One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I'm sure you've heard the old saying, "one step forward, two steps back." (And if not, well, you have now).

I'm pretty sure this saying was written about me, or if not, perhaps one of the good fairies said it while waving her wand over my crib as a baby. (Yes, I am making a Sleeping Beauty reference. I'm glad you caught that). For as long as I can remember, (which, granted, is not that long) my life has been an uphill comedy. I push the boulder up the hill, only to have to come rolling back down on top of me. And more often than not, it has to do with money.

I'm not what you'd call a financially minded person. I'm an impulsive, impatient, creative type that refuses to think things through or stand back and look at things from a strictly logical perspective. It's taken a long time, and a lot of 'avoidable but never avoided' bumps in the road for me to get my act together. And I'm still very much a work in progress.

This summer, I created a new budget. Not just any budget, a thoroughly well thought out, logical, easy to follow budget. And I was so very proud of it. I've made many attempts at budgets before, but they've never really stuck. But this time, I'd created a masterpiece. Why did I do this? Sure, there's the logical, financially responsible reasons. But the real reason, my true purpose, was for Paris. Next summer will be my husband and my fifth wedding anniversary. And I want to spend it in Paris. So, I was trying to look ahead, get our finances in order, and start saving for our beautiful, romantic get away. And things have been going really well. Until my husband found our ice cream melted in our freezer.

It seems our fridge is on its last legs. And although, in the grand scheme of things, it is a minor deviation. I can't help but feel deflated. Because this time it's the fridge. But next month it's the washing machine. And the month after that? The dishwasher. My husband and I have the worst luck when it comes to finances. No matter how hard we try to save, life always throws a wrench in our plans. But I'm trying to remain positive. I'm not going to stop with the budget. I'm going to keep saving. Even if we don't make it to Paris for our fifth anniversary, maybe we'll make it for our tenth. With all the crap that goes wrong in our lives, that's probably how long I'll need to save up for it anyway.