Plan B

Two days ago, #thebudgetmom had a great little story on her instagram stories - it was about having a Plan B.. with all good budgets, no matter how great you think it's going, you should always have a plan B. I haven't felt anxiety or stress about $$ in months following #thebudgetmommethod, til today. So, going into August I will absolutely have a Plan B for our business account.

My husband gets paid bi-monthly via the State - and sometimes you are at their whim on when they are going to pay you. I remember when we were getting married (2008), back then we were only getting paid once a month and planning our wedding and paying for it ourselves. I remember feeling anxiety when we didn't get paid for almost two months.. it's the state paying us but they had to make sure they had the money appropriated fiscally - it was every other excuse. I remember feeling anxious and stress about paying and keeping up with our debt and mortgage, but then also paying for our wedding. It's a stress and anxiety I don't want to feel again.

In July, for my personal checking account I have a "checking account" cushion established. I would put aside $20-$40/week and not count it in my tracker or checking account register. So, now at the end of the month, I have $110 "cushion" going forward in August.. I will do the same in August, September, October and so forth, when it reaches $1500 then I can transfer some out into another fund, all the while keeping a cushion in case something happens.

In our business account, we don't have a cushion and this week we are feeling the pinch, as the State hasn't paid us yet and we were suppossed to get paid on the 25th of July. It's agonizing looking at the RED numbers, the extra debit insufficient funds amounts and the rejected automatic payments. Plan B kicks in and in August we will be starting a #checkingaccountcushion in that account as well. Oh boy. If you feel the pinch sometimes, anxiety or stress toward your money or accounts, please start small and start that checking account cushion - it will save you lots of stress!

We will get paid, eventually - tomorrow is another day... but this time a month from now, I will have started a cushion and not feel as stressed. Money stresses stink, especially after I have done so well in the last 7 months, or thought I have.... just need to tweak that a little better!

Thanks for reading!