Windfall Budgeting, and the New Year...a blog entry in two acts.

Act 1

As some of you may know, I'm in a commissioned sales position. This means that my income can vary somewhat. This is a bit more complicated in my case, as my primary industry is tax preparation...making my sales very seasonal.

One of the things our wonderful coaches have helped us with is averaging the income. This time last year, I had a lot of money. But like many of us, it bled out of my checking account in little "why nots" and "we can afford its". New TV. Nights out. Dinners at good restaurants. None of these things are necessarily evil, but when they're not coupled with some form of discipline...well, suffice to say that by summer we were back in the same old boat.

This year, we took a look at the big sales commissions in a very different light. Each dollar is an opportunity to save or pay down debt. And the lesson we've taken this year is to put aside a large portion into savings, to average out the income. In July, when a sale is hard to come by, I will have a supply of funds from this sales season, left there with forethought. If this seems like a no-brainer, perhaps you're right. But sometimes the most obvious solution can be the hardest to see. When you boil it right down, there's just no such thing as "extra money."

Act 2

On New Year's Eve, we attended the Harlem Globetrotters game/performance as guests of Wright-Patt Credit Union. Other families in the Race attended as well, and it was very nice to be able to chat with them and get to know them even more. It was also very nice to see the Globetrotters. I grew up in the days of Meadowlark Lemon, Geese, and Curly. When I was a little boy, I wanted to be a Globetrotter...like every other little kid. Suffice to say, by half time I think I had reverted to about 11 years old. Unfortunately, we had to leave a few minutes early to get home and prepare for our New Year's Eve festivities. As we rang in the new year with close friends (and I'll admit that those fellows Captain Morgan, Jose Cuervo, and DeKuyper were in attendance) we reflected a bit on what's ahead. Amongst other things, we have another several months of the Race in front of us. With all the tools we've learned, I already feel like a winner. I am already less stressed about money, just from making progress thus far, and making some sacrifices in spending to get where we are. We've changed this year.

New Year's Day dawned, but honestly I didn't know it until around ten in the morning. But in any case, it did in fact dawn, and I'm pretty sure it dawned on a good year. If fortune's wheel hasn't turned, then at the very least Jess and I are looking at that wheel from a different perspective. May your new year be as full of promise as it may.

Dave