Finances

A lot changes between the time when you first get married to even a couple years down the line. When Rich and I were newly newly weds, I wanted HIM to be the one to create our budget for us and keep track of how we were doing that month financially. He on the other hand wanted ME to be the one to create it and keep track of it. So we spent the first year (probably year and a half...) of us having a roughly etched out budget that neither of us visited ever. We always knew we were in the positive and up to date on payments like bills etc, but weren't sticking to our guns.
Something somewhere along the lines clicked with me, and I have budgeting fever! I think it's because I finally got a BIG term picture in my mind when we started talking about buying a house, and I wanted to do my part to help us reach that goal (since I'm not the bread winner, but the baby chaser in our house). We have since laid out a realistic budget for us, and I have been laboring my tooshie off to make sure we stay within our perimeters. It has been fun, stressful, rewarding, and time consuming. I have pinned countless money saving tips on pintrest, a lot of which make me feel like I am totally going to dominate this budgeting gig!
While budgeting has been fun, I feel so desperate to "win" at it that it has been stressing me out. I feel like our budget is sink or swim (in many ways it is), and how do I stay a float when we have so much to juggle? Maybe we just eat a ton (okay, there's no maybe to it... We all eat a ton in this house!), and we have so many fun things we want to get for our new house that I feel like the belt around my budget is starting to give way. It panics me! Like I said before, I desperately want to succeed at our budgeting (it's a fun goal and task for me to achieve, and makes me feel proud that I can take care of my family without breaking the bank).
My drive for success in this area has caused me to pause and say many prayers. Prayers to lead me to success, to have a clear mind, to find good deals, and to know what is realistic for us. I have been blessed with many of those things, and the additional blessing of a supportive husband who cheers me on, follows my rigid guidelines, and helps me regain perspective when the dollar signs to everything start spiraling out of control in front of me! I am so blessed to have a great friend in him. I am so blessed to even have this predicament! I am so blessed to have challenges to think about, solve, and get better at. I am glad that for some reason budgeting has clicked for me now; it has given Rich and me a lot of fun things to talk about and plan for. It has also challenged my mind in areas I was seeking to be challenged (I love having ownership over things and finding a way to succeed).
So whether I sink or I swim, I am glad for little changes in personal interest!