Just starting out ...

I've never done this before so it might be a rough start. :-)

Today Robert's on duty - which means he has to stay on the ship overnight and do whatever work needs to be done (which is sometimes nothing) - so I'm all alone at home. I wanted some mac and cheese, so I tried adding Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup to the noodles but it was bland. So I threw in a handful of shredded cheddar and it still wasn't that great.

I've been surfing the web all day long. I made an Alphabet chart with upper and lower case letters and pictures. I've been really interested in homeschooling things lately. So this was just one of many pre-planning things I've accomplished.

We're over budget on almost everything this month but somehow we're still $200 under the paycheck - figure that one out! lol And somehow my checking account balance on my budget is like $50 off (lower gladly, but still off). I don't know how that happens either because I only round up to the nearest dollar with expenses and down to the nearest dollar with income.

I love budgeting. I can't believe I finally found my calling. It's so great. And the more I get into it, the more I'm trying to find ways to save money! I have our monthly budget done all the way out to December 2012! I have 11 funds in my Freedom Account (only 4 of which have balances above $0 right now). BTW - a Freedom Account is a savings account to free you from living paycheck to paycheck. We are fully funded for all our insurance premiums for the year and for our deductibles. My current funds are: car insurance, renter's insurance, Robert's uniforms, insurance deductibles, moving expenses, contingency fund, car, house, paycheck (used when they screw it up), Christmas & gifts, and vacations. A contingency fund is used when you find yourself without a paycheck (fired, laid-off, switching jobs, etc).

We plan to pay cash for our next vehicle and pay at least 20% (hopefully more) down when we buy our first home. We will also be debt free by the end of the year! We're really excited about that (me mostly)!!