Weekend!

I'm actually feeling quite a bit better. Thanks for all the get well wishes!  I went out to lunch today with the fam and went to a store to buy boots for kiddo for the winter. We had a coupon for a free meal and hadn't done anything as a family like that in a long time. It was a good day. I wasn't able to eat much, but it was nice to get out.

The boots cost  $36 so that took most of what I had set aside in the bank. I had planned on around $40 and had left $41 in my checking account for when I shopped for them, so now checking's down to $5. I know we can get boots cheaper but when it comes to winter boots for the weather here, I like to pay a little more and know my little darling's feet will be toasty warm and dry. Her winter coat (LL Bean) and snowsuit for this season are hand-me downs and I bought an inexpensive but warm hat and mitten set at Target for her. She's all set to go for the snow!

Buying the boots meant I didn't have any more cash until payday (Wednesday)....or so I thought. When I got home I was cleaning out some paperwork on the hutch and found a $10 bill! Woo hoo! So that will last me until my next check.

 I've calculated our bills for the next payday and it looks like I will have roughly $300 left over. The only thing we absolutely need are haircuts which cost  $37 for the 3 of us. Other than that, I am not sure what we will do with the overage.  We do need to start thinking about Christmas. Typically we cash flow our Christmas money because my husband gets a large commission check on Dec 15th. This year, not sure of our plan - if we will want to save ahead, or just take it out of our larger-than-usual income. It's something to think about. We need to discuss it more.

The other thought I had was oil...I will need to order soon, so maybe we should use our overage toward that. Ahhh, winter in Maine.

I have pretty much resigned myself to not making any large dents in our debt until after Christmas, and I'm okay with that. I had hoped to have the medical bills paid off by then end of the year, but the unexpected $430 one we received a couple of weeks ago pretty much destroyed that hope. At this point, I will be okay with just making it through the holidays on cash only and building our Efund a bit in the meantime. Then, tackling debt come Jan 1. It's not ideal, but it works for me.

I'm just so impatient that I want the debt to go away NOW...but it didn't grow overnight, so I can't expect it to disappear quickly, either. It's a lesson for me. In fact, I think that's one of the biggest lessons in personal finance. The has-to-happen-now attitude is what led us to debt in the first place. It won't lead us out.  Slow and steady wins the race.

Anyhoo, I'm rambling again so I will wrap this up. I am working on our Christmas list for 26 people in Excel right now. I'm glad I have all ready bought some things.  Eeek! How is your holiday shopping going?

Have a great weekend!
Iris

P.S. The silver lining to tonsillectomy?  I have lost 11 pounds! I had wanted to lose a few; I'm not overweight, but needed to drop some to be at a weight where I feel I look my best.  Now I am thinking I might try to lose about 8-10 more...if I did I would weigh what I did in college. It's something to think about. As a diet plan, though, I would not recommend surgery. :) I'll go a healthier route if I decide to lose more.