Budgets

Budgets are tricky things to me.  On one hand, they can be stressful to have, but not having one is also stressful.  My husband and I had another conversation about our budget today.  Not necessarily fun, but it was good.  In the end, we cancelled our date and the expensive dinner we had planned out.  It's a little sad, but the right thing to do.

The sentence from Growing Grateful Kids by Susie Larson is ringing in my head.  "Just because we can afford something doesn't mean we should."

Could we have done dinner tonight?  Yes.   But was it the wise choice?  No.

I've been considering putting the girls in gymnastics this year.  I had already settled on only ballet instead of ballet and jazz.  I think that I'm going to tell Sami that we'll do gymnastics next summer.  I know she and Autumn would love it, but it comes back to our budget.  Homeschooling isn't cheap =)  There are ways to save money, but there are always ways to spend it, too!

Making good choices and saying no to ourselves and our kids isn't easy, but it is being good stewards.  I know I'm not the only one to have to make these choices.  And if you're making choices like these, please know that you're not alone--I'm right there with you!