making good decisions...

but rather, I didn't want to have to ask Beau,
"okay, I'm going grocery shopping, do we have enough?"
I wanted to KNOW that since we had sat down together I could say,
"Okay, I'm going grocery shopping today!"  end of story...
because I know that there is enough, and how much we have to work with...

and since I have made the choice to be more actively involved with the finances I feel much more relieved...
Beau paid some bills yesterday and just had me come in and look over the bill-pay online to just show me where we stood till the next pay day...which is Thursday....
and we're good...
I used to be so concerned about payday
because that was the only day I KNEW we'd have the money I would need to do all the shopping before Beau started to pay bills...
now I know what things look like before payday...
I know what bills will need to be paid...
I know that next week, a week after pay day, we will still be good...
so I don't have to stress out about fitting grocery shopping into this week...
a lot less stressful for both Beau and I...

and I also think a way healthier way for me to look at money...
I had been scared of money because having been the one in charge when we had NO money really did a number on me...

no need to worry...God will take care of us...he did when we had no job and no health insurance...and he's been good a great job of it at everyone point along the road...
I had been make the choice that 'ignorance is bliss'
when really ignorance lead to me being stressed...
but knowledge is power...

so heres to being empowered in 2011...