Happy July!

Starting debt this month: $12,500.
Current debt: $12,200

Goal of the month: Get my debt down to $9,000. This will require a lot of discipline and saying no to lots of things.

Every day this month I will do one thing that contributes to my goal. Yesterday I set my budget on Mint.com for the month (love that site!) and today I sent a $300 payment to my car loan.

Spending freezes always remind me of how much I have at my disposal. When I have plenty of money to spend, I barely touch my pantry ingredients- I go out to eat instead. I brush off my puzzles- I go to the movies. I ignore my already purchased audio and ebooks, because I can just buy new ones. I don't make the most of my wardrobe because I can just buy a new top. Spending freezes put everything in perspective for me, and I feel more appreciative of my things. It's nice to actually put them to some use, since I spent good money on them in the first place! Instead of deprived, I feel abundant. I cancelled my Audible membership before I did this Freeze, but I still have EIGHT un-listened-to books that will probably last me well past this Freeze. I also realized yesterday that I have 8 e-books that I bought but never read! That is craziness. I take so much for granted.

When I'm no longer "on a budget", I hope I still make wise decisions. So often I pay higher costs for conveniences (dining out, dry cleaning, paying a friend to make all our food for the camping trip because I had limited time between trips). I do like being able to pay for these, and I may not curtail that much of this type of spending in the future. But I do hope that I hold on to a few good habits.

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