Money Magic

As you know, we're trying really hard to cut back on our spending and save money right now.

Basically, my paycheck (unemployment benefits, for now) goes to the mortgage and we save the rest - a bit in a Christmas Club, a bit in a savings account that we are allowed to dip into, and the rest into a money market account that we aren't suppose to use except for really big stuff (like babies :-) ).

Despite our habit of using that savings - and sometimes the money market - on a regular basis, to make it to the end of the pay period, our day-to-day expenses supposedly come from Shrike's paycheck.

One major goal has been to get our spending down to within her check, and stop dipping into the savings every couple of weeks.

Another thing I've realized is that if we can squeeze an extra day or two of living out of each paycheck, we can pretend that she gets paid twice a month, rather than every two weeks.

If we budget our spending around two checks per month, we can save those two "extra" checks, when three paydays fall in the same month. (This year, it will be June and November.)

I came up with this plan about a week ago. Her last check had come on March 9, and the next was due March 23 (yesterday). I decided to stretch it to March 25, so that the paydays would be "round" numbers.

(Round, in the sense that a "5" is a round part with a couple of sticks attached.)

Today, though, I realized that Quicken won't give "half-month" reports for any periods other than 1-15 / 16-31, so I've decided that - what the hell - we'll squeeze a little more out, and run 16-day pay periods for a few months, until I can get the "paydays" shifted around to the 1st and 16th.

So, the check that actually went into the bank yesterday is just sitting there, being ignored, and we won't actually acknowledge that it's there and start spending it until Monday.

It's funny, because it seems like such a tiny thing to just wait one additional day, but it will make such a huge difference in the long run. The idea of putting two entire paychecks into savings before the end of the year is definitely worth the effort.

I'm really pleased with how we did this pay period. For the first time in a long time, I'm not seeing any "-" signs in the check register nor have we moved any money from saving to checking to cover our asses. (Usually, we do both.)

Granted, we don't have much left in the "regular checking" account, where the day-to-day expenses come from. (Less than $10, actually, and I'll probably put a bit of gas in my car tomorrow, so we'll be down to $2 or $3.)

But, the big difference is that $10 is what's left after we've pulled out:

• A bit that we're each allowed to "blow" with no input or complaints from the other (and we each have a few bucks left there)
• Money to set aside for those "unexpected" expenses that happen every damn year (used $17 of that so far, for a subscription renewal)
• Half of our monthly utility costs, because almost all the bills come during the same pay period (minus the bill that came this week)

So, although having $10 left would a big improvement in itself, we really have more than $250 left - which is just huge, compared to our past record of spending it all, plus another $100 or $200 or more from savings, and still starting the next pay period in the hole.

It's taken a lot of diligence and alot of planning, especially on the groceries, and a lot of work, in terms of cooking rather than going out, but it's exciting to see the benefits so quickly and so concretely.

I am little nervous about how much time and energy I'll be able to put into maintaining our new, more frugal lifestyle once I'm working, and I'm also nervous about how long it will be "fun" and "a challenge" rather than feeling deprived.

But, it's great to know that we can do this, and if we can get our expenses down as low as possible now, we'll have more available when we've got a baby to feed and clothe and entertain!