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Every July, I’m reminded of the riddle “Do they have the Fourth of July in Canada (or England or any other country)?” The answer? Of course they do! They have a July 4th and a July 5th and… It’s just a play on the fact that Independence Day is also known as the Fourth of July. Admittedly, it’s not that great of a riddle. For a lot of people, July marks the start of their company’s fiscal year. (As a government employee, I get to wait til October for that fun.) The start of the fiscal year is sort of like declaring your independence from last year. Of course, you’re still stuck with any mistakes you made, and you might not have as much money to budget based on what happened last year, but on Day One of the fiscal year, you’ve got a blank budget and things can go anywhere. Since Independence is celebrated in both the U.S. and in Canada this month, maybe it’s a good time to also celebrate your own financial independence. Put your mistakes behind you. Don’t dwell on them. Okay, so you have to dwell on them a little bit, because bills don’t just disappear. But make a plan to pay them. Start a new plan and set it in motion. Don’t worry about what you’ve done. Look toward the future. Celebrate the fact that you are getting closer and closer to your financial freedom. Or if that sounds corny, maybe just go to a BBQ and have a few frosty beverages while watching fireworks and be glad you live in a country where that’s a normal way of life and that your biggest worries are money and not terrorism and an oppressive government. Or just enjoy the fact that it’s summer. Just be sure to enjoy yourself. Another positive month! My net worth went up 0.66% this month. Not much, but it’s positive movement. I like that sort of progress. This month’s increases were mostly my investments. My cash accounts stayed pretty much the same. Of course, that’s with a contribution to my Roth IRA, so some of the money was moving from cash accounts into investments. Either way, it was a fairly expensive month, which is something I’m hoping to change this month. I do have a set of plane tickets to buy either this month or next, so there’s a solid upcoming expense, and I’ve got an insurance bill coming, so there are some big expenses on the horizon, but I’m ready for them. It’s such a great feeling to watch my retirement accounts grow, especially my Roth IRA, which took a huge hit in 2008. My overall return on that account is still -27%, but that’s much better than it was, and things seem to be moving in the right direction again. Besides, I’m buying low! That’s what’s important. A common refrain among my friends is “I don’t know how you manage to do everything you do.” Apparently, my life appears busy to a lot of people. From my point of view, I’m a pretty lazy person. Where does my time go? Well, I work, obviously. I also run and am often training for a race. I also try to lift weights and cross-train to stay in shape. I sing in a local choir. I like to crochet gifts for friends. I blog, obviously. I also read a lot, both blogs and books. I play kickball. I try to keep up on a few tv shows. And I also try to be social outside of those activities. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it does make me feel busy. And it’s easy for things to fall by the wayside. (Mostly things like dusting. I hate dusting.) As of late, I’ve fallen behind on a lot of my blog reading. My poor Google Reader is packed! Part of this is due to the transportation issues in D.C. over the past week and a half and the fact that it’s taking me significantly longer to get to and from work. I’m going to try to use July to catch up on my blog reading and posting - I usually have about a week’s worth of posts in reserve, and I’ve used every single one! Thankfully, I have finally gotten my financial life to the point where it sort of runs itself. I log expenses into YNAB about once a week or so, but I’ve gotten good at eyeballing my budget. I am so used to only having a certain amount to spend on groceries or dining out or whatever that I almost automatically stay within that budget. That doesn’t mean that I’m perfect, but it’s been a long time since there were surprise overages. When I go over, I know I’m doing it, but I also know where I can move money to make things work. That’s not a place I ever thought I would get to. I couldn’t imagine how people made budgets and stuck with them for so long. It seemed like so much work. And maybe it was in the beginning. But all those wise people were right. It does become almost second nature. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up on my budget - not at all. Even if it is almost automatic, it’s good to always have those guidelines to keep my spending in check. But it’s one less thing to stress about, and that’s amazing. Yesterday, at lunch, I was in the office kitchen heating up my lunch (delicious leftovers from the dinner I cooked Sunday night) and a co-worker I rarely run into at lunch wandered in. “I guess I have to get used to bringing my lunch,” she said. “My husband saw the credit card bill and got mad that I was wasting so much money on food.” Of course, the first thing that rolled through my head was that perhaps they should be more open about their spending so that they don’t have those issues, but I didn’t say a word. Instead, I commented about my own lunch policy. “Oh, I bring my lunch most days. I never go out more than once a week and really try to only go out twice a month.” “Really? You don’t seem like the type to bring your lunch. Why do you do it?” “Couple of reasons, really. I like to try to eat healthy, and that’s easier to do if I bring my lunch. I also like to go to the gym on my break and don’t have time to do that and go get carry-out. And, of course, as you know, it’s expensive to eat out every day. I just can’t afford to do it.” “Oh, come on. I know what you make. You can afford it if you want to.” Wow. So this woman I never talked to was now criticizing my spending? I was a little offended, but let it slide. “Well, sure, I could, but then I would have to cut other things out of my life that I would like to keep. It would be very easy to drop over $200 a month on eating out at lunch. That’s $200 I can spend elsewhere.” I considered mentioning savings, but didn’t think that would go over well. “See, you could afford it,” she said. Clearly, I didn’t get through to her. But hey, it’s not my place to tell you how to spend your money. I just advocate mindful spending. If you want to spend $200 a month on lunch out, so be it. For some people, it’s their vice. They don’t like to go to movies or buy music or clothing. They like to eat out every day. And that’s okay. But you have to prioritize. If you eat out daily, you spend money that you could have used for something else. If the lunches are higher priority, then go for it. For me, eating out isn’t high priority. So maybe I don’t seem like the type to bring my lunch, but I am. Crazy co-workers aren’t going to convince me to change that. |
 
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