The light at the end of the tunnel

Is most definitely not a train.

Yesterday was payday and today Hubby's retirement came in. I made out checks for the mortgage (it's been sold) and the homeowner's dues, plus I paid Mavy's next class on Wednesday - all with checks. That is the most checks I've written in years. This morning I sat down to budget the rest of the money and an amazing thing happened. I covered everything that needed to be covered and I had leftover money. what, what?????  That has not happened in so long I can't even remember.  So, I put some money in an emergency fund. Still had extra. So I budgeted so we could go out to eat 1 time each weekend until next payday. Still had extra. So I budgeted for the fancy harness I want to get Mavy. Still had extra. So I started budgeting for the bills that will be due next payday.  I'm budgeting ahead. Say what?????

Since I started YNAB I've seen people posting about how they are budgeting current money into future months. So they get paid today but the money won't actually be used until March or in some cases April, May, even June. I had no idea how that was possible and how you got to that point. I just couldn't see it happening for me. Like I'm some special case. But now I see how that can happen. Instead of paying all my bills and saying, I have $600 left over, let's blow it. I pay all my bills and then earmark that $600 for the end of the month's bills. Then when the next paycheck comes, I already have some bills budgeted for. That reduces how much I will use from that paycheck and allow me to budget for the coming month. Gradually the amount to budget forward will get larger and larger and pretty soon we will get paid and I won't even care because all the bills are paid already and we are not spending that money for another month. OMG!!! I honestly thought that in order to make this happen, ever, I would need a huge windfall of money. That's not true. You just need to pay attention and be purposeful with your money. On paper we make a lot of money, far more than we need each month, I just couldn't figure out how to get ahead. Now I totally get it. The best part of this whole thing is, I have a tax refund check coming in and I don't need it at all. That has absolutely never happened.

This whole thing feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I feel lighter than I've felt in years and years. I also see now how these things really are all related. In the past, I had always viewed getting straight with money as something I did and then finished. Uh, no! It doesn't work that way. It is an ongoing, continuous process that I need to work on all the time. Just like a healthy lifestyle. It's not something you get and then stop, you have to keep working at it. I really and truly get it now.