It really
was bound to happen…I mean I’d be kidding myself if I ever thought otherwise.
Last weekend was my first financial slip up. It wasn’t big or bad and it didn’t
blow my house down, but it was a lapse in my budget judgment none the less. My
mom and I had a girls night planned for a few months now. We had to road trip
to our destination so I made sure when I worked out my ‘allowance’ for the
trip, it included everything; gas, food, and some spending money. It’s also pretty easy to guess what it was
that did me in…. As I
approached the cash register, with a small pile of, (you guessed it!)
fall/winter basics for my little cub, I didn’t need a sixth sense to tell me I
was going to be over my limit. It’s kind of funny because when I was counting
out my cash before I left, somehow I accidentally grabbed an extra bill. I
didn’t know it until I was burning rubber on the open road, belting out Judds
tunes, taking my first of a few wrong turns. (Even with my trusty GPS, Marge,
telling me I was supposed to take the OTHER exit and then forcefully repeating
over and over to “Make a u-turn if possible. Make a u-turn if possible.” Like she’s
never taken a wrong turn in her tiny little car computer brained LIFE! ) Anyways,
my husband called and said our totals were off somehow. I checked my wallet and
sure enough, that little critter had snuck right in there! Maybe,
subconsciously I was setting myself up for failure. It was an honest mistake
but just knowing I had that extra bill to fall back on…you know…just in case,
might have been what did me in.
Anyways,
snap back to my counter approaching journey, and I knew by the shear amount of
items in my greedy paws that my total was too close to call. I ‘sort of’ added
it up as I was picking them out, but it was all stuff that was ‘on sale’ so it
didn’t seem like I was going too crazy.
Plus, it was all basics he would need soon anyways. Never mind the fact
that I already had three different consignment stores on my to-do list for fall
that I had planned on checking out first, before I bought anything else.
Although, who knows if I would find anything there anyways. I knew I
liked what I found here so this was a
sure bet! Who passes up a sure bet? Especially when it’s waffle knit and on
sale? And sometimes those darn price signs can be so confusing anyways. I mean
half the time you get up there and find out something you picked up was
actually $5 cheaper anyways! (Okay, maybe that’s more like 1/16th of
the time but this moment definitely has the potential for surprise savings)
And, this is an outlet mall so everything is even cheaper…right, right?!
So,
with my impossible to resist persuasion skills squashing down the angel on my
shoulder, I watched that total climb to $10 above my permitted amount. Ten
bucks…yeah that’s it…but really it could’ve been $100 for how I felt after I
left that store. That was my first real test for myself and… I failed.
It’s
really not that big of a deal and I got over it but the fact of the matter is,
this budgeting stuff is really going to be harder than I thought. One thing I’m
really going to have to learn is how to say “No”. Not to everyone else, but to that ‘over
spending-if it’s on sale I can find a need for it-I’ve been meaning to get one
of those’-person in the mirror. No matter how convincing my awesomely
dominating persuasion skills may be. I
mean does my little guy really care if he’s wearing this shirt or that shirt?
No matter how adorable and totally cute I deem it, he could care less as long
as he’s got a diaper to poop in.
(Actually he’s decided he’s not
really a fan of those either.)
I
don’t know that I can count on that fashion financial budget blunder incident
being my last default in the Big Debt Beat Down, but I can certainly say lesson
learned!
It wouldn’t be
fair of me, though, to only give recognition to my failures in the past few
weeks and not give myself a little pat on the back for my triumphs, (such as fishing
out the last remaining lotion at the bottom of the bottle) however small they
may be!
Last
week I was so tired at work (thanks in part to my little early bird deciding he
was ready to get this show on the road a couple hours earlier than normal) I
honestly thought my eyeballs might melt right onto my keyboard, but I trudged
through without my RockStar and instead settled for a vending machine coffee
from the break room. Bought with the change I scrounged out of the ashtray
turned change holder of my husband’s car. (Yes! I was THAT desperate! For
anyone who’s bought a vending machine coffee, you know the gamble I was taking!)
Since
we’ve cancelled Netflix almost three weeks ago, I still haven’t rented a single
movie! While I love the $1 a night price of the Redbox, those bargain deal
DVD’s have been known to sometimes take three or four days to make their way
back to the henhouse.
Part
of our monthly dividends includes putting aside for clothing and shoes and
we’ve been meaning to buy our little big foot some new sneakers all summer.
We’ve gotten away with his crocs for the good part of these last few months but
have run into a few snags when they just wouldn’t cut it and his Paul Bunyon
sized tootsies just won’t squeeze into his old shoes any longer. So yesterday I
took him to three different shoe stores until I found the right pair for the
right price. And not only did I pass up the adorable $30 Nike kicks, but I
managed to walk away from the store with only ONE pair! Even my step was
a little lighter as we walked out of that store, and it wasn’t just because I
only had one bag to carry.
I
also have to acknowledge my amazing husband who has been doing all of the
grocery shopping himself (I don’t quite trust myself yet to partake in that
venture as I’m just not sure those greedy little grocery elves have stopped
following me, making items that are not on my list mysteriously appear in the
cart). He’s gotten so good in the last month, I’m pretty sure he’s on the verge
of entering into “Extreme Couponing” territory!
(Minus the ten deep stockpiles and emotional hoarding tendencies).
For
all of the little changes we are making to keep ourselves budget savvy, it’s
all a small part of something so much bigger. And although I did have one
little set back, it showed me the only person standing between me and victory
is myself. At the end of the day, I do have to hold myself accountable but also
remember that this budget plan is part of a process and my life isn’t going to
transform in a day. There are bound to be a few speed bumps and
roadblocks. And besides, as they say,
it’s not how many times you fall that matters, it’s the decision you make to
get back up that counts!
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