I absolutely understand the working from home issue. I did it for two years (and my husband for the last six months) and people didn’t want to accept that we couldn’t just up and leave for two days and not work – we had to pay the bills somehow. It did get frustrating though, having to constantly remind people “well, I’d love to, but I can’t rearrange my work schedule that week” and getting “oh, I forgot you had to work.”

I would have to say that Jaci has a love hate relationship with my little blogging hobby, too. It keeps me out of trouble and is a healthy hobby, but it makes for less time doing things together.

I can relate to the first question regarding freed up time in that I spend way too much time at the computer trying to get Frugal Dad off the ground, and continue to work a FT job. It is a grueling schedule for both the blogger and the blogger’s family. I have only done it a few months; I don’t know how you and Trent maintained it as long as you did.

I think her suggestion of setting various limits for Christmas/meals out/etc is an excellent one. Building on that, don’t be afraid to talk to your spouse if you find that the limit you’ve set together is outside your comfort zone. Maybe you feel trapped by not being able to get lunch with friends. Maybe you feel that eating takeout twice a week is too expensive. Either way, planning finances is a refining process.