Honesty is brutal

Plenty of people in my real life read this blog--to those of you, I don't want to hear a word. This post is just for myself to document my progress and lack thereof, so if you feel a lecture coming on, just don't because I won't listen. Hearing "don't do it" won't help me so don't bother. Please only comment if you have words of wisdom, new strategies to try, or other sources of actual motivation.

As much as I would like to make this blog always happy and upbeat about the great progress with money I'm making, I have to be real. I'm not always great and sometimes I make mistakes with my spending. Sometimes when I come into more money than I'm used to (aka waitress tips that cover my loans in 2 shifts), I spend too much. I buy things I've had my eye on and think I can afford. In reality, I can afford one of these things, not all of them. It's like binge eating for dieters, I binge shop. I'm not happy about it and I've done much much better about this but to be honest, it still happens on occasion.

I didn't get myself into more debt, all my bills will be paid on time and waitressing will help me cover the difference as I improve on how to handle extra money so it could be worse. But I'm in the dog house with myself and I know it. Lesson realized (I'd like to say learned but sometimes even though I know I shouldn't, I do...hence the blog name).

I can't get what I want when I want it, like I used to (it was a terrible habit to get into since I couldn't afford it then either!). Even if I worked an extra long shift, even if I made more tips than expected or even if it's on sale. "I deserve it" means nothing to an excel spreadsheet of dollar signs.

So there you have it. People have to be honest with themselves when they cheat on diets and I'm being honest with myself when I cheat on my budget. No one is perfect and we all splurge sometimes and as much as I am improving and doing better, you need to know I make mistakes too. I wish I had an upbeat, motivational story about how I saved money today but I don't. But I promise you that another day I will.

I meant to end this with an article I read about shopping and things to keep in mind when you're buying clothes but I can't find it now. There were some obvious but helpful reminders to make you realize you probably don't need that extra pair of jeans or the cute new pair of shoes. If I find it again, I'll be sure to post it. Since the article does you no good at this point, maybe this simple picture will. I need to make a poster of it for my room, one for my wallet and one for my forehead.