Retail abstinence phase 2

Today is the first day of February. My month-long experiment ended successfully.

I strayed from my "rules" just once. My spouse and I went out to dinner and blew $4.31 on a fast food dinner.

The best part for me is that I was able to say no to lattes right up until I was on the road on 1/29. The worst part -- I had a latte at Starbucks on 1/31 and it was heaven on earth.

But if I can go cold turkey in cold dark wet January, I can manage other times too. And I liked saving money. I will not return to my pre-abstinence spending levels.

Today I will spend a little money. I have a lunch date. But no big binge as I had envisioned earlier last month.

I have yet to tally up my expenditures and compare them with a similar month (Sept 2009, the first month I was daughter-less. I am eager to see the tally, and will do something good with the savings. Donate to food bank? Donate to Haiti? Put into investments? Make a rainy day fund? It will be fun to decide.

The other good thing about February 1 is at last cold dark wet January is over, and there will be a few signs of spring this month. Bring it on!

Peace, y'all

Molly