At the beginning of the month, my goal was to JUST pay bills. We were actually feeling some financial recovery because our gas bill went from $450.00 a month to $250.00 a month. For some reason that fact was not translating into more cash in the pocket and I wanted to know why.
I learned so many things about my spending habits. By telling myself I couldn’t spend ANY thing, I forced myself to examine every penny spent and every URGE to spend a penny. I had severe withdrawal pains from my online shopping source – to the point where I had to turn off the computer to keep myself from purchasing anything. I “justified” and rationalized spending money, it didn’t count if I was donating to charity, it didn’t count if the kids needed something special or extra. Can you imagine? In my mind, my purchases and spending DID NOT COUNT.
The other thing I learned is that it’s nice to give myself something, but it can be just as nice to have that cash in the bank…
