The Month of Thanksgiving

Today is the first of November and this is the month when most Americans think of food and family, along with all things pumpkin spice and flannel. A few years ago, I saw a social media trend where people would post one thing they were thankful for each day of November. Some would post big things they were thankful for like a new job or buying their first home while others were smaller reasons like finding the last sleeve of Thin Mints hiding in the back of the freezer. Maybe that last one is just me. Anywho, I digress.

Today is the first of November and for me, it also means payday. I have spent the last hour or so making my Excel spreadsheet of bill payments for the month, balancing the checkbook, planning out the upcoming bills to paydays, and determining how much money to pull for our expendable envelopes: fuel, food, and dining out. As I looked at the available balance shrink with every debt and expense – tithe, mortgage, car payment, utilities, etc. – I kept thinking, “Wow, the envelopes are going to be a little thin for the first half of the month!”

Thanks to the fluctuating – but still high – prices of fuel, my budget for gasoline increased by 33%. Groceries have also seemed pricier than before. I added another $100 per month to my budget for groceries and yet, it still seems insufficient. Lately, I cannot get out of the store for less than $150 each week buying for a family of four. When I get home and put things away, I wonder what the heck I bought because it doesn’t seem like that money stretched very far. Granted, some trips involve the “big purchases” of essentials like toilet paper but it feels like everything has gone up even just a few cents. All that increasing by pennies adds up to dollars and the dollars aren’t stretching as far as they use to.

Dining out has become a whole other area where we may need to evaluate how often we eat at restaurants, whether its fast food or a sit-down restaurant. Our family of four seems to easily hit more than $35 for fast food in one swoop. I went to Taco Bell with our two kids the other day; they ate one combo meal, a couple of double deckers (its a hard shelled taco wrapped in a soft tortilla with a layer of beans between; it use to be on the menu and my kid is a huge fan), and I added a small drink for them while I picked up the $5 value box. That $5 is for a drink, a bean burrito, a hard shell taco, and a package of cinnamon twists. I spent $19.61 after tax for the three of us to eat and then had to drop another $1.08 for another order of cinnamon twists after my children ate mine. Twenty dollars doesn’t seem too bad for three people but that’s eating on the cheap. A typical Wednesday night stop at Wendy’s for four people will have us dropping $35-40 during our visit and I use coupons.

We went out to eat last night after taking the children out for Halloween to trick or treat in our community and at grandma’s house at a Mexican restaurant that has fabulous queso blanco. One child’s plate, a side of queso blanco, two $8.99 plates, two waters, and two beverages came to $42.61 after I added tip. Now, that amount seems fairly low for a sit-down restaurant and I don’t mind paying for good service; however, the price for the drinks blows my mind. They charged $2.85 for a Dr. Pepper and the same price for a pink lemonade. These drinks came in 16 ounce to-go cups and they were not refilled before we left. That’s over $5 for two drinks. I could get a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper for $2 at the grocery store! The upcharge on the drinks seems crazy.

However, that is the price of convenience. It was convenient to get food while we were in town so we paid the price to do so. I remind myself that our dollars help support local families trying to make ends meet so I continue to tip and shop local. It takes the sting out a little when I look at how quickly our budget funding runs out. But it is moments like these that while I am bellyaching about the cost of things, I am still thankful.

I am thankful to have a job that provides the income to pay our bills. I am thankful for a budget that helps us to ensure our debts are paid and still give back to our church as well as to other organizations. I am thankful that God blesses us each and every day in both small and large ways. Some days are easier to count my blessings than others; on the hard days, I have to be intentional in my thinking but the blessings are still there to find.

What are you thankful for today?