New Years Resolution!!!

Ah, the new year. Everyone knows that that is the perfect time to start anew. 

We all know that almost every woman makes the New Years resolution to lose weight. This has been my resolution for like the past 5 years and like most everyone else..after the first week ends up failing. Miserably. Which is why this year I have changed my resolution. My main resolution will be, are you ready for this, to be financially smart.

As you can tell from my past posts, I have been having financial issues and doing everything I can to save money.  Well, that has not been going as well as I made it out to be. Yes, I've been trying, but not hard enough. I am a ridiculously compulsive spender. I'll spend money on stuff without even a second thought. Ugh I should find a rehab for that. Anyway, the reason to my failure is I try to justify what I buy. Example: One day I had about $3 so, I decided to go to Wendy's and grab a hamburger and some fries thinking it's no big deal. It's just $3. False. that would've been $3 extra towards my utility payments or rent. $3 doesn't seem like a lot, but when you realize you were only $3 short of utilities...it makes a huge deal!  Then you just want to kick yourself in the butt for being so stupid.

So, starting this year, I am going to be more wiser with my money. For real this time. I have created a file on Excel that will allow me to keep track of the money I earn and spend monthly. That way I can keep track of what money I have. Aside from that, my amazing boyfriend Aaron and I have set aside some ground rules about spending. Rule #1: set aside about $80 a month for groceries. Doesn't sound  like a lot, but for only 2 people it should be the perfect amount...there are the few exceptions like today I bought $150 worth of groceries. But, in my defense Smiths was having a case lot sale...so I have non-perishable items that will last us at least a year. The only reason that was an exception was because it was a killer sale that will help us save money so next time we go grocery shopping we can spend that $80 on perishable items like milk, bread, fruits, etc. Rule #2: One date night a month. As in going out out date night. Dinner and bowling or a movie or something. This way, we are still conservative with our money, but take one night to go out and have fun. Doesn't seem like much, but thankfully we have other ways to do dates. Not all dates have to be going out on the town. 

So, there you have it. Of course I have other small resolutions like improving my attitude, actually going to classes, you know that type of stuff. But becoming financially smart is my main focus and hopefully, by the end of the year, I will be able to tell a difference with how much I spent/saved last year compared to this year.

Here's to a brand new year!