Hi, everyone, and thank you so much for reading my blog!
As you know, I have pledged to go 30 days without spending any money at all, except for the necessary household expenses. And so far, I have had just a couple of slip ups, where the deals (25 dollar Uggs!) or the temptation (Hangry [hungry/angry after a hot day at the Renaissance Fair!) was too strong. But today, I opted out of a day of shopping with a friend, which saved me. I am certain I would have been able to fabricate a number of excuses, reasons to make purchases... "Oh, it was the last one!" or "But the deal - it was only valid for one day!!" Yeah, I am very good at that.
What I learning is that not spending is a personal choice that I made, which is very difficult for me. It has made me contemplate nearly every single action I take, since so much of what I was doing was automatic. I was truly on autopilot, not even really or truly seeing the money I was spending. Blind to it, really, not even seeing the tiny here-and-there expenses as actual expenses at all. I do wonder if I struggle with a legitimate shopping addition, because I do really crave the shopping, and I do tend to shop to replace negative feelings with positive ones... And I am extremely good at justifying my behaviors, just as another type of addict might... Well that is certainly food for thought. Anyway, it has been simultaneously empowering and aggravating to experience this, and so I am coining this sensation as "Schrodinger's Budget", as to explain the duality of this....
And so, I am thinking that if I am lucky, after this 30 day experiment, this self-awareness, and this spending "addiction" will become a habit. I am hoping that I don't binge, like that dieter who hits her goal weight, and then goes off the rails... And with Christmas just around the corner, this is a real risk.
But I know that I have the support and friendships to help me through it. It has been hard, but very enlightening. For me, and I think for my family. I hope that the benefit will show up when reviewing my checking account, but so far, that hasn't been as positively impacted as I had hoped. But we shall see....
Well that is it for me today... No spending, just cooking homemade turkey soup.... Gotta do something with my time instead of shopping, right? Yesterday was from-scratch chocolate chip cookies... Still working on how to better replace bad habits with good, healthy ones...
Thank you for reading, and have a great night! xo
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Day 24 - A spend-free Saturday!
Hi, all, and thank you for reading and sharing! I am sorry that this is late, but yesterday we had our family "Thanksgiving" a few days late, and I got home too late to think and type clearly at all. So it's done this morning, and today's will be completed as usual...
So yes, I am proud to announce this may be my first spend-free Saturday! It was easy, because there was no temptation at all. It was our family celebration of Thanksgiving, since most of the family works on the actual turkey day. So my day yesterday was spend making dessert. Yes, I could have spent money on an already made dessert, but NO! I already had the ingredients in the house for chocolate chip cookies, and so that was what I baked. From scratch. Yes, me... No worry that I was covered in batter and flour by the end, and not to worry at all that I totally forgot how much longer it takes to make things from scratch, since you have to do things like mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately... The point is, by the end of say, 3 hours, I had enough golden brown and gooey chocolate chip cookies to bring to dinner, and to be able to enjoy them knowing a) they were the fruit of my labor, and b) I did not cheat at all!
I have also noticed I am getting better at saying "no". No, Julia, we are not buying a bathing suit for the dog because Sunday is "doggie swim" at our community pool - since they are having it fully drained and re-tiled Monday, so why not? A doggie bathing suit, have you ever? But as a woman whose little Pomeranian has been photographed in both a Santa outfit, and a pumpkin costume, I suppose nothing is out of the realm of possibility. No, we are not going out to breakfast today, even though it is just the perfect Sunday morning thing to do...It would really be nice... And No, we cannot get a new bedroom set for your room, since really, it's very new... and I just totally had a deja-vu while writing this, did this topic come up already? This feels oddly familiar...
More learning, more practicing, less spending... So that is all for Saturday.... I am happy and feeling successful... I also said "no" to shopping on Sunday, which is vital... Because I really really wanted to go, but the truth is, I might have even said yes, but I simply have too much to do around the house.... You see, I did totally forget how long cookies from scratch take, and I rushed off to dinner leaving my house and kitchen in total chaos... So yeah, lots of strong words, when really, I couldn't have gone.... Curse you, honesty!
Well, that's all for now, more to come this evening! Thank you so much for reading, and have an awesome day! xo
So yes, I am proud to announce this may be my first spend-free Saturday! It was easy, because there was no temptation at all. It was our family celebration of Thanksgiving, since most of the family works on the actual turkey day. So my day yesterday was spend making dessert. Yes, I could have spent money on an already made dessert, but NO! I already had the ingredients in the house for chocolate chip cookies, and so that was what I baked. From scratch. Yes, me... No worry that I was covered in batter and flour by the end, and not to worry at all that I totally forgot how much longer it takes to make things from scratch, since you have to do things like mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately... The point is, by the end of say, 3 hours, I had enough golden brown and gooey chocolate chip cookies to bring to dinner, and to be able to enjoy them knowing a) they were the fruit of my labor, and b) I did not cheat at all!
I have also noticed I am getting better at saying "no". No, Julia, we are not buying a bathing suit for the dog because Sunday is "doggie swim" at our community pool - since they are having it fully drained and re-tiled Monday, so why not? A doggie bathing suit, have you ever? But as a woman whose little Pomeranian has been photographed in both a Santa outfit, and a pumpkin costume, I suppose nothing is out of the realm of possibility. No, we are not going out to breakfast today, even though it is just the perfect Sunday morning thing to do...It would really be nice... And No, we cannot get a new bedroom set for your room, since really, it's very new... and I just totally had a deja-vu while writing this, did this topic come up already? This feels oddly familiar...
More learning, more practicing, less spending... So that is all for Saturday.... I am happy and feeling successful... I also said "no" to shopping on Sunday, which is vital... Because I really really wanted to go, but the truth is, I might have even said yes, but I simply have too much to do around the house.... You see, I did totally forget how long cookies from scratch take, and I rushed off to dinner leaving my house and kitchen in total chaos... So yeah, lots of strong words, when really, I couldn't have gone.... Curse you, honesty!
Well, that's all for now, more to come this evening! Thank you so much for reading, and have an awesome day! xo
Friday, November 28, 2014
Day 23 - Creative "Shopping"!!
Hello, all.... And thank you so much for reading and sharing!
Here we are, actually in the final stages of this project... And while very very hard, I have to say, I am learning a few things about myself and my thought processes. And I have absolutely learned that I can still have fun without buying my way through a mall. I proved that today.
Today is Black Friday. I had promised my daughter (of course) and another close family friend/relative before this project that we would go. I could not cancel, even with an explanation of my 30 day commitment, for a variety of reasons. So, the alarm rang at 6am, and off to the mall we went. This time I was prepared. I am learning that when I have an opportunity to plan, when I have notice, and I have an opportunity to think through bumps in the road that I might hit, the odds of my success are greatly raised. For example, when I was planning for this day, I knew I would be hungry while out and so I brought beef jerky and granola bars in my backpack. This way, I did not have to buy any snacks, or smoothies, or anything....It is when I have been hit with surprises, that I jump immediately to the purchase. And so today, we went through the mall to experience the madness of Black Friday, which really wasn't mad at all... And I took pictures of all the things that Julia wants, so that I can buy a selection of them online - after the month of zero spending!
So you see - today was actually a metaphor for the crux of my problem. When I am faced with a "bump", or a crisis, or a major stressor, I always turn to what I know will ease the discomfort.... Not unlike the mall smoothie, the first thing I see/think of to make me feel better... When things are smooth sailing, less of a need for the purchases.
Now that I am seeing that, I have to set up a better system of identifying these situations earlier, and planning for them ahead of time... And ultimately, finding something better to do than spend my way from one end of the mall to the other... But that does exaggerate my spending habits, it's not like that it was I really do.... On the other hand, I have done it once or twice.... But you get the point.
The only worry that I have next for this weekend is the family tradition of putting up the Christmas Tree on the weekend of Thanksgiving. Had I still owned my pre-lit pre lit tree, this would be no issue, but thank you Hurricane Sandy! We do like the real trees, and even though we had the fake tree, usually got a real tree anyway. But this year, I could have really used that darn fake tree! However, we have to get a tree... and somehow, I have to convince them to wait another week. This could be a challenge... this could indeed be a big challenge....
Ok, that is all for today... Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate your suggestions and feedback.... xo
Here we are, actually in the final stages of this project... And while very very hard, I have to say, I am learning a few things about myself and my thought processes. And I have absolutely learned that I can still have fun without buying my way through a mall. I proved that today.
Today is Black Friday. I had promised my daughter (of course) and another close family friend/relative before this project that we would go. I could not cancel, even with an explanation of my 30 day commitment, for a variety of reasons. So, the alarm rang at 6am, and off to the mall we went. This time I was prepared. I am learning that when I have an opportunity to plan, when I have notice, and I have an opportunity to think through bumps in the road that I might hit, the odds of my success are greatly raised. For example, when I was planning for this day, I knew I would be hungry while out and so I brought beef jerky and granola bars in my backpack. This way, I did not have to buy any snacks, or smoothies, or anything....It is when I have been hit with surprises, that I jump immediately to the purchase. And so today, we went through the mall to experience the madness of Black Friday, which really wasn't mad at all... And I took pictures of all the things that Julia wants, so that I can buy a selection of them online - after the month of zero spending!
So you see - today was actually a metaphor for the crux of my problem. When I am faced with a "bump", or a crisis, or a major stressor, I always turn to what I know will ease the discomfort.... Not unlike the mall smoothie, the first thing I see/think of to make me feel better... When things are smooth sailing, less of a need for the purchases.
Now that I am seeing that, I have to set up a better system of identifying these situations earlier, and planning for them ahead of time... And ultimately, finding something better to do than spend my way from one end of the mall to the other... But that does exaggerate my spending habits, it's not like that it was I really do.... On the other hand, I have done it once or twice.... But you get the point.
The only worry that I have next for this weekend is the family tradition of putting up the Christmas Tree on the weekend of Thanksgiving. Had I still owned my pre-lit pre lit tree, this would be no issue, but thank you Hurricane Sandy! We do like the real trees, and even though we had the fake tree, usually got a real tree anyway. But this year, I could have really used that darn fake tree! However, we have to get a tree... and somehow, I have to convince them to wait another week. This could be a challenge... this could indeed be a big challenge....
Ok, that is all for today... Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate your suggestions and feedback.... xo
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Day 22 - Happy Thanksgiving!!
Hello, everyone, and thank you for reading and sharing!!
Due to the holiday, I will keep it short and sweet. Today was a lovely day as my family and I celebrated in Seaworld, and enjoyed a lovely (and in budget) dinner. We walked around, saw the dolphins, sea turtles and manatees, and stayed until the sun set. It got cold - mid 60's - and Seaworld was transformed into a charming Christmas village... There were extremely well protected fire pits, around which we sat singing Christmas carols and drinking hot chocolate...It was far nicer than I expected, and for a moment, I even felt like I was back home in NJ.... So that was it, the slip up... see how subtle it was? Barely even noticed it, right? Yup, spent on 2 cups of hot chocolate... 10 bucks. Dang, what is with me and my impulse control...? I think today it was more about being caught up in the moment, and just going with it. Hot chocolate? Of course..... What is interesting, is that the times I spent in this experiment, I came to consciously make a choice to break my pact. The Uggs, the lunch out.... I was aware, and knowingly opted to cheat... But today, I was so not in the zone, I had planned for the day in terms of money, it wasn't even on my mind. So the purchase today was different, I just said yes and did it, and then after was like, Oh no!! I mean, the Christmas light show, the carols, the fires, the festive mood, it was thorough.... it was complete and I was completely wrapped in it...
So what does that mean??? Better or worse??
Well, tomorrow should be interesting. How does one brave Black Friday due to a previously made commitment/plan and not shop? Perhaps layaway? Is that my golden loophole??
We shall see.... much more to discover and work on, that is certain...
Thank you for reading everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Due to the holiday, I will keep it short and sweet. Today was a lovely day as my family and I celebrated in Seaworld, and enjoyed a lovely (and in budget) dinner. We walked around, saw the dolphins, sea turtles and manatees, and stayed until the sun set. It got cold - mid 60's - and Seaworld was transformed into a charming Christmas village... There were extremely well protected fire pits, around which we sat singing Christmas carols and drinking hot chocolate...It was far nicer than I expected, and for a moment, I even felt like I was back home in NJ.... So that was it, the slip up... see how subtle it was? Barely even noticed it, right? Yup, spent on 2 cups of hot chocolate... 10 bucks. Dang, what is with me and my impulse control...? I think today it was more about being caught up in the moment, and just going with it. Hot chocolate? Of course..... What is interesting, is that the times I spent in this experiment, I came to consciously make a choice to break my pact. The Uggs, the lunch out.... I was aware, and knowingly opted to cheat... But today, I was so not in the zone, I had planned for the day in terms of money, it wasn't even on my mind. So the purchase today was different, I just said yes and did it, and then after was like, Oh no!! I mean, the Christmas light show, the carols, the fires, the festive mood, it was thorough.... it was complete and I was completely wrapped in it...
So what does that mean??? Better or worse??
Well, tomorrow should be interesting. How does one brave Black Friday due to a previously made commitment/plan and not shop? Perhaps layaway? Is that my golden loophole??
We shall see.... much more to discover and work on, that is certain...
Thank you for reading everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Day 21 - A Pattern
Hello, everyone, and thank you for reading and sharing!
Today was a pretty good day. I am crazy busy with work, and for some reason, we haven't been to the supermarket in a while. I am low on food, and the cupboards are bare.... But I can still figure out some meals and things...
I am seeing a pattern of temptation though, and it definitely relates to food. Today, we had surprise guests, and as a result, I had 4 pre-teens in my house for the bulk of the day. And since they were dropped off at 11:30, I had to feed them lunch. Don't get me wrong, not complaining. I love it when she has her friends over, and like that they feel comfortable over here. But I really had nothing to eat. What I forget is that kids tend to eat junk that we as adults wouldn't... So I was able to dig around, and rustle up some grub... A few cans of long forgotten Chef-Boy-R-Dee really goes a long way....Uggghhhh...
So we will consider that progress, because the previous method would have easily been a trip to KFC.... No doubt...
Now, tomorrow is a holiday, and the budget for this had already been planned. So my dinner out tomorrow will not be a breach of contract. However, any other purchases at the park will be....So, you've read it here first, folks - no sodas, no ice creams, no games (that are not included with admission)
But, ah, this is what I have been dreading. Friday. Black Friday, and the weekend. Oh man, it is always the weekend that kills me!! And Black Friday, a day that I had been planning on for weeks now, before I started this project. I am pretty certain I will spend on Friday. How can I possible avoid Christmas shopping on Black Friday, when I have already planned on it? Christmas is a bear, and I really picked the wrong time of year for this pledge.
Maybe I should just quit, say "well, I tried, but the holidays got in the way...."... I did it for 3 weeks.... That's pretty good!! And I only had 2 slip ups!
No... You are right, you are all right.... I can do it. Now that I see that it has been 3 weeks already, I can also see that I only have 1 more week to go! Just one more week! I can do that, I can do one week, right? Yes!!!
Man, that was far cheerier than expected.
Ok, that's all for now... thank you for reading, have a great night! Happy Thanksgiving!! xo
Today was a pretty good day. I am crazy busy with work, and for some reason, we haven't been to the supermarket in a while. I am low on food, and the cupboards are bare.... But I can still figure out some meals and things...
I am seeing a pattern of temptation though, and it definitely relates to food. Today, we had surprise guests, and as a result, I had 4 pre-teens in my house for the bulk of the day. And since they were dropped off at 11:30, I had to feed them lunch. Don't get me wrong, not complaining. I love it when she has her friends over, and like that they feel comfortable over here. But I really had nothing to eat. What I forget is that kids tend to eat junk that we as adults wouldn't... So I was able to dig around, and rustle up some grub... A few cans of long forgotten Chef-Boy-R-Dee really goes a long way....Uggghhhh...
So we will consider that progress, because the previous method would have easily been a trip to KFC.... No doubt...
Now, tomorrow is a holiday, and the budget for this had already been planned. So my dinner out tomorrow will not be a breach of contract. However, any other purchases at the park will be....So, you've read it here first, folks - no sodas, no ice creams, no games (that are not included with admission)
But, ah, this is what I have been dreading. Friday. Black Friday, and the weekend. Oh man, it is always the weekend that kills me!! And Black Friday, a day that I had been planning on for weeks now, before I started this project. I am pretty certain I will spend on Friday. How can I possible avoid Christmas shopping on Black Friday, when I have already planned on it? Christmas is a bear, and I really picked the wrong time of year for this pledge.
Maybe I should just quit, say "well, I tried, but the holidays got in the way...."... I did it for 3 weeks.... That's pretty good!! And I only had 2 slip ups!
No... You are right, you are all right.... I can do it. Now that I see that it has been 3 weeks already, I can also see that I only have 1 more week to go! Just one more week! I can do that, I can do one week, right? Yes!!!
Man, that was far cheerier than expected.
Ok, that's all for now... thank you for reading, have a great night! Happy Thanksgiving!! xo
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Day 20 - Cooking blows!
Hi everyone, and thank you for reading and sharing!
I had a long day...Lots of work on projects that I really want to complete before the holiday, which requires lots of laptop work.... Lots of PowerPoint detail, sitting and eye strain. Repetitive hand motions. I mean, it's not like I am chopping trees or something really physical, but sometimes what doesn't seem exhausting really is... Some days my work is broken up with meetings, but today I had fewer than normal meetings, I guess due to the holiday. So I was geared up to dig in and bang out some of this work. Which I did, because I am a star.. .:-)
But by 5:30, I was spent. I was really wiped out. And I had taken no meat out of the freezer, so I had planned to make spaghetti (my own gravy, or sauce as you might say). But they Julia said, "Can we just have pizza tonight?" And I said, of course, "Sure".... Just like that, without thinking. And then I remembered my vow. So I had to retract. That went over well. But I explained that I made a promise, and that can't be broken. I honestly cannot say who was more annoyed at the spaghetti dinner - her for having to eat spaghetti when she really wanted pizza, or me because I had to make a spaghetti dinner when I really just wanted to order a pizza....
All in all, it wasn't the end of the world. I made the "sauce", and we had a nice meal.... But MAN am I tired!! There has got to be a better way!! Which leads me to my second point... I recently saw on TV a pressure cooker for sale... OK, yes, it was on QVC, there, I said it.... If I can't go out, I can at least watch shopping, lol...Which, as it turns out, is equally dangerous!!
But dang, this pressure cooker thing... I know I am a marketers dream, I really fall for everything. And I know I am being manipulated, I get it. But still, I figure even if this amazing pressure cooker does HALF of what it claims, I can have dinner ready in 30 minutes!! Wouldn't that save me money? At 5:00, just through a frozen chicken in the pot with some veggies and BAM! Cheaper than ordering my famous Chinese food, right? Or am I just a lunatic who is desperately trying for any way to bring peace and calm to my world??
What do you think? Am I nuts or not??
OK, thank you for reading and have a great night! xo
I had a long day...Lots of work on projects that I really want to complete before the holiday, which requires lots of laptop work.... Lots of PowerPoint detail, sitting and eye strain. Repetitive hand motions. I mean, it's not like I am chopping trees or something really physical, but sometimes what doesn't seem exhausting really is... Some days my work is broken up with meetings, but today I had fewer than normal meetings, I guess due to the holiday. So I was geared up to dig in and bang out some of this work. Which I did, because I am a star.. .:-)
But by 5:30, I was spent. I was really wiped out. And I had taken no meat out of the freezer, so I had planned to make spaghetti (my own gravy, or sauce as you might say). But they Julia said, "Can we just have pizza tonight?" And I said, of course, "Sure".... Just like that, without thinking. And then I remembered my vow. So I had to retract. That went over well. But I explained that I made a promise, and that can't be broken. I honestly cannot say who was more annoyed at the spaghetti dinner - her for having to eat spaghetti when she really wanted pizza, or me because I had to make a spaghetti dinner when I really just wanted to order a pizza....
All in all, it wasn't the end of the world. I made the "sauce", and we had a nice meal.... But MAN am I tired!! There has got to be a better way!! Which leads me to my second point... I recently saw on TV a pressure cooker for sale... OK, yes, it was on QVC, there, I said it.... If I can't go out, I can at least watch shopping, lol...Which, as it turns out, is equally dangerous!!
But dang, this pressure cooker thing... I know I am a marketers dream, I really fall for everything. And I know I am being manipulated, I get it. But still, I figure even if this amazing pressure cooker does HALF of what it claims, I can have dinner ready in 30 minutes!! Wouldn't that save me money? At 5:00, just through a frozen chicken in the pot with some veggies and BAM! Cheaper than ordering my famous Chinese food, right? Or am I just a lunatic who is desperately trying for any way to bring peace and calm to my world??
What do you think? Am I nuts or not??
OK, thank you for reading and have a great night! xo
Monday, November 24, 2014
Day 19 - OMG when will this end??
Hi, everyone, and thank you so much for reading... I really appreciate it... Tonight, you will be sensing a slightly different tone, as my mood about money has slightly soured...
I am not gonna lie... this is torture. This feels like punishment, this feels like I am being penalized... I hate it. I want to buy something, I want to go Christmas shopping! I want to buy plane tickets!!
I want to end this whole stupid project. I am still a money disaster. I still paid my bills and still, without going crazy like I might have normally done, still managed to eff up and miss something, and over draw my account! So what purpose is this serving?
Sorry, but I am feeling down tonight. I am feeling like I am on a diet that will never end, and I can't help but wonder... do people live like this all the time?
I have always been more of a "live for today" kinda girl, an "it will all work out" type... Now I feel constricted, my arms tied down.... I mean, not to be mellow dramatic, but what if someone saves all their extra money, has it all in a bank or under a mattress or something, and then they get hit by a bus? They haven't lived their life fully, haven't enjoyed the fruits of their labor! I work hard, and I want to enjoy my fruit? Is that so wrong? As she said in "Confessions of a Shop-a-holic", "I've got to either earn more or spend less".... And my goal was to just earn more so that I can live how I like....
I once dated a guy (no other details will be shared to protect the crazy), who tried to teach me the value of living below your means.... And I get it... I do... We did the math, and if we had somehow managed to live his life style and essentially save all of our money, we would have been millionaires within 5 years... But seriously, is a bank account like that really worth having no fun at all?? Living in a hovel in a building without a doorman in NYC? Really? Spend it while you can! Live a little! Yes!!
So here I sit, fruitless...New-shoeless... flight-ticketless...
What do you think? I know, you were not expecting this one...
Thank you for reading! xo
I am not gonna lie... this is torture. This feels like punishment, this feels like I am being penalized... I hate it. I want to buy something, I want to go Christmas shopping! I want to buy plane tickets!!
I want to end this whole stupid project. I am still a money disaster. I still paid my bills and still, without going crazy like I might have normally done, still managed to eff up and miss something, and over draw my account! So what purpose is this serving?
Sorry, but I am feeling down tonight. I am feeling like I am on a diet that will never end, and I can't help but wonder... do people live like this all the time?
I have always been more of a "live for today" kinda girl, an "it will all work out" type... Now I feel constricted, my arms tied down.... I mean, not to be mellow dramatic, but what if someone saves all their extra money, has it all in a bank or under a mattress or something, and then they get hit by a bus? They haven't lived their life fully, haven't enjoyed the fruits of their labor! I work hard, and I want to enjoy my fruit? Is that so wrong? As she said in "Confessions of a Shop-a-holic", "I've got to either earn more or spend less".... And my goal was to just earn more so that I can live how I like....
I once dated a guy (no other details will be shared to protect the crazy), who tried to teach me the value of living below your means.... And I get it... I do... We did the math, and if we had somehow managed to live his life style and essentially save all of our money, we would have been millionaires within 5 years... But seriously, is a bank account like that really worth having no fun at all?? Living in a hovel in a building without a doorman in NYC? Really? Spend it while you can! Live a little! Yes!!
So here I sit, fruitless...New-shoeless... flight-ticketless...
What do you think? I know, you were not expecting this one...
Thank you for reading! xo
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Day 18 - Found money!
Hello, all, and thank you for reading!
The topic came up today because in yesterday's mail was a $36 check from my old bank, from a settlement on a class-A thing, regarding overdrafts or something...Anyway, I cashed it, and I so wanted to go out to breakfast with it with the family. I mean again, it was found money. But instead, I cashed it and used $25 of it to pay off my debt to my friend who paid for the Uggs....
Mission accomplished? Was it the right thing, or the wrong thing?? What do you think?
OK, thank you for reading! Tomorrow, we will delve more into the issues about money and spending over this holiday season... Thank you so much!! xo
So, today was uneventful, no spending... So yay! But I did have a dilemma or two pop up.... and one of them involves "found money". You know the expression... Found money, that delightful cash surprise, that $20 bill found the jacket you haven't work since last season, that check in the mail that came from insurance because you "overpaid", or some other random, unexpected and unaccounted for money. This is not something in your budget, not something on which you depend for the maintenance of said budget. My question then is - what do you do with found money?
There are 3 possibilities:
1) Put it in the bank, add it into your check book register, and use it to pay bills
2) Put it in your savings for a rainy day
3) Since you weren't planning on it, you don't need it... Consider it a gift from the heavens and spend, spend spend it!
I suppose a 4th option would be, if the check is large enough, to do all 3, but now I am complicating things.
I think we all know where I land in this debate. Found money is found for fun... Found money is magical, and as such, should not be used for anything mundane and pragmatic. If you do so, you risk the balance of the entire beautiful randomness of our mystical and magnificent universe. Entropy could be reversed, and it would be anarchy! No.... but still, it's the nature of the "good luck" to me, to have this random chance at something fun, something you could not have done without it. Get that pair of shoes... have that mani-pedi... Or if the found money was significant, take that vacation!
What are your thoughts on this?
The topic came up today because in yesterday's mail was a $36 check from my old bank, from a settlement on a class-A thing, regarding overdrafts or something...Anyway, I cashed it, and I so wanted to go out to breakfast with it with the family. I mean again, it was found money. But instead, I cashed it and used $25 of it to pay off my debt to my friend who paid for the Uggs....
Mission accomplished? Was it the right thing, or the wrong thing?? What do you think?
OK, thank you for reading! Tomorrow, we will delve more into the issues about money and spending over this holiday season... Thank you so much!! xo
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Day 17 - Peer Pressure
Hello, everyone... And thank you so much for reading and sharing! :-)
So let me just get right into it. I spent today. There. I said it. You know how in movies they say that? They say, "There, I said it. Wow, I feel so much better getting that off my chest." Let me tell you, that's BS, because I do not feel any better.
Here's the sitch. I was shopping with a friend, which I knew was a risk. I also knew at some point, shopping with friends was unavoidable. So here we were in a children's high-end second-hand store, where they only carry certain brand names in like-new condition for kids, such as Gymboree for little ones, and up to Michael Kors for the older kids... Oh yes, and Uggs. And as it was, today there was one pair of purple Uggs. One pair, which just so happened to be in her size.
She tried them on, and they of course not only fit, but were crazy comfortable - as all Uggs are. They were 30, with a sale of %15 off. I said no. I had, actually, left my cash and debit card home - brilliant tactic, wouldn't you agree? But there we were, in the middle of the store. She is wearing these adorable, perfect Uggs, which are incidentally, on her Christmas list. My friend said, "Well, they can be part of her Christmas gift". True, but I am not spending right now. "You will never get this price on these again". Also, true, but I am not spending right now. And it's all moot, because I don't even have a means to pay for them. Then, here it is, in super-slow-motion, "I caaannnn bbbuuuyyyy ttthhheeemmmm, aaannndddd yyyoooouuuu ccaannn pppaayyyy mmmeeeee bbbbaaacccckkkkkk"..... You sunk my Battleship. I was done.
Am I justifying that they were incredibly priced? And they were on the Christmas list? I mean, truthfully, I was planning on spending at least $120 on them in a few weeks. Is it really so bad to take advantage of this opportunity, which only cost me $25? Yes. I am justifying. Because I should have held firm. But it was hard, me, the sales people, my friend, my daughter and her friend... It was a tough situation. I could not think of a reason to say no.
How do you say no when you HAVE to say no, but want to say yes? And when the forces around you are saying "Say yes, say yes"!! Man, I could never ever be on "Say Yes to the Dress", my head would literally explode.
Well, that is all for tonight... Tomorrow I plan to get back on the wagon....Dang, what is it about Saturdays????
OK, thank you so much for reading, and have a great night!! xo
So let me just get right into it. I spent today. There. I said it. You know how in movies they say that? They say, "There, I said it. Wow, I feel so much better getting that off my chest." Let me tell you, that's BS, because I do not feel any better.
Here's the sitch. I was shopping with a friend, which I knew was a risk. I also knew at some point, shopping with friends was unavoidable. So here we were in a children's high-end second-hand store, where they only carry certain brand names in like-new condition for kids, such as Gymboree for little ones, and up to Michael Kors for the older kids... Oh yes, and Uggs. And as it was, today there was one pair of purple Uggs. One pair, which just so happened to be in her size.
She tried them on, and they of course not only fit, but were crazy comfortable - as all Uggs are. They were 30, with a sale of %15 off. I said no. I had, actually, left my cash and debit card home - brilliant tactic, wouldn't you agree? But there we were, in the middle of the store. She is wearing these adorable, perfect Uggs, which are incidentally, on her Christmas list. My friend said, "Well, they can be part of her Christmas gift". True, but I am not spending right now. "You will never get this price on these again". Also, true, but I am not spending right now. And it's all moot, because I don't even have a means to pay for them. Then, here it is, in super-slow-motion, "I caaannnn bbbuuuyyyy ttthhheeemmmm, aaannndddd yyyoooouuuu ccaannn pppaayyyy mmmeeeee bbbbaaacccckkkkkk"..... You sunk my Battleship. I was done.
Am I justifying that they were incredibly priced? And they were on the Christmas list? I mean, truthfully, I was planning on spending at least $120 on them in a few weeks. Is it really so bad to take advantage of this opportunity, which only cost me $25? Yes. I am justifying. Because I should have held firm. But it was hard, me, the sales people, my friend, my daughter and her friend... It was a tough situation. I could not think of a reason to say no.
How do you say no when you HAVE to say no, but want to say yes? And when the forces around you are saying "Say yes, say yes"!! Man, I could never ever be on "Say Yes to the Dress", my head would literally explode.
Well, that is all for tonight... Tomorrow I plan to get back on the wagon....Dang, what is it about Saturdays????
OK, thank you so much for reading, and have a great night!! xo
Friday, November 21, 2014
Day 16 - And it begins...
Hello, everyone and thank you so much for reading!
Today begins the weekend. And while I am very proud that I have not spent at all today, I do admit to a struggle I had... Beyond that, the weekends are always the hardest, even without "Mockingjay" and buttered popcorn....
But today started out fine, and then I ran to the bank at lunch time. The branch I like is in Windermere, which is a lovely town once lived in by Tiger Woods himself... They have a great little town center, reminding me of a tiny Princeton or Chester in New Jersey, charming and quaint. And I had forgotten - they also have a Farmers Market on Friday's at lunch time... Yup. And there I was, ready to not spend, and what did I see? Those tell tale white tent peaks, clearly indicating a market of some sort... Flea, Farmers, Fish, Stock, it doesn't matter, it's a market! I instinctively sought out a parking spot. Inside, I cried "Yay!", because I have been meaning to check it out. As it is very popular, there were no spots. As I drove past the beautiful white peaks, I saw the sign that indicated they were closing in a few minutes anyway, and suddenly I felt better about not being able to get a spot. And off I drove.
See the problem?
I am hoping that at some point, before I parked and started to explore all the wonders of the market, that I in fact would have reminded myself that I cannot spend money. But I am wondering if that would have really happened or not... I do have a fleeting recollection of a little voice whispering, "can't spend money", and then another, louder, more New Jersey voice saying, "Shut up, I can buy vegetables!"... And that was when I couldn't find the parking spot and all the voices disappeared.
Has that ever happened to you? The excitement of the situation overwhelms your thought processes? In fact, I would go so far as to say they didn't interrupt my thought processes, instead they prevented them from starting up at all. A neurological short circuiting, if you will... Then you wake up... ? Well, I only hope I was about to wake up before I starting looking at all those things I didn't know I needed at those great prices... 2 for 1 soy candles, hummingbird wind chimes, organic hummus and who knows what else!!
OK, I made it through today... but what about tomorrow? And what about these roots that are getting ridiculous now? How will I make it not just this weekend, but these next 2 weeks? And beyond that, how will I apply this level of control when I clearly just cannot wait for this 30 days to be over? What happens when it ends? Will I be like the dieter who hits the goal weight and then celebrates by gaining it back (yes, I have done that as well... )...? Why do I always feel like doing things that are good for me are punishment? So much more to learn...
OK, well more on this tomorrow, the dreaded Saturday...Wish me luck! And thank you for reading! xo
Today begins the weekend. And while I am very proud that I have not spent at all today, I do admit to a struggle I had... Beyond that, the weekends are always the hardest, even without "Mockingjay" and buttered popcorn....
But today started out fine, and then I ran to the bank at lunch time. The branch I like is in Windermere, which is a lovely town once lived in by Tiger Woods himself... They have a great little town center, reminding me of a tiny Princeton or Chester in New Jersey, charming and quaint. And I had forgotten - they also have a Farmers Market on Friday's at lunch time... Yup. And there I was, ready to not spend, and what did I see? Those tell tale white tent peaks, clearly indicating a market of some sort... Flea, Farmers, Fish, Stock, it doesn't matter, it's a market! I instinctively sought out a parking spot. Inside, I cried "Yay!", because I have been meaning to check it out. As it is very popular, there were no spots. As I drove past the beautiful white peaks, I saw the sign that indicated they were closing in a few minutes anyway, and suddenly I felt better about not being able to get a spot. And off I drove.
See the problem?
I am hoping that at some point, before I parked and started to explore all the wonders of the market, that I in fact would have reminded myself that I cannot spend money. But I am wondering if that would have really happened or not... I do have a fleeting recollection of a little voice whispering, "can't spend money", and then another, louder, more New Jersey voice saying, "Shut up, I can buy vegetables!"... And that was when I couldn't find the parking spot and all the voices disappeared.
Has that ever happened to you? The excitement of the situation overwhelms your thought processes? In fact, I would go so far as to say they didn't interrupt my thought processes, instead they prevented them from starting up at all. A neurological short circuiting, if you will... Then you wake up... ? Well, I only hope I was about to wake up before I starting looking at all those things I didn't know I needed at those great prices... 2 for 1 soy candles, hummingbird wind chimes, organic hummus and who knows what else!!
OK, I made it through today... but what about tomorrow? And what about these roots that are getting ridiculous now? How will I make it not just this weekend, but these next 2 weeks? And beyond that, how will I apply this level of control when I clearly just cannot wait for this 30 days to be over? What happens when it ends? Will I be like the dieter who hits the goal weight and then celebrates by gaining it back (yes, I have done that as well... )...? Why do I always feel like doing things that are good for me are punishment? So much more to learn...
OK, well more on this tomorrow, the dreaded Saturday...Wish me luck! And thank you for reading! xo
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Day 15 - Not gonna lie...
Hello, all... And thank you so much for reading...
Today was fairly uneventful. A completely spend-free day. But I am not gonna lie... I WANT TO BUY SOMETHING!! I do, I really do. It is like an itch that I cannot scratch, I really just want to buy something for me. I don't even really care what it is, I just want to go shopping. I want to go out to have a girly day, with lunch at the mall with a girlfriend, and some fun shopping afterwards... Browsing, yes, but then that experience of finding that just-right thing, in the just-right size, at the just-right price... That win! I want that rush... I do..... And I don't really know why.
On the bright side, I shared yesterday's blog with my daughter. At nearly 12, she is at that stage where she can be completely immature and self-centered, and then a moment later, be responsible and mature. So I had no idea how she would react after she read it. After she was done, she turned to me and said, "Mo-om", you know, that two-syllable melodic "Mah-um" sound they make? Yes, that was it... She put her hands on her hips and stared at me. "Mo-om", she began. I asked her what she thought. She said, "You know what I am going to say"... and I was sure she was going to say "We are going to that movie! You promised, and you never, ever break a promise!" Instead, she said, "Mom, it's going to be out for a long time. We'll go in a few weeks. It will be better, the crowds will have died down."
Really? I almost started to cry... I gave her a huge hug, and was filled with pride and love. And gratitude.... For a few reasons.... First, I am off the hook and no longer have to make a decision. My Libra nature is eternally grateful for that one. And secondly, she did actually get it. She really seems to understand what I am doing and why. And that, that means the world to me.
Not going to mention that today I told her that our neighborhood is having a doggie swim day at the end of the month (because they are draining our pool the next day for re-tiling and repairs), and how we should go and bring Lola - and her immediate response was "OMG, we totally have to buy her a new bathing suit!".... Baby steps. Baby steps...
That's it for tonight, but tomorrow we have more dilemmas to unveil! Thank you so much for reading, and have a great night! xo
Today was fairly uneventful. A completely spend-free day. But I am not gonna lie... I WANT TO BUY SOMETHING!! I do, I really do. It is like an itch that I cannot scratch, I really just want to buy something for me. I don't even really care what it is, I just want to go shopping. I want to go out to have a girly day, with lunch at the mall with a girlfriend, and some fun shopping afterwards... Browsing, yes, but then that experience of finding that just-right thing, in the just-right size, at the just-right price... That win! I want that rush... I do..... And I don't really know why.
On the bright side, I shared yesterday's blog with my daughter. At nearly 12, she is at that stage where she can be completely immature and self-centered, and then a moment later, be responsible and mature. So I had no idea how she would react after she read it. After she was done, she turned to me and said, "Mo-om", you know, that two-syllable melodic "Mah-um" sound they make? Yes, that was it... She put her hands on her hips and stared at me. "Mo-om", she began. I asked her what she thought. She said, "You know what I am going to say"... and I was sure she was going to say "We are going to that movie! You promised, and you never, ever break a promise!" Instead, she said, "Mom, it's going to be out for a long time. We'll go in a few weeks. It will be better, the crowds will have died down."
Really? I almost started to cry... I gave her a huge hug, and was filled with pride and love. And gratitude.... For a few reasons.... First, I am off the hook and no longer have to make a decision. My Libra nature is eternally grateful for that one. And secondly, she did actually get it. She really seems to understand what I am doing and why. And that, that means the world to me.
Not going to mention that today I told her that our neighborhood is having a doggie swim day at the end of the month (because they are draining our pool the next day for re-tiling and repairs), and how we should go and bring Lola - and her immediate response was "OMG, we totally have to buy her a new bathing suit!".... Baby steps. Baby steps...
That's it for tonight, but tomorrow we have more dilemmas to unveil! Thank you so much for reading, and have a great night! xo
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Day 14 - The Halfway Point!
Hello, everyone, and thank you so much for reading and sharing!
So while today was uneventful (read spending free!!), tomorrow is Thursday, which is connected to Friday... And Friday is when "Mockingjay Part 1" comes out! For those who do not know, Mockingjay is the 3rd of the "Hunger Games" movies... And while these movies are targeted to the ummm, let's say younger generation, I must admit I am a big fan. I read all of the books, saw the first two movies, and am eagerly awaiting the release of Mockingjay.
But this isn't really about me. Me, I could wait my 2 more weeks and go see it whenever... This is about my daughter. Reading the books and watching the movies together is sort of our "thing". I have taken her to see both movies when they were released, and made a promise that we would go see Mockingjay when it comes out, the very first weekend. Yay, super fun, right? Under normal circumstances, yes, very fun. Throw caution to the wind, pack up the fam and off the the movies.
Yeah, under normal circumstances...
How can that happen now when I have made this no-spending commitment? I want to honor my promise to my daughter about the movie for so many reasons. Firstly, to show her how promises should be kept. Next, because I hate to let her down. And if I am being honest, and I know you already know this next one, because I really want to see this movie! But on the flip side, I have made this budgetary promise as well, this pledge to spend zero dollars. I could justify and rationalize about how it's only $25, and swear to not get popcorn and candy, which we all know will totally happen anyway - because after all, when you go to the movies, popcorn and candy are part of the movie going experience, and as such, they do not count in terms of budgetary spending or in calories. I swear it is true, look it up. But I digress..
I want to keep my pledge about the spending, because it has grown more and more important to me with each passing day. I want to continue to learn about myself through this process. And, I want her to respect my ability to honor my commitments to myself as well as to others. I want her to be proud.
So, my question that I cannot answer today is this - Which promise is more important? And how do you really decide? What do you do when you make a choice, where you feel like whichever way you go, you have chosen wrong? (Decisions, decisions - Pay me! Lawyers salary, please!) <<== super old tv commercial reference... ;-)
OK, well that is where I am today... More to come on this topic, and more, tomorrow... Thank you sooooo very much for reading, and have a great day!! xo
(PS - she just walked in and saw I was writing the blog... She said, "I want to do a blog... this is cool. How did you set it up?" And then she looked at me with that stern "I'm watching you" expression and said, "Did it cost money?" See, she is paying attention to everything!!)
So while today was uneventful (read spending free!!), tomorrow is Thursday, which is connected to Friday... And Friday is when "Mockingjay Part 1" comes out! For those who do not know, Mockingjay is the 3rd of the "Hunger Games" movies... And while these movies are targeted to the ummm, let's say younger generation, I must admit I am a big fan. I read all of the books, saw the first two movies, and am eagerly awaiting the release of Mockingjay.
But this isn't really about me. Me, I could wait my 2 more weeks and go see it whenever... This is about my daughter. Reading the books and watching the movies together is sort of our "thing". I have taken her to see both movies when they were released, and made a promise that we would go see Mockingjay when it comes out, the very first weekend. Yay, super fun, right? Under normal circumstances, yes, very fun. Throw caution to the wind, pack up the fam and off the the movies.
Yeah, under normal circumstances...
How can that happen now when I have made this no-spending commitment? I want to honor my promise to my daughter about the movie for so many reasons. Firstly, to show her how promises should be kept. Next, because I hate to let her down. And if I am being honest, and I know you already know this next one, because I really want to see this movie! But on the flip side, I have made this budgetary promise as well, this pledge to spend zero dollars. I could justify and rationalize about how it's only $25, and swear to not get popcorn and candy, which we all know will totally happen anyway - because after all, when you go to the movies, popcorn and candy are part of the movie going experience, and as such, they do not count in terms of budgetary spending or in calories. I swear it is true, look it up. But I digress..
I want to keep my pledge about the spending, because it has grown more and more important to me with each passing day. I want to continue to learn about myself through this process. And, I want her to respect my ability to honor my commitments to myself as well as to others. I want her to be proud.
So, my question that I cannot answer today is this - Which promise is more important? And how do you really decide? What do you do when you make a choice, where you feel like whichever way you go, you have chosen wrong? (Decisions, decisions - Pay me! Lawyers salary, please!) <<== super old tv commercial reference... ;-)
OK, well that is where I am today... More to come on this topic, and more, tomorrow... Thank you sooooo very much for reading, and have a great day!! xo
(PS - she just walked in and saw I was writing the blog... She said, "I want to do a blog... this is cool. How did you set it up?" And then she looked at me with that stern "I'm watching you" expression and said, "Did it cost money?" See, she is paying attention to everything!!)
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Day 13 - OMG, that is SOOOO COOL!!
Hello, everyone, and thank you again for reading! I really appreciate it!
Today, I proudly spend nothing. Not one penny! So far, and almost 2 weeks in, I only had that one bad incident, and since then I feel I have recovered quite nicely. The secret is apparently, reducing or eliminating temptation. Now, I cannot live under a rock for the rest of my life, so I am going to have to develop some coping skills, which I am working on. But I also sorta kinda have to continue to reduce or eliminate temptation.
I saw something super cool today, and I really felt the need to buy it... What it is doesn't really matter, it could have been anything from the Microsoft Surface, to that amazing anti-aging serum, to that super cool table keyboard that I didn't even know existed, to those Uggs that you can actually have customized... Sooo cool!! Did you know that you could do that? Because I had no idea! Also, recent cool observations and wants include a friends newly published book of poems - soooo cool, the amazing lux bamboo sheets and comforter set that keeps you cool at night, anything from the 2014 Holiday collection of wrap dresses by Diane von Furstenberg (literally anything), and the Swarovski crystal covered Etch-a-Sketch... Ah, so many cool things!!
Which leads me to this question - what is up with the "cool" factor? When something is cool, it is almost irresistible! I want it. No, I have to have it! The cool smartphone that I carry, it was just the coolest! Cool, yes, once I feel myself saying "OMG, that is sooo cool!", the purchase is nearly inevitable. That buzz of electricity when you see it, and you just know it's the next thing you must have.
So when I saw the cool thing today, it was on a shopping channel. And I watched the full hour demonstration of it, all the while thinking how silly I was for spending time watching the full demo on the shopping channel... At some point, I then picked up my cool smartphone, and went to the website of this shopping channel - just to read the reviews, or so I told myself. Then, I magically ended up in front of my laptop, so I could read more reviews, see pictures better, and do some more analysis. And then, somehow, this deal, which was on EZ Pay, btw, for this super cool thing, was too strong for me. And I hit it, the dreaded "Add to cart" button. The very good news is that I woke up from the hypnotic stupor, and shut down the web site... No purchase was made.
Still though, those feelings linger.... dang, that was cool.... Oh well, no cool items purchased today... Does that make me woefully uncool?
Thanks for reading, everyone, and have a great night!! xo (PS, keep reading... between some new movies coming out, and holidays coming up, I think we can all expect to see some juicy rationalizations here over the next week or so.... )
Today, I proudly spend nothing. Not one penny! So far, and almost 2 weeks in, I only had that one bad incident, and since then I feel I have recovered quite nicely. The secret is apparently, reducing or eliminating temptation. Now, I cannot live under a rock for the rest of my life, so I am going to have to develop some coping skills, which I am working on. But I also sorta kinda have to continue to reduce or eliminate temptation.
I saw something super cool today, and I really felt the need to buy it... What it is doesn't really matter, it could have been anything from the Microsoft Surface, to that amazing anti-aging serum, to that super cool table keyboard that I didn't even know existed, to those Uggs that you can actually have customized... Sooo cool!! Did you know that you could do that? Because I had no idea! Also, recent cool observations and wants include a friends newly published book of poems - soooo cool, the amazing lux bamboo sheets and comforter set that keeps you cool at night, anything from the 2014 Holiday collection of wrap dresses by Diane von Furstenberg (literally anything), and the Swarovski crystal covered Etch-a-Sketch... Ah, so many cool things!!
Which leads me to this question - what is up with the "cool" factor? When something is cool, it is almost irresistible! I want it. No, I have to have it! The cool smartphone that I carry, it was just the coolest! Cool, yes, once I feel myself saying "OMG, that is sooo cool!", the purchase is nearly inevitable. That buzz of electricity when you see it, and you just know it's the next thing you must have.
So when I saw the cool thing today, it was on a shopping channel. And I watched the full hour demonstration of it, all the while thinking how silly I was for spending time watching the full demo on the shopping channel... At some point, I then picked up my cool smartphone, and went to the website of this shopping channel - just to read the reviews, or so I told myself. Then, I magically ended up in front of my laptop, so I could read more reviews, see pictures better, and do some more analysis. And then, somehow, this deal, which was on EZ Pay, btw, for this super cool thing, was too strong for me. And I hit it, the dreaded "Add to cart" button. The very good news is that I woke up from the hypnotic stupor, and shut down the web site... No purchase was made.
Still though, those feelings linger.... dang, that was cool.... Oh well, no cool items purchased today... Does that make me woefully uncool?
Thanks for reading, everyone, and have a great night!! xo (PS, keep reading... between some new movies coming out, and holidays coming up, I think we can all expect to see some juicy rationalizations here over the next week or so.... )
Monday, November 17, 2014
Dawn's Blog: Day 12 - Let's get you something to make you feel ...
Dawn's Blog: Day 12 - Let's get you something to make you feel ...: Hello, all! And thank you so much for reading and sharing! Well, today was a pretty low key day, so I am very proud to report no non-budg...
Day 12 - Let's get you something to make you feel better
Hello, all! And thank you so much for reading and sharing!
Well, today was a pretty low key day, so I am very proud to report no non-budgetary spending! Lack of temptation was a big reason, since it's a work day and I was pretty much restricted.
However, some large catalogs arrived in the mail today, as the holiday season gets into full swing. My daughter has literally spent the past 2 hours pouring over these glorious books full of toys, electronics and clothes, and at last count, she had 32 items on her Christmas list. Yesterday, I wrote about minimalism, and now here we are, in the throes of the most commercialized time of year. All we see are ads for all of this crap, along with decorations and food ads.... It's enough to make you, well, want. Just want.
It got me thinking... Why do we covet things so very intensely? And one thought did occur to me. In our society, we often have the means to do things to cheer us up when we are down. Over the whole of my life, being upset was easily remedied by me, by parents, by friends and family, by the giving of things or of food. Not passing judgement, we do these things out of kindness. When I was little and failed to win the school elections (I was going for President, as you can guess), I was cheered up with a chocolate cake... When I was home sick from school, my mom would buy me a small gift to cheer me up, such as the best ever supermarket toy, "Wooly Willy", which had a male face and little shavings of metal that you could move around with a magnetic want, to give him funny beards and such... And so on and so on, through out my life. And I have done the same thing. When my kids are sad or disappointed, I have made their favorite meal or taken them on a shopping spree to cheer their moods. Raising their spirits, it seems, is not just about a hug and a supportive ear... In our world, we give... It could even be little things, like a card or flowers... But still, we give... We give and receive things because it does make us feel better. Even our favorite couple, Shamy, demonstrated this.. When Sheldon hurt Amy's feelings, he cheered her up greatly by buying her a tiara! (Watch The Big Bang Theory if you are not!)
Is it any wonder we then self medicate with that same chocolate cake and shopping spree experience when we get older? Now please know, this is sincerely not any effort to validate my bad habits... rather just the opposite... I am thinking that if I can start to identify why things feel the way they do, then I can get to why I act the way I do. Now, I am certainly not hoping that this exercise makes me feel bad about buying things for myself or others within budget, but I can say that so far, I am at least much more aware of the feelings and moods that surround the urges to buy things. And that, that awareness, is very new. And very enlightening. I am now looking out for that metaphoric chocolate cake, and paying attention to it far more than ever before...
OK, now it is time for me to start my Christmas list... :-) Thank you for reading, and have a great night! xo
Well, today was a pretty low key day, so I am very proud to report no non-budgetary spending! Lack of temptation was a big reason, since it's a work day and I was pretty much restricted.
However, some large catalogs arrived in the mail today, as the holiday season gets into full swing. My daughter has literally spent the past 2 hours pouring over these glorious books full of toys, electronics and clothes, and at last count, she had 32 items on her Christmas list. Yesterday, I wrote about minimalism, and now here we are, in the throes of the most commercialized time of year. All we see are ads for all of this crap, along with decorations and food ads.... It's enough to make you, well, want. Just want.
It got me thinking... Why do we covet things so very intensely? And one thought did occur to me. In our society, we often have the means to do things to cheer us up when we are down. Over the whole of my life, being upset was easily remedied by me, by parents, by friends and family, by the giving of things or of food. Not passing judgement, we do these things out of kindness. When I was little and failed to win the school elections (I was going for President, as you can guess), I was cheered up with a chocolate cake... When I was home sick from school, my mom would buy me a small gift to cheer me up, such as the best ever supermarket toy, "Wooly Willy", which had a male face and little shavings of metal that you could move around with a magnetic want, to give him funny beards and such... And so on and so on, through out my life. And I have done the same thing. When my kids are sad or disappointed, I have made their favorite meal or taken them on a shopping spree to cheer their moods. Raising their spirits, it seems, is not just about a hug and a supportive ear... In our world, we give... It could even be little things, like a card or flowers... But still, we give... We give and receive things because it does make us feel better. Even our favorite couple, Shamy, demonstrated this.. When Sheldon hurt Amy's feelings, he cheered her up greatly by buying her a tiara! (Watch The Big Bang Theory if you are not!)
Is it any wonder we then self medicate with that same chocolate cake and shopping spree experience when we get older? Now please know, this is sincerely not any effort to validate my bad habits... rather just the opposite... I am thinking that if I can start to identify why things feel the way they do, then I can get to why I act the way I do. Now, I am certainly not hoping that this exercise makes me feel bad about buying things for myself or others within budget, but I can say that so far, I am at least much more aware of the feelings and moods that surround the urges to buy things. And that, that awareness, is very new. And very enlightening. I am now looking out for that metaphoric chocolate cake, and paying attention to it far more than ever before...
OK, now it is time for me to start my Christmas list... :-) Thank you for reading, and have a great night! xo
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Day 11 - Minimalism
Hello, all! Thank you for reading!
Today was pretty uneventful, and I can say that I only spent money on things that were in my budget. I paid my bills, and did some grocery shopping. So yay, nothing bad! But it was easy because there was no temptation at all. I'm really good when there is no temptation.
I did spend some time tormenting myself with the TV shopping channels, and with the holidays coming up, I did want to get some stuff... But after a while of literally tormenting myself, I was like, "Dawn, SNAP OUT OF IT!", and turned on football which is what should be on the TV on Sundays!
I do enjoy my tennis lessons son Sundays, and while chatting with my tennis instructor about my project and blog, he mentioned to me the concept of minimalism. Now, I had heard of minimalism in terms of art, fashion and design. But living one's life in terms of minimalism? I had to research this... What a crazy concept! Minimalism is the concept of deliberately living with less. I know they say "less is more", but I am a doubter on that... I mean, seriously. And I get it, I have too many "things", we all have too many things.... OK... But having read what these minimalists say, I am even more convinced it's crazy. Some of these people try to get down to owning less than 100 things. Total. That's it, 100 things! I mean, that is like my shoe and bag count. For real... WTF, who can live like that? They say it's freeing, but it seems like punishment to me!
So now, I can't help but wonder... Am I addicted to "things"? Are possessions owning me as much as I am owning them? Does anyone else wonder why the founders of theminimalists.com are men, and probably only had 3 pairs of shoes to begin with?? I mean really, how are they experts in living without things?? And, the live in Montana. The fashion capital of the world, lol... Sorry, don't mean to pick on Montana, but it just seems odd to me that 2 guys from Montana are leading this movement. Of course it is easy, you are guys and you live in Montana!
Now, I am not being anti-Thoreau or anything, but I like things. My things... things I have picked out, or things that were given to me. Things that bring back memories, things that I can hold onto and look at, touch and feel, wear and share... And I swear, I am NOT a hoarder, although those of you who have helped me move may disagree.... Perhaps we can say a bit cluttered?
What are your thoughts? Do we have too many things? Am I crazy for thinking these minimalist guys are nuts?
OK, thank you for reading, and have a great night! xoxo
Today was pretty uneventful, and I can say that I only spent money on things that were in my budget. I paid my bills, and did some grocery shopping. So yay, nothing bad! But it was easy because there was no temptation at all. I'm really good when there is no temptation.
I did spend some time tormenting myself with the TV shopping channels, and with the holidays coming up, I did want to get some stuff... But after a while of literally tormenting myself, I was like, "Dawn, SNAP OUT OF IT!", and turned on football which is what should be on the TV on Sundays!
I do enjoy my tennis lessons son Sundays, and while chatting with my tennis instructor about my project and blog, he mentioned to me the concept of minimalism. Now, I had heard of minimalism in terms of art, fashion and design. But living one's life in terms of minimalism? I had to research this... What a crazy concept! Minimalism is the concept of deliberately living with less. I know they say "less is more", but I am a doubter on that... I mean, seriously. And I get it, I have too many "things", we all have too many things.... OK... But having read what these minimalists say, I am even more convinced it's crazy. Some of these people try to get down to owning less than 100 things. Total. That's it, 100 things! I mean, that is like my shoe and bag count. For real... WTF, who can live like that? They say it's freeing, but it seems like punishment to me!
So now, I can't help but wonder... Am I addicted to "things"? Are possessions owning me as much as I am owning them? Does anyone else wonder why the founders of theminimalists.com are men, and probably only had 3 pairs of shoes to begin with?? I mean really, how are they experts in living without things?? And, the live in Montana. The fashion capital of the world, lol... Sorry, don't mean to pick on Montana, but it just seems odd to me that 2 guys from Montana are leading this movement. Of course it is easy, you are guys and you live in Montana!
Now, I am not being anti-Thoreau or anything, but I like things. My things... things I have picked out, or things that were given to me. Things that bring back memories, things that I can hold onto and look at, touch and feel, wear and share... And I swear, I am NOT a hoarder, although those of you who have helped me move may disagree.... Perhaps we can say a bit cluttered?
What are your thoughts? Do we have too many things? Am I crazy for thinking these minimalist guys are nuts?
OK, thank you for reading, and have a great night! xoxo
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Day 10 - Huzzah!
Good day, fair ladies and good sirs... Today, we ventured to thy charming carouse, what was the academy Faire of thine Renaissance!
It was actually a fun filled, full day extravaganza, complete with knights doing battle, an actual Falconer with a falcon, and lest we not forget a jail, wherest mine own self was sent by a local mugwump, who sentenced me quite very unfairly, withoutest even benefit of trial! OK, I am done with the language stuff, lol, but it was a very fun day. And, actually a free day for me. Let me explain. Since it was part of the school, it was required participation. As it was a PTO event, we had to pay for $50 worth of tickets in advance, and then used the tickets to purchase activities or food. So say for 4 tickets, one could do archery, for 2 tickets you could enjoy a bottle of water. It didn't go very far.
My personal challenge, once again, came in the form of vendors. Just a few, but they were really good vendors, all with their wares at quite reasonable prices. I wanted a few of the items that I saw, but I didn't buy anything. And here is the interesting part. Have you ever been to a craft show or an antique show or something, and you can just tell the show is dead... And the poor vendor is standing there with this hopeful smile? Ugh, that is the worst feeling! They are not doing it on purpose, but they can't help but auto-generate this vibe.... And it is at this point that I normally am crushed on the tsunami that is my urge to buy it, and my feeling bad for the vendor, and collapse like a house of cards! Instead, today since I couldn't spend anything, I felt the need to explain why I could not buy their very cool wares.... So, if any vendors at the RF are reading, thank you for your patience while I told you the whole "not spending/blogging" story, and you had really nice things!
The day was really lovely, super fun, and had perfect 78 degree breezy weather. And that is where my success ended.
I had managed to escape the fair without spending.... but to be honest. the "fair" at the fair, ie food, was not the best. They had hot dogs and nachos, stuff like that. And the hot dog I did get, was not even "hot dog" color. Needless to say, after the 4 - 5 hours in the sun, playing games and being jailed, I was hungry. We were all hungry. And tired. The very thought of the drive home (30 minutes), and then cooking something was just overwhelming, and I spent. I am sure if I did some finagling, I could justify this - in fact, just read the first few sentences of this paragraph! But it has been 10 days of total austerity, and I just needed to sit down and enjoy a treat, a nice family meal.... I would imagine this is fine under normal circumstances, to have supper at Chili's.... as long as it is planned in your budget. But these are not normal circumstance. I have a pact... So I guess, I fell off the wagon, right? Does it help the situation if I tell you that this wasn't cash, but rather a credit card purchase? I could also say that it was not my decision, that it was a purchase my husband recommended... But either way, I could have said no, but I said "HUZZAH! We are about to enjoyeth some food and drink!"...well, not exactly like that, lol...
OK then, I have gotten it off my chest... It wasn't too bad of a slip I suppose, but non the less, after only 10 days, I do feel really badly about it. So my plan is to just hop right back on that horse tomorrow, and continue on this 30 day journey! Thank you all for taking the journey with me! And again, for your continued support and tips! Fare thee well, I must away! xoxo
It was actually a fun filled, full day extravaganza, complete with knights doing battle, an actual Falconer with a falcon, and lest we not forget a jail, wherest mine own self was sent by a local mugwump, who sentenced me quite very unfairly, withoutest even benefit of trial! OK, I am done with the language stuff, lol, but it was a very fun day. And, actually a free day for me. Let me explain. Since it was part of the school, it was required participation. As it was a PTO event, we had to pay for $50 worth of tickets in advance, and then used the tickets to purchase activities or food. So say for 4 tickets, one could do archery, for 2 tickets you could enjoy a bottle of water. It didn't go very far.
My personal challenge, once again, came in the form of vendors. Just a few, but they were really good vendors, all with their wares at quite reasonable prices. I wanted a few of the items that I saw, but I didn't buy anything. And here is the interesting part. Have you ever been to a craft show or an antique show or something, and you can just tell the show is dead... And the poor vendor is standing there with this hopeful smile? Ugh, that is the worst feeling! They are not doing it on purpose, but they can't help but auto-generate this vibe.... And it is at this point that I normally am crushed on the tsunami that is my urge to buy it, and my feeling bad for the vendor, and collapse like a house of cards! Instead, today since I couldn't spend anything, I felt the need to explain why I could not buy their very cool wares.... So, if any vendors at the RF are reading, thank you for your patience while I told you the whole "not spending/blogging" story, and you had really nice things!
The day was really lovely, super fun, and had perfect 78 degree breezy weather. And that is where my success ended.
I had managed to escape the fair without spending.... but to be honest. the "fair" at the fair, ie food, was not the best. They had hot dogs and nachos, stuff like that. And the hot dog I did get, was not even "hot dog" color. Needless to say, after the 4 - 5 hours in the sun, playing games and being jailed, I was hungry. We were all hungry. And tired. The very thought of the drive home (30 minutes), and then cooking something was just overwhelming, and I spent. I am sure if I did some finagling, I could justify this - in fact, just read the first few sentences of this paragraph! But it has been 10 days of total austerity, and I just needed to sit down and enjoy a treat, a nice family meal.... I would imagine this is fine under normal circumstances, to have supper at Chili's.... as long as it is planned in your budget. But these are not normal circumstance. I have a pact... So I guess, I fell off the wagon, right? Does it help the situation if I tell you that this wasn't cash, but rather a credit card purchase? I could also say that it was not my decision, that it was a purchase my husband recommended... But either way, I could have said no, but I said "HUZZAH! We are about to enjoyeth some food and drink!"...well, not exactly like that, lol...
OK then, I have gotten it off my chest... It wasn't too bad of a slip I suppose, but non the less, after only 10 days, I do feel really badly about it. So my plan is to just hop right back on that horse tomorrow, and continue on this 30 day journey! Thank you all for taking the journey with me! And again, for your continued support and tips! Fare thee well, I must away! xoxo
Friday, November 14, 2014
Day 9 - These weekends!
Hello, everyone, and thank you for reading!
I am going to cut straight to the chase. I want Chinese take out. I want it badly and I want it now. I can almost taste it. I know I could go to the supermarket, and hit the the oh-so-politically correctly labeled "Ethnic Foods" aisle, where I could buy some "La Choy" in a can. Or worse, I could get some ingredients that sound amazing on the label, but which when mixed together with chicken or rice in my actual kitchen, would end up looking like a long forgotten 2nd grade science experiment.
And another interesting note - my mind is starting to get creative, and invent little ways that I can cheat. I have $15 in cash, which I have had since the start of this little experiment. So today, that $15 was calling to me, "Dawn, buy some Roast Pork Lo Mein... no one is looking! No one will know!" It's a very loud voice, calling to me, surprisingly.
My brain is also doing things like, "Well, if it's a charge, is it spending? I mean, since it doesn't impact my cash/spending?"... And this, "Well, if it's a Christmas gift, and I have to get it now, can't that be an exception?" Yes, when I want something, this little brain of mine is most excellent at justifying and rationalizing.
Anyway, after all is said and done, I still sit her at 9:00 pm wildly craving Chinese food. I suppose it doesn't help that I watched back to back episodes of The Big Bang Theory, and man, those guys are always eating take out! Ugh...
When my daughter was about 4, and of the age where she wanted what she wanted, or a tantrum would ensue, I sang to her these famous lyrics: "You can't always get what you want... You can't always get what you want... but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need'... She hated when I sang that, and it actually made her tantrums worse. Looking back, it was actually hysterical, that little thing making all that noise... But I digress. Today, I am singing those lyrics to myself, and enjoying a nice, within budget and inexpensive frozen pizza. Special thanks to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.... Tonight, I am getting what I need.
Thanks so much for reading, everyone... Have a wonderful night!
I am going to cut straight to the chase. I want Chinese take out. I want it badly and I want it now. I can almost taste it. I know I could go to the supermarket, and hit the the oh-so-politically correctly labeled "Ethnic Foods" aisle, where I could buy some "La Choy" in a can. Or worse, I could get some ingredients that sound amazing on the label, but which when mixed together with chicken or rice in my actual kitchen, would end up looking like a long forgotten 2nd grade science experiment.
And another interesting note - my mind is starting to get creative, and invent little ways that I can cheat. I have $15 in cash, which I have had since the start of this little experiment. So today, that $15 was calling to me, "Dawn, buy some Roast Pork Lo Mein... no one is looking! No one will know!" It's a very loud voice, calling to me, surprisingly.
My brain is also doing things like, "Well, if it's a charge, is it spending? I mean, since it doesn't impact my cash/spending?"... And this, "Well, if it's a Christmas gift, and I have to get it now, can't that be an exception?" Yes, when I want something, this little brain of mine is most excellent at justifying and rationalizing.
Anyway, after all is said and done, I still sit her at 9:00 pm wildly craving Chinese food. I suppose it doesn't help that I watched back to back episodes of The Big Bang Theory, and man, those guys are always eating take out! Ugh...
When my daughter was about 4, and of the age where she wanted what she wanted, or a tantrum would ensue, I sang to her these famous lyrics: "You can't always get what you want... You can't always get what you want... but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need'... She hated when I sang that, and it actually made her tantrums worse. Looking back, it was actually hysterical, that little thing making all that noise... But I digress. Today, I am singing those lyrics to myself, and enjoying a nice, within budget and inexpensive frozen pizza. Special thanks to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.... Tonight, I am getting what I need.
Thanks so much for reading, everyone... Have a wonderful night!
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Day 8 - Wait, it's over 1 week!
Hello, my friends, and thank you for reading and sharing!
So today, my lovely bank closed an account without telling me, and the core problem is that it was an account into which a large deposit was being made. When I called the bank, I was told there was nothing that they could do, and that I had to visit the branch to have the account reopened. I wasted my lunch time driving to the bank, only to be told that the person on the phone had been wrong, and there is in fact, no way to reopen an account. Where then is my money, I asked, and naturally, they did not know. As you can imagine, especially if you know me, I was not happy about this. My "Jersey"" came out in full force, which basically translates to storming out of the bank while muttering things about crappy customer service, complaint letters, things like that....
And so what kind of mood was I in when I left that stupid branch?? I was furious, my blood was boiling. So if we are connecting the dots in Dawn's brain, we can easily see how anger and frustration connect to my situation the other day about hair color. Anger leads to doing something that makes you feel better.... Anger leads to shopping... Anger leads to paying a high end salon to not just color your roots, but who pampers you, brings you lemon water, and who lends a compassionate ear and a warm, inviting smile. Man, anger is a bitch....
I could actually feel the urge. Literally feel a physical pull. Normally, I would have just popped into the salon, gotten the grays washed away, and left with a cute new look and a whole new mindset! That would have made me smile, I would have gotten that nice rush of endorphins or dopamine or something...Instead, I was struggling with the rush of what ever the negative chemical in my brain, the one that causes desire.... the "desire" chemical must have a name, what is it? Well I have too much if it, and I could feel it flooding my blood stream, and I needed it released! But I had neither the time nor the funds, based on my commitment, to enjoy a makeover or even a short shopping spree....As a result, I simply had to let the negative chemical rush fade away on it's own. And of course, it did, it always does. I would imagine exercise or something else would have worked it out of my system faster, but that is a whole other blog entirely...
Anyway, I made it home without killing anyone due to my anger, getting my hair done, or buying anything at all. I did it. It was hard, but I did it.... It's so weird, this awareness of these things that I have been doing on autopilot... wow.... crazy, right? One step at a time... :-)
So thank you for reading! And PS - how many of you thought I was going to write "Anger leads to hate", and continue down a Yoda path?? xoxo
So today, my lovely bank closed an account without telling me, and the core problem is that it was an account into which a large deposit was being made. When I called the bank, I was told there was nothing that they could do, and that I had to visit the branch to have the account reopened. I wasted my lunch time driving to the bank, only to be told that the person on the phone had been wrong, and there is in fact, no way to reopen an account. Where then is my money, I asked, and naturally, they did not know. As you can imagine, especially if you know me, I was not happy about this. My "Jersey"" came out in full force, which basically translates to storming out of the bank while muttering things about crappy customer service, complaint letters, things like that....
And so what kind of mood was I in when I left that stupid branch?? I was furious, my blood was boiling. So if we are connecting the dots in Dawn's brain, we can easily see how anger and frustration connect to my situation the other day about hair color. Anger leads to doing something that makes you feel better.... Anger leads to shopping... Anger leads to paying a high end salon to not just color your roots, but who pampers you, brings you lemon water, and who lends a compassionate ear and a warm, inviting smile. Man, anger is a bitch....
I could actually feel the urge. Literally feel a physical pull. Normally, I would have just popped into the salon, gotten the grays washed away, and left with a cute new look and a whole new mindset! That would have made me smile, I would have gotten that nice rush of endorphins or dopamine or something...Instead, I was struggling with the rush of what ever the negative chemical in my brain, the one that causes desire.... the "desire" chemical must have a name, what is it? Well I have too much if it, and I could feel it flooding my blood stream, and I needed it released! But I had neither the time nor the funds, based on my commitment, to enjoy a makeover or even a short shopping spree....As a result, I simply had to let the negative chemical rush fade away on it's own. And of course, it did, it always does. I would imagine exercise or something else would have worked it out of my system faster, but that is a whole other blog entirely...
Anyway, I made it home without killing anyone due to my anger, getting my hair done, or buying anything at all. I did it. It was hard, but I did it.... It's so weird, this awareness of these things that I have been doing on autopilot... wow.... crazy, right? One step at a time... :-)
So thank you for reading! And PS - how many of you thought I was going to write "Anger leads to hate", and continue down a Yoda path?? xoxo
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Day 7 - Nothing spent, nothing gained
Hello, all... And thank you so much for reading!
With the Christmas siege already well underway, I know I picked the wrong month to not spend. Between the catalogs in the mail, the never ending commercials, and the "incredible deals" on the shopping channels, the pressure is really on... But today, I did have another successful day with no spending. I did, but I can not speak so proudly of the behavior of my family. Oh, I didn't mention they, too, are in on this experiment? Yes, they are... But while they are under my watchful eye, and have agreed to this, they clearly do not have the same level of commitment as I do. This was proven today when a certain cheating father-daughter duo stopped at a local pizzeria because a certain whiny girl was hungry.... I can't help but feel betrayed.... Yet I have to know that this is really my experiment, my process, and my blog... I am capturing my feelings about this whole "no spending" thing, and can't truly fault them for cheating like a desperate high school student the morning of SATs....
To demonstrate my personal commitment to zero spending, today I refused to spend $2.69 on my own mother. Yes, how pathetic does that sound? I e-mailed her a photo of my daughter asleep with my dog, totally adorable, and she asked if I could send her a printed copy of it. So I went to walgreens.com, where I saw I could upload the pic, and have it printed at any Walgreens. For the one picture, it was $2.69, money of course that I cannot spend. Imagine, if you will, the conversation with my mom, about why I needed to use her credit card for the $2.69 cost of the print! It was entertaining, to say the least. But the great news is that mom got what she wanted, and I was able to get it for her without breaking down and spending money. This is a silly example, I know, but it does go directly to the point I was making yesterday. I am so very programmed, like I am on automatic pilot. It would have normally been just a thing I spent money on, and let it accrue in the debit column, along with all of the other mini-spends.... And I held my ground today... So I am proud...
Other things I really need but didn't buy today, despite really needing them include:
- New black sequined Uggs, since mine are 5 years old and have uneven heels and the sequins are all bumpy and uneven. It is amazing I can still walk in them.
- A new kindle, since my kindle died a few weeks ago. It's very hard to read books on the phone, and the Nexus 7 I have is really old and heavy, and the glare makes it really bad for reading.
- A ceiling fan for my bedroom, because how can a bedroom NOT have a ceiling fan? And think about how much better I would sleep with that cool air circulating... And I think the energy bills will go down as well!
- Plane tickets, because man, 200 a pop is a really great deal!! I mean, who knows how long they will be at that price??
All remain unpurchased, just ghosts in some lost shopping cart somewhere....
Well, that is all for today. Thank you all for reading, and have a wonderful day!!
With the Christmas siege already well underway, I know I picked the wrong month to not spend. Between the catalogs in the mail, the never ending commercials, and the "incredible deals" on the shopping channels, the pressure is really on... But today, I did have another successful day with no spending. I did, but I can not speak so proudly of the behavior of my family. Oh, I didn't mention they, too, are in on this experiment? Yes, they are... But while they are under my watchful eye, and have agreed to this, they clearly do not have the same level of commitment as I do. This was proven today when a certain cheating father-daughter duo stopped at a local pizzeria because a certain whiny girl was hungry.... I can't help but feel betrayed.... Yet I have to know that this is really my experiment, my process, and my blog... I am capturing my feelings about this whole "no spending" thing, and can't truly fault them for cheating like a desperate high school student the morning of SATs....
To demonstrate my personal commitment to zero spending, today I refused to spend $2.69 on my own mother. Yes, how pathetic does that sound? I e-mailed her a photo of my daughter asleep with my dog, totally adorable, and she asked if I could send her a printed copy of it. So I went to walgreens.com, where I saw I could upload the pic, and have it printed at any Walgreens. For the one picture, it was $2.69, money of course that I cannot spend. Imagine, if you will, the conversation with my mom, about why I needed to use her credit card for the $2.69 cost of the print! It was entertaining, to say the least. But the great news is that mom got what she wanted, and I was able to get it for her without breaking down and spending money. This is a silly example, I know, but it does go directly to the point I was making yesterday. I am so very programmed, like I am on automatic pilot. It would have normally been just a thing I spent money on, and let it accrue in the debit column, along with all of the other mini-spends.... And I held my ground today... So I am proud...
Other things I really need but didn't buy today, despite really needing them include:
- New black sequined Uggs, since mine are 5 years old and have uneven heels and the sequins are all bumpy and uneven. It is amazing I can still walk in them.
- A new kindle, since my kindle died a few weeks ago. It's very hard to read books on the phone, and the Nexus 7 I have is really old and heavy, and the glare makes it really bad for reading.
- A ceiling fan for my bedroom, because how can a bedroom NOT have a ceiling fan? And think about how much better I would sleep with that cool air circulating... And I think the energy bills will go down as well!
- Plane tickets, because man, 200 a pop is a really great deal!! I mean, who knows how long they will be at that price??
All remain unpurchased, just ghosts in some lost shopping cart somewhere....
Well, that is all for today. Thank you all for reading, and have a wonderful day!!
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Day 6 - Is it only day 6 for real?
Hello, everyone, and thank you so much for reading... I truly appreciate your support!!
So, recently I started noticing that my gray's are coming in... Now, as a 40ish-something female who started to gray at the tender age of 18, I don't want to color my gray because I think it makes me look old.... Rather, it is just not flattering on me, and it grows in odd patches....
And it is at this point ever couple of months that I need to go to the salon and have my roots touched up. And of course, I would also consider getting a new cut, and maybe a few highlights or something. Something fresh and pretty, especially now that the holidays are approaching. So this is, you see, where my current dilemma lives.... Is a touch up a normal budgetary expenditure? I would say yes, it is. It is necessary and it is planned. But then, what about the cut and the highlights? This is a very fine line, and I can't be sure how to proceed. At this point in my experiment, I feel like any spending at all would be a violation of my pact. As a result, I am holding off on the process. This means that if you see me, you will likely either see my grays, or see my grays attempting to be cleverly hidden by this root touch up crap that I bought a few months ago, which is essentially just mascara for your hair. It's gross, and frankly, I think it draws more attention to my roots than there should be.
Also today, well late last night actually, after my blog was already published, I wanted to download a free game. Upon doing research, I found another app that I wanted, but it as 2.99. And I of course, just automatically hit purchase! Just like that, as if it were play money, as if I were in the game itself, playing with tokens. I had to stop myself, and say "this is real money", which may sound silly, but honestly, it doesn't really feel like you are spending it at all when you are doing it online or on your phone. It feels like a game, really, like it is all just binary code that will somehow not ever impact me. But it does. The 2.99 here, the book on amazon for 7.99 there... The life of being able to get exactly what you want, at any time you want? Man, it sure is awesome... And it is a danger....
Lastly, a few times so far I have seen awesome things that would be great Christmas gifts. And as aforementioned, I just so effortlessly and automatically clicked "buy now", or "add to cart".... And then after a few moments, exited the site entire. I know this is the season, and let me tell you, I am already sick of Melissa Joan Hart telling me how much she wants the stupid Keurig.... The shopping is everywhere, and it is persistently in your face! It is challenging, I want to get some stuff off my list, but I know I can wait... I have to.. I will. Challenge accepted and met!
Thank you all for reading, and I will catch ya tomorrow!
So, recently I started noticing that my gray's are coming in... Now, as a 40ish-something female who started to gray at the tender age of 18, I don't want to color my gray because I think it makes me look old.... Rather, it is just not flattering on me, and it grows in odd patches....
And it is at this point ever couple of months that I need to go to the salon and have my roots touched up. And of course, I would also consider getting a new cut, and maybe a few highlights or something. Something fresh and pretty, especially now that the holidays are approaching. So this is, you see, where my current dilemma lives.... Is a touch up a normal budgetary expenditure? I would say yes, it is. It is necessary and it is planned. But then, what about the cut and the highlights? This is a very fine line, and I can't be sure how to proceed. At this point in my experiment, I feel like any spending at all would be a violation of my pact. As a result, I am holding off on the process. This means that if you see me, you will likely either see my grays, or see my grays attempting to be cleverly hidden by this root touch up crap that I bought a few months ago, which is essentially just mascara for your hair. It's gross, and frankly, I think it draws more attention to my roots than there should be.
Also today, well late last night actually, after my blog was already published, I wanted to download a free game. Upon doing research, I found another app that I wanted, but it as 2.99. And I of course, just automatically hit purchase! Just like that, as if it were play money, as if I were in the game itself, playing with tokens. I had to stop myself, and say "this is real money", which may sound silly, but honestly, it doesn't really feel like you are spending it at all when you are doing it online or on your phone. It feels like a game, really, like it is all just binary code that will somehow not ever impact me. But it does. The 2.99 here, the book on amazon for 7.99 there... The life of being able to get exactly what you want, at any time you want? Man, it sure is awesome... And it is a danger....
Lastly, a few times so far I have seen awesome things that would be great Christmas gifts. And as aforementioned, I just so effortlessly and automatically clicked "buy now", or "add to cart".... And then after a few moments, exited the site entire. I know this is the season, and let me tell you, I am already sick of Melissa Joan Hart telling me how much she wants the stupid Keurig.... The shopping is everywhere, and it is persistently in your face! It is challenging, I want to get some stuff off my list, but I know I can wait... I have to.. I will. Challenge accepted and met!
Thank you all for reading, and I will catch ya tomorrow!
Monday, November 10, 2014
Day 5 - No fun at all
No fun... No shoe shopping at lunch time on line... No ordering Chinese because I was REALLY craving Szechuan Chicken.... There was one small and brief dalliance with kayak.com as I began contemplating a trip home for the holidays..... But as I said, it was brief.... And yes, I hit close before I purchased anything.
BTW, the craving for the Chinese food was so strong, that I actually googled how to make Szechuan Chicken.... It was far to complicated, so instead, I made a packet of Ramen Noodle soup, and added some very hot hot sauce, that I believe is actually called "Devi's Blood". I bought it at our local farmer's market, which I used to be able to go to... you know, just wander about the place, breathing in the quaint and charming atmosphere.... Smelling the soy candles, looking at the new local art, and buying, oh say a gluten-free muffin..... Listening to the musician in the park (sidebar, who is never better than me)... It seems like a distant memory, now. Am I being too mellow-dramatic? But truth be told, this is exactly how I feel right now, at this very moment. Like I have been cut off from something, some feeling, something that made me feel good. As if I am being punished. You know what would make me feel better? Just a tiny peak at overstock.com.... or net-a-portor.com, for just a quick sec??
I just hope that I don't turn from this bad habit to a worse one... For example, do I hear those Entenmann's donuts calling my name from the kitchen? No, I think I will be ok, and do not need to take on any other addictions in it's place. I will try to play more tennis or something. Maybe I should literally take a walk when the urge strikes me. But no, I might not get too much work done.... I wouldn't want my work to suffer...
Well, I did make it. I can say that my friends have been amazingly supportive, and are recommending things that I can do rather than spend money. I am going to try these in upcoming weeks, so that should be an interesting study!
That's it for today. Another day, another dollar not spent... :-)
Have a great day! Thank you!!
BTW, the craving for the Chinese food was so strong, that I actually googled how to make Szechuan Chicken.... It was far to complicated, so instead, I made a packet of Ramen Noodle soup, and added some very hot hot sauce, that I believe is actually called "Devi's Blood". I bought it at our local farmer's market, which I used to be able to go to... you know, just wander about the place, breathing in the quaint and charming atmosphere.... Smelling the soy candles, looking at the new local art, and buying, oh say a gluten-free muffin..... Listening to the musician in the park (sidebar, who is never better than me)... It seems like a distant memory, now. Am I being too mellow-dramatic? But truth be told, this is exactly how I feel right now, at this very moment. Like I have been cut off from something, some feeling, something that made me feel good. As if I am being punished. You know what would make me feel better? Just a tiny peak at overstock.com.... or net-a-portor.com, for just a quick sec??
I just hope that I don't turn from this bad habit to a worse one... For example, do I hear those Entenmann's donuts calling my name from the kitchen? No, I think I will be ok, and do not need to take on any other addictions in it's place. I will try to play more tennis or something. Maybe I should literally take a walk when the urge strikes me. But no, I might not get too much work done.... I wouldn't want my work to suffer...
Well, I did make it. I can say that my friends have been amazingly supportive, and are recommending things that I can do rather than spend money. I am going to try these in upcoming weeks, so that should be an interesting study!
That's it for today. Another day, another dollar not spent... :-)
Have a great day! Thank you!!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Day 4 - Yes, this is really hard
OK,I am remaining calm because I know it is only day 4... But for real, weekends are so hard to enjoy without spending any money!! Options that I bypassed today include watching football at a sports bar with friends, which I LOVE doing... And also of course, shopping with friends... It seems that I have a pattern, I do these things with my friends, and now it is a set thing, these things that we do. I enjoy doing them, and I enjoy the company of my friends while doing them... So the question is - how can I still enjoy their company without doing all the spendy things that go with them?
Now, today, I did say no to a lot of fun things... But to be honest, I wasn't feeling myself, slight stomach ailment... It made saying no easier, it gave me a legitimate excuse. But what will I do next weekend?
I don't know how to do the things I want to do without spending. I know there are other free types of things to do, but I am already in the pattern, the blending of spending and friending... lol, I just totally made that up.... Again, please credit me if you use it...
And of course, my child wanted to go spending today... She wanted new school supplies, and she wanted to enjoy the ice cream from the ice cream truck that came by in the after noon... But saying no to her is getting easier,since she seems to fully grasp this month long experiment.
So instead, we stayed in today. We played on the computer, watched movies and then made some homemade pasta, which took forever, but was kind of fun.
Also, I started to look online for flight prices, considering going home for the holidays. And that, of course, just brought out more feelings of needing to spend and not being able to, feelings of inadequacy... Interesting that my inability to buy things makes me feel so inadequate....When did money validate people? Depressing, the whole lot of it. I hate having money issues, and I hate that so much depends on having it, earning it and saving it.... It seems to have more meaning than it should....
I dunno... Anyway, my day 4 was pretty depressing, but I did not spend one thin dime.... I wanted to, I could hear those buffalo wings calling my name from the sports bar... but I stayed home, and he had a nice little day in....
OK, see ya tomorrow!
Now, today, I did say no to a lot of fun things... But to be honest, I wasn't feeling myself, slight stomach ailment... It made saying no easier, it gave me a legitimate excuse. But what will I do next weekend?
I don't know how to do the things I want to do without spending. I know there are other free types of things to do, but I am already in the pattern, the blending of spending and friending... lol, I just totally made that up.... Again, please credit me if you use it...
And of course, my child wanted to go spending today... She wanted new school supplies, and she wanted to enjoy the ice cream from the ice cream truck that came by in the after noon... But saying no to her is getting easier,since she seems to fully grasp this month long experiment.
So instead, we stayed in today. We played on the computer, watched movies and then made some homemade pasta, which took forever, but was kind of fun.
Also, I started to look online for flight prices, considering going home for the holidays. And that, of course, just brought out more feelings of needing to spend and not being able to, feelings of inadequacy... Interesting that my inability to buy things makes me feel so inadequate....When did money validate people? Depressing, the whole lot of it. I hate having money issues, and I hate that so much depends on having it, earning it and saving it.... It seems to have more meaning than it should....
I dunno... Anyway, my day 4 was pretty depressing, but I did not spend one thin dime.... I wanted to, I could hear those buffalo wings calling my name from the sports bar... but I stayed home, and he had a nice little day in....
OK, see ya tomorrow!
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Dawn's Blog: Austerity - A Month of Not Spending
Dawn's Blog: Austerity - A Month of Not Spending: This is hard... this is very hard...I have mounting financial troubles, most of which (not all) are my own doing. I recently went through t...
Day 3 - Getting Harder
Curse you, weekend.... Curse you, Florida, with your warm and inviting weather all year long.... Today was very hard, and continues to be challenging even at almost 7pm.... I can only imagine that every weekend will be a struggle, especially at this "spendy" time of year...
It started with the Harvest-Fest. I was just going to go to look, but I knew better. Looking often turns to spending, and I wisely opted out. But then my fried suggested that we all go to this extremely fun sounding festival. She knows I am watching my money, and suggested it because it was free to get in. And even though there are rides and food, we could probably go and have a good time for less than $30. Normally, I would have just gone. I would not have even considered it an issue, I would have just jumped at a chance to go and do something fun with my daughter, my friend, and her kids.... We would be in the car on the way there right now. But instead, I declined. And I want to be there. I want to go and eat the stupid fried oreos. I want to watch my daughter go on the rides. I want to see her play over priced games, and win useless crap. And the more I think about it, the more I feel deprived. I hate that feeling.
Then, I turned on the TV, and flipped around the channels. One of the shopping channels had an amazing deal on an iPad mini... Really great deal. My very first instinct was to buy it, because after all, my Nexus 7 is getting old and is very slow (I mean, really slow). And you know, you can only watch Netflix on it, not Amazon Prime, and what a great thing to have one tablet on which I can watch all my movies.... Oh, and did I mention that it was on EZ pay?? So really, I could have this awesome tablet within 2 days, for only $65.... It is amazing! And here you see the real me, the me that doesn't really take the time to consider the impact of the remaining $65 withdrawals from my account....The me who wants it now, without consideration of anything at all, actually. I mean, of course if it was like a Lamborghini or something, of course I would hesitate. But things like this, these "micro-expenses" as I will call them (please note that I coined that phrase when you use it, thank you!) are the things that have been eating me alive, since I consider them so small, so minimal, that the could really do no harm.
And lastly, it is the weekend. The weekend means fun, relaxation... It does not mean slaving over a hot stove, but rather it means ordering in Chinese food... I mean, I worked hard all week, and I really am in no mood to cook. But you see, I have to cook now. Because of this stupid pact that I made, which has taken me only 3 days to regret...
Saturday was indeed very hard, and I suspect I will still have my demons before it is over. I suspect I will crave Coldstone, which is only about a mile away.... Or something similar. But I remain committed. Frustrated, but committed!
Thank you for reading! PS - Who is Chris Young? He is headlining at the festival I opted out of... Am I missing anything great?
It started with the Harvest-Fest. I was just going to go to look, but I knew better. Looking often turns to spending, and I wisely opted out. But then my fried suggested that we all go to this extremely fun sounding festival. She knows I am watching my money, and suggested it because it was free to get in. And even though there are rides and food, we could probably go and have a good time for less than $30. Normally, I would have just gone. I would not have even considered it an issue, I would have just jumped at a chance to go and do something fun with my daughter, my friend, and her kids.... We would be in the car on the way there right now. But instead, I declined. And I want to be there. I want to go and eat the stupid fried oreos. I want to watch my daughter go on the rides. I want to see her play over priced games, and win useless crap. And the more I think about it, the more I feel deprived. I hate that feeling.
Then, I turned on the TV, and flipped around the channels. One of the shopping channels had an amazing deal on an iPad mini... Really great deal. My very first instinct was to buy it, because after all, my Nexus 7 is getting old and is very slow (I mean, really slow). And you know, you can only watch Netflix on it, not Amazon Prime, and what a great thing to have one tablet on which I can watch all my movies.... Oh, and did I mention that it was on EZ pay?? So really, I could have this awesome tablet within 2 days, for only $65.... It is amazing! And here you see the real me, the me that doesn't really take the time to consider the impact of the remaining $65 withdrawals from my account....The me who wants it now, without consideration of anything at all, actually. I mean, of course if it was like a Lamborghini or something, of course I would hesitate. But things like this, these "micro-expenses" as I will call them (please note that I coined that phrase when you use it, thank you!) are the things that have been eating me alive, since I consider them so small, so minimal, that the could really do no harm.
And lastly, it is the weekend. The weekend means fun, relaxation... It does not mean slaving over a hot stove, but rather it means ordering in Chinese food... I mean, I worked hard all week, and I really am in no mood to cook. But you see, I have to cook now. Because of this stupid pact that I made, which has taken me only 3 days to regret...
Saturday was indeed very hard, and I suspect I will still have my demons before it is over. I suspect I will crave Coldstone, which is only about a mile away.... Or something similar. But I remain committed. Frustrated, but committed!
Thank you for reading! PS - Who is Chris Young? He is headlining at the festival I opted out of... Am I missing anything great?
Friday, November 7, 2014
Austerity - Day 2
Day 2 of Austerity....
Well, yesterday was easy, but last night was hard. I went to an open house of a friend who own's a gorgeous and luxurious spa. How badly did I want to sign up for a treatment? A massage or a facial? If you know me at all, you know the answer to that is VERY BADLY! I even tried all my mental tricks, such as saying "Well, if I book it now but don't actually have the facial until the end of my 30 days, it won't count".... Yeah, I am very good at justifying and rationalizing. But the good news is that I didn't, even though they truly looked sumptuous.... So I will consider that a triumph!
Day 2 is easy so far.... but I can already feel the bubbling up of urges. I got an email to visit a sale a Coach.com, and I was totally jonesing to visit that site, just to look... I did not. Also, as a preventative measure, I deleted any and all shopping apps from my phone.
I also worry about the upcoming weekend. Harvest fest is in our town, which means shopping and fun things to buy and do.... How can I possibly go and not spend money? This is going to be a challenge, but I am confident.... well, confident may be a little strong. How about cautiously optimistic?
I know I want to buy something... I just don't know what or where or when... but I know the craving is there, and I just have to keep away from anything dangerous..... How do you block the shopping channels from cable??
More to come.... Thank you for reading!
Well, yesterday was easy, but last night was hard. I went to an open house of a friend who own's a gorgeous and luxurious spa. How badly did I want to sign up for a treatment? A massage or a facial? If you know me at all, you know the answer to that is VERY BADLY! I even tried all my mental tricks, such as saying "Well, if I book it now but don't actually have the facial until the end of my 30 days, it won't count".... Yeah, I am very good at justifying and rationalizing. But the good news is that I didn't, even though they truly looked sumptuous.... So I will consider that a triumph!
Day 2 is easy so far.... but I can already feel the bubbling up of urges. I got an email to visit a sale a Coach.com, and I was totally jonesing to visit that site, just to look... I did not. Also, as a preventative measure, I deleted any and all shopping apps from my phone.
I also worry about the upcoming weekend. Harvest fest is in our town, which means shopping and fun things to buy and do.... How can I possibly go and not spend money? This is going to be a challenge, but I am confident.... well, confident may be a little strong. How about cautiously optimistic?
I know I want to buy something... I just don't know what or where or when... but I know the craving is there, and I just have to keep away from anything dangerous..... How do you block the shopping channels from cable??
More to come.... Thank you for reading!
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Austerity - A Month of Not Spending
This is hard... this is very hard...I have mounting financial troubles, most of which (not all) are my own doing. I recently went through the exercise of tracking my non-critical spending, and it was very eye-opening. In one month, I spent an extra entire paycheck on things that seemed small, and in some cases, were small...until it was added up. These minor purchases caused an overage in my checking account, and that added up to more fees and less money. Needless to say, it has not been a banner month for me.
So why am I sharing this? It is my intention to stop spending money for one entire month. Nothing. No buying at all. Only spending money on essential items, which are in my monthly budget. This does not include those cute boots I have wanted which are now on sale. It also does not include the mani/pedi I deserve because I work so hard. And worse of all, it does not include ANY TAKE OUT. No pizza, Chinese food, or KFC drive through. No Slurpees at 7-11, and even harder to imagine, no coffee at Dunkin Donuts, and no Pumpkin Spiced Latte at Starbucks (even considering it is a seasonal treat, and if I don't buy it now, I would have to wait a whole year!).
And today is my first day of this financial diet. My plan is to blog here each day about my experience going from a spendthrift, who works hard and deserves a night of Chow Fun and Crab Rangoon, to a sensible, practical person who only spends money on what is necessary.
Are you ready?? I ask because I am certainly not.... but ok... here we go!
Day 1 - pretty easy, as I am feeling quite like day one of a diet. All ready to go, all excited to get "fit". I wasn't tempted at all, and only spent money on legitimate household expenses. I also trimmed my dog's fur myself, rather than spend the money at the groomer... Yay me! Am going out later, so I will keep you posted as to how I did... Wish me luck!
So why am I sharing this? It is my intention to stop spending money for one entire month. Nothing. No buying at all. Only spending money on essential items, which are in my monthly budget. This does not include those cute boots I have wanted which are now on sale. It also does not include the mani/pedi I deserve because I work so hard. And worse of all, it does not include ANY TAKE OUT. No pizza, Chinese food, or KFC drive through. No Slurpees at 7-11, and even harder to imagine, no coffee at Dunkin Donuts, and no Pumpkin Spiced Latte at Starbucks (even considering it is a seasonal treat, and if I don't buy it now, I would have to wait a whole year!).
And today is my first day of this financial diet. My plan is to blog here each day about my experience going from a spendthrift, who works hard and deserves a night of Chow Fun and Crab Rangoon, to a sensible, practical person who only spends money on what is necessary.
Are you ready?? I ask because I am certainly not.... but ok... here we go!
Day 1 - pretty easy, as I am feeling quite like day one of a diet. All ready to go, all excited to get "fit". I wasn't tempted at all, and only spent money on legitimate household expenses. I also trimmed my dog's fur myself, rather than spend the money at the groomer... Yay me! Am going out later, so I will keep you posted as to how I did... Wish me luck!
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