Sticker Shock

David and I aren't bad with money. We both have excellent credit scores. We don't have a lot of expenses but we don't have a lot of money either.

When you are newly married your expenses are: rent money for your hobbit hole, food/booze and the car(s). Since I am a spoiled California girl I have additional expenses. These needs are not in the budget. Things that are not in the budget do not register in David's brain. So when I tell him I need a pedicure he hands me the toe nail clippers. I cringe. I don't cut my own toe nails I have a phobia. I haven't had a pedicure since leaving California but I have learned to cut my toenails. I haven't had a haircut either. David shaves his head in the bathroom and I think he expects me to do the same. I've started going to Wal-Mart instead of Target (even though I hate Wal-Mart). I spend less money at Wal-Mart because their clothes are uglier than Target's. I'm going through recreational shopping withdrawals and the mall is not my best friend anymore. All because we joined Mint.com and have a convenient little pie chart telling us we're on the path to debt and destitution. At the end of this path is not the nice house in a suburb we want but a run down shack on the bad side of town.

Mint.com is awesome. I highly recommend the site. It's safe,free and easy to use. It shows you how much money you have and how much you've spent and where. You can change the numbers around to fit your needs and compare them to national averages and previous months. The site helps you save more for the things you need. I hate it. It makes me feel guilty and ashamed of how much money we are wasting.


Not our actual budget pie chart. Seriously, we live in Ohio not California our apartment rent is half that number.


Again, not our actual pie chart but this is closer to what,I think, our budget should look like.


Ignorance is bliss and that works two ways. Life was more fun when we were only loosely budgeting and what David doesn't know won't hurt him. I need to get my license and get a job and earn my own money soon so I can pay for the things he doesn't deem necessary. Maybe when we were on the plane I should have presented him with a copy of "The Proper Care and Feeding of Samina." He might have found it cheaper to put me on the first one way flight back to California.