*~* A Gift *~*

A Gift

Now I'm assuming this isn't a material gift, but a gift I have. I'm not sure I have a special gift, maybe a gift of budgeting that I think I have a certain knack for. I'm VERY grateful for that gift for the following reasons:

• I've seen many times in my life when people can't budget or don't live within their means and it hurts them real bad and I've always known I didn't want to be like that and it's not hard for me to budget at all. In fact, it makes me feel better when I stick to it and get things paid in a timely manner.
• Budgeting makes me feel like I accomplished something: I get bills paid, I'm able to save for vacations or car repairs or whatever else I need, I still leave myself a little play money for the weeks between paychecks. It's a nice feeling for me.
• I've read several times between articles in magazines, online, in books, whatever, that finances are one of the most important things to agree on in a relationship. It's one of the top three (along with children and religion) things that can hurt a relationship big time and luckily between Larry and I, I think we have the best spending/saving history so we know how to make it work so well within our relationship.

Budgeting really does give me a sort of happy high in my life. I love making sure I pay bills and on time. Larry and I both agree we grew up not having a whole lot (I'll say, for me, my mom did an amazing job raising us, being a single mom and all. I know it took a ton of sacrificing and I can't express how much I really appreciate everything she did for us, but I now know the truth that it was a huge stretch for her a lot of the time) and so we agree we always want to make sure we don't take on too much debt and can give our kids plenty. We know that means we need to make sure we're financially set and can take care of the things we do owe money on and we need to stay responsible. I'm so glad to have someone I agree with and who agrees with me about such an important thing.