We’ve been reading David Codrea’s Second Amendment New Year’s Resolutions over the past several days. Today’s update to the list is “buy a gun.” We fully intend to do that this year, but being on a fixed income in retirement, we have to carefully allocate our funds.

So, I sat down at the computer and used a spreadsheet to plan a budget for the coming year. I analyzed our income from the several sources available, our expenses for the recurrent necessities of life and the potential to allocate funds to recreational things such as vacations and firearms (purchasing guns and ammo plus target range fees). In order to visualize those things, I plotted some graphs of income allocation, basic recurring expenses, cash flow and surplus (if any) cash.

budget.jpg

The good news is that we will likely have the cash to acquire a few of the little things in life that give us pleasure. We’re not exactly in the lap of luxury, but we’ll be OK. Until the Obamination cuts us off, that is.

Merry Christmas from the Better Half and Minstrel!