I am not a mathemagician

 

Thank you to TurboTax for sponsoring my writing about household finances.Learn more about how TurboTax can help you find every tax deduction you deserve. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

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I handle the finances in our household. A fact which is laughable. You see, I am not a mathemagician. I was an English major. Trained to spot a typographical error from a mile away. But college algebra? Yeah, it took me three tries to pass that class (sorry, mom and dad).

The only reason I handle the finances is because I am a control freak. Admittedly I’m not stellar at keeping up with bills. Another reason I thank God for the internet and auto bill pay. Otherwise I might not be typing this post after our electricity is turned off due to failure to pay.

I don’t do well remembering when a bill is due or organizing my mail in a way that helps me find something I need fast. But I can say with certainty that online banking changed my life and my finances. Checkbook? What’s that? I cannot remember the last time I used an actual check. And I never carry cash.

My iPhone helps too with a handy little app I use to keep track of all our accounts. Now I just press a button and voila! I know exactly how much money we have in our checking, savings and retirement accounts. I can also see our credit and loan accounts as well (I don’t like those as much but it’s nice to keep track of those too).

I have even done our taxes online for the past two years with the help of TurboTax. The first year was a bit rough putting in all the info. But this year was a breeze since they kept all the info stored from last year. It took me an hour to enter the info and send it off!

The hubs and I have tried a number of different ways to budget. Unfortunately, no one way has ever worked for us. Oh, I once had big plans for our financial future. Popular books from Dave Ramsey, David Bach and Suze Orman are all stacked in the basement currently gathering dust. I read them all and liked what they had to say. I’m just not sure we had the willpower to follow any of their advice.

But since we are moving to a new house soon with a plumper mortgage payment our lack of discipline and communication regarding money needs to change. We will no longer be able to go on impromptu Target shopping sprees and buy unnecessary junk with wild abandon. ::sobs into her empty coin purse::

Even so, I am looking forward to this new challenge of being a tightwad. I think a brand new house is just the kick in the butt we need to figure out exactly where our money is going and to come up with a solid plan!

We’re like #1 trillion on the list. If you read my blog give it a boost, please?