You know that sinking feeling you get when you realise you've completely and utterly screwed up? The one that's sometime accompanied by the sound of crunching metal as you reverse into a parked car. The one you get just milliseconds after pressing "Send" on an email addressed to the wrong person.
Well that's the feeling that Sharon and I got at the end of a weekend during which we spent far to much on booze and entertainment when our switch card was refused because we'd run out of money some 3 weeks before pay day.
It's the feeling I had when my Handspring Treo 600 developed problems and that because Orange no longer includes phone insurance free of charge a replacement was going to cost over £400.
You might know the relief then when you find out the metallic crunch was just a coke can you ran over or the email is returned undelivered. The relief I had when I checked the bank balance and discovered we still have money (the card was refused for some other, unspecified reason). The relief I had when the nice folks at Orange accepted that the phone's fault was covered by the 6 month warranty.
Still, I don't get away scot free.
Money is going to be tight this month. It's an ongoing problem we have. I might need to start doing more discos to bring in some extra income. Or Sharon will have to find a job that she can do without incurring more than she earns in childcare costs for Connor and James.
I also need to consider paying for phone insurance (£5 per month!) because I'm terrible for losing and breaking phones. Another expense I could do without.
You could also try setting up a budget; you know, one of those here what comes in/here what goesout/here what we have to spend thingies and sticking to it?
I know, I know, budgets are for old fogies but they do work *grin*
Sharon & I are unfortunately completely unable to stick to budgets.
The main problem is that, despite my not unreasonable income, our regular monthly outgoings exceed my monthly earnings. Therefore our "to spend" is negative. It's only the income from my business that keeps us solvent and that varies greatly from month to month.
