I find the holidays always creep up on me, which is hard to believe since I've always been good about finishing my shopping with plenty of time to spare. I guess that for me shopping is not what makes the holidays the holidays, instead it is getting together with family and having a real break from my hectic life.
I'm in the midst of finals, papers, and of course there is always work. Add into the mix purchasing gifts and holiday get togethers it is actually a pretty stressful time. And that is why I think the holidays do surprise me. Before I know it the weeks have passed by and they are here.
But I couldn't be happy once they are here. I'm lucky enough to also get that week between Christmas and New Year's off. That means no work and no classes. Actual time to rest and recover! This year DH and I are creating a shared budget to begin January 1st. We will continue to do our daily tracking separately, but we will have one place where we keep track of all of our accounts and final spending amounts. I see it as the first step to really thinking long-term as a team, versus the individual views we take now. I'm still a believer in that it is important to keep separate accounts, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have agreed upon goals.
So here's hoping that the next few weeks do go by quickly, so that soon I'll have some time to relax and F and I can refocus on our financial life.
Photo by harold.lloyd
