A BAD CASE OF STREP

This is a photo from a book we have been enjoying, called A BAD CASE OF STRIPES by David Shannon... The girl looks like how I felt over the past week. It turns out I was diagnosed with STREP... Thank goodness for antibiotics. We are all taking them and our home is finally returning to normal.

For some financial news we closed out the month of June. For three weeks we basically lived on $400 week (not including housing, utilities or childcare).

The most challenging part of living without a credit card is keeping cash available (and in your wallet). I surrendered my debit card on July 1 as it was too easy to use it as a back-up and safety net.

Starting July 1 we are allocating ourselves with a weekly allowance of $500. We will only access $400 per week and use the additional $100 to build a safety net for unexpected expenses (emergency Vet care, gifts, travel, clothing, special entertainment, etc.). Every month we will create a "wish list" of things we would like to buy. If we have any remaining money at the end of the month we can decide to spend it on identified items or choose to carry it forward to the next month.

I think I'm really going to miss spending so freely...

We are discussing bonuses and other reward and incentive programs as this may become boring and depressing. I'll keep you posted!