Last night a friend of mine from college asked me on Facebook, how I control myself from buying up all of the good deals I post. Quite frankly, I have spent a lot of time & put in a lot of hardwork making sure I DON'T. I am a recovering shop-o-holic which unfortunately a number of years ago put me in a very dark place. I still have a good 2 years until I will finally see those debt demons gone for good. So quite frankly, that is my motivation. And really, I don't need EVERYTHING. Just because it is a good deal, you don't always need it and if you are buying it just because it is a good deal, well then you will find yourself where I found myself a few years ago.
With that said, the past couple of months my husband has been asking me for a list of all of the money coming in and all of the money going out. Consistently I find every month there is a good chunck of money being spent at Target, Walmart and a few other stores here and there. When we first started doing this, I found I was going to the supermarket 2-3 times a week in addition to my main food shopping. I have since cut that out. But, now I am going to challenge myself to stay out of other stores. Although somethings are needed, I can't help but wonder what really was "needed".
I really think it is time I really tightened up the belt, it's long overdue.
Good luck! I know you can do it.. you've come a long way already :)
ReplyDeleteI too, have started watching how I spend. I have started following a few fabulous couponing blogs and spending the time to plan my shopping/stocking up trips with sales and coupons. It's amazing how much I've saved.
I also make a menu at the beginning of the week (as you know) and do my grocery shopping according to the menu (and use coupons when available)
It's amazing how planning out the grocery trip helps to save money.