Howard Family, Party of 5

i surrender!
Originally uploaded by varf

How cute is this? The title of it ("I surrender") makes it even cuter.

So something I was thinking about today:

Balancing my checkbook.

Never done it. Not EVER. So I live in a constant cycle of trying to remember my balance and what I've spent, along w/ checking online every 5 minutes to see if anything pops up that I've forgotten. Not only does it make it pretty hard to manage my money, but it also makes me a little bit insane.

WHY do I spend and never write down the transactions?

Because I feel uncomfortable making the person in line behind me wait an extra minute while I write it down. I know, I could do it after I leave the store, but I tried that before and that never worked either, I need to write it down while I have my checkbook open in the store. But I always feel like I need to rush out of there so that it doesn't inconvenience the people behind me. And today I was just thinking: that's pretty dumb.

Why do I care so much about where that person has to be or has to go, that I need to rush to get out of their way?

So I apologize to anyone who might end up behind me in line any time soon, but darn it i'm going to record every transaction I make for every store I go into.....so I can better manage the $5 I have left over for myself every paycheck. :o)