Today I am tallying up every penny I've spent towards debt for the month of March (I know, I know, it ain't over yet. BUT...we have received all the paychecks that will contribute towards debt repayment for the month, so I can go ahead and add it up!).
And the grand total is.....$2575.00!! Woohoooo! Not to mention we added $500 to our EF, and sent a $425 payment towards our cottage rental for our trip to BH this summer! Not tooo shabby! That is obviously the good news. And where there is good news, there is sure to be some bad news...
We fell off of the wagon. Actually, more like plummeted off the wagon. Hurled ourselves off the wagon, if you will. Eek.
According to T's bonuses for the month, we SHOULD have been able to send more like $3175.00 to our creditors. But, we totally caught the shopping bug. I have recently lost about 13-15 (depending on the day) lbs, so my clothes are hanging a little (okay, more then a little) loose. And T works in an industry where he needs to dress pretty snazzy, and has been on shopping hiatus for many months (like, pre-wedding planning). I was feeling frumpy because my clothes don't fit, and he was feeling sort of haggard in his old clothes, so we decided to budget a little clothing allowance. Okay, a big clothing allowance...biggish, anyway.
I allowed each of $300 cash to hit the sales, and let me tell you what...it was SO fun!!!!! And we used pre-budgeted cash, so the guilt was a fraction of what it wouls have been, had we dusted off our credit cards.
Now here comes the UGLY...I totally had a moment of weakness. I really think it was a blind, shopping addict moment. One minute I was drooling over a gorgeous clutch and tunic on the Sundance Catalog website (sale items, of course), and the next thing I knew, my Amex had had been pulled out and the purchase was made. Yikes! I felt SO guilty and SO mad at myself. But, it sort of made me think about myself and my spending patterns. Am I addicted to shopping? I was fine pinching pennies for weeks, months even, but as soon as I started spending again, I completely lost control. If that is the case, what does this mean for my financial future?? Obviously, I got myself under control. The credit card purchases ended there. Whereas a year ago, I would've spent 3-4 times the money without blinking an eye. That alone shows me that I have grown. But it still made me nervous.
And the worst part? I didn't tell T yet. I am totally embarrassed and do not want him to know. This is bad, I realize this. But if I plan on paying the balance (and it will be all that is on that card when the next statement comes, as it has been paid off for awhile now), does he need to know? Or can I quietly learn from this mistake?
For now, my shiny, new clothes (a few sizes smaller than my old clothes!) are hanging in the closet making me smile. And I know T was thrilled to stock up on a few work essentials. And we were smart about our splurge: we shopped the sales, we used coupons and offer codes, and we hit up Nordstrom Rack on a saturday afternoon ( how brave are we?).
I just have to live with knowing there is an adorable little vintage clutch in my handbag collection that should not be there. Question: Do I tell T the truth?
I allowed each of $300 cash to hit the sales, and let me tell you what...it was SO fun!!!!! And we used pre-budgeted cash, so the guilt was a fraction of what it wouls have been, had we dusted off our credit cards.
Now here comes the UGLY...I totally had a moment of weakness. I really think it was a blind, shopping addict moment. One minute I was drooling over a gorgeous clutch and tunic on the Sundance Catalog website (sale items, of course), and the next thing I knew, my Amex had had been pulled out and the purchase was made. Yikes! I felt SO guilty and SO mad at myself. But, it sort of made me think about myself and my spending patterns. Am I addicted to shopping? I was fine pinching pennies for weeks, months even, but as soon as I started spending again, I completely lost control. If that is the case, what does this mean for my financial future?? Obviously, I got myself under control. The credit card purchases ended there. Whereas a year ago, I would've spent 3-4 times the money without blinking an eye. That alone shows me that I have grown. But it still made me nervous.
And the worst part? I didn't tell T yet. I am totally embarrassed and do not want him to know. This is bad, I realize this. But if I plan on paying the balance (and it will be all that is on that card when the next statement comes, as it has been paid off for awhile now), does he need to know? Or can I quietly learn from this mistake?
For now, my shiny, new clothes (a few sizes smaller than my old clothes!) are hanging in the closet making me smile. And I know T was thrilled to stock up on a few work essentials. And we were smart about our splurge: we shopped the sales, we used coupons and offer codes, and we hit up Nordstrom Rack on a saturday afternoon ( how brave are we?).
I just have to live with knowing there is an adorable little vintage clutch in my handbag collection that should not be there. Question: Do I tell T the truth?
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