Death and Taxes

We completed the second and felt like the first last night.

$1200 to the government later ... I could not be more grateful for my refund check coming to balance things out.

But also left wondering what the $&%# is going on that we owe that much money?

I don't even expect refunds anymore. But to owe? In a W presidential year? I thought he was too busy siphoning cash from our public education systems and mailing it to corporate trusts and the uber-rich, to figure out to stop and ask our middle class butts for more.

Budgetpalooza

All this year, I have been keeping a meticulous detailed budget. We really needed to get on track with our spending. Somehow though I am never buying half of what I want to, we're always, er, tight.

Today was catch-up-my-poor-neglected-budget day. I haven't really maintained it fully in a couple months. During both of Matt's naps and for the last two hours since same went nigh-nigh, I have been entering receipts and reconciling months of spending.

I probably have carpel tunnel and my legs are asleep but it's DONE, it's caught up.

Most of the missing entries were July and August. But for April - June, I also had to compare my list of already entered receipts to our final actual credit card and bank statements. It's anal and time consuming, but if I don't the one I miss will naturally be some little tiny thing ... like our new dryer or Libby's two-week check.

So after all this I see that we are ... well, still tight. We HAVE improved, big time. I can tell and thank goodness and GO US. Our spending in general is down, it's just that we've taken two mini-vacations this summer plus some weekend trips.

But we are, day to day, doing better and it's thanks in part to this budget. Seeing the numbers add up really helps curtail my impulses the next time I'm at Walgreen's or Target. (The key is I have to do it every week or two, though. The impact of my errant Easter-overpurchasing is less impactful now.)

So I finish and I tell Michael proudly we are exceeding our budget for the year but not by TOO much. And that I can see hope for us of places to tighten up a bit more and do better.

And then, to reward myself for my fiscal buttoned-up-ness, I close my horrible budget file and open the Internet to do my daily blog check of my fave mommy blogs.

And I see this post which represents this blogger's ode to (1) unnecessary IKEA purchases and (2) the $400 strollers she's narrowed her stroller search down to. And I think almost want to make my husband read it (though he'd probably sooner run to the store and buy boxes of lady products. He's not quite part of the blogosphere yet).

The point is, this girl PROVES the point I make EVERY time we talk about money.

"If I am overspending at Target ... or have a few too many shoes ... there are a 1,000 women out there doing ten times worse than me at any given moment."

Course, he never buys it.

Neither does my Excel budget sheet.