Saving Spree update

I'm doing okay on my saving spree. Not good, not great, but okay. Not bad either, I think.

Let's see, last week I went to Super Target to check out their clothing, and I found a pair of khaki trousers, a basic black sweater, and a blue long sleeve t-shirt (good for layering and sooooo comfy) that I purchased along with our weekly groceries. I was able to escape only $125 poorer. I don't think I did so bad, even though the t-shirt was an impulse purchase. But I know I'll get a lot of use out of it. I already have.

I did cave and play poker last Thursday night, but luckily I came out $50 ahead. If I were really disciplined, I would have put it in savings right away, but instead I took it with me on my Mary Kay retreat and ended up buying $40 worth of raffle tickets for some Broncos football tickets, which I didn't win. But it was for a good cause and all the proceeds went to the Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation.

Speaking of the retreat, it was a lot of fun and very inspirational, so it was a good re-investment of the small amount of profit I've taken from the business so far. Two meals were included, our group ate breakfast in our room both mornings, and my one dinner out last week was when we went to dinner Saturday night. As a bonus, that meal will be tax-deductible because it was business travel! We got stuck in the snowstorm coming home, so I ended up having to buy lunch on the road, a few bucks for a sandwich at the gas station. Overall, I did well this weekend not spending money. I even resisted ice cream! Can you believe it?

I've been very good about not eating out for lunch at work, and I've been a good girl and not bought any Mountain Dew from the snack machine, either. Apparently we're not buying enough out of the machine anyway, so they're taking away that temptation on Monday.

As for October birthdays and gifts, I haven't spent any money yet because I had cards hidden away in my filing cabinet and I still looking for a gift for my brother. I was almost over the guilt of not buying a housewarming gift for a friend at work, but then I remembered how much Hobie ate at her party and now I'm feeling guilty again. Next time I'm at Safeway, I'll pick up a gift card.

So I wasn't able to "save" any money this pay period (aka move extra money to ING) besides the $170 originally, but I didn't spend any of next week's money either. I totally broke even. And like I said, today's paycheck is a little smaller because of the shorter pay period, so I'll need all of next week's money then.

I've opened up an HSBC online savings account to get the $35 reward and the better interest rate. So I guess I did "save" a little.

The plan from here is the same. I will follow the same rules, and this time no poker. I mean it. And today I'll transfer an additional $100 to ING as my usual "pay yourself first" maneuver. Looks like I will end October with $500 more in savings then when I began. Guess where that's going to go? Probably airline tickets for the wedding. So what if all this money I'm saving is going to be spent? I'm developing good habits for the future.