October 1st

Where, oh where, did the summer go? I'm amazed, shocked, awestruck, and in disbelief of how quickly this summer went by. I'm also enjoying, loving, and making the most of this beautiful Autumn weather that we are having. And somewhat dreading the cold endless winter ahead.

Now that a new month (and new season) is here, it was time to decide a new challenge. Only two readers expressed an interest in any challenge yesterday (come on people, more than two people read this site!) and both pointed towards the budget challenge.

Believe me, I do need to cut back this month as we have had a tremendous amount of bills lately. Eye doctor, plate renewal for the van, doggie vet bill, Tae Kwon Do, etc. It seems that the money is just flowing out of our hands lately so I need to get a better grip on it all.

I also want to loose a few pounds and thought that would be a good challenge.

Then I realized that both those challenges could get boring if I talked about them all month long considering that I have talked about my budget enough that it would be me reiterating it all again. And just how much can someone talk about weight daily without it getting old real fast?

This month I am arranging things a bit differently. Wednesdays I will be talking about my weight challenge (I would love to loose those last five pounds this month, so this is my goal) and Fridays I will be talking about my budget and money saving ways. My goal this month is not to come within $1,200 but rather just be aware of where my money is going and cut the spending down to a point where we can stick a little more in savings than usual. I will post about other money saving ideas I have come up with and ways I am able to cut this month. It's a good way to work these challenges into my everyday posts.

With the wonderful weather we have been having I am off to play outdoors with the children, hang up laundry, and get ready to head to a garage sale down the street.