We recently switched from paying bills every couple of days, as they came due, to paying bills in two batches. The first batch at the start of the month, and the second batch mid month.
Before the new system, I logged into our accounts daily, paying bills, monitoring balances, and projecting checking account totals before and after paydays. This month, when March 15 rolled around, every bill had a check mark beside it. There was no need to devote daily time to anything budget-related until April.
However, the habit of constant account scrutiny has a firm grip on me. With the keys on my ancient calculator eerily quiet, it feels like things are going too smoothly.
One such instance of budget panic struck this afternoon. All March bills were paid. All sinking funds were sunk. And, thanks to the budget lockdown, only four more debit card transactions will happen this month (two tanks of gasoline and two grocery trips). Knowing all of this still didn’t stop me from grabbing my calculator and legal pad, and doing five minutes of unnecessary key clacking.
There were, of course, no surprises in the numbers. All is well. Time to put my legal pad and paranoia away for the day.
freshMint 