Checks and Balances

Thank goodness today is March 1.  I get to start tracking where I spend my money (and if it's anything like this past weekend, it will be on eating out). I guess my brain went on vacation and I had an out-of-body experience thinking I won the lottery and just spent money like I was buying bottled water. Egads!!! Oh well, it's water under the bridge and quite possibly some fancy, smancy Artesian well water under the bridge. I'm not sure which is the worse evil, spending money on clothes or food.  Actually, I do know - food is worse becuase it's not tangible (or returnable).

No, I didn't buy some super sexy, red bottomed sole shoes, or soft-as-butta skin-tight leather pants. I bought - drum roll, please: FOOD.  I ate out to a tune of "I have no freaking clue because I didn't keep receipts". But I can tell you that the food was good. Friday was lunch at a wonderful French bistro (http://www.caferabelais.com/Brasserie/Home.html) the duck confeit was delicious; Saturday was dinner with a friend and her son on at a terrific Chinese bistro (369; no link but here are some reviews: http://www.b4-u-eat.com/houston/restaurants/reviews/rsv4581.asp); Sunday was breakfast at a local dive - great coffee and yummy pancakes followed by lunch at the same Chinese bistro as the night before. Thank goodness I worked out some over the weekend. I may be broke, but I won't be gaining weight.

Oh and yes, I bought rodeo tickets. What more can I say? It's the largest rodeo in the world! Actually, I gave a coupon book to my guy so he can take his kids to the carnival. They can eat themselves sick and ride all the rides for under $50 - that's a great deal. I still need to pay for my Girl Scout cookies, but my order has yet to be delivered. I also purchased 2 wonderful scarves from Linda at Charming Crochet.

So with all this willy nilly high-on-the-hog eating and rodeo preparation, I am starting the month off a little behind the 8-ball. BUT, I do have a small amount in savings and a small cushion in a secondary checking account (not my main account). I am going to help my guy buy a bicycle. It's going on layaway (gosh, I love layaway) Saturday and 90 days to pay it out. I'm also hunting now for our airline tickets and lodging for our trip to Seattle in July!

I think with this pre-planning, March will be a good month with minimal money stress. Let's keep our fingers crossed and our budget tracking sheets ready.