Budgets and blessings

Around the time I wake up tomorrow, my bonus will hit my checking account.  I have had all kinds of wild and crazy fantasies about what to do with the surplus. I did splurge on Tuesday night after I got home from Knit Night, and I ordered a bunch of light-toned laceweight from WEBS. They kept upping the discount, so I kept piling balls and skeins into my basket. I ended up with a 20% discount on most of it, and one deeply discounted discontinued color, and free shipping. In theory, that box will arrive at the office tomorrow.

I plugged numbers into my balance sheet and was pleasantly surprised. My 401K did amazingly well last month, my TI stock is up, and the balances on my mortgage and line of credit are dropping steadily. I'm still waiting to take bids on redoing the master bathroom. I think the first one will happen between Conference sessions on Saturday. And while I would love to dash into the building surplus store after work tomorrow and pick up one or both of the vessel sinks, I've decided (for now) that I will be happier if I repay what I've taken from one savings account or another since the first of the year. The money will be there if and when I need it.

Who is this grownup, and what has she done with Ms. Ravelled?

I have a credit card now, with a modest credit limit, for which I am thankful. I've decided that the sensible way to use it is to put a matching amount into my savings account anytime I use the card. That way I do not overspend, and when the statement arrives it's a simple matter to transfer the funds. I stay out of trouble, I have a credit card for when I travel and need to rent a car, I continue to build my credit score, and a percentage of what I charge is applied to my mortgage. No late fees, no interest charges. The crowd goes wild! (Well except for the crowd at the bank that issued my card.)

I was pleased to see from the credit report the bank ran before issuing said card, that my credit score is up 20 points from when I refinanced the house in late 2013. This will only get better as the line of credit is paid down (and possibly paid off by the end of the year) and the mortgage balance drops.

Work is going well. I did not have to send out a will type for food memo to the other legal secretaries, and we're going to be short-handed enough tomorrow (my friends off spending their bonuses) that I may pick up another attorney or two. It feels really good to be on top of my To Do's, the incoming mail, the outgoing mail, the cases that are ready to be closed, and my inbox. I couldn't do this without the prayers that get answered daily.

Have you seen the meme on Facebook of the Savior sitting next to a little boy (I think it's a Greg Olson print), with the caption, "So, what can I help you with today?" I'm grateful for the days when my socks match, and my shirt is on right side out, and I don't spill lunch on my shirt, and work flows smoothly, and I get to laugh with my coworkers. I'm grateful for time with my kids, and time to myself, and those luscious moments of flow when the project du jour or du soir is behaving nicely.

I get a lot done, most days, and I don't kid myself that it's all me.

Time to take my meds, stitch for fifteen minutes just to keep the momentum going, and call it a night.