Bill(Me) the Kid (Part 2)

Chris and I have officially been on our “debt diet” for one week today. While changing 29 years of spending habits is going to take some time (and much, much effort), I have to say I’m pretty proud of the progress we’ve made. We have yet to kill each other, no moneymaking baby schemes have been hatched and we each still have a few precious “allowance” dollars tucked away in our wallets. Yee-ha!

I must admit that I did make a trip to the DISCOUNT shoe department on Sunday, but it was purely out of necessity rather than an overwhelming desire to outfit my feet in a “flashy” pair of flip flops. (Apparently my other diet has caused me to lose weight in my feet and I nearly took out the bathroom counter at work when my tootsies slipped in my favorite black wedges.) I paid for my new shoes out of my “allowance” and – BONUS! - burned a few calories because my screaming baby refused to sit quietly in his carrier so I had to lug him around in my arms as I shopped.

We also went grocery shopping over the weekend. We switched from mostly name brand goodies to store labels, shopped the sales and planned meals (on the cheap) in advance so that we didn’t just grab whatever looked good at the time. We came in $60 under budget (yippee). The extra funds were quickly moved to savings so as not to tempt the impulse buyer lurking inside us both. Also, right after Coop was born we asked friends and family to sign up for Similac coupons and those $5 savings are definitely helping the $6 per bottle purchase price. =)

Our last trick of the week? Limited lunches out with coworkers. Chris took a case of shrimp-and-lime Ramen noodles to stash at his desk and he also intersperses that bargain feast with leftovers. I – always a lover of children’s food – have been indulging in beefaroni and last night’s chicken strips.

While the first seven days have gone pretty well, our true financial test will come this weekend when we head to Abilene for my (gasp!) 10-year high school reunion. Whenever we head home we tend to splurge on shopping, dinners out and liquored libations, lol.

Fingers are crossed that we can stick to our guns — ahem — budget.

-smell you later-
Coop’s Mom (aka Tessa)