During lunch, when my husband came home for his 30 minute visit (lucky us he lives so darn close to work!), he set a task for me: come up with a budget to decide how much he needs to make a year in order for me to be comfortable.
So, I'm thinking maybe this was done with a tid bit of a snarky attitude, but either way, it's a task I am to complete. And I'm seeing just how much money we spend a month.
Mike likes to point out on occasion that we used to get by with him making much less than he is now. And it's my job to point out that we now have a daughter and I now work only part-time. He usually huffs at this point. But the truth is, after going through our pay statements from last year, we only made about $8000 more a year than we had the previous year and we have much more expenses. Our daughter is expensive! And that's with all the hand-me-downs and mommy bargain hunting for clothes!
The truth of the matter is, if Mike is to get another job, he would have to make at least equal what he's making now.
At this point, I should make the disclaimer that we do have a savings account. A savings account we do not look at. A savings account where 10% of both of our paychecks are direct deposited. But at the same time, we don't want to really factor that into our budget, into our thinking because otherwise, we run the risk of dipping into it unnecessarily and therefore hindering our chances of ever being able to afford a down payment on a house. (If there's anything this housing crisis has taught me, it's that I do NOT want to ever do an FHA loan, because that means I'm probably not able to really afford the house - not that I'm judging anyone who has gotten an FHA loan. It's just simply not for me).
But the fact of the matter is, we spend. A lot. And we don't even have "top of the line" items or really a whole lot of things.
We just like to eat out. Which has got to stop. For a number of reasons. But that's a post for another time.
Le sigh.
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