Pardon me while I do a happy dance!

Today I was working on The Money Email, which is a missive I prepare at the beginning of each month(I’m working on September’s a bit early). Its sole recipient is my husband, and its purpose is to keep him up-to-date and informed about the state of our finances. I used to be terrible about keeping him in the loop, and then I would dread money discussions. Now I email him at least once a month, and usually twice(once each paycheck). The mental, relational, and financial benefits to this have been numerous, and I am so much happier this way.

Anyways, I am thrilled to pieces with where we are financially at the moment(thank you, God!). I’m sure to people who are used to having more play in their cash flow, our situation would look relatively grim, but for us, it’s positively fabulous.

Here are some wonderful things about September for us:

1) We’re going on vacation in September(woohoo for beach vacations at half price!), and not only is the condo all paid up, but we have $300 saved up to spend on gas. Hopefully gas prices will keep dropping, and we won’t have to spend the whole $300 on gas. Plus, God willing, we’re going to keep saving up $100 a month all year, so next year we’ll have money for more than just gas.

2)We actually have a small emergency savings account. It only has $1007 in it right now, but it’s a start.

3)We have $380 saved up for Christmas so far. I am so thrilled about this. Usually we don’t manage to save up anything ahead of time, and then we have to somehow find the money for Christmas purchases in December. This year, we’ve been saving $40 a month, and that should cover a good portion of the gifts we need to buy.

4)I’m back to teaching my full load of piano students in September, which means my income will be at a much more manageable level(it gets pretty low in the summer.). This year, I’m hoping to save some of my piano income to use next summer, so that the drop in income won’t be so difficult.

5) We get a $170 credit on our electric bill this month, due a settlement that took place. It doesn’t make up for the 70% increase in energy costs(!), but I’ll certainly take it!

6)This month, my husband gets an extra paycheck. He gets paid bi-weekly, so every six months, he gets three paychecks instead of two. Since we don’t really plan these checks into our budget, they’re sort of like a bonus when we get them.

7)We actually spent less than we made this month(usually we just break even!), and that’s not counting the extra paycheck. In fact, even after saving for Christmas and vacation, we will have almost $600 leftover from our regular income, which is quite unheard of.

And, all of this is on top of us having no debt besides our mortgage. Our cars are paid for, our credit cards have no balances, and our HELOC is sitting happily at $0(may it stay that way!!). So, we’ve been blessed, and I’m happy today.

photo by Mike Baird