I'm not allowed ...

to spend any money.
Oh. Yeah.
That is very hard for me to do, especially seeing as I'm starting this new quilt project and only want to use civil war reproduction fabrics.
But dh told me tonight, no money aside from essentials can be spent until we close on our house, move into the house, see what furniture we need to buy, and then see where the money situation falls into place.
We were wishing and hoping the side business he has would have sold by now, but it has not. Which means we will have enough to put down what we had planned, but not a whole lot extra.
And the furniture we need is stacking up -

couch for family room

hopefully 2 chairs for family room

Couch/sofa bed/day bed kind of thing for basement

dresser for mine and dh's room

Computer desk

misc. lamps/lighting

Bedding for teh bed we have in storage (it's a king sized bed ... our current bedding is for a queen ... we can stretch the comforter but not the sheets!)

Bedding for the girls room

lighting in the house

TV for family room

love seat for sitting area

TV and stand for sitting area

Bathroom things for all three bathrooms

hopefully a bookshelf in the girls bedroom

and probably even more that I won't know until we are in and see what is missing.

And oh yeah, I forgot one tiny thing. We will most likely replace the furnace, you know, so we can be warm and all that this winter. Their furnace supposedly works, but it's 20 year old 9(at it's lifespan) and has a hairline crack in it. One heater guy says as long as it's small it's okay, another says any crack, no matter how tiny makes the unit unusable. Lovely. Although, if it's the only work we have to do to move in, that's still very great in my mind!

Now, I'm all for furniture in my house - trust me, I am. It's just that, well, I've not lived so budgetedy in a several years (although we haven't had tons of money, there has been spare). The hardest part won't be not spending the money. It will be getting into the frame of mind to not spend the money. But I will do it. I will try to finish all UFO's. I will work from stash. I will not buy any more yarn or fabric, or stickers, or paper, or thread, or patterns. Nope, I will not. Well, okay, I will, but only if it costs less than the gift cards I am currently holding onto. But aside from groceries, gas, and a few things we need to bring to a party in a few weeks, this momma is going into savings mode. Right. Now.

Wish me luck. I will need it.
I will also probably blog more. Everytime I want to spend money, I will write instead. Everytime I want to bid on e-bay, I will write instead. Everytime I want to buy something new, I will pack up a box of things in this house. I will eliminate the items we have accomulated but no longer need (and I have a few baby things to take to a resale shop AND two items for e-bay that I believe will be well worth listing them). And I will use that money for new furniture! And it will be good!