money makes the world go 'round

money comes in, it goes out. Unfortunately, it seems to be going out faster now than it comes in. $250 for Deano's latest vet bill. $100 last night for groceries (what the heck did I buy? I mean, I know we had steak last night for dinner, but come on...). $620 for airplane tickets to Seattle for a wedding in 2 weeks. $600 for the lodge in Tahoe over the 4th. We want to go back to New Mexico for vacation in October, so that's at least $500 in airfare.

Oh, and Richard is finally getting some medical issues looked at (which is a good thing), but his crap-ass insurance coverage means we'll be out a few thousand dollars. The future doesn't seem any brighter than the present.

And both our cars have more than 130,000 miles on them, so we should be looking at new (new to us, at least) vehicles. And, we really want to be able to buy a house/condo/refridgerator box within the next couple of years, so we need to save at least $10,000 to cover closing costs (I know more would be better, but $10,000 seems impossible already). And we need to make considerably more money to afford the $2,300 a month mortgage/PMI/HOA. And we're also planning on starting a family within the next two years, and god know that babies aren't cheap. And did I mention that I'd like to not have to work full-time once we have kids? Yeah. And, one more thing, we want to go to London next year for vacation, since that is one of Rich's "Have to Go Before I Die" places and we'd rather do it without kids. And the weak dollar isn't exactly helping our bargain shopping (thanks for nothing, Bush).

It's all a bit overwhelming. We need to make some sacrifices if we're going to be able to pull all of these things off, but neither Rich or I are very big on giving things up. I want to enjoy my life. I insist on multiple vacations every year so that I don't burn out (anymore than I already have). I'd rather use Noro than TLC. Now I don't mind buying my Noro from eBay, but I still want Noro.

Maybe I need to borrow Crazy Aunt Purl's budget worksheet. This is definitely no fun.