January 31

Well we made it through the first month of our new budget.  I'm really pleased with the results so far. I think we are making much better decisions about when to spend and when not to spend.  I feel like I know what I'm doing with money now.  In the past, I didn't worry about money, but I didn't know if I was making the right decisions or not.  Now I have confidence that I'm making the right decisions.  I've already made up the new budget for next month figuring in the deductions for retirement that will begin soon.  I also figured in 5% for savings.  We have to do better about saving each month.  I'm really pleased we're getting back on the right track with retirement and savings.

There are rumors flying around at my work that my job could be affected by budget cuts.  I really hope I can keep my job and stay on the same pay scale but whatever happens, I think we would be able to budget the income and make do.  I feel like we have the tools to do that now.