Not buying new is hard to do!!

Its been less than a month of my Spending Diet and let me tell you. NOT AN EASY FEAT!! Although I have not had the most successful 1st month, I'm not backing down yet. A few things happened this month and I've learned some lessons along they way.

1. While sporadic, last minute, on a whim, fly by the seat of your pants adventures are fun, they lead to unprepared, unmanaged, unexpected spending.

2. Not allowing my budget to include entertainment money or a little mad money, can result in me REALLY getting mad. Which can also lead to unmanaged spending if I'm not careful.

3. I need boundaries, rules, limitations, etc...which means allowing for a little money to be spent however I see fit. However, this whole process has forced me to adjust and balance how, when and where I spend our money!

Going back to #1...On a whim my friend and I decided to just skip town and get away. Fun right?!?! Well I hadn't budgeted for gas, meals, shopping, tolls, etc. I went shopping and definitely made some unplanned purchases. Although even during those purchases I was making sure I was buying things that would serve a purpose and not be more wasted space.

#2 What defines Entertainment/Mad money? Money that does not interfere with regular day to day living, bills, or other necessary expenses. Someone had said to me that I should choose how many times I want to eat out or just allowing myself to buy certain things every month. I really think the number I need to come up with just needs to be an actual dollar amount. I really think the number I should be coming up with is an actual dollar amount. This will eliminate over spending and force some self control. I'll have to save money from previous months to buy more more expensive things or just not eat out at all.

#3 Well, having boundaries, rules and limitations just means I will always be prepared. I won't have to guess about spending or not spending. All purchases I make now are well thought out & managed well. I even sell things we have around the home to fund the things we want or need.