Moneyyy

The hard thing about budgeting when you don't have to is that there always seems to be something we need.  Eliot could use more shoes.  He always needs more socks.  His pants are already getting tight (he has two pair).  I can easily think of $1,000 worth of "things" I'd like to get that I can half-way justify at first.

Our flash is broken--that is one thing we will be purchasing soon.

There is a cute convertible couch at Target for cheap that would be nice in the downstairs bedroom--but, really, how often would we use it?  Chris's parents sleep on the sofa bed downstairs.  Now that Elizabeth is at college, she rarely stays the night at the same time as them.  It would be nice for her then, but this scenario doesn't happen often at all.

My phone has been eligible to upgrade since August.  And it is really sucking these days.  I could get the new iPhone, but I think I'm just going to get a regular phone instead.  Chris has an iPhone, so do we really need two?  I'd only use Facebook and Instagram.  Sure, it'd be nice, but is an extra $20 a month and an extra $150 for the phone itself really worth "nice"?  Just the other day, we were talking about how I could probably cut my line off completely and be fine.  I more or less only talk to my parents and then Chris when he is at meetings on my phone.

I'm still trying to decide if we kind of need more dining room chairs, but I think I'm going with "no" on that one.

This past weekend, we got some clothes for Christopher and me, which is rare, so we should be doing fine in that are for a while.

When it comes down to it, I try to ask myself if I need it.  Like, do I actually need it.  For the flash, the answer is kind of yes.  We take a lot of photos.  For the phone, the answer is probably yes again for the regular phone because mine is quite sleepy and ready to go to that place that phones go when they die.

We're doing well enough financially, but if we're more conscious of how we spend our money, we can save up a lot and also set a good example for Eliot about budgeting.  I want to start a savings plan for Eliot for school and college.  I want to save up to eliminate our school debt (which is about a car payment).  I want to save up so we aren't frantic or feel "house poor" when we move in the summer.