do you um have a family budget or how do you work your budgeting
 	
 	
 		well  for many many years uh
 		my wife and i did have a budget uh we were both working at the time and so forth
 		and um
 		that we had to do that until we finally got the house paid for and and other big bills taken care of
 		uh we have a a budget but not as strict now as we used to because we don't have quite such a tight financial situation
 	
 	
 		um-hum
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		so it it's uh it's been helpful i mean yes having a budget is very very important and that did get us so that you know the house is paid for and uh other major things were taken care of
 		and now we can relax a little bit more because basically we don't really require as much on a daily or a monthly basis as we did before so we're we don't have to have quite as strict uh a budget as we did
 	
 	
 		oh well we don't have a real strict budget um
 		we have a a low budget to work on but we um you know for like groceries we saved up this much per week and then we we just spend about so much we don't
 	
 	
 		sure uh-huh
 	
 	
 		i i don't know of a a written figure of expenses that we you know keep to or anything but i know that when i go to the grocery store  that we always stick within you know five dollars between here and there
 	
 	
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		a certain amount
 	
 	
 		i think i've i do that automatically myself i mean i unconsciously uh
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		you know stay in a within a with a certain amount because i i have enough food already stored here that i don't have to make any large purchase at any one time all i normally do now is pick up little things here and there
 	
 	
 		oh
 	
 	
 		as the salt goes out or we need sugar or something like that
 	
 	
 		wow that's great
 	
 	
 		yeah we have two freezers and course we had a large garden here that we grow a lot of our own stuff
 		and we freeze a lot of that so a lot of the vegetables are taken care of in our own personal personal storage
 	
 	
 		oh
 		oh you guys sound pretty self sufficient
 	
 	
 		well we we keep a little note pad on a on our wall when if anything is absolutely out make a note of it and then uh the next time i go to the store why i pick it up and fill it up
 		so it's it's worked very well that way at least that way we  you know if each of us finds something is missing
 	
 	
 		hm
 	
 	
 		uh we put it up uh the other person might not know about it
 	
 	
 		yeah well that's a good idea
 	
 	
 		that way we can keep up to date
 	
 	
 		let's see the the other thing there the topic was talking about was
 		if you if i don't all i can think of is if you don't keep a real real tight budget how do you control expenses but um
 		one another thing that we do is we always fly back to California and Washington each Christmas well not fly back but somehow we get back there
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and um this year we did it by train because it was the least expensive and
 	
 	
 		well actually it's more interesting too if you've got the time
 	
 	
 		huh oh yeah
 		and um you know we could go to both places without having to spend so much for plane fare
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		and so um
 		we find that if we're careful with our you know just everyday things like grocery shopping and and gas and
 		entertainment things like that then um
 		somewhere in out in the wash it'll come out that we have enough to get back there you know
 	
 	
 		sure well i think we unconsciously  do the same thing excuse me my throat's not as clear today as it should be
 	
 	
 		uh-huh that's right
 	
 	
 		uh we are uh going to be traveling to Europe with a choral we sing with this so called Pennsylvania Choral and we make a two weeks
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		tour of of uh foreign countries and of course that costs money
 		so we uh each of us watches the funds that we spend and make sure that that we gather together over a period a time enough money to to make this trip
 		so that that is another way of uh budgeting
 	
 	
 		uh-huh that's right
 	
 	
 		and i think we just sort of unconsciously do it we uh just live a normal life but we don't throw any money away particularly we save it for this trip which is uh always very very nice
 	
 	
 		yeah well whenever  i don't know if this is part of the topic but whenever i find you know a dime or something on the ground i will i'll probably pick it up
 	
 	
 		
  
 		i do the same thing i have a whole pile of those things that i have found by parking meter
 	
 	
 		
  
 		uh-huh
 		yeah i have a special little jar that i keep all the money i found in  count it up at the end of the year something
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		but yeah
 	
 	
 		well let's face it then when we talking budget
 		it is important to to have a budget  and uh i i keep track of mine on a more rough basis now by just watching the
 		level of my checking checking account and i have a money market account also
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and uh i keep those levels up above a certain minimum
 		and i'm always trying to