Tuesday Slice: Facing my money issues

I have a date with a spreadsheet on the last day of each month.  We're getting serious, this spreadsheet and me, meeting for eight months now.  I'm thinking long-term relationship.

Our trysts last for about an hour.  I pull up my accounts--bank, loans, credit cards, retirement--and enter the numbers in cells.  Some go in assets, others in debits.  I know enough about spreadsheets to make the magic of addition and subtraction happen automatically. 

We've had our ups and downs.  I'm still cringing when I stare at the credit card numbers, my shopping habits on display.  (What this spreadsheet doesn't know is that I'm two-timing it.  While my weight goes down, charted on a colorful spreadsheet hung on a wall by my scale, my spending has gone up--one bad habit replacing another.)  But then I look at my loan amounts, steadily decreasing, and my savings, on the rise little by little.  I note once again that my retirement amount isn't accurate because website is under renovation and the information is frozen until they complete the update.

The final number crunch ends our meeting on a high note, my net worth growing from one month to the next.  It's a cautious celebration; my credit score has room for improvement.  The spreadsheet and I part ways, to meet again in four weeks.

Image from Pixabay, no attribution required.