I am still trying to get over the hump at work. UGH.

Last weekend we were out of town for some family stuff. So it's been a little extra busy. Other than that, MH is back at work and we are just getting back into the swing of things.

I sat down and looked at all the bills today. September has been very low spend. I guess what I mean is I entered all the October bills (including September charges). I try to eyeball it all mid-month and make sure our cash flow for the following month is in the green. I also set up all the cash bills to pay on the first. I have enough float to cover so just set those up today.

I think it's some combo of not feeling much need to splurge after such a BIG vacay. Also, being thrown back into work. MH started back at work when we got back. This is reminiscent of our *busy* months (Jan - April) when we make extra money but are also too busy to do much else. It's not THAT busy, but feels busy after summer break.

That said, we did have some splurges. We spent $60 the Friday before last at the art school's talent show (fundraiser). AMAZING! A lot of these kids are professional level already. So I've never seen a talent show like it. I'd say at least 1/3 of the songs were original composition. It was just awesome on every level.

The other thing is that today is our 17th wedding anniversary. We have been together for 22 years. We aren't big on splurging or making a big deal about most things, but I guess our anniversary is one exception. We know we are blessed to have something VERY special. GMIL gave us $40 cash, and we are going to have lunch at one of my favorite restaurants today. & then just walk around downtown afterwards, which is kind of our standing Sunday date. (It's been a while because it's been too hot or too busy, but when we have quiet weekends we just sneak away and enjoy some quiet time). We are still in a bit of a "honeymoon" stage since it's not been very long we can just leave without getting a babysitter. Plus the more we do it, the less I worry about the kids. It's AWESOME!

-------------------------------------------------

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that we did have one big splurge this month. We bought a used trombone for DL. I am very pleased with that purchase. The music store that we like and trust only had a $600 model. We just started there figuring this might be more than we wanted to pay. We were planning to shop around a bit. When it was clear we weren't going to rent or buy, they dropped the price by 50%! That was the price range we were looking for ($300) so we just took it because we very much trusted the quality. Saved us a lot of time and shopping around. I mean, I expected to pay that much on Craigslist and to have no idea what we were getting. So I am very pleased with this purchase.

The idea would be to sell it for the same price when we are done. (I don't foresee him sticking with trombone very long. He more wants to learn all the instruments, and has the support system to do so at this school. But if I am wrong, we would want to upgrade. I guess either way, is a bit of a temporary/starter instrument).

Moral of the story: Sticker price means nothing.