the spending hiatus : week 5 update

I got a deep-tissue massage on Saturday morning and as I commented on Joslyn's recent update, it was worth EVERY non-essential dollar. 

I had to buy contact lenses and it has really been bothering me; I have been so restrained in my spending for the most part and when I have to spend ALL THAT MONEY it had to be on contact lenses.  There is certainly no gratification in that. 

We just paid our credit card bill from January which included our trip to Utah.  That was a bit disappointing but I am hoping for a reward next month of a much lower bill as a result of the hiatus.

Hell has frozen over:  I have started to use coupons.  Wait, did I mention this before?  No, I don't think I did.  Yes.  I have succumbed.  And I almost had a coniption yesterday when I opened the Sunday paper and there were NO COUPONS.  Daily Local News = Daily Lacka News = Daily Crapa News.

I am still working on our budget that will start on March 1st.  Once I figure out a good system I will be happy to share it with you if you'd like.  Two blogs that I have been reading lately are Get Rich Slowly and I Will Teach You To Be Rich.  Both sites have a ton of helpful advice and hints on how to save money and be more frugal. 

I've mentioned this before that one of my biggest concerns is how to project and budget expenditures on house stuff (i.e. furnishings and home improvement): determining how much we can afford, prioritizing projects big and small, phasing work and deciding where projects begin and end because we all know things snowball from a little paint to a major overhaul very quickly and being efficient so that we are not undoing recent work to complete the next project.  I hope that as I work through some of that, I come out with some helpful tips that you can all use.

That's all I have to say about that.  ;)

Comments

[cindy]

i have been working on my 'budget' refining it for several years, its an evolving learning process and i find it addictive in a very strange way. one show/site i have learned a great deal from is 'til debt do us part', http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/ she has great templates, no nonsense views and advice. anyway just thought i would share.

[erinn]

Cindy, thanks for the link. I am going to check it out right now! Refining
is a good word as I am sure that what we'll need to do constantly as our
circumstances change.

[kathleen]

Good links, Erinn. Sounds like you are doing quite well with the spending hiatus.