A Good Day 10

Today was monetarily terrific. I bought 2 Cadbury eggs (thats all the food I purchased for myself today). I had an empty Starbucks coffee bag which I exchanged for a free cup of coffee at Starbucks. I brought 2 PB sandwiches to work with me which along with the coffee and Cadburies suited me quite well. I found a bottle slip on the floor in Meijer for 90 cents. Ever since I started this thing I've begun to realize just how much every penny counts. Just the other day I desperately needed just one dime in order to get everything I wanted and still stay within the budget for the day. Just 10 cents. (I did actually find an empty pop can though so... Yay for 10 extra cents)

Ok, so I gave in to the candy craving today... obviously I don't need candy. I don't feel bad about it though. I feel like it was a tiny reward for all the hard work I've put into this thing so far. Spending just $12 a day is really difficult. I've had to cut out all coffee shop purchases. I'm not bringing home little extras like 2 Liters of Diet Squirt, microwave popcorn, bagels, cheese... I've been buying the basics and leaving all the rest behind. We haven't eaten out since I started this budget. (I REALLY love pizza) Today was good. I treated myself a tiny bit and I didn't have any huge fights to work through. Practically every single day I feel like I've got the classic cartoon little me instigators sitting atop my shoulders. The gruff boisterous me shouts, "it's only a dollar, it's only forty nine cents!!! Just buy the dang thing... it'll make you happy... IT'S NO BIG DEAL." The sensible, responsible (but much weaker) little me quietly urges me to, "be strong, do the right thing, climb out of this debt dungeon that you've dug yourself into." Not today however. They both took a break and I didn't have any struggles. Today was good.

$12.69 worth of groceries for the day left me with 21 cents extra (remember I found 90 cents). I've still got $5 in the future purchases envelope. We have plenty of food for dinner. I don't feel that I bought anything excessive. The budget for today and for this week so far is balanced.