I am very overwhelmed this month...and we aren't even half way through. I feel so motivated to do well....yet I have managed to get so far off track. I am so inspired by the wonderful people on this site...yet I feel like I don't belong.

I know it takes time to learn new habits. And I know that the decision to do better has to count for something.

So....do I just count May out and consider it a flop and start over in June?

I just got back from St Louis....an unexpected trip. I had not budgeted for May any room for such things as: AA Baggage fees, multiple meals out, extra flight fees, etc. So I have all but blown my budget for the month...and its only the 10th. How do I recover? I do plan to work extra this week, so I will be paid for that next Friday. But this has gotten me way off track.

I think trying to do a no spend week was too much for me. Especially this early in my "financial journey." I think the smarter idea would be to lower the number of spend days rather than eliminate them all. Spending is obviously a stress reliever and time waster for me, which is a problem. But at least I realize it.

I've made some headway on debt payments, but not the strides that I wanted. I guess I'm still trying to line out a budget that works and allows more room for debt payments and savings. But I've learned so much in this past month from this blog. So grateful for awesome blogs and bloggers.

Updates on numbers (Original---Current)

Credit Card 1: $798.26---$773.83
Credit Card 2: $595.13---$580.76
Credit Card 3: $288.65---$269.20
Student Loan: $4113.59---$4061.62

Total: $5795.63---$5685.41
____________________________

Current Savings: $1500.00---$2795.09
Retirement Plan: $116.00---$283.00

My NO SPEND WEEK has been an epic fail so far. We did get our income tax in so I had been waiting on that to get tires. So I bought tires, and gas, and ate out, and now I have to take my dog to get shots and her nails trimmed. Hopefully I can commit to not spending the rest of the week, but I am pretty disappointed. But...I was able to put over $1000.00 in savings.

My husband was promoted and started his new job on 03/21/11. He now travels out of state for 9 days at a time and is home for 4-5 days. Shouldn't my bills and expenses be going down? I'm eating out less...once a week I may go out to eat with a friend or do something, but I'm only paying for 1. I'm gone all day...so it seems like my electricity and water should be down. I even spent just as much as I normally do at the grocery store this weekend! I just feel like I should be able to save all this money and I haven't seen any extra yet. Maybe its because it really hasn't even been a month yet? I'm not sure. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things change.

And I did score an extra $25 this weekend by selling a video game I couldn't play. Maybe I should just throw it in savings?

I don't really have any "updates" to my numbers so I thought I would express my concerns about my mom. My mom and her husband are going to the Financial Peace University program at their church. I've read Dave Ramsey's book, and think it had a lot of great information. But here is my concern. She started a childrens' resale booth about 6 months ago. Of course... she hasn't made a lot of profit, but its the beginning and most businesses are not super profitable the first year. I also she spends money on things that are not necessary. But she says that according to the program she should shut it down....its not successful. I just don't agree. I love the fact that she has decided to try to do something to make herself more financially secure. But I don't know if shutting down the business is the answer. I honestly don't remember what Dave Ramsey said about businesses, since I don't have one. But I'm just not sure how I feel about it.

I don't know if I have ever had this before...but I had a no spend day. Isn't that amazing? And there is nothing clearing my account. Its the small things in life.

Ok. I've made some progess.

Credit Card 1: $762.26
Credit Card 2: $580.76
Credit Card 3: $269.20
Student Loan: $4061.62

Total: $5673.84
________________________________________

Current Savings: $1717.96
Retirement Plan: $244.80

This weekend all I wanted to do was spend money. When I'm bored I want to shop. I need to find ways to cure my need for retail therapy. This weekend I was saved by the fact that I had 2 TJ Maxx gift cards from my birthday. But what will happen next month??

Well I made some small payments to each credit card last night. Plus I paid on my student loan and put over $200.00 in savings. AND we put back the money my husband took out for his travel. So I'm pretty excited. AND I started a tire fund. I'm going to have to buy at least 2 tires here pretty soon, so I thought it would be a good idea.

And my work is letting me work some overtime this weekend, so I should have some extra money next Friday.

I feel like I am making a little progress on this uphill battle.

Well, I think there is an upside to having a hurt foot. I can't shop or go spend money....so therefore I am spending less on gas too. I'm still trying to recover from the surprise medical bills and the fact that I slightly overspent for my birthday.

Hoping to get some overtime next check and be able to put it back in savings. And I am working on the details of the personal chef work, since I can't really walk around.

And a side note...I super excited about the Extreme Coupon show tonight on TLC. Although I don't see the point in buying 1000 boxes of Yokisoba noodles that will expire before you can eat them...I still find it fascinating. And on a smaller scale, their tips coud be really useful.

Well, today is my 30th birthday. And to celebrate I decided to sprain and possibly fracture my foot. Needless to say I had to take money out of savings to pay for the Dr and the prescriptions. Pretty bummed about that.

But eventhough I have taken a few steps back, I am hoping to stay on track and be able to replenish my savings soon.

And maybe I should start a medical jar? I don't have anything set aside if I ever have to go to the dr. Hmmm....

Well, like I said before, everything didn't go exactly to plan. Although I've only been really working on my financial picture for a week and a half, I was hoping to have more impressive numbers. But any debt amount going down is a good thing.

Credit Card 1: $782.26
Credit Card 2: $581.13
Credit Card 3: $284.20
Student Loan: $4113.59

_______________________________________

Ok...so my husband needed 200.00 from Savings for travel, but he is putting it back in on Thursday so I feel ok with it. But for the time being, my Saving number went down.

Current Savings: $1378.88
Retirement Plan: $162.86 + $67.00 = $229.86
Extra Account: $18.84

Hoping for a better week next week.

Well, I'm disappointed. I thought that tomorrow I would be able to make some debt payments, but it will actually be next week.

I spent some extra money this week. $$ to go to dinner and a movie with friends on Friday for an early birthday celebration. And possibly more $$ for some sort of dinner on Sunday. THEN...when my husband comes back in town we are going to Texas de Brazil...which is $48.00 a person. BUT, I signed up for their emails so my dinner is FREE. Sweet! So hopefully I can keep the spending down to a minimum.

As some "at home" entertainment we are doing an at home spa night Saturday. A body polish made with Applesauce. A Strawberry Banana Smoothie face mask. And other fun stuff. Hopefully it will be a nice relaxing, cheap, and memorable night with the step daughter.

As sad as it sounds, I find myself hoping and fighting to not make the financial mistakes that my parents have made. I don't want to be 60 years old with no house or savings or retirement. I want to leave something to my step-daughter when something happens to me.

My husband has such finacially responsible parents. His dad had life insurance, savings, paid for burial arrangements, gift trusts set up, etc when he passed away. My father had nothing. My mother does not own a home, has no retirement, no savings, no assets. His mother has 100+ acres up north with very little debt. I'm not saying his parents are "better parents", because I love my parents and I think they were always very suppotive and loving. I just wish my parents would have been a little more prepared.

So as I inch closer to my 30th birthday, I realize how important it is for me to be financially secure. And how scared I am of being a failure.

Well, I survived the first week of my road to debt recovery. I worked at my sister's estate sale this weekend and she gave me some $$. So I will be able to put a little in savings. YEAH!

I am slowly working towards starting my "personal chef" work. But there are a lot of little details. But maybe I can get it going before May.

And with my husband leaving to go out of town again this week, maybe I can get some overtime at my FT job.

I'm hoping for an awesome week. Hopefully this Friday I can make some debt payments and put some in Savings (including my estate sale earnings).

I love this blogging. I love being accountable for what I'm doing. Hope I keep it up!

Ok....so if I were going to grade myself I would say I probably earned a C- this week. And that may be with a curve. I made some small credit card payments, but only $40 worth. And I realized that one of my starting balances was wrong. But on the upside, I realized that I had $67.00 in an IRA that I forgot about. And I have an automatic transfer from my payroll to take $10.00 out and put it in a savings. My thought...out of site, out of mind.

I have to keep in mind that this is my first week really trying. And its been hard because my husband is out of town for work and unfortunately I want to shop or go out to eat when he's not there.

Keep your fingers crossed folks! There may be hope for me yet!

Credit Card 1: $798.26
Credit Card 2: $595.13
Credit Card 3: $288.65
Student Loan: $4,113.59

Total: $5,795.63
_______________________________________

Savings: $1,570.38
Retirement: $201.97
New Account: $17.20

So I am trying to think of ways that I can work to come up with extra money. We are going through our house to come up with items for a garage sale. I am considering doing some Personal Chef work on the side, although I am not technically a "chef" I am working towards that goal. But I would like to think of other things I can do besides getting an actual PART TIME job. Any ideas?

I would love to beef up my Savings amount and Debt repayment.

I've read Dave Ramsey's books and I love Gail Vaz Oxlade...so I'm trying to live off of cash. I didn't have any jars, so I set up some plastic cups for my variable expenses. Transportation, Food, Entertainment, Clothing & Gifts, Everything Else - which includes Rx, Pets, and I threw Cleaning supplies into that. BUT I still use my Credit Card and Debit card. YIKES! I have to discipline myself more or this will never work.

I think my first problem is that I have not been putting the amounts I am supposed to in the "jars." I haven't been putting anything in Clothing & Gifts, so when I had to buy a birthday present yesterday, I used my debit card.

So I'm trying to get the hang of this so I can go all out in April. Surely other people out there are living on cash!?@#$