It's 7:56PM and the thermometer reads 89 degrees. That's down from 104 degrees just before 5PM. Tomorrow it's going to be even hotter. My big plans for the day were to watch golf but it doesn't look like my buddy, Tiger, is going to be around for the weekend. So, what am I supposed to do with myself? I think it could be a good time to balance the budget.
For the longest time, we didn't have a formal budget. All of our finances were kept nice and neat in my head. Those were the days. Things were rosy. Life was good. Or, so we thought.
I still remember exactly where I was when I decided we needed to get serious and set a budget. It was just past 3PM on October 9, 2008. We were on a college tour with Hannah, making a swing through North Carolina, at Elon University. The campus was beautiful, the tour guide was friendly, and the visit was going well. Elon had recently built a new building for their business program and the tour guide proudly took us in to see it.
As we walked in, I noticed a huge television screen and a giant stock ticker on our left. Just two days before, the market had continued its downward trend, falling over 500 points. With that in mind, I stole a quick glance at the ticker. "Good news," I thought to myself. "The market is only down 200 points today." I breathed a sigh of relief and rejoined the tour.
We meandered through the lobby and visited a couple classrooms. It was quite impressive. There were flat screens, projectors, and PC's everywhere. All that tuition money had been put to good use. Less than ten minutes later, the building visit was over and we made our way back to the exit. That meant, of course, another stroll past the big stock ticker. "Holy crap," I thought to myself. "What the hell happened?" The market was now down nearly 700 points!
After quickly calculating my new net worth, my next thought was to wonder why Elon would put such a stark reminder of our dwindling fortunes right in front of us as we toured their shiny new building. After all, we were prospective tuition payers. Money was king of important to us. Once I'd asked myself that question, I made a silent vow to go home and build a budget.
So, that's how I find myself sitting here gearing up for an hour or two of sheer joy in the study tomorrow with my checkbook and all of the bills we've paid over the past 6 months piled in front of me. I'll be dutifully tallying up all our outflows and seeing how well they match up to the expectations we set at the beginning of the year. I can't wait. I guess it beats pulling crabgrass in 104 degree weather. At least I think it does.