i get paid to workout

I recently found a dime on the stretching mat at the gym. A dime. Not a penny or a nickel. A dime....I felt pretty much like someone paid me to work out! (Perhaps not ENOUGH for all the sweat and pain, but payment nonetheless.)

There's nothing like having a budget (or two in our case) to help me appreciate money and put it in it's place.  At various times in my life I've had a budget...more like "based on a real budget." I've used it as guidance until I wanted something that I didn't account for and then I'd finagle money from one designated area into my fun money or eating out categories. Other times, without even looking at actual numbers I would assume that I had probably used less of my grocery money or gas money than I usually did, and then of course, I'd make the purchase. I bought shampoo when I had half a bottle left, kept at least 2 types of conditioner in my shower, and bought lotion, candles, and journals EVEN after I had just had a birthday!

Well, gone are those days. I now know that I can go for at least two weeks on an inch of shampoo left in the bottle. I know that I have a sample-sized pantene pro-v I snagged at the check-in desk at the Y two months ago if needed. And worst case scenario - there are a few hotel leftovers in the back of the drawer below the linen closet.

We have financial goals. If you haven't guessed it already...we are on a real budget. It's completely eye opening. We tell our money when to jump and it asks "how high?"

I have a new appreciation for gifts given and gifts received. A new awareness for how I can create a gift that is more valuable to a person than what I can buy, and I am thrilled when I can use my problem solving skills and creativity to make a meal out of the abundance in our fridge and cupboards without spending needlessly on extras at the grocery store.

We save. We give. We prioritize. We enjoy what we spend our money on. We look for deals. We don't feel obligated to use coupons and try not to be lured by buying bigger, better, newer items. I try to remind myself that even the richest of folks try to keep up with someone. And so I've decided to step off of the hamster wheel that had me circling in materialism and step onto the elliptical machine at the gym...all the while keeping my eyes peeled for the next dime!