I made it to Thursday before screwing up...

Yesterday was good. Had some foundation restoring, emptiness filling conversations with some incredible girls I know. Beer helps.

I made it out without paying. Not sure how. A repayment apparently.

Today was not so good. I had 70 dollars left of the weeks spending money and 'treated myself'.

I spent the rest of a Starbucks gift card someone gave me. It had 40 cents. The bill came to 9.00. Oops.

Then I bought myself a snack. For 6.37. Then my daughter needed new piano books. 21.67. Then I needed gas. 10.00. Then I had to pay the nanny. 75.00.

Well. There goes the rest of my money!

So I took out the money for next week. An I will limit my spending to 180. In exchange.

Tuesday

Officially a money free day.

Today I have to run some errands. So not as likely to be cost less. But we will see.

Expenses

So, whenever I accumulate debt, I develop a grandiose debt repayment scheme and plot it radically in infinitesimal detail on a spreadsheet.

I will like myself again in October of 2014. Almost two years and I'll be able to look myself in the face again.

I'm really not serious. I am happy to be in the planning phase. With a plan. That is legitimate. I should think. I have done this before. I tracked my net worth from -10000 to +20000 dollars in just under 2 years (I would like to point out this doesn't include retirement savings).

This is a bit more disturbing, but I should be somewhere in a year or two. If not earlier.

If I get really brave, I will post it on here. And then y'all can apply for me to be on one of those terrible reality shows to be chastised by an accountant.

Still, October 2014 and I will only have low interest debt. Hallelujah.

SPENDING

1. 3.00 for two postage items. One a gift to a very good friend. Two - a letter to my insurance company to cut me a deal on my insurance. There might even be a bit of a kick back refund.
2. 17.50 for my daughter's bus passes.
3. 20 dollars for gas.
4. 8.00 for my daughter's school project.

Overall, still within budget.

And, I started posting things to sell on the internet. Which may make me like myself earlier than October 2014.

I jest.

In part.

I haven't spent money at Starbucks since prior to the New Year. I have so kicked my 5 dollar a day habit.

Wedding Gifts

Well...

Wedding gifts.

Groceries.

Otherwise I would have done okay.

Does anyone else have trouble with January/February. I need some sunshine, and a sad movie, and a happy movie, and a breath of fresh air, and some exercise induced sweating, and a whole lot of water, and a night with a good friend.

All things considered, I only spend 31 dollars on groceries today... and I finally bought a wedding gift. I had been vacillating wildly between a made on demand set vs. some beautiful stoneware. Hence, a bit late, but wedding gift has been ordered. 63 dollars plus about 30 more if the supplier will offer me a deal on shipping. If!!!

Interestingly, google spell check does not recognize vascilating, mostly because vacillating is the way to spell it.

I can barely get out of my own head these days.

Lisa

Food Waste Saturday Mornings.

Well... Yesterday, I didn't spend a single cent.

And my food waste this week was actually old lettuce left over from last week.

I feel a bit better about myself!

Status Quo...

I am tired.

The kind of tired that is both brain and soul eating.

Such is life:

I keep forgetting to pick up my bus pass, hence I have incurred the following expenses:

Tuesday
Two bus passes - again.
That is all.

Wednesday
Hmm... oh yes, A&W 9.25
Plus a few groceries - I think it was 17 dollars worth. I can check when my VISA bill comes in.
Speaking of VISA, I just checked my balance. Someone should shoot me and cut me off.

Thursday
Tank full of gas - 46ish dollars.
McDonalds - 4.90 ish. I sincerely hope that someone starts reading this. I need to pull my shit together.

At least tomorrow I get paid.
And I am able to take out my allotted spending money.

And spend it.

Soul, where are you? Sleeping.

Thankfully, it always comes back after a good nights sleep.

Groceries!

Today was good.

Sadly, I haven't claimed my 2013 bus pas yet so.... I incurred some cost. And I did spend some money. But it was groceries. And I think that should be it till the end of the week.

4 dollars x 2 for bus passes (Damn, public transit prices are out of control in this city)

31 dollars. Groceries.
Perogies (a kid staple)
Dried mango (a mom staple)
Rice crackers (kid staple)
And coffee (a mom staple)

No fast food today.
I ate an entire head of cauliflower that I roasted and melted cheese on top. That is acceptable, correct?

And no extra money spent.

Next frugal thing to look up besides gifts... Frugal weddings.

Good night all.

Weekend extravaganza's

My boyfriend is going to cost me.

I understand this. I understood this from the beginning. It still sucks.

So I sucked it up and turned down the ski weekend he suggested. I need to be brave in this. It will only hurt me otherwise.

It is incredibly difficult, though. Because he is so generous. And I have always met my friends halfway, or have been the generous one. But if I owe as much a I do, there can be no generosity. Actually there are probably a ton of frugal gifts blog posts out there right now.

So....

Friday
70 dollars for child care. Ouch.
And 2.75 cents to get change. (Chips and soda)
I will go on a rant about child care in a later post.
5 dollars for a lotto ticket. Bad investment, I know. The only time I can't resist a lotto ticket is when my finances suck as much as they do now.

Saturday
94 dollars for a ferry. Yes, a ferry. Prior to my year of not spending money, I agreed to go on a trip to the island with the ever so generous boyfriend. He offered to pay for it all. So against my religion. To be frugal by letting someone else pay, unlikely. That would be cheap!
19 dollars for candy, coffee and water. Yes, I suck. I volunteered to pay, because there MUST be some middle ground.
16 dollars for groceries.
Sunday
4 dollars for two buns at a cafe. For my daughters lunch this week.
94 dollars for the ferry back. That is why island vacations are off the market for the next year.
1127 for A&W. This I NEED to stop.
52 dollars for the weekly groceries.

So lots of bad things. And as for good things:

I spoke to my friend Chris, who at the age of 32 to 34ish will manage to pay off his mortgage in the next couple of months. It is a small condo, but paid off. So proud.

I turned down a ski weekend.
I had some uncomfortable financial discussions with my handsome and generous boyfriend. I want him to be on board too.

We will see.

Day one...

Of not spending money... To quote a particular 13 year old I know... 'Fail!'

Such is life...

I made a list at least. I think I have even done a few things on that list. Not bad, considering I left my boys house after noon and still accomplished some serious foshizzle.

So today: (oh, so embarrassing)

1. A&W - 9.91
2. NY Fries 7.27 (x2)
3. Dairy Queen 3.68

Well, my money definitely goes to food.

I guess this will be a good reckoning. And a public reckoning, should anyone ever choose to notice.

Later tonight... My food waste...

Food Waste Fridays
Today isn't Friday, but it almost is.

So I will include my weekly picture of food I have wasted. This is a bit unfair, to start this week because I was gone for over two weeks over Christmas, but still...

Yes, a smoothie, an entire steak (Alberta Beef from my friend Jen - there were marinade plans for that one), the usual assortment of veggies, and sadly, an entire block of cheese. Sacrilege.

This will change. I will change.

Beginnings

And so it begins, another year.

To cap off and summarize 2012, I will use two words: Roller Coaster.

Holy Foshizzle, did I ever just hang on. Master's Degree, Car Crash, Small Child in High School, Moving, Tumultuous Love Affair, and then... meeting the man I want to spend my life with. Nuts.
Nutters.

Nutalicious.

And so it begins: The New Years Resolution.

To take stock of who I am and how I live my life.
To kill my bad habits.
To reinvent the way I spend and save money.
To become a cheap bastard.

Issues:

1. Too much waste.
2. Too much spending.
3. Not enough appreciating and using what I have.

My one New Year's Resolution was to not spend any money. Three days in, I suck already. I have eaten fast food twice unnecessarily and already agreed to go on a ski trip with my handsome boyfriend. Who fucking bought me back country skis for Christmas. Damnit.

And so begins the eternal wrestling of conscience of a single mother. Balancing the expectations of others. The desires of others. And wandering through it all with some element of grace.

There might be a wedding and a house purchase this year. I do not deserve either! Well, maybe the wedding, the lord knows I have had some bad man choices in the past and this one is golden. But the house? Right, after two years of living like I made 70000 dollars a year while I made 20000 and went to school... Who is to say if they will even give me a mortgage?

This will be my daily commitment to reduce the money I spend. I will look at it all recorded. Scrutinize, without pity.

And so it begins...