Weekly Wrap

News Beat: Here it is, only Dec. 5th, and I can see trouble ahead already. To balance out my extravagent weekend I need a WEEK of NO SPEND days. That will be my goal for this week. I have $20 left in my wallet and plan to keep it there til next weekend. This will not be an easy task but I have to rein in my spending somehow.

After work on Friday (not a great day at school) I decided that I wanted to go and browse at the local Talize (a really great second-hand store near us...we have turned the name of the store into a verb as in "let's go talizing"). That should have been the first warning sign to me to stop and evaluate my thinking but I chose to ignore my inner voice. I justified going there to myself because I am in need of long-sleeve tops to wear to work - my classroom is cold and although I suffer from hot flashes throughout the day inbetween times I freeze.

Michael had some extra $$ and so off we went talizing. We each spent around $140. That doesn't sound too too bad especially when I told myself that I saved a TON of money by buying second hand instead of new. I just know you are all familiar with that old excuse!!! But did I need that gorgeous pair of black boots as well??  Did I need that Le Chateau black blazer with the jewel-like buttons that I may wear once or twice a season?? 

 NO AND NO!!

I'm not done yet...by the time we left Talize it was 7:30pm and we were absolutely famished. I suggested we go down to the local Vietnamese restaurant and have a bowl of soup...ding a ling - warning warning!!

 Well the soup was really good and so was the chicken chop suey and the lemongrass chicken!! There are still leftovers in the fridge because like my mother always liked to point out: YOUR EYES ARE BIGGER THAN YOUR STOMACH!!

I wish I could heave a great sigh and say that was it, but last night was our dinner out in Sarnia with friends - we spent $$ on gas, $140 for dinner (YIKES) and then another $20 in a martini bar. I actually don't feel too bad about this one because it was a planned outing and I had $$ ready for that one but it still seems so extravagant after several months of living frugally! However, we had sooooo much fun, great conversation and a ton of laughs so I have no regrets.

I am hoping I can make up for talizing by having a no spend week (or three)! ha ha yeah right! I'm a little worried about my cell phone because when I got it out of my purse last night it was on the internet somehow (not on purpose) and I don't have a data plan - I use it only as a phone so I am hoping I don't have some whopping big charge on my next bill!!

On the bright side...let's see...is there a bright side?...I have spent 0$ of my gas money as Michael has been keeping the gas tank full and I still have plenty of grocery $$ left to last until the 15th. The heating bill came in $13 under budget:), and due to paying $2500 extra on my line of credit last month the interest was reduced by $4, not much but every little bit helps, and my car insurance was reduced by $3 a month because I bought a car that was 2 years older than my other car. Because of these little savings and a $100 HST cheque that will be coming sometime in Dec. I may just be able to make up for this expensive weekend. Only 3 more December weekends to go!!

Heartbeat:

Blended families can be a challenge sometimes so it was truly wonderful to spend some quality time with both Michael and Kazi yesterday getting our tree. Everyone was in good spirits and we all fell in love with Bruce the Spruce. I will post pictures when we get him all decked out but right now he is still outside (probably frozen) in a large pot filled with water....er...ice.   Because we were going out of town it seemed like the best idea to keep him outside in his element until we were ready to get into full decorating mode...



Bruce the Spruce getting snowed on this morning! Poor Bruce!

 How are you balancing all the EXTRAS in December??