Grace

A couple of months ago my friend mentioned that she was doing some financial counseling with her niece.  She had her niece save every single receipt and write down the amount spent. 

Sounded like a good idea for me too so I started collecting them, then I got discouraged and chucked them all, then I started again fresh in December and have kept up with it in Jan. 

Last night Josh and I went to her house and showed her my results and Josh's percentages of our spending vs. the Crown percentages.

Good news is we're spending less in almost every area of a budget for a family of 6.
Bad news: there is no where to cut our spending and there is barely enough and may not be enough to attack the debt that has crept up the past two and half years since the city cut salaries and increased insurance deductions.

I will continue to save every single receipt and we will create an envelope discretionary spending.
We'll meet her again in a month or so and she will encourage us that we are doing good and we are healthy and there are many reasons to give thanks.