Bad Habits

I'm continuing to keep busy with work and earning extra income. And when I say busy, I mean I've been working a minimum of 2-3 jobs every day. Between dog sitting, resume writing, and helping out at our office's front desk, my work is paying off. 

I'll have a separate post on my latest goals soon but for now, know that I'm currently working to save $6,000. In the past few weeks I've been able to get my savings up to $2,000 so I'm ahead of schedule to hit my goal by December 1st. 

But I realize that it is still my habit to spend too much money. For example, as I was working the front desk today, I hadn't brought my lunch. My first instinct was to have Jimmy John's delivered. With tip, that's $10. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had everything in the fridge to make the same kind of sandwich at no additional expense.

2 weeks ago I brought sandwich fixings for my daily lunches. I had some bread and mayo remaining that I kept at my desk. Then for book club last week I made these yummy sliders that left me with some extra ham and swiss. Voila! 

It frustrates me that this wasn't obvious to me from the start. Using what I have rather than buying more and eventually throwing away the food that would have gone bad. It's habits like this that are keeping me in debt. But I'm aware of it and am working on this. 

It doesn't matter how many jobs I have or how much extra income I bring in if I don't control my spending. This isn't anything new and I just have to be more mindful on every single purchase I want to make. 

I'm starting the Mindful Budgeting tracker today so I have to think about it each time I make a purchase. Before I write it down, I'll ask myself if I already have something that would make do. It will take some extra effort until it becomes a habit but I look forward to seeing the results!