budgets

I just submitted my first budget request as a sister. Should I call it a groovy budget request I wonder???

My finances in the novitiate were fairly simple - I received a monthly personal allowance, everything else was covered. There was a budget, but it was approved before I arrived. I actually did the finances for the novitiate as my "charge" and was involved in budget preparation the 2nd year, but that was a different process and less personal. This time it was MY budget.

Financial practices vary from religious community to religious community. We even have differences between our two provinces! The way it works out here is that my salary goes directly to the community. Household expenses are covered. I don't pay rent or room and board for my food here at the house. But every year I'm responsible for preparing a budget for my personal expenses - allowance, retreat, vacation, car maintenance, health care etc... Once approved, I receive the budgeted amount each month and can request budgeted amounts "on request" for bigger ticket items like car repair or to pay for retreat.

It's a pretty good system I think, but it was a bit challenging working on my first budget. The only experience I can compare it to is when your teacher wanted you to grade your own papers in college. Did you give yourself an A? Or an A-? Or a B+?

In the case of my budget preparation, I tried to spend some time in prayer and reflection on the vow of poverty and my commitment to simple living. What does that mean? What does it look like? Do I need a cell phone (I decided I do but went for a modest plan). What kind of vacation do I plan on taking and how much will it cost? What's a reasonable amount of spending money each month? The end result is reasonable I think, and though I just submitted it for the official ok I'd already asked our treasurer to take a look and let me know if I was on track.

By chance, I've been working with articles for the upcoming issue of the journal I'm editing at my new job. The topic? Money & Spirituality! There's even an article about budgeting as a spiritual exercise! Talk about timely.

Hopefully I estimated my expenses correctly and will have enough money for everything I need and for some of what I want! :)