nterest rates on all our other cards, we reduced our costs for insurance, and, most importantly, we stopped spending money without thinking about it first. We have been using a lot less money in our everyday lives and we have not increased our debt. We have some money saved, and I really am taking care of the bills. We still need to do better so we can afford our necessities without ever putting tI was just outside listening to my neighbors splashing around in their brand-spanking new, five-figure costing, pool. It is a beautiful summer evening and life feels good tonight. But I started to think: how is it that so many people seem to be able to afford these "extras" in life, and we feel like we are just treading water without owning a pool and no pool in sight. Do they make more money than us? Spend less? Invest more wisely? Manage their finances better? Did they finance this pool and are up to their eyeballs in debt but got the pool anyway. Is it possible that they actually had enough money saved to pay for the pool without gaining debt?

Actually, I am not jealous of my neighbor's pool, I am jealous that they do not seem to have to worry about money the way I do (although, maybe they do and built a pool anyway). Lately, every dollar must count in our lives now, or, to put it another way, we must count every dollar -- no pools in our near future, we just want to make sure that we can pay the bills and get the things we need. I worry about how long we will be able to maintain the discipline that we have showed this summer as we have worked on managing our money to get out of debt and start to live more comfortably. I worry that while I have worked so hard to organize and manage the finances, I have not really done that much to make significant change. After all the years of not keeping good records, I can only guess at the effect of our changes.

We have made a lot of changes, I know that: we got rid of one credit card altogether (shredder), we lowered our interest rates on all our other cards, we reduced our costs for insurance, and, most importantly, we stopped spending money without thinking about it first. We have been using a lot less money in our everyday lives and we have not increased our debt. We have some money saved, and I really am taking care of the bills. We still need to do better so we can afford our necessities without ever putting th

us? Spend less? Invest more wisely? Manage their finances better? Did they finance this pool and are up to their eyeballs in debt but got the pool anyway. Is it possible that they actually had enough money saved to pay for the pool without gaining debt?

Actually, I am not jealous of my neighbor's pool, I am jealous that they do not seem to have to worry about money the way I do (although, maybe they do and built a pool anyway). Lately, every dollar must count in our lives now, or, to put it another way, we must count every dollar -- no pools in our near future, we just want to make sure that we can pay the bills and get the things we need. I worry about how long we will be able to maintain the discipline that we have showed this summer as we have worked on managing our money to get out of debt and start to live more comfortably. I worry that while I have worked so hard to organize and manage the finances, I have not really done that much to make significant change. After all the years of not keeping good records, I can only guess at the effect of our changes.

We have made a lot of changes, I know that: we got rid of one credit card altogether (shredder), we lowered our interest rates on all our other cards, we reduced our costs for insurance, and, most importantly, we stopped spending money without thinking about it first. We have been using a lot less money in our everyday lives and we have not increased our debt. We have some money saved, and I really am taking care of the bills. We still need to do better so we can afford our necessities without ever putting t

maybe they do and built a pool anyway). Lately, every dollar must count in our lives now, or, to put it another way, we must count every dollar -- no pools in our near future, we just want to make sure that we can pay the bills and get the things we need. I worry about how long we will be able to maintain the discipline that we have showed this summer as we have worked on managing our money to get out of debt and start to live more comfortably. I worry that while I have worked so hard to organize and manage the finances, I have not really done that much to make significant change. After all the years of not keeping good records, I can only guess at the effect of our changes.

We have made a lot of changes, I know that: we got rid of one credit card altogether (shredder), we lowered our interest rates on all our other cards, we reduced our costs for insurance, and, most importantly, we stopped spending money without thinking about it first. We have been using a lot less money in our everyday lives and we have not increased our debt. We have some money saved, and I really am taking care of the bills. We still need to do better so we can afford our necessities without ever putting t

ut of debt and start to live more comfortably. I worry that while I have worked so hard to organize and manage the finances, I have not really done that much to make significant change. After all the years of not keeping good records, I can only guess at the effect of our changes.

We have made a lot of changes, I know that: we got rid of one credit card altogether (shredder), we lowered our interest rates on all our other cards, we reduced our costs for insurance, and, most importantly, we stopped spending money without thinking about it first. We have been using a lot less money in our everyday lives and we have not increased our debt. We have some money saved, and I really am taking care of the bills. We still need to do better so we can afford our necessities without ever putting t

nterest rates on all our other cards, we reduced our costs for insurance, and, most importantly, we stopped spending money without thinking about it first. We have been using a lot less money in our everyday lives and we have not increased our debt. We have some money saved, and I really am taking care of the bills. We still need to do better so we can afford our necessities without ever putting them on a credit card, but, we certainly are moving in the right direction. And, although we should have been doing this all along, I need to stop thinking about the past and just move forward from here.

That has been my mantra lately. We must not just look back and see all the mistakes, we must look today at all the steps we have taken to correct the mistakes, and look at the future knowing that we are making choices about money, not being blind to the realities of our financial situation. I find myself constantly evaluating potential expenditures: is this something that is more important than paying off more of the debt? Most "things" are not; some are (most of the things that are seem to relate to my children, but that is a whole other discussion). Meanwhile, I learn a few new ideas every day. I fix up our paperwork more and more every day. I de-clutter our house a little bit more every day.

All of that is making me feel better: we can be in control of our money because we have it organized and we know where it is going. I have made some amazing changes: I manage the money so much better now than I did two months ago. I worked hard to put a structure in place to allow me to track our money and keep it under control; now that it is there, I am using it every day and it is working really well to keep us focused on our goal of eliminating debt and increasing savings.

All of this work must be having an effect on our financial bottom line. Certainly, we have made strides: some are not measurable yet, but I can feel us living on less and paying off more all the t