September Goals

I guess what I have learned this weekend between my grocery shopping and my weekend that I tend to justify too many purchases and I have to work on these "treats" and budget better. That will be one of my September goals

September Goals

1) Stop justifying purchases as treats. Examine why I feel the need to treat myself with various purchases and work on it!

2) Be better about planning and budgeting. The budget needs to be worked on.

3) Get that pay per post up and running and ad-sense up and running on my blog.

4) Seek a part time job and ear mark that money for an emergency fund and new to me car fund.

As I pointed out earlier, I spend about $25 on things I really did not need or want. That is $25 that can be put to better use (student loan, utilities, car fund) and I have to work on my impulse and then justify spending the money. Can't keep doing it, it is distracting from my monetary goals.

I'm all for a treat to oneself. Even when someone is on a budget, a little treat or indulgence is good for the the soul, but my treat to myself this moth is going to be going outlet shopping next weekend. I have budgeted money for my weekend trip away. I am visiting friends this upcoming weekend and they live in a town with some great outlet stores. I know what stores are there, many of them have good deals and after assessing my wardrobe, I need a couple items (socks, underwear, shoes, a couple items of clothing) that I can't get at the thrift shop or consignment shop. I will take cash out of the bank on Thursday and use only cash (not my debit card) to purchase those items. The old me would have used my credit cards and said budget be dammed. I know in an earlier post I went through a needs and wants list and really needed very little (slippers) but that was before I did a purge of my wardrobe. I'm lucky that I work in an office where I can be casual, but even my casual wardrobe is starting to look shoddy. A few key pieces are what I need and I have my list written down and already in my wallet for the shopping expedition.

I guess my question to folks is. 'What do you do to stop the urge to buy or justify a purchase when working on a budget"?

Given my predicament, I'm trying not to drift back into my old spending habits. And it's hard.