"Girl, Get Your Money Straight"~ Glinda Bridgforth

In one of my previous posts I talked about re-structuring my relationship with money. While this is not an easy task (for me), it is clearly necessary. Sometimes we have the best intentions for areas of our lives but don't realize how much we've fallen short or missed the mark until its a bit...late.

While talking to my partner in crime and discussing our big 25th birthday celebration, we discussed saving for our trip. This prompted me to really look at ways to save money and budget. She found a really cool way for us to save money for the trip and encourage one another to meet our financial goals at www.smartypig.com. Looking for budgeting tools, I found www.mint.com which gives you a real picture of where your money is going.

After letting "Mint" analyze my accounts, I was in SHOCK (literally in a Rachel Zoe kind of way). My original plan when I purchased my car was to dump all of the funds from my PT job into the note to get it paid faster. I've clearly reneged on that. And what a shame it is. After realizing that I could have paid off 40% of my car, I was a bit sick to my stomach. Where had this money gone? Who knows...clothing? Shoes? Restaurants? Then I looked at what I'd spent in clothing over the last few months (this is a general term for shopping) and again I was floored. This didn't even include my random trips to target buying "whatever" because it's listed under another category. Moral of the story was that something had to give..and something need to change ASAPtually (borrowed from Eve). My quest to restructure that relationship began in that moment.

The PROBLEM is...that change is rarely met without resistance. I'll admit that I have a shopping problem. Maybe its not clothes...but its something with an orange sticker from target...or going in to Michaels for one thing and getting "this other cool thing" that was on sale. Its a problem and I have to face it head on. I've lived in various financial situations in my life and I've managed to live happily on less. The problem that many of us face is that as we get more...we spend more. Not to say that we shouldn't enjoy the fruits of our labor, rather we shouldn't over indulge and spend aimlessly. Further and from a more spiritual standpoint- how can we expect God to continue to bless us with more if we show Him that we are frivolous with what He's given us thus far.

So with that, I too am on a shopping freeze. I will confess that I bought something that wasn't on the list ( and not budgeted for) when I was in Michaels yesterday. My last purchase will be a pair of rain boots that I've fallen in love with (to be blogged about after the purchase is complete). I'm not putting a time limit on the freeze, just going with it as long as I need to in order to improve my relationship with spending and show myself how unnecessary shopping really is. Plus the money saved there alone will be pretty in my "Quarter Century Club" fund.

The tools over at Mint.com are really helpful in moving me towards being a conscious spender. I've set a reminder to do my monthly budget on the first of every month and make an effort to plan ahead of time for expenses. I can look at my Mint everyday and see how I'm doing on my budget, if I'm getting close to going over..or if I've spent too much. It keeps me in check. I've added to my daily plan as one of the first things I check in the morning. I'm excited to see the progress that I make this month...and the next...and the next.....