I canNOT believe what we spent on groceries and eating out last month. Ridiculous……. So this week, I am proud to say I was able to go two consecutive days without spending any money. Woo hoo! It’s not that it’s hard to do….It just takes some discipline. And I’m trying to get myself back on track with where I started earlier in the year.
Last night I had to stop at Target to pick up shampoo and conditioner, plastic wrap, honey-roasted peanuts (Kwabena had wanted them after he saw that Kwasi had eaten the rest I had bought last week, LOL), and hair gel/putty (we’re running out soon, and it WAS on sale, after all….). Felt good whipping out cash to pay the $12.70 total (and still had a few dollars cash left!).
Maternity leave is coming up very soon, and I will be taking a partial pay-cut in order to stay out for 11-12 weeks. There will be only 2/3rds of my normal pay, as well as two weeks of Leave Without Pay. In order to make that work, I MUST change my spending habits NOW.
Plus, the New Year is coming, and what better way to jump start my financial goals now, in December.
We’ve never been a family to traditionally celebrate Christmas (well, not Kwasi, even though I grew up that way). This year, however, I had wanted to get a tree….buy Kwabena a few presents….But the way things are looking financially, I may very well forgo a tree (and just stick with the lights that I had put up), and just get him one present–something I know he really wants and would play with, like a bulk box of Legos.
I wanted to get him the LeapFrog Tag Reading System, but at $30 for the pen….and about $11 per book….to hell with that for now. I’ll get him some Berenstain Books and just read to him myself.
Anyhow, time to buckle down, financially! I’ve got $500 on my credit card that seriously needs to get paid off before I start shelling out money for more materialistic things. I had recently bought tons of yarn to make Kwasi this sweater:
http://www.spudandchloe.com/patterns/track-jacket/
…As well as additional yarn to finish Ohene’s gray and white stripped knit sweater in this pattern….. (I had made one exactly like this for Kwabena, as well):
http://www.spudandchloe.com/patterns/playground-hoodie/
So after buying that yarn……….along with paying for my annual subscription to XM radio (sorry, but I just can’t hack regular radio anymore)…….including paying for the outstanding Home Owner’s Association bill that Bee, my sister, left me with after moving out of our townhouse (whole other story, ugh…..), I now am $500 in debt.
What sense does it make to be in debt and still buy more? So, getting that debt paid off it #1 priority, especially with the maternity leave pay-cut coming.
So, that’s where I stand, financially, right now. Just call me “Mrs. Frugal.”
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