Losing My Way

I have to confess something to you, and its something serious, not a Friday funny. Financially, I have lost my way. You know how I listen to Dave Ramsey everyday right? You know how I talk about Dave all the time? I know his principals, I know his teachings to a T, but I have not followed them at all. These past few months, I have gone off the deep end financially. I have spent so much money on so many items. I have fallen hard into the big deep whole of consumerism.

Its funny, because it just kind of snuck up on me. All this spending started with a treat here, a splurge there,  another one off. Each time I would tell myself, just this one time. Each time I would tell myself, this is it, no more splurging. I would tell myself once I have this, I wont want anything else. Once I buy this for our house, it will be complete. I kept giving into the lie. I kept looking for stuff to fill me up when I was bored, mad, happy, excited,or sad.  I kept shopping. All of the money was unbudgeted. 

Do you know the feeling I am talking about? The lie that we hear in our heads of "If I just had _______, then everything would be complete." What do you fill in the blank with? 

These past few months kind of feel like death by a thousand cuts. I have not purchased one thing that has been super extra extravagant, it has been a lot of small trips. I think I have swiped my debt card at Target 100 times in the past 3 months. I am serious about that. 

All this time, as I spent too much money, I always felt bad about it, and I told myself this was the last time. But, it was never the last time. As someone who prides herself on discipline, it is something that I have been severely lacking for the past few months. 

It all stopped yesterday. P was totaling up our receipts from August to see what we spent, and he couldn't even finish because we had swiped our card so many times. There were so many random purchases that he could not tell what they were for. Last night P lovingly confronted me and we had a great discussion about our finances. 

I just got caught in that consumerist hamster wheel. All the money is coming in, but we were not making much progress because of our spending. Now, it was not all me. We ate out a lot, and bought things when we were together, but I defiantly led the pack. I didn't say no to much, and I was so flippant about money. Honestly, it felt like I was about 3 steps left of center. I could see and feel where I needed to be. I could see where my old frugal self had been, but I kept spending and I ignored that voice in my head that told me what I was doing was wrong. 

We are not in financial ruin, nor are we hurting at all, I hope that is clear. But, for very disciplined couple, this has been a spendy summer. I had to make 2 purchases today, a train ticket for the month, and a stop at the bank to pull our fun money. I am handing my debit card over to P for the week. I have our envelopes for food or gas, but we don't need anything. I am putting a freeze on spending this week. 

Honestly, it feels good to get "caught." It feels good to be honest. It felt good to be confronted. 

As I sit here and look around, I see how much I have. I don't need to buy anything else right now. I am content. I have found my way.

What could you fill in the blank with? Are you giving in or holding strong?

One Resolution Reached

I have reached one of my new years resolutions early! Yahoo!

In January, one of my resolutions was to save $1,000 over the course of the year through using coupons. 

I realized that I reached my goal last weekend after a shopping trip to Target with P. We checked out and after coupons, I ended up saving almost 50.00 on that transaction and it put me over the top. 

To say I was excited was an understatement. I cannot believe that I saved so much money in just 9 months. 

I think that using coupons is something that is so simple that I don't understand why more people don't use them. I spend about an hour a week doing research and getting my stuff together for my shopping trip, and that is it. It does not take that much time or that much brain power. 

When I first started using coupons, I was guilty of buying things that we didn't need or even like just because they were cheap. After many discussions, P finally convinced me that just because I could get pickled hearing for 35 cents, I probably didn't need to buy it because its sick and we don't eat that kind of food. This year, I committed to him that the only way I would buy an item that we did not need or use would be if it were free and we could give it away. 

I have been really encouraged to find more and more organic and natural items coming out with coupons. Often, if they don't put the coupons in the paper, I email the company and often they send me some right to my door, which is awesome!

As I think back to some of my trips this year, some of the items that I have gotten this year were:

Make up

Dog Food

Dog Treats

Toothpaste

Clothes

Razors

Cleaning Supplies

Medicine 

There is probably more, but these are the ones that stick out. 

I have decided to amend my goal, and see if I can save another 500.00 by the end of the year. Its pretty lofty, but I want to try.

Do you use coupons? How much have you saved this year?

Friday confessions

1. I bribe co workers to like me by buying them candy.

2. I dried my hair while going to the restroom

3. I drank 3 sodas this week

4. I ate three pieces of white bread.

5. I had my term life physical this week and had to pee in a cup. I missed and peed all over my hand and toilet.

Fess up peeps.

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Fit for a King

I think I have told ya'll before that I am a pretty active sleeper. Basically, I sleep in the shape of an X in the middle of the bed, and I move and kick, a lot. I am not aware of this as I am asleep, but apparently it is not so fun for P. For the past few years, he has adapted to this by sleeping on the edge of the bed, on his back, with his hands on his chest. Basically, he sleeps like he is in a coffin, and does not move all night.
When I wake up in the morning, he is in the same position, and my arm is usually draped across his face and my leg is kicked onto his stomach. Poor P.

A few weeks ago, we decided to bite the bullet and buy a new bed, a king! Now, we have more than enough room for me to spread out and get as comfortable as I want, and P can actually roll over at night and get comfortable too!!!

The problem that we are finding is that, we chose the mattress in about 20 minutes, now, we cannot decide on a flippin comforter. The past few weeks, I have purchased and returned over 12 comforters to the store. Last night alone, I returned over 400.00 worth of comforters to one store. When I walked in the girls behind the counter looked at me with their eyes wide. I am pretty sure they wanted to curse me out. But I smiled and handed them my receipts.

Picking this comforter has been a huge process and led us to several fights. P basically thinks that I am design deficient. I guess most girls are born with that design gene and can automatically tell what looks good. Apparently, I don't have it. When we have gone shopping for comforters, I automatically pick the brightest most girly patterned comforter. P looks at me, rolls his eyes, and says no. Thinking I am always right, I tend to try and stand my ground, pick a fight, and then one of us, mostly me, sulks around the store and becomes a pretty big pain in the ass. (Mom, its ok, ass is not a cuss word, its in the bible.)
I have pretty good rebound time, so I am usually back at it within 5 minutes after P comes and hugs me and tells me its alright, and feeds me some chocolate.

Long story short, I still have a few hundred dollars in comforters to return this weekend, and I am still not satisfied with what we have.

What size bed do you have? Are you an "active sleeper" like I or do you sleep in one position all night?
Do you have a keen sense of design?

The Spa

Many of you have been blogging about your love of fall. Suddenly, your days are getting shorter, cooler, and more delightful. You are planning your fall outfits with cardigans, pants, and scarves. You have turned off the central air, and are basking in the coolness of the breeze as it sweeps through your homes. WHATEVER.

This is Texas ya'll, and while the rest of the country is enjoying a change of seasons, we are still dealing with over 100 degree temps here. I wake up and run at 5:00 AM, and when I get back I am drenched in sweat because its already 88 degrees with 90% humidity. I jump in the coldest shower, and I attempt to cool my body off enough to stop sweating. By the time I leave the sun has come up and I walk to the train station my entire back is damp. I cool off in the office a/c and when I leave, and walk to the train, its well over 100 and I continue to sweat bullets. Basically, I hardly stop sweating all day.

In an attempt to cool off, P and I splurged and bought ourselves a spa. Technically its for the dogs, but I use it too. Its so comfortable, and relaxing. Sometimes, I have to pour the water out because its been sitting in the sun all day and burns my skin, so I have to refill it.

Is it still hot where you live? How do you stay cool?

Friday confessions

Here are my weekly confessions

1. Dinner last night was an entire sleeve of crackers and laughing cow cheese.

2. I called in sick to work on Tuesday, I was not sick.

3. I wait until P comes to bed, and then I fart.

4. I call the dogs onto the bed in the morning to lick P in the face to wake him up.

5. I got to work on thursday at 8, however I didn't actually do any work until 10.

 

Fess up peeps.

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Quality vs. Quantity

This past year, P and I have really made an effort to overhaul our diets.
For starters, we now only purchase organic meats at the store. We have almost completely cut out red meat. The bulk of our grocery bill now goes towards whole foods and lots of produce. We still sneak in the occasional Amy's burritos for quick fixes, but for the most part, our diet has radically changed. I cannot remember the last time that I bought t.v. dinners, microwave pizza, or bottles of sugary juice. We have become so much more careful and discerning in our food choices. On the plus side, we have been able to do this without increasing our food budget. I watch the weekly sales cycles like a hawk and will price match to get the lowest cost on everything that I can.

Buying "nicer" or higher quality foods has started to affect me in other areas too. For example, I used to buy all of my clothes at Target. They were not the highest quality, but I had a lot more to choose from. This past year, I have found myself in the clothing section at Target, and I continually put items back on the shelf. As a result, I have purchased far fewer clothes this year that in years past. I am finding I have been gravitating to higher end clothing. Now, let me explain, my version of "higher end" means I shop at the Banana Republic and Ann Taylor sales isle, but they are still above a Target rack. Sometime earlier this year, I asked myself do I want stuff to just have, or do I want to purchase items that will hold their value, that last and are made with quality craftsmanship. And I find this to be true in so many areas of my life. I am coming to place where I want quality over quantity. I would rather have few clothes, but nicer items than a closet full of cheap clothes that start to look worn after just a few uses. I still have a skirt that I purchased at Banana Republic Outlet over 10 years ago, and it fits and looks like new still.

In an effort to help purge my closet, last Thursday night, I tried on every single item in my closet. It took a couple of hours, but I tried it on, and did a little fashion show around the house. P and I graded everything that I own, skirts, tops, pants, shoes, jackets, sweaters, everything. I ended up with two large bags to donate to Goodwill. It feels so good to rid myself of all that stuff. I continually go to Target too often, and I still spend way too much money at that store, but I am becoming much more discerning with how I spend my money.

What about you? Are your tastes changing?