First week of

is done. This is going to go fast, I can see this already. As an aside, this is my fist summer off since I started teaching. I have almost always taught summer school, and would have this year most likely because we always needed the money. The one summer I didn't teach summer school, I was freaking out over money because the crazy nun had fired me and I didn't know how we were going to survive until the new job started. Then last summer I didn't work, but I was orchestrating a trans-Pacific move and it was far more stressful than working. So this summer....no summer school because we are not broke... no big move because we live in an amazing house in a nice area....so there is nothing to do but relax. How nice. I have been working on AP Biology, it's not going as well as I would like and I'm not sure exactly why, but I am making progress. But that's not what I want to write about today...

Initially, I was going to write about budgeting and how bad I am with money, but I realized that is not completely true. I have times when I'm good with money and times when I'm bad with money. So then I realized that money is like everything else in my life, I can do good and stick to a plan for a while but eventually, it falls apart and I fall back into old, lazy habits. So this will not be so much about money as about how to stay on top of things that I need to stay on top of. So how do I do it? I know what I need to do. I make lists, charts, have a planner, etc. Yet I will go along great guns for a while and then suddenly I forget. I just forget that I need to check the bank account every day. I forget that I wanted to put some money away. I just forget. I've tried habit trackers in my planner - which sits on my desk here and I can't help but look at every single time I'm on the computer. So what do I need to do? I honestly don't know how people keep track of all the things in their lives all the time. How do they do it? What do I need to do to keep all the things in my life in order? I'm really at a bit of a loss. As I think about it though, I tend to avoid doing things like checking the bank account when I know I've been spending too much or I know the balance is getting low. So it's not so much that I am forgetting, it is more a matter of avoiding. Hmmmm.... Interesting. So how do I avoid this? I am not perfect so I can't imagine that I'll never spend more than I plan to ever again. That's just unrealistic. I really did best when I had my own spending money. Maybe I should put some money into my account and just use that for spending when I get the urge. Hmmm.... that way I won't negatively impact the family finances. That may be an option. If I just don't use the family account for my spending, that would help. So, what I've been doing is not working, therefore I have to change what I'm doing. Simple as that. Well, I haven't really solved anything but I do have some ideas. That is the best thing about this blog. I know I could talk to people, but sometimes I need to work it through myself, because if I don't understand the why or how I will never change things.

In other news, the teachers' group I belong to is releasing some stuff tomorrow to help us get through the summer. I'm really looking forward to that and will close here and rest tonight so I can work hard tomorrow :)


The next day: so I've thought about this stuff all day and I've decided that I just have to do it. I have to make certain things completely non-negotiable and I just have to do them. Kind of like brushing my teeth or showering. I just have to do these things and I don't really think about them. So I set up my planner for next week and I put in another habit tracker. I will do every thing every night before bed. That is all. I will stay on top of every thing and I will make it a habit. That's it. Now, off to bed.