live comfortably within my means

that it is a habit. Je and I are looking for a cheap efficiency to move into to save even more money and pay back debts even more. We always prefer to be next to each other, get along great, so why bother with a larger, more expensive, place?

So happily, I am marking this Done.

I seem to have missed a MasterCard payment last month. Oops. Which means I’m in for double the fun this month. This is not good. Okay, I have to take the bull by the horns here and get serious about figuring out what I mean by “means.”

I know I have means, because I’m losing them constantly. I need to pile them all up on one side of a spreadsheet and keep track of them! And then I need to figure out if they’re big enough to live comfortably within. Therein lies the challenge. I may need to cull a bit in order to live within them. I have tried this in the past and I suck at living within my means. This, dear friends, is much more challenging than sending a message in a bottle. This is a life-changing goal.

I shop smart, get coupons, and eating out is a thing of the past. I am finding out about programs to help pay for school, and barely drive the car anymore. It is kind of fun.

Learning to shop groceries smarter, and eat healthy and cheap. We paid most of our bills on time this month, a big improvement, and I know we will pay even more of them soon.

Unfortunately we have decided to drop our gym membership until one of us gets a better job, as we could use the money to help pay down an outstanding bill. I’m not enjoying it anyway cause of the guilt of owed money. I can swim, run, walk, bike, right in my neighborhood for free, with no guilt.

Folded several of my other goals into this: no more late fees, for example. Cause if I live smart and within my means, well that just takes care of stuff like that, doesn’t it?

Now I feel weird if I eat at a restaurant, I cook pretty much all the time now an save money.

Will start bringing food to school instead of buying lunch/snacks.