Money Mondays: Saving up.

I hate saving money. Or maybe I'm just not very good at it. When I have an idea (or a whim), I kind of want it right then. It's bratty, I know. It usually doesn't pose that much of a problem, because I rarely want things that are going to cost a large chunk of money. I'm more of a nickel and dimer.

So when our computer finally bit it, after a few years of nursing the poor thing along, we decided not to finance a new one, but to save up. It's hard for me to save, and it is hard for me to be offline. Thankfully, I work in front of a computer all day, so things like online bill paying didn't suffer. Also, I have full browsing on my smart phone. Ok, I didn't really have to struggle much at all. The point is not that I made great sacrifice here, but that I did it. Well, we did. But for me, it was an accomplishment.

We overestimated on purpose for what we wanted to save, and when the back to school deals on laptops started coming out, we were able to score one for way under what we had saved. So far under, in fact, that my husband used what was left get a charcoal grill and smoker that he has been waiting for. And what's left from that will go toward a Spanish class that we can hopefully get enrolled in for fall.

It is exciting for me to have something that we bought free and clear. I tend to give up on saving up. Also, it showed me just how much I really can squirrel away when I really want something. It honestly didn't even pinch our budget that much. Which tells me that I have room for improvement in my budgeting and spending! Our goals starting with the "second half" of our month are a higher giving amount, continued "squirrelling away" until we reach a certain number, and for me, a better grocery budget.

It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. I hope to keep working toward having that kind of discipline in more areas of my life!