The September Plan

We are now on a very fixed income. Husband gets a check from unemployment every Wednesday for a set amount; I get two checks a month, also a fixed amount.

I've discovered that I can pay my bills ohhhh so much easier if I separate out what needs to be paid each paycheck. I have a little excel spreadsheet that lists out the six checks we get and underneath each check states what needs to be paid.

We had a bit of built in padding because originally we thought DH would be getting less from unemployment. Last month we just sort of winged it each paycheck and tried to decide what was best to get with the surplus each time. That worked ok but got a little confusing and sometimes frustrating if we had spent everything then realized we needed something else - ugh! So this month I tried to look ahead and see what we would need: small things like new underwear; larger unexpected bills I hadn't been able to pay last month; deciding on an amount to give as a gift for a party. I also looked at the calendar more closely to make sure we would have grocery and fuel money each week...last month we ran out before the next check came.

I am also a new fan of online banking! Wow, it has simplified my bill paying sooooooooo much. On a payday I sit down with my list of what to pay. I open the bank account, pay the bills, mark them in my checkbook. I write down how much cash I'll need to pull from the ATM and get out my debit card (which otherwise stays put away for the month...dangerous little tricky card). And that's all! Previously I was using each websites on line bill pay and it took forever!! Forever! When I wasn't feeling good just the thought of it helped me want to stay away from the bills...which meant a few of them got paid late just from my groaning and procrastination. Now if I spend 10 minutes on the process (other than my one planning hour each month) I am disgruntled. :)

We're living paycheck to paycheck, and husband has no medical insurance, but we're surviving and that's something! We feel God is helping us find the wisdom to walk through these days, and trust that He will provide DH with a job at just the right time!