2010 to date has been devoted to cleanup — we’ve dumped piles of physical junk. Baking supplies from 2007. A cocoa mix gift from several Christmases ago. Ten-year-old balsamic vinegar that was never meant to age.

Digital detritus, too, has been painstakingly banished from my computers. Finally having the time to reorganize things that just kept getting pushed aside after baby number two — yes, for nearly three years — has been a much-needed psychic lift.

In that spirit, I’ve been reflecting on what worked, moneywise, and what didn’t in 2009:

Go

• Budgeting worked in 2009. Simply being mindful of our limits for major categories really did stop us from overspending, and put the pedal to savings.
• My mindset has improved. I no longer worry about spending money because I know where we stand.
• We’re more creative in reusing what we already have, or putting off or scrapping purchases altogether. We think before we spend.

Stop

• I’m sorry to say that for me, time banking didn’t work at all. Trading time instead of money for services is a great idea. But in practice, I couldn’t deliver. As Murphy would predict, people called on me when I would gladly have paid money to buy more time for myself. So nix to this for 2010.

Restart

Of course, budgeting is only as good as one’s habits, which, of late, have lapsed. Life getting in the way, etc.

But we plan to plan. Plan on it.

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Tags:   Budget · mindset · Spending · time bankNo Comments