Second month burn-out

Last month was exciting because it was the first month of the spending diet... And I set the bar high when I saved/paid off over $2500 in September. This month I'm feeling a little burned out... I keep thinking, "How am I going to pull that off again this month?" Blogging helps... Reading other blogs about this helps... Reminding myself that I'll be debt-free sooner than planned if I can just laser-focus helps... But it's hard not to think of the obstacles coming up too. In November I'm road-tripping back east for 2.5 weeks. I will be working for part of that time, but most of it's vacation/seeing family and friends. I'm also starting to think about December, and the holidays. I would LOVE it if my family would agree to a no-gifts-Christmas, but I'm pretty sure that that would bum them all out.

Things I'm doing to save money this month:

  • Making all of my own food from scratch (my hands are burning as I type this, from chopping hot peppers).
  • Bartering with a friend for fresh vegetables from her garden.
  • Using the Gas Guru app to find the cheapest gas. On October 2nd I found regular unleaded for $1.94/gallon at a Cenex station on Holmes road (total cost to fill up my little hybrid: $16.50) and I didn't fill up again until today (the 13th)... I love hybrids.
  • Taking my little dog Petri to Shawnee Mission Park 4 days/week to get some exercise and sunlight- I don't need to take him to pricey daycare on park days.
  • Suggesting picnics, cooking-in nights and dog park walks when friends want to hang out.
  • Growing out my hair... Short hair takes too much maintenance.
  • Carpooling to meetings with a friend who lives near me.
  • Saying "yes please!" when people offer me snacks or drinks.
  • Reading frugal blogs that inspire me. Current favorite: andthenwesaved.com
  • Thinking about how worth it all this frugality will be when my car and LASIK are paid off and I can treat myself to something amazing for my birthday in May (hoping to be debt-free by April 30th).
  • Using my parents' Netflix account- last night I watched Audrie & Daisy... So good. So sad. I love documentaries.
  • Bought some cheap glass jars at Savers to freeze homemade food to make it last longer.
  • Declined a bachelorette party invite. It would have been a blast, but the money for the hotel room for the wedding is already coming out of my Wants budget.
  • Splitting the hotel room for said wedding with two other friends.
  • When I wore my lipstick down to the surface, I dug out the rest and mixed it with coconut oil... Lip gloss! Admitting this makes me feel kinda girly. I bet that it's going to last 3 more months though.
  • Game night!
  • Reading a travel magazine that a client donated before I donated it to Savers (I asked her permission, of course. Also, did you know that Savers will sell magazines for 25 cents? Donate 'em!)
  • Drinking lots of water between meals to stave off hunger, which discourages overeating, which makes the food supply last longer.
  • My favorite one... I entered Petri in a Halloween costume photo contest with my Leasing Office, and he won!! He received a bowl with paw prints on it, 2 chew treats, and a $25 gift certificate for PetSmart! I took him there yesterday and bought him 2 antlers (antlers are his FAVORITE), a stuffed squeaky toy, a pig snout (morbid, but at least they don't waste) and a bag of treats. He was thrilled.
There have been some setbacks:
  • The zipper of my awesome leather jacket broke... Replacing it cost $50. I should have taken a photo of the issue and posted it on Facebook to see if anybody could and would be willing to do it for a trade!
  • My Wants budget for October is already spent... Or will be, once I pay my share for the hotel tomorrow.
  • A last-minute cancellation of three days of work kind of screwed my income for the month. 90% of the time I'm so grateful for self employment, but this is one of the potential cons, and I'm singing the self employment blues this week.

However, the best thing of all is that other than the occasional craving (I've wanted ice cream all week), I think about going out to eat as often as I did, and I'm now like... No thanks. My relationship with money is changing so much- I value it so much more than I did in August.

Okay I'm off to tutor my friend's kid in English and French. If those goes well, I will be trading tutoring for massages on a regular basis.

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