BeautyView Friday...the most beautiful thing I ever had a hand in making....

There is nothing I find more true as we approach Mother's Day.
I may have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but being a Mom was not one of them.

Last night was my daughter's music program at school. I pulled out my fancy-nancy camera and caught a couple candid shots of her laughing and playing her recorder for the program.
The shot of her laughing cracks me up because it is totally her! In all her natural, goofy, crooked toothed glory. She gives the world beauty every time she laughs.

The program was great, even if there were a few notes squeaked out at the wrong time.
That Girl amazed this Mama at how quickly she can learn something new.
Reading notes never came easy to me.
If you ask my BF Paula, she would tell you that she had to write the letter of the notes on all of my sheet music just so I would play the right one when it came to playing the recorder and guitar in school.

When I was pregnant with Miss L, I imagined that she was going to do great things in this world.
I still do....because everyday she does.

Thank you God, for picking ME to be Miss L's Mama!

Happy Mother's Day!

Enjoy your View~
Jenifer

The Budget View: Where I start

Who really wants to be on a budget?
Um, I don't see a lot of hands shooting up in the air and waving wildly :)

However, the geek in me finds some sort of excited satisfaction in figuring out a budget for my family.... but I don't always think it is fun or easy to follow it. Most times a budget puts a serious crimp in my style, and if you knows me, I am stylin' and profilin'(sorry, I should have warned you with a "geek alert" before I pulled out my urban slang, because I am so not urban).

When it comes to spending money I have always leaned more conservative.  My Hubby, who I will lovingly refer to from here on out as the "B'Dog", would say I am just indecisive & fickle about what to spend our money on.
Let me plead my case:
#1- I am indecisive because I do not want to theoretically be caught with my "pants down" due to over spending and under planning. I know that seems like all the rage right now, especially at a Government level, BUT I hold myself to a little higher standard than that.
I know, I know, so 1950's of me.

AND #2- As far as the "Fickle" part goes, I have a spending disorder, is it called: Buyer's Remorse. No matter what I buy, when I buy it, or how much I buy it for, there is always a nagging feeling of regret & remorse.
This disorder serves our budget well, until B'Dog really has his heart set on making a purchase. That's when I start to look like a control freak with iron purse strings. Amazing how we can see the same situation in a completely different view.

I'm all like: " Do we really NEED that right now?"
And B'Dogs all like: "Yes, plus I really WANT it right now."

We typically compliment each other very nicely in our purchasing decisions, because neither of us gets our way 100%  of the time. Truth be told it can be a jerky little ride, like too much "gas pedal/brake pedal action"  but for the most part it's a fine balanced act.

So here is my idea: I am going to try out a budgeting series.
I am thinking it will have 4-6 parts over a 2 week period.
I hope you consider joining in on these posts, even if you despise the "B" word, not to be confused with the "B'Dog".
You may find a tip or two that will benefit you or your family a long the way.
I would also LOVE to hear what works in your budget.
I am constantly learning and I am sure some of my readers have fabulous ideas!

Remember no matter what your money situation is right now I hope you......

Enjoy the View....it's free! 

DISCLAIMER:
I am not a Pro at economics, math, investing, ect.
I have no formal training or education in any of these areas.
But I do consider myself semi-pro at keeping OUR household afloat from month to month.
I am happy to report that for the past 11 1/2 years (20 if you count when I was single, but I will stick with the years we have been a family unit)  our family has not had even ONE over draft fee from a bank. 
I consider that pretty successful!