For those of you just joining me and wondering why I’m counting months: read here.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m going to be totally honest with my spending {I’m sure you would expect nothing less from my blog… there’s kind of no filter – it’s all truth up in here}!
Here are the only places I am supposed to spend money this month:

• Farm Fresh {groceries}
• 7-11 {gas, no coffee or snacks}
• Online Bill pay {student loans, electric/water, mortgage… the usual “I’m an adult now” bills}
• childcare
• Walgreens {pharmacy}
• Target {for random, emergency life needs only}

Here are some of the ways I have broken that rule so far:

• A few weeks ago I worked a 9 hour day, snagged Charlotte from the sitters, fed her dinner then passed her off to Chris as he walked through the door and I headed back out to speak to parents about speech therapy stuff as it relates to Kindergarteners. I left the school meeting at 8:45pm and promptly stopped at a drive-thru to shove a burger in my face. It had been a long day.
• While cleaning out the garage Chris found quite a bit of cash stashed in his golf bag. After some discussion we decided to keep enough for a breakfast date after church on Sunday and tithe the rest. totally worth it. plus it was extra money…. so I’m pretty sure it doesn’t count. wink.
• Yesterday I had a procedure {we’ll just call it a lady procedure}. Recovery required a large milkshake and fries. doctor’s orders.
• Today was long. and rainy. and our toddler was being, well, a toddler. and Chris worked late. and there wasn’t anything in the fridge that could be thrown together for a meal. At 8pm we still hadn’t eaten, so I convinced Chris to order pizza. and it was yummy.

So, just to summarize… not spending money is SO HARD! {said in my best whiny voice}. I thought the hardest part would be staying away from Target and or TJMaxx, my usual spots for retail therapy. Keeping busy with other activities and projects {like the community garden I discussed in my last post} has really helped me keep away from my retail loves. I’ve been {well, my hubby has been} making our coffee at home so we are not tempted to stop and grab some on the way to work. We’ve been inviting friends over to eat instead of going out with them {it’s still pricey to cook for a bunch of people, but we try to do ‘potluck’ style and it’s definitely cheaper than always eating out}. As it turns out, the random excess money I have been spending has been on fast food! When I’m in a time-crunch or following an exhausting day I just can’t keep by brain on for one more second to try and cook something, or have nothing in the fridge that I can grab on the go.
We’ve got another week and I am going to sit down tomorrow to meal plan so we aren’t caught off guard with nothing in the fridge or a schedule that doesn’t allow us to come home for food. Hubby just reported, “We are nearing payday and we still have money in our account… it’s working” {very scientific reporting}.
Where does your money go? Are you spending excessively?