keeping a general ledger

I wrote the best post before I left this morning.  I wrote it in Windows Live Writer, just like I always do.  I included pictures, just like I always do.  I clicked publish, just like I always do...and I got error 403: forbidden.

I only had a couple of minutes, so I had to walk away.  Unhappy. 

That's a google error and there are as many solutions listed on the internet as there are named descendents of Abraham in the Bible.  And, none of them seems to apply to what i was doing. 

I was able to find more specific information when I included "windows live writer" and "error 403" in my web search.  Hopefully one of those solutions will work tonight.  Unfortunately, I'm just not sure how much time I'm willing to keep putting into making google work as a blog publishing platform.  There certainly are a lot of other platforms out there for me to continue to put up with google's nonsense. 

So, I decided I'd share something I did this week, as a parent, that has been the absolute best idea. 

We give Syd an allowance.  Just a bit of pocketmoney that she doesn't have to earn because we don't pay her to carry her own weight around the house.  But, we also want her to be able to buy things she wants.  I wish a little less of it went into the vending machines at school, but it is what it is.  She is good with her money and I don't worry about it too much.  When I was her age, I spent part of my money in the vending machines and concession stands, too. 

What I wasn't so good at was making sure I had money on Monday when it was time to pay her.  Okay, so if you give your kid an allowance, and you're inconsistent like me, then you've probably run into the situation where you thought you'd paid but they said you hadn't.  Who is right?  Or, you loaned them money and forgot to collect it later. 

I decided that we needed a general ledger for me to keep up with her allowance and loans.  Plus, we're adding a new feature to her allowance.  We increased her allowance, except she doesn't get all of it as a cash payment.  She gets the same amount of cash she was getting before.  But, a portion of the new amount goes into savings and she can pick the charity she wants to donate it to.  And, another portion goes into savings for her to purchase some larger ticket item that she wants. 

We want to reinforce the lesson to save for what you want instead of borrowing for it and we want to reinforce the lesson to give to charity.  This seemed a good way to do it. 

But, I couldn't do it without a general ledger to keep up with it all.  So, I found free general ledger pages with 4 columns and headed them Charity, Savings, Allowance, Loans.  And, starting with this week's allowance, I filled it in, including a loan I made to her on Tuesday and a loan she made to me on Tuesday night.  I paid off my loan and she paid off her loan and now the balance is just the amount she has in savings for later.

This is going to make things so much easier.  I think I've paid her for a check she got for her birthday about 4 times because I couldn't remember and she kept saying I didn't pay.  She also said I owed her for the week before Christmas and the week of Christmas. 

Sheesh, is there no end to paying? 

Anyway, we're started with a clean slate and will keep up with it going forward.  No more talking about the past and what I owe her.  She doesn't get the whole, I feed you, I clothe you, I shelter you, how can I owe you? 

Be well.  Hope you're having a great Thursday.  This afternoon, we get the results of Syd's MRI.  Cross your fingers! 

Lane