Frugality!

For those who are not yet aware, Carly and I are going to begin our Frugality Challenge again!!!!! We started last Wednesday (posting late- oops!) and are cycling from Monday through Sundays (so obviously this weeks post is a short week). We have been particularly bad since buying houses. The shame. I went from getting to a place where I had only about a grand in debt left…to, well, getting to a place where I have much more debt than that. No need to give out specifics…let’s just say it’s not very good. And not only that, but scares me how much I have accrued in only a 7 month period or so. I also began getting into the teachings of the Law of Attraction and my original thought around that and money, was that if I’m trying to be frugal I am no allowing money into my life. Well I was sincerely wrong. Looking back, when I was paying attention to my money and not spending frivolously, I felt GOOD about money. When I spend like a maniac and buy anything I feel I deserve, nothing is sacred. Nothing is valuable. Everything is taken for granted. The other thing that happened when I was frugal, was that I received incredible amounts of unexpected money- weekly!!! I constantly received unexpected money- large amounts also (feel free to look in the back logs of my blog to confirm). I have a GOOD feeling about money and money came to me. Or I can spend spend spend, feel guilty, feel bad about money, be afraid I don’t have enough money, and then guess what happens? Overdraft fees, unexpected bills (huge huge huge bills), constant money guilt and stress. Being frugal isn’t about denying yourself the things you truly want. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s about giving yourself the things you really want. It’s about appreciating the amazing things you have in your life and being GRATEFUL. Constant shopping is an addiction. I really believe that. Like any addiction- you get to shopping and your dopamine levels rise. You feel high. But then you feel guilt later (I imagine that’s the same with other addicts). No more! I am not a slave to a shopping addiction.

So moving forward, here is my spending from Wednesday August 29th until Sunday September 2nd:

Wednesday:

Chips (I have been addicted to chips during this pregnancy- odd since I don’t generally eat chips!)- .98

Taco Bell (also a pregnancy fave)- $2.05

Thursday:

Taco Bell- $2.30

Friday:

Starbucks (oops)- $5.55
Juice- $1.30

Saturday:

Safeway- $29.10

Sunday:

Coca Cola and Ice cream at the corner store (always more expensive- blah)- $9.44

Total for the partial week: $50.72

I think I can do better this week because I don’t really need groceries…stay posted ; )