NSM: Update

Confession time: I almost dipped into money meant for our emergency fund. :(

I had the money from a check cashed at one bank to put in the ER fund which is held at a different bank. NORMALLY I cash the check and deposit at the same bank the ER fund is held at. But this time, with gas prices the way they are, I cashed at the bank closest to the grocery store, and planned to take the ER fund money to the other bank when I took JJ to therapy (as it was on the way).

I had taken beloved to a doctor appointment, and while he was in, I decided to drive around a bit to keep the kids happy while waiting in the car. I came across an estate sale. I only had a small amount of money on hand for beloveds doctor appointment co-pay and some cash. And I thought "I have the ER fund money I can use and just repay myself back after payday." And I went into the sale.

With this being No Spend Month I should not have even gone INTO the estate sale!

It wasn't until later that day I realized that I had already deposited the cash into the ER fund. But it is scary to think how addicted I am to saving money that I would have used money meant for our ER fund to do it.

I have always said that I believe that if God truly wanted us to have something, then He would provide it for us. And if it was on sale, and the sale ended THAT DAY, and we wanted to pray and wait on it, then God would either provide it at the sale price the next day (if He wanted us to have it), OR provide the extra money to pay full price for it (again, if He wanted us to have it).

But my thoughts proved different. I was willing to dip into the ER fund cash I had in my pocket by rationalizing that I would replace it. Would not God provide everything we needed within the means we had available (without me having to dip into my ER fund)? Estate sale or not?!

I have learned a valuable lesson. It is worth the extra little bit of money on gas to make sure the ER fund money gets deposited right away. I do not have the self-control at this time to not spend it if I have it.

Previous balance: $209

$32.50 homeschooling supplies and dresses for the girls. A DEAR friend was having a garage sale and how could I resist! I have been dying to get my hands on some of her books!!! :)

$40 gas. I had to do it. with therapies and all I need gas in the car. :(

$35 Beloved's birthday party and fun. It was TOTALLY worth it! :)

$ 71. Beloved really wanted some fruit around the house for snacks for him and for the girls, and we were craving hot dogs and of course had to get all the fixins. AND the scratch and dent (SND) grocery store finally had some gluten free cereals in, so I HAD to stock up. Normally they are an average of $4, and the SND has them for $1.50!!

$20 co-pay for beloved. SO THANKFUL I finally got him to goto the doctor!!

$4 at the estate sale (bought a tea set for $2 to resale at the garage sale for $10, and bought a hair cutting set, but it did not come with directions, so that may have been a waste of $2 :( )

$6.50 garage sale supplies (signs and such).

-------Out of money for NSM. :(

We will be having a garage sale this weekend and that is the only money I plan on using for the rest of the month. We are pretty stockpiled now. I think I did not plan on such good deals for stockpiling (as there was NOTHING really last month, all my stockpiling from last month was all mostly slightly discounted stuff). But this month there were some GREAT deep discounts. And having children with special diets (gluten free), if I am ever gonna have a break from making stuff from scratch, I have to stockpile when given the chance.

And NSM has made me realize just how addicted I am to spending to save. No more garage sales for me for the rest of the month! Only selling my OWN stuff!!! :) I guess that is one good thing about having a garage sale, you MAKE money instead of spending it! :) Normally I hate having garage sales because I am stuck at home and "missing out."

But I am realizing that I am trusting more on myself to provide for our needs rather than God who is the ultimate Provider and would not provide anything we don't need (I can just imagine how much CLEANER and decluttered my house would be if I relied totally on God to provide!). It is a very powerful realization. And leads me to much prayer.

**After I wrote this, we ended up having to pay $135 for a visit to the eye doctor for AA. She has a focusing problem, is far sighted and has a stigmatism. :( It is a good thing we went in when we did. The doctor feels that most everything can be corrected, except the stigmatism. The eye is growing and changing from birth to age 10-12. Anytime during that time, one is able to help change the growth of the eye. After that time period, it is too late. The damage has basically been done. VERY interesting to hear all he had to say. The doctor is VERY passionate about EVERY child getting regular eye exams. I just wish we had the money to. Thankfully this money came out of a new expense account we created for such a time as this so we did NOT have to pull money out of our ER fund!!! :)