Difficulty Keeping On Budget

My frustration level with my husband is at an all time high.  It's very difficult being the only adult that watches the budget.  I know that I'm not perfect and I buy things that I don't need (hello Diet Coke) but I feel like I'm the only person taking our debt reduction plan seriously.  I've tried to have conversations with him but they never get very far.  He's onboard as long as he doesn't have to be deprived of what he wants.  For example, he wanted to go to a local consignment shop that sells brand name clothing.  He ended up finding a pair of practically brand new tennis shoes and decided that they were something he needed.  He needed them because he didn't have any casual tennis shoes and they were only $20.  Forget that he has at least three other pairs of tennis shoes and will shortly need to replace his work shoes that are wearing out.  Was there $20 in the checking account to pay for these shoes? Yes.  So what's the problem?  Well you need work shoes and the $20 you spent on tennis shoes could've helped pay for the work shoes that you actually needed, not shoes that you want. This only leaves me more frustrated because I feel like I need to make up for his budget shortfalls by scrimping on things that my son and I need.  I'm so tired of putting myself in second place when it comes to finances. 

Just Blah

This summer I have had absolutely no motivation to get things done.  I feel like I'm just hanging in there.  I have no desire to take my son to the pool, to clean our house.  I have no desire to do anything except get watch TV and mess around on the internet.  It's been very difficult to get the motivation together to do anything I should be doing.  In my mind, I'm always putting it off until the next day and then the next and then the next.  I need to snap out of this funk and just get excited about something, anything.

Precious Dollars

I withdrew our grocery money for the next two weeks from our bank account today.  I am determined to stick to the grocery/household budget for this week and I think using cash will make me more mindful of my spending.  It certainly did today after I left work.  It has been 100+ degrees this week and I've made it a habit of stopping at the grocery store on the way to pick my son up from camp and grabbing a bottle of soda.  With tax, it's almost $2.  I really wanted a soda today.  But I just couldn't bring myself to stop and grab one because I didn't want to part with my precious dollars knowing how scarce they are and that we still need to do a big grocery shop.

Being Taken Advantage Of Comes To An End

WARNING NON-PF RANT AHEAD:  I am completely flabbergasted by what some people will ask of others.  This last year has been a growing year in terms of offering to do something out of kindness and just keeping my mouth shut and going on my merry way. Over the past year, I have been bamboozled over and over again by a co-worker that is just plain lazy.  Let's get things straight, this person is a co-worker, not a superior.  Unfortunately, she thinks she "rules the roost" and would ask me to do things that I now know are not my job.  All in the vein of being "too busy" to complete the task herself.  Now, I'd be more than happy to help if she really needed it.  But I don't think that checking personal e-mail, paying your household bills and surfing the internet qualifies as being "too busy" to perform your job.
When I was starting my job, I was told that we just work through lunch (which I'm fine with) but that often times one of us girls goes and get carryout for our office of 3.  It turns out that I was always the one that went to go get lunch.  I don't begrude my boss because she physically can't leave the office during office hours.  Not only would I get lunch, but she never gave me enough money to completely cover her portion.  If the meal was $7.69, she give me $8 even though with tax it was $8.35.  In the beginning I didn't quibble because it was only $.35 but after awhile when she never gave me enough to cover her meal, I started to get pissed.  I didn't want to make waves so I just stopped going to get lunch (which is better for the budget anyway).
Last but not least, the summer "carpool".  Because my son is not old enough to stay home by himself, he has to go to camp so I can continue working.  Because my schedule is flexible and part-time, I can adjust my schedule to his camp schedule in order to get him to and from camp.  Co-worker decided that she would sign her son up for a couple of weeks at same camp my son attends.  But, uh-oh, he had no way to get there and back because her work schedule wouldn't let her.  She asked if I could take her son to and from camp.  Because they only live a few minutes from camp and were signed up for the same early drop off program, I didn't mind.  The first of two weeks, I texted her and asked that he be ready and waiting for the early morning run.  She texts back that MWF his older sister would take him to camp before she had to be at work because it was too early for him and he wanted to sleep in a bit but wanted to make sure that we could still take him on T & R because his sister wanted to "sleep in".  So excuse me, you have a method to take your son to camp but you're going to ask someone else.
So, in conclusion, all of this comes to an end tomorrow afternoon when I drop off her son for the last time because it his last day of camp.  And it will really come to an end in a couple of weeks, as co-worker is moving out of state.  My parting words to co-worker is GOOD RIDDANCE and GO F**K YOURSELF! 

Decluttering

I saw on another blog (but can't remember the name) that they were doing an all house decluttering.  The idea is to pick one room a week and start there.  I've never started before because it all seemed so overwhelming and I just didn't know how to start.  Well, starting with one room seems like a good idea to me so that's where I'll start.  Now I just need to decide which room I'm starting with :)