Money....

I know that talking about money is a taboo subject for some.  For me, I just really don't care if people know how much money we make, or how much our house cost.  Maybe because it's really not much.  Maybe if we made more money I'd be more reluctant to share our money business.

In reality we pay out more each month than we take in.  The main reason? Daycare.  We pay over $800 a month in daycare costs.   We knew this before deciding to have another baby and yet we went for it anyway.  Does that make us crazy?  Probably.  But to us having a family was so important and we were selfish and wanted our kids to be close together.

We don't have a lot of debt.  In fact the ONLY debt we do have is our mortgage.  No car payments, no credit card debt, no student loans.  We don't go on lavish trips, or buy expensive things.  We have the most basic of all basic phone plans and cable plans.  We do splurge on netflix, but we VERY much use that and since going out to a movie is so expensive we find this a justifiable expense and we definitely get our money's worth out of it per month.  Our mortgage is a very manageable amount and well within our means.  I use coupons whenever possible and almost always buy the girls' clothes at pre-owned sales.  We don't go out to eat an unusual amount (though probably a little more than we should.  But hey, we do have to LIVE too)

And yet knowing all of that, we still have to pull just a very little bit of money out of savings every month to cover expenses.  We  have analyzed and re-analyzed our money to see where it all goes and yet we just can't seem to find places where we can cut back any significant amount.  I'm frustrated to say the least.  And now we get to pay for a portion of this fancy helmet Claire gets to wear.  Thank goodness for insurance though even just paying 10% is sometimes more than manageable.

So there it is.  All laid out on the line for everyone to read.  I know in the long haul we are doing ok.  That things will get better, and for goodness sakes that we are way luckier than a lot of people.  But for now, I hate money.  I hate how much stuff costs and I hate how no MATTER what you never seem to have enough.