I'm in my office listening to the Black Eyed Peas latest CD and let's just say, ummmm....yeah....I'm so glad this was a gift and that I didn't spend my money on this.
Yeah, I waste money on a lot of stuff, but music isn't one of them. I actually haven't purchased a CD for myself since giving up my CD Warehouse membership. Remember those? HAHA. I have recently considered buying single songs from iTunes or Amazon to boost my workout playlist, but have yet to hit BUY.
Instead, I waste my money on food. Eating out has taken the place of my thrift shopping addiction. I can say that I can now walk into various thrift shops and rarely find a thing that I truly want (except a pair of lamps I'm eyeing at the Goodwill - waiting for the yellow sticker day).
So how's that spending tracking coming along, you ask. Um, yeah - it isn't! I can say this - my necessary bills are covered, I have food in my house and I have gas in my car. But I haven't tracked a dime on paper since the start of the month. I can't seem to get my brain to register that I need to see where my money is going. My subconscious must be rebelling.
I can tell you that I have purchased items for my house and started planning for my upcoming HS reunion in Seattle. This is what I can remember buying:
1. an art deco buffet is on layaway ($200 total, $50 down)
2. late 40s Japanese tea set ($8) - it's beautiful on my dining table
3. a new runner for my upstairs hallway ($15) - the old one will be sold at the consignment shop.
4. various clothes/make-up items ($60 - approximately) - I even bought shorts/shirt for the Fella because, well, he's a man - they wear items until it's only hanging on by a thread.
5. The big ticket item: 2 airline tickets to Seattle ($600). If I continued to wait, the ticket price would only increase. Why is it so damn expensive to fly from Houston to the West Coast I will never understand.
I can see how this may look like frivolous spending, however, it's a hell of a lot better than the past 6 months. The Fella and I agreed to postpone the bike purchase for another month. I'm also expecting another check for some side work which will cover the price of the bike rack (I've managed to scratch my car over the weekend attempting to put the blasted thing in the truck - grrrr).
Goals for the next two weeks:
1. Attempt to once again track spending. I won't / can't know where to cut back if I can't see where the hell it's going - I know this. It's just time to put it in action.
2. Put aside $50 each pay period for the next 5 pay periods to cover B & B expenses for upcoming trip.
6 comments:
using coupons will actually save a lot of money. for instance bed bath and beyond coupons are great. they never expire and anything for my house I get from there. its easy to sign up via e-mail. cutting on Eatinng out will again save a lot of money again I cook for my family but wednesday i take break and so is sunday.
Well, you have your goals, you know what you need to do!
How do you plan to track your spending? Is there something like a pretty notebook that would encourage you to do it, or are you more of a spreadsheet girl? Either way, best of luck!
@Sak - I do use coupons, especially for groceries. It's irksome that my normal supermarket doesn't accept the printed SmartSource coupons. Also if I shop online, I use FatWallet and Mypoints for cash back (Fatwallet) and points (Mypoints). It's the eating out that I need to curb. Being single is my excuse. So now it will become a matter of sticking to 1 day a week, 1 meal a week as my splurge.
@Struggler: I have both (notebook and spreadsheet). I did find a majority of my receipts for the month so far. I will go back and write down all that I can. I think once a week, I will input my spending into a spreadsheet so I can graph the spending.
This is really about changing habits and not substituting one vice for another.
i heard a new group called ONE ESKIMO .... i only heard one of their songs but it was really neat ..... you may want to check them out .....you have a very nice day
I wish I could give you some sage advice on saving, but it seems to me that you are doing some good things already. Thrift stores are a lot better than paying retail (and sometimes you can find some unique things too!)
Have you and your man done any cooking together. I love when my husband cooks with me. It makes the time pass quicker and we have a lot of fun-oh, and it saves us a ton of money.
Sounds like you have the right plan. I always plan for big purchases too. I won't put anything on my credit card I can't pay off right there.
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