Saying no

Living on a budget is a blessing, but it sure it hard.  My husband and I have a good system (thanks to Dave Ramsey) in which we have a discussion at the beginning of each month and we assign where every dollar will go.

This month, an event came up that I really wanted to do, but when I came time to register for it, the money just wasn't there.  So I said no.  It was a color run for our school's benevolent fund.  What a cool concept.  My 2 oldest boys were going to do the 1 mile walk with me.  What a great moment to share with them!  But part of being an adult is recognizing that we can't always do everything we want to do.

Bummer.  The silver lining is that our family is going to a birthday party later that afternoon so I know doing both events in one day would have been a stretch.

I may get lucky and boys #1 and 2 won't notice we're missing the color run.  If they ask, I'll be honest but non-dramatic.  I don't want them to get the message that we have so little money that they have to worry, but I do want them to learn the message that money, like time, energy and many other things, is limited.  We used our entertainment budget for camping and other things. 

I was challenged recently to focus on the donut and not the hole.  With budgeting, that hole sure is pretty.  So many things I want that I just don't have the money for. 

Lord, thanks for all the blessings I have.  Help me be content this day and give me the wisdom to teach it to my boys.