My Newest Endeavor!

I have been pretty absent from my blog of late. I have checked in and done some blog hopping over the last few weeks, commenting occasionally. Now not only am I letting my blog fall to the wayside I am not reading. It really is aggravating!! I want to read. I have two books started, not to mention the task that I have set for myself of reading the Bible. Now my husband and I have started taking the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class through our church, this comes with more reading. I don't feel like I have to read, although I know I am suppose to read his book along with the class assignments...can't I leave that to my husband? I mean I just don't feel like reading anything.

And on top of the "required" reading I am suppose to help with the budget. Yeah Right! I haven't paid a bill in over eight years. Ron handles it all. He is a little bit of a control freak when it comes to that, and I just kind of let him have his way. Less headaches for me, right. It was really very hard for me to relinquish that control. I mean I had been working since I was 13 (in the family pizza place) and had complete control over my money. Yes I made some huge errors in judgment, not once but twice, when it came to allowing the person I was in a relationship have access to my credit card and bank account. I learned my lesson well the second time around. So letting my husband take over all of the bills was hard. I still have issues with it. I just dealt with it a little differently... I don't have anything in my name. I refuse to have anything in my name... I don't want that worry. Granted yes I know I am married and his debt is my debt, but it was just a little easier for me to say put the car in your name or no I don't want that credit card in both of our names. I do have a credit card in my name, but we never use it. OK never is too strong of a word. I use it occasionally and he makes sure that it is paid off when the bill comes in. Let me get back on track---BUDGET---Now in this class Dave Ramsey says that opposites attract and that means there is most likely a Nerd and a Free Spirit in the marriage... I immediately said my husband is the Nerd!! He is the one that likes the spread sheets, budgets, everything has its place and should be in that place. I am more of the free spirit. I am not organized at all! Nothing has a place...well except things like toilet paper and trashbags---you know what I mean the toilet paper goes on the holder and there should be a trash bag in every trash can!

The Nerd is suppose to make the budget and the free spirit is just suppose to show up to the budget meeting and make one change. My husband and I were discussing this this morning. He told me he doesn't think he can let me make one change. He can't relinquish that control. However for the Financial Peace to work we both have to be involved in the decision making of where we put the money and what name each dollar gets. I am a very easy going person, and would rather not fiddle with all of the hard work that it takes to make and maintain the budget, so I told him fine... give me an allotment of money each month that I can do with what I please, no questions asked and no bitching later. Of course he jumped at the opportunity.

But as I sit here this morning going over the conversation and the last two classes... I am thinking "You know, I am a Nerd!" I may not be into Excel spread sheets, graphs, and charts the way my husband is. But I don't spend willy nilly either. I only buy what I know is needed for the house and the kids. The only exception to this is my book habit. Which I really don't spend much on. Right now I think I am down to buying two books a month. Yes I get more than that a month, but I am trying to get all of this under control. With over 200 books to read I don't need to spend the money to buy new books. I only buy the ones that I have had on radar for over a month. If they slip from the radar then they don't get bought.

So in an attempt to take a more active role in our financial state I am going to make myself sit down and read a book on Money! I am going to go to the website and I am going to print out the budget forms. And I am going to take all of this very seriously. Which means I might actually have an argument with my husband over money in the coming months. I might actually go out and get a job waiting tables. Why waiting table and not something else, well because it is an easy job with flexible hours and its quick money!! Plus I love the interaction with all the different people. I have always enjoyed working in the restaurant. I am thinking this came from working in the family Pizza place for so many years, I mean when I had Michaela I took her to work with me in her car carrier and set her on the shelf behind the register...She was on display not hidden somewhere dark. lol As she got older she would tag along behind me either in the kitchen or in the dining room. --OK rambling again-- But most importantly I want to blog about my adventure into my finances, the ups and downs of it, the aggravation of spread sheets, the creating of a weekly menu so I know exactly what to buy at the grocery store and what we will be eating that week, etc.

I am hoping that with this Financial Peace class and the two book challenges I am indulging in will give me the gumption to come back and blog on a regular basis again!