Busy Mama, our expense tracker

It’s time to buy feed for the farm animals again. Since Mama insists on going to Muenster to buy that feed – it saves us about fifty dollars a month – she will have to add that to her very busy schedule today. I offered to swap vehicles with her yesterday, but she wanted to wait. She will not use the Sequoia to haul the feed because it smells bad to her when she is enclosed with the feed. So, that chore got added to her agenda today. Victoria does not leave for work today until 11 am. Because of her having a free morning and the fact that Mama promised her Little Smokies and meatballs for dinner last night – which did not happen because Mama forgot to take the meat out of the freezer in time – they will be cooking this morning. Victoria is planning on taking that for lunch today. I assume she will be packing enough for both her and Mama since Mama is meeting her for lunch this afternoon. But before lunch Mama has to pick up the feed and get the oil changed in my truck. We still use Allen’s Texaco in Bowie for our oil changes, so it makes some sense to have it done while she is in Bowie. She has a scheduled stop at Grandma and Grandpa’s on the way home after lunch with Victoria. She should be home about the time I get there.


Mama has a long list of things she needs me to do this evening. She mentioned getting the barn side of the coop cleaned this morning, but I think that will be displaced by the meal preparation Victoria is wanting. It will be easy to add that to my list of evening chores – none of which are difficult or time consuming. Most are clean up chores. Shovel and wheelbarrow required. Farm animals produce a lot of waste, manure being the proper term. All of which is one hundred percent recyclable. Maybe the phrase of the day is “repurposed”. I am never quite sure. If we take the time to collect it and redeposit it in the right places, it is wonderful natural fertilizer. We have a full day today because we will be going to Lawton tomorrow afternoon. I do not expect to be back home before dark. Additionally, Friday there is rain in the forecast. Not much. Less than an inch, but through the weekend the temperatures are supposed to drop into the twenties. That will make what we get done today pretty much what we get done for the rest of the week. Other than normal feeding of our animals. Mama and I are not fond of the cold anymore. I am still coughing, so being out in the cold does me no good.


In preparation to go out on our own I have been working on capturing Mama’s and my expenses. I need a very good framework in order to build a budget going forward. When we are on our own, I need to know what to budget from the company earnings to pay me and Mama so we can continue to meet our weekly, monthly and annual obligations. As I continue to capture those expenses, I am staggered by the amount of money we require. I have often wondered why Mama and I are struggling financially at times. Now I a beginning to see. Having a baseline figure of expenses will let me know how much money Mama and I need to have in reserve to be able to maintain all our expenses when I am solely responsible to provide that money. I want to be able to start with a three-month reserve for our expenses without disrupting our investment pool of cash. That should not be a challenge when we get going, but it looks a bit challenging right now. We are on the verge of selling our first house and buying our second. When we sell our second and are buying our third, I can be reasonably assured we can maintain both our investing and living budgets within the business itself – without employment. When that date will be is still speculative, but it is sooner rather than later.


By summer -definitely. This quarter - possibly. The Lord knows.