Bills...bills...bills...

Bills...bills...bills...

They never run out, don't they? Sigh...

One thing that has helped me tremendously with keeping up with bill paying is automatic payments with the regular monthly bills like electricity, water and such. I just need to make sure that our checking account has enough to cover them. Automatic payments are usually taken out of our account on the same day each month. This makes it easy for me to plug it into our expenses. When income gets deposited, I write in and subtract the bills I know will be paid within the next 2 weeks. This way, I am sure that there is enough funds to cover the automatic transactions.

The middle of the year is a particularly heavy time for bill paying for us. This is the time when we make payments on our insurance policies: life, homeowners and car. We've found that to get the cheapest car insurance rates with a reliable insurance company, it is best to combine with homeowners policy. This is what we've been doing for several years now.

God has really been good to us in providing for our needs. We have never been in want, despite the decrease in income in recent months. I am thankful that I was taught to be frugal and to be wise in using our financial resources because it has been most helpful during leaner times like these.

I'm thinking of starting to give some kind of an allowance to my 2 older kids to help them learn to budget and save and tithe. Perhaps if I teach them while they're young, the lessons become deeply ingrained and they will grow up to be responsible with money matters.