This blog started out as a personal finance blog, and lately I feel as though I have been drifting away from that topic, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s time to get back to my roots!
In a lot of the blogs I read, the bloggers challenge themselves yearly, monthly and sometimes even weekly with personal and financial goals they set for themselves. This is a great idea, and I have yet to employ any of these strategies even though I should.
I’ve got an issue with denying myself anything… I was denied and rejected a lot (in one form or another) growing up, and now that I have a little more control in my life (at least financially) sometimes I feel as though I shouldn’t have to budget, set goals or discipline myself. The hard times are over now, right?
Wrong. This type of thinking has gotten me into hot water consistently. Never so much as to be in debt or ruin my credit, but enough that I’ve gotten pretty uncomfortable. I’m pretty uncomfortable right now, actually.
Which is why I’ve given myself a budget this week in which I am not allowed to spend more than what I have in cash: $60. This does not include paying necessary bills. This is my first attempt at living within a budget, and I’m still being fairly lenient on the rules.
Originally I did not want to eat out at all this week, but since I don’t really have any food at my house I can’t stick to that one. What I’m doing instead is using cash for everything this week, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. So whether I use it on groceries, eating out or getting a pedicure, that’s it.
Sadly, most of my money is gone already! I think I spent some stupidly over the long weekend, and I ate out last night and today for lunch as well 🙁 As of this moment I have $25 and change in my wallet. Yikes!
But I think I can do it. I’m going to stop at the grocery store tonight and get some fruits and veggies, that way I’ll have enough food to last me the rest of the week if I eat all my Jenny Craig food up, too. This weekend I hope to be doing something with a friend, so I will be frugal but will still spend some money on our activities.
Tonight I’ll give an update on my financial situation and a goal I’ve had to put on the backburner for now 🙁 and on Friday I’ll tell you how I did with only $25 for a week’s spending!
2 responses to “Ginger Sets a Budget?”
I’m really bad for budgeting too! I don’t use a real budget. I find out how much I’m going to get paid, then I see how much I can put towards my finance goals without totally breaking myself. I try to leave myself with enough money to get through until the next payday. It’s hard and sometimes its darn tight but if I don’t do it that way I tend to let money dwindle away.
I do find having monthly goals for my pf goals really helps though. I try to set them modestly so that if I can over save for some I get SUPER excited. Yeah, its tricking myself but it works 😀
oh man, you KNOW i’d like to say alot on this topic 😉 But i shall hold back…haha..
I WILL say, however, that at the very least just tracking where your spending goes for 1 month will do you SOOOOOOO MUCH! like, literally writing/typing it all down, and then tallying it all up for 4 straight weeks.
i never even considered a budget my whole life, but after tracking my expenses for a few weeks i ended up using one! even if it’s more mental, it works 😉
that is all. happy Wednesday!