Day 1 of Don't go Over in October

As most of you know, I'm participating in Don't go over in October, in which I can't spend money on anything unnecessary for the whole month of October! Today I used Mint.com for the first time. I have to say that even though it was really scary to put myself on a budget, (a real one, not the imaginary one that I can ignore anytime I want to), it was also a little liberating. For the first time...um...ever...I saw all my bills on one page, and how much money I have allotted for those bills, and how much I can realistically spend on fun, while still being able to save a little here or there.

I inherited this way of thinking from my mom called, "If you ignore something it will go away." As I've gotten older, I've learned that that's just not true and when you ignore something, like an ex, it will only become an even bigger problem until it's unmanageable. Participating in a project that makes me own up to my spending and makes me track it is a scary thing, but I also know it's going to be good for me.

I've been ignoring my finances, just like I was ignoring making healthy food choices until my trainer made me keep a food journal. That was a wake up call and it turned out the food I was eating was counteracting my exercise and keeping me from losing belly fat.

2 inches off my waist, a tighter butt, and lots and lots of tofu later, I'm finally realizing that I can't ignore important things (like my diet) if I want to look better. And I can't ignore my finances if I want to live better.

I figure, if I can become the girl who orders tofu in my Thai Food instead of chicken, and who only eats bacon on special occasions, then I can most certainly become the girl who doesn't put an ON SALE BCBG dress on her credit card the day before her budget starts, even though she already has 2 other perfectly wedding appropriate dresses, just because her boyfriend's ex will be at said wedding and she wants to look like an extra hot tamale -- minus the pork.