Putting a stop to bad habits

It's been a busy week, with my school semester coming to an end, Elizabeth's school about to let out for the summer, the kids' sports, dance and what not. Since I've not felt the greatest this week, I took a break for a few days and am now ready to soldier on.

I'll start with a confession: I'm a pint-oholic. I looove my pints. I love ice cream in general, but I'm most in love with two men-Ben & Jerry. I never need a good reason to get chip-faced; and most of the time I blame it on my little peanut Catherine (making her debut in September).

When I sat down a few weeks ago to look at the household budget to find ways to cut expenses, one thing I looked at was a stack of grocery receipts. I didn't realize just how often I was spending on this habit without even thinking twice, and I was mortified for two reasons: first; because it is an expensive habit, and second; what was I doing to my health by eating so much damn ice cream? I tracked how many times I purchased these pints and here are the staggering numbers I came up with:

3 pints a week @ $3.99 a pint = $11.97 a week. Multiply this by 52 and I come up with $622.44.

$622.44 a year for my ice cream habit!! and that's not including my husband's pints. If I did, we'd double this figure to over $1200 a year just in ice cream. Even though there is no one to see me adding this up, I just wanted to die of embarrassment.

Then, I looked at it from the health point of view. by consuming 3 pints of ice cream a week, I'm taking on an extra 3,360 calories a week. I'm an obese woman, ashamed as I am to admit it. Partly my fault; and partly due to a hormone disorder, but obese nonetheless. The LAST thing I need to be doing is packing on an extra 3300 calories a week. Holy shit. It was time to nip this bad habit in the butt for both the health of my being and my bank account.

We have since cut down our pint habit to once every couple of weeks or so, and purchasing as a splurge. In the mean time, I am trying to satisfy my sweet tooth with fresh fruit and yogurt. by doing this, I will have managed to save by the end of the year almost $400. Double that number for including Scott's share. I will also manage to cut back by a staggering 11,200 calories a month (OMG these numbers are seriously scary).

Here is my challenge for you: Save all your receipts for a month-every single one. Organize them by category (food, gas, entertainment, dining out, clothing, etc.). At the end of the month, look at these receipts and find where you are being wasteful, or where you may just be spending mindlessly. Look at those numbers from all angles to see how it affects not only your cash flow, but also your health and well-being. I guarantee that almost all of you will be shocked at just how much that daily latte adds up.

The difficulty for many people is that splurges become habits without the person realizing it. Whether it be buying a candy bar and a bottle of water when checking out at the store, alcohol, partying, drugs, debauchery, entertaining, clothing, or whatnot-sit down for a moment to take a look at how this spending affects every aspect of your life. Think of the money you could be putting aside for savings, paying off credit cards, paying down your mortgage, or saving for retirement. Think of what it can do your health. Not as fun as digging into a yummy pint of Bonnaroo Buzz, but you'll thank yourself in the long run for taking time now to put a stop to your bad habits.

Hint for the day: A splurge is healthy every once in a while. It’s an irregular expense – not one that you spend money on every day or even every week. It also fills you with joy when you do it – and you still feel happy about it a day later. In short, you derive quality of life from that purchase. A habit is never healthy. When an experience (particularly one tied to spending) becomes routine and normal, it should either fulfill a basic need in a simple way or it should be reconsidered. If it doesn’t add genuine value to your life – or if there’s a cheaper option that could add the same value – then you shouldn’t be spending your hard-earned money on it.

Check this out!: I came across this website recently. It's full of advice in all aspects of personal finance. The best part is, it's in layman's terms. http://www.thesimpledollar.com/

Inaugural post

When I went to the gas station last week, I about had a heart attack when I saw that, for 19 gallons of gas, I just put $70 into my vehicle. I was stunned...and immediately started wondering how I was going to be able to afford to keep driving. And on top of that, because unfortunately driving is a necessary evil in our family, how was I going to be able to afford to pay for gas and put food on the table?

I casually mentioned how unbelievable it was, and how over the past few days I had sat down to take a look at our household expenses to see where we could cut out unnecessary spending. I was surprised to see how many responses I received on this subject; people saying the same thing.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that our economy is in the pots. Most of the country is having to make the same sacrifices due to greedy spending and squabbling fat cats on Capitol Hill. They're more interested in pushing their interests and lining their pockets than seeing how our country is suffering, and doing anything about it.

I chose the name of this blog, "Let them eat cake", because it seems to personify the state that this country is in. It is said (though not proven) that Queen Marie Antoinette said this in response to being told that peasants were rioting because they had no bread and were starving. Its overtones feel very appropriate for the time being.

So this being said, I have started this blog as a way to share how I am trimming my household budget, how to live more frugally, and to provide tips, hints, recipes, and suggestions as to how you can do the same. I look forward to doing this, and hopefully by doing so, helping others as well.