Thoughts from a School Nurse You might feel a little stick!

I was watching the news this morning and in between all the political ramblings of which I am tired of hearing about, and which will no doubt continue to saturate the airways with increasing intensity through November, there was an interesting story. A family that normally spends $660 a week tried to cut their budget in half. Yes, you read it right... $660 a week! That money was spent on Starbucks Coffee every morning, eating out, groceries and entertainment. Weekly!

I guess all things are relative, and if you make enough money to have that kind of disposable income, it's no big deal. I, however, do not have "disposable" income in my household. Of course we buy things we don't really need, eat out too much, and usually buy what groceries we want without worrying too much about the cost. Well, let me say *I* don't worry too much. Mark tracks every penny we spend and he does worry sometimes. Just last night we were talking about how we need to really cut back where we can. It's a lot harder during the summer when I'm not working and bringing home a paycheck to make ends meet. Mark works really hard and I'm sure stresses over money much more that he tells me.

Yesterday Emily Grace and I went out to lunch and shopping for a few things we really did need, but of course I bought some things we could live without, too. We could have eaten lunch at home before we left. Last night, we all went to Logan's to eat supper. It was really good, but I could have fixed supper at home since we'd already bought the groceries for it over the weekend. I guess what I'm thinking about and trying to say is.. maybe we could reduce our weekly spending. I'm sure we could. Maybe not in half, but perhaps I can try to track it better instead of dumping receipts on Mark at the end of the day and expecting him to magically make them disappear. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to read this, yet skeptical of my ability to control my spending impulses! I'll let you know, constant readers, how things turn out. Who knows? Maybe I'll even surprise myself!