Week Recap - I don't want to blow it but . . . .

. . . being frugal is starting to become a habit! I can tell how my mind has switched gears from thinking "how can I spend my money?" to "how can I keep my wallet in my purse as much as possible?".

Here's a brief recap on my spending over the week:

Tuesday:

$10.45 for gasoline . . . I was expecting to drop off the rental and pick up my car so I only put a little bit of gas in to get it slightly over the 1/4 tank mark. Enterprise charges over $5/gallon if you bring your rental back with less gas than when you got it.

$5.00 for a donation (?) . . . so I was at the gas station, kinda in a hurry because I didn't want to be late, when a woman approached me from the van parked at the pump in front of me. She said she was leaking antifreeze and had to get her teenage daughter to school but didn't have any money to buy another bottle of fluid. Her van looked like it had seen better days for sure and I did see liquid dripping out of the bottom of the car. I felt bad for her and for the young girl sitting in the front passenger seat. I grabbed my wallet and happened to have a $5 bill in there so I gave it to her. My friend Brandi's voice was ringing my head, "When times are tough remember that there is always someone who has it worse off than you." It was something she had commented on when we were discussing our PF goals. It felt good to help her and even though I really wanted to keep that money in my wallet, I know that karma will come back to me and leave me off better (monetarily or otherwise) because of that.

$5.24 for lunch . . . UGH! This is a total non-essential purchase. I even HAD a lunch in the freezer at work but instead of eating it I ended up working through my lunch break. At 2 PM I left because I thought I could go pick up my car . . . but suddenly I felt SO HUNGRY that I thought I was going to faint. So I stopped and got lunch on the way. As it turned out my car was NOT ready and I had to turn around and go back to work. Lesson learned: even if I work through lunch I still need to take a few minutes out to eat something or else I will be forced to buy lunch and I will be annoyed with myself.

$22.71 for gas (AGAIN!) . . . since I learned that I WASN'T going to get my car, I ended up filling up the tank so that I wouldn't have to get gas later in the week when it was more expensive.

Total spending for Tuesday: $43.40 of which $5.24 was non-essential.

On Wednesday, I forgot breakfast at home so I grabbed a bagel from Vons for $0.74. Definitely non-essential since I had a perfectly good bagel at home that SB had brought me but I left it on the kitchen table.

I also got my car back on Wednesday!!! Simon looks as good as new and it is WONDERFUL to have him back. I will never take my car for granted again! I had to drop $500 at the shop but I'd much rather spend that than the $6,000+ that my insurance company is paying! The $500 really hurt but at least I had the money thanks to a little bit of frugality from last month. I learned my lesson about the importance of an emergency fund and I can't wait to see mine grow.

Total spending for Wednesday was $500.74 of which $0.74 was non essential.

Thursday I didn't spend a dime!! And let me tell you, it was NOT easy! After work I met Gail and a bunch of other girls at a locally owned bookstore for some gabbing and talking. All the books were 25% off and there were a lot of really neat stuff in that store - gifts, vintage fabric (I dabble at sewing on occasion), home decorations, etc. A bunch of girls were shopping and I definitely felt that desire to drop a little cash . . . but as I really started look nothing really struck me. This is literally the thought that kept crossing my mind "I'd rather have my money then this really neat/pretty/cute [item]". I ended up walking out of there around 8 PM with my wallet stowed safely in my purse. I had a great time talking and hanging out with my friends and I didn't ruin it by overspending or buying crap I didn't need! Wahooo!!!! Also, instead of buying dinner before the event I snacked on trail mix and fruit which tided me over until I could get home. :-)

I'm looking forward to this weekend - I can't wait to see my girlfriends and have a great time. I'm going to go to the bank in the morning and pull out the cash that I'm allowing myself to spend ($40.00 not including gas). I forgot that Anna owes me about $60 from January which she is going to give me so I'll be adding that into my savings account and NOT spending it. People, this blog is going to hold me accountable! On Monday you are going to be proud of me!!!

Happy Friday and have a wonderful sunny weekend!!