Budget time

I think the single most stressful thing that I have ever had to deal with as an adult is finances. Now before I start and sound like I am complaining which I guess I am please know that I have always felt blessed to be able to pay what I owe. With that being said, I think I became an adult much faster than most. I bought my first house at 20 years old. I remember being a bit shocked by my first mortgage payment because no one told me I had to pay taxes, insurance and PMI.
Before  Anna's adoption expenses I was able to pay all of my bills with one two week paycheck. Like so many who have adopted the expenses of travel, fees and so on can get out of hand pretty fast. It did for me anyway. I was lucky that I had so much money saved. That first year home with Anna was a financial blur. I depleted my saving and made a number of mistakes. A little over a year and a half ago I stopped and committed to making my life easier. My goal is to work part-time but a year and a half ago I not only needed to work full time but I needed to pick up extra time. I did not like working that much so I made the decision to change. Last week I decided I will no longer be working my extra job. I no longer have to work my extra job and that feels really great. This was a difficult decision and required a lot of preparation. So what has changed?
In the past year and a half I have made some very radical changes to pay off everything that I could pay off. I read a book by Dave Ramsey called the Total Money Makeover. This book is written in a way that I was able to read and understand the concept quickly. Next week I will have everything with the exception of about 2000 dollars on my car paid off. Once my car is paid off I will be in the phase of building my emergency fund of 3-6 months. My goal is to be part time in the next two years. I might even pick a date on the calendar and circle it.
I can feel the stress of my finances lift away as I get closer to living free and clear. I still have a long way to go in learning to budget for my day to day expenses but I am a work in progress and not perfect. If you are struggling you might want to consider reading this book.