Money Monday!

Today we are 63% of the way through the month.  (Am I the only person who thinks September is going much faster than August?)  I've used 61% of my grocery budget so we seem to be on track for a much more successful month than August was. 

We did hit a budgetary speed bump this weekend.  Tony's beast of a vehicle has been having some issues so he took it to the dealership.  The first estimate was right around $5000.  Yikes!  After a further explanation that we didn't need everything dealt with, the total dropped to $880.  A much happier number!  When picking up the car (with our language trainer for assistance), Tony discovered the work we'd had done months ago was never actually done- though the check was actually cashed.  Now, we get to try to get our money back.  Stay tuned to see if we ever receive our $660...

From 4th grade budget land,, Chloe told me that her whole class has to pay rent for each of their desks.  Rent is $1.10 a week.  (And that's without an ocean view!)  I asked her how they pay for the rent.  She explained that they each have a job that pays $1.50 a week.  Last week, they had an auction of lost things.  Chloe won back her pencil for .05, but she said some other kids got in a bidding war and spent $2.00 on a glue stick.  (She thought that to be an extravagant purchase.)  There is also a store that sells treasures untold.  She's .40 a way from the item she wants, but not being prepared in class also costs you.  I believe there are a couple of ways to make some extra income outside of her 7:40-3:00 job. She's hoping to earn enough to make the big purchase soon.  There are several grown-up life lessons in all of this. 

1.  Rent/mortgage that totals more than 73% of your income makes it VERY difficult to live.

2.  Know exactly what you need and how much you want to pay for something.  Don't let emotions carry you into an unnecessary, expensive purchase.

3.  Carelessness has financial consequences.

4.  Set a goal and work toward it. 

I'll definitely let you know if/when she earns enough for her big purchase...