CALORIES & BUDGETS

It probably sounds strange to link calories and budgets, BUT there is a correlation!

This past month Dad and I have been doing something different...well, mostly I have been doing something different, but Dad is helping. We've been "bugged" the last year or so that it seems we just get further and further behind financially, even though we're trying really hard to not spend very much money. Three weddings, 4 hospitalizations, numerous doctor visits, etc., etc., MIGHT explain some of it. But we were still frustrated.

SOOOOOO, at the beginning of the month I put a spiral notebook on the kitchen counter and said, "I want to write down EVERYTHING that comes in or goes out financially EVERY DAY! Don't let me go to bed without writing it down."

And so, that's what we've been doing. Suddenly, we are both MUCH more aware of where our money is going, and I tend to think twice before spending money because I know I'll have to write it down.

That's when it dawned on me that it's very much like calories. If we don't know there are 2000 calories in one small box of Crunch and Munch at Wal-mart, it's very easy for me to eat the entire box by myself. Once I found out the incredibly high caloric content of that box, I have NO PROBLEM leaving it on the shelf!!

If we take the time to track (calories or dollars) that come in or go out, we have a much better chance of being successful at what we're trying to accomplish. IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS. . .it's just another kind of DUMB!

I am AMAZED at the difference it makes, and I also feel rather STUPID that it has taken me over a year to figure this out. Oh well...better late than never!!