Saturday, January 23, 2021
Subscriber Login
SpotlightNews
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Community
    • Covid-19 Updates
    • Crime
    • Environment
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • The Spot 518
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
  • Classifieds
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber LogIn
    • Join us – Subscribe Today
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Community
    • Covid-19 Updates
    • Crime
    • Environment
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • The Spot 518
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
  • Classifieds
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber LogIn
    • Join us – Subscribe Today
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Spotlight News
No Result
View All Result
Home Capital District Family Now Parent Pages

SHOW MONEY WHO’S BOSS: Over budget…again

Spotlight News by Spotlight News
September 1, 2019
in Parent Pages, Parenting Columns
0
SHOW MONEY WHO’S BOSS: Over budget…again
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By HEATHER E. SCHWARTZ

I’ve had a few revelations this month:

Fitness plans often fail because they force a person (OK, me) to focus on everything that’s wrong — and therefore in need of improvement — rather than self-acceptance. Sustaining that bad feeling for the length of time it takes to actually reach a fitness goal is a real obstacle.

If you don’t enforce family dinner every night, you can actually have adult conversations alone with your spouse while the kids play or sit at screens or do whatever. (I know, I know, but it’s a chance for real life connecting with your partner! Sometimes you’ve got to take that!)

When you’re going over budget month after month, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a materialistic person who lacks willpower. Could be you’re just not budgeting enough for what you need.

Since this column is meant to focus on finances, I can’t get into the first two juicy topics, but let’s dig into that last one, shall we?

For almost a year now, I’ve been beating myself up for going over budget. I’ve been tracking this overspending carefully over the months and mostly figured out how to juggle and rebalance and make up for the deficit. But still. I’ve been feeling really bad about this because, on paper, it looks like I’m just spending too much all the time.

After doling out an unplanned $132 a few days ago, however, I’ve realized that isn’t the full, true story.

The $132 I spent went toward two costs I didn’t anticipate — a new web hosting plan for my business site and lunch, when it turned out I couldn’t make it home to eat between appointments. These are not indulgences that point to an irresponsible attitude toward money. They’re just … life. And life comes up over and over again as we move through the months. Sure, some of my overspending is true overspending. Also true: Some of it isn’t.

With this new, more forgiving outlook toward my situation (as in, no more mentally beating myself up), I felt better prepared to handle it. So first, I looked into where the weekly budget is going wrong. The items that tend to go over on a regular basis are “groceries” and “spending,” which is meant to be money for random smallish things like clothes, birthday gifts, ice cream, etc. I could see right away that the amount I’ve budgeted for “spending” wasn’t enough, though, since it’s easily wiped out in one or two days if I buy, say, a shirt or a couple of treats from the ice cream truck.

The next obvious step was to see where I can find “extra” money in my budget to transfer into “groceries” and “spending” on a permanent basis.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Isn’t this what all the financial experts talk about? Finding that excess you’ve been wasting on lattes and unused gym memberships? It’s not there! It’s never there! Most people earn about what they need or less in my view. I don’t know many (or any) people who’d claim they have tons of money they just don’t need.

That said, the tendency to live up to one’s means is real. So I looked into my budget and I’ll be honest, I did find some areas I could probably slash and … I wasn’t willing to do it.

The end result: I haven’t solved the problem. Now, in the past, I would have stopped here. Problem unsolved. Let the debt roll in. The difference today is, instead of turning away and pretending the problem doesn’t exist, I’m just going to continue looking at it. I’m going to try things. I probably won’t find that elusive this-will-work-forever sustainable solution I’m after. But it’s realistic to assume I’ll figure out some ideas that work for at least a little while. Then, I’ll try something else.

And that works for me.

 

Tags: show money whos bossSpotlight Parent Pages
Previous Post

THE 24-HOUR SHIFT: Ready to adopt? Read this first

Next Post

TRIPLE THREAT: Parenting through the fear

Next Post
TRIPLE THREAT: Parenting through the fear

TRIPLE THREAT: Parenting through the fear

Leave Comment

Stay Connected with Us

  • 7k Fans
  • 4.6k Fans
  • 608 Fans
  • 357 Subscribers

Recent News

Albany man seen at BLM and Back the Blue protests arrested on weapon charges

Albany man seen at BLM and Back the Blue protests arrested on weapon charges

January 22, 2021
Albany County breaks hospitalization record; three more deaths

January on track to being the deadliest month in Albany County

January 22, 2021
Moriah Formica debuts new all-female band, Plush

Moriah Formica debuts new all-female band, Plush

January 22, 2021
GUILDERLAND LIBRARY: Phased Reopening, Expanded Hours

GUILDERLAND LIBRARY: Cartooning workshop

January 21, 2021

Hot Stories This Week

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
POLL: 75 percent plan to get vaccinated; nearly half say Sen. Schumer will have a positive impact as majority leader

POLL: 75 percent plan to get vaccinated; nearly half say Sen. Schumer will have a positive impact as majority leader

January 20, 2021
Moriah Formica debuts new all-female band, Plush

Moriah Formica debuts new all-female band, Plush

January 22, 2021
Albany County vaccinates 375 at TU center

Albany County vaccinates 375 at TU center

January 8, 2021
Pair arrested after luring man to Colonie hotel and robbing him, allegedly

Pair arrested after luring man to Colonie hotel and robbing him, allegedly

January 18, 2021
Albany man seen at BLM and Back the Blue protests arrested on weapon charges

Albany man seen at BLM and Back the Blue protests arrested on weapon charges

January 22, 2021
Albany County breaks hospitalization record; three more deaths

January on track to being the deadliest month in Albany County

January 22, 2021
Moriah Formica debuts new all-female band, Plush

Moriah Formica debuts new all-female band, Plush

January 22, 2021
GUILDERLAND LIBRARY: Phased Reopening, Expanded Hours

GUILDERLAND LIBRARY: Cartooning workshop

January 21, 2021
Spotlight News

Spotlight News, The Spot 518 and Capital District Family Now are divisions of Community Media Group, LLC. Our local offices are located at 341 Delaware Ave, Delmar, NY 12054. You can contact us at 518.439.4949.

Browse

Follow Us

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact the Editor
  • Employment
  • Our Team
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2021 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Spotlight On Business
    • Spotlight on Finance
  • Sports
  • The Spot 518
  • Hot Spots Calendar
  • Opinion
  • Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Classifieds
    • Advertiser Login

© 2021 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949