Spending Control.

I’ve been writing my Incoming! posts for several months, and they never get published, because shame. The exercise has not been completely futile, though, because I realised that I need to get more serious about my spending habits. They used to be quite good two years ago – probably because I didn’t have anything to spend. But with a stable salary and with a growing make-up addiction, I have considerably slipped.

After publishing this post, I spent about a month enjoying what I have, but then I got either stressed or bored (sometimes these two are the same for me, I get stressed by boredom), and spent nearly everything I saved on some beauty products and work-out gadgets. I use all of them, so it’s not a waste, but it wasn’t a need either.

A spending ban is a need, though. But calling it a ban will be silly, in my case, because I know I’ll spend. I might actually spend even more after I ban myself from it.

It’s spending control, then. I love control, it ought to move me. The nature of my posts and the frivolous subject of the vast majority of them say a different story, but I’m rather good at control in most areas of my life. As nigh anything, control is just a habit.

What I’ll be doing:

• Reading books about money (ones that I already have – see, not a loophole to spend more) and maybe even writing about them here. I’ve already read the classic Your Money or Your Life, and am currently finishing Total Money Makeover.
• Having No-Spend days. So far in May and June I’ve had 11. Looking decent.
• Tracking every expense. Every expense. It’s a pain in the butt, but hey, my brother does it. I can too.
• Having fun. Because having less fun than I already do will be no fun at all. (Eheheh, I just slay with the jokes here.)
• Eating down the pantry. Apparently, it’s a movement.
• Writing lists of things I want and things I need in various categories, mostly because lists are fun, and I intend to have fun (see bullet four). They will also help keep me on track – having a goal in sight is a far better stimulus than the ambiguous ‘I need to save because that’s what responsible adults do’.
• Drawing graphs of my growing riches. Seeing the amount of money I have growing is stimulating enough on its own.
• Writing updates on this blog every month or so. Accountability and all. Joking – holding me accountable is a useless endeavour similar to hoarding cats. The only reason for posts is my need to write something here more often.

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