Livin' on a Budget.....No REALLY!

So inevitably, every American except the super rich or completely ignorant have, at one point in time, had to live on a budget. Oddly, though, most of us live "sort of" on a budget. Where we know "sort of" how much we make and "sort of" how much we spend. If we see that something in the window that would look just perfect on our silhouettes we buy it. Its not really in the budget but honestly, how much could that $40 really impact our monthly "sort of" income. Three days later finding yourself in another spending dilema. I know I don't really need that and its not REALLY in my budget, but honestly how much could that $20 really impact? This is the story of my life........until a month ago.


There is one thing that has been clearly defined in Bob and my marriage. I am the detail oriented person, I am the organized person, therefore it makes good sense for me to handle all of the finances. It was never an argument, or a control issue, it just naturally flowed from the best parts of our personalities. I have always thought that I was an excellent money manager, and in many ways I am. I have always lived on a "budget," however my budgeting technique is far removed from what a true budget really is. Here is my version of a budget: Know what you make in a month (or close-always round up), Know your bills and what they generally are (always round down), add in tithing (always good intentioned, but writing the check and putting it in the plate is hit or miss), create money limits for all of the other categories, but if you exceed those limits its okay, they are only guidelines. So in essence I never budgeted my money, I had a flexible phantom budget that could be changed depending on what I wanted to buy.

Needless to say, this form of budgeting kind of got us behind in several areas especially considering that we are a one income family. So in stepped the Director of Sales, numbers wizard, to the penny manager of Connexion Technologies and I got put on a BUDGET. Hard core, no budging budget. Every dollar is accounted for and every penny spent documented. Completely transparent, no longer a guideline budget. At first every fiber of my being wanted to loose all sense of maturity, lay on the ground and throw a temper tantrum that I could no longer spend whenever I wanted to. I knew that I needed to be submissive in this area, but my "inner sinner" definitely did NOT. Thankfully, through the power of the Lord, I have been obedient with our finances and have stuck on the constricted budget that we have put in place. It has been challenging and sometimes frustrating, but you know what feeling I most feel?

FREEDOM. Strange huh? I never would have thought that by creating strict financial boundaries and working to stay in those boundaries I would find freedom. There is money left over, Nothing is hidden, We are more creative with activities, We plan ahead better and we have seen how much we truly have. The blessings are abundant and the chance to really be a good steward of all that the Lord has given us has made budgeting a joyful boundary instead of a messy guideline.