New Year, New Goals

Another year goes by in a blink of an eye.

I am always looking for ways to improve. I loved meeting my goal of losing 10lbs, even though it was hard I still kept my commitment and didn't give up so now my new focus will be on my money. I am in need of a financial makeover. My finances are just like my weight, not bad but there could be room for improvement.

Saving money is just like losing weight.  With losing weight you have to focus on calories in, calories out. If you burn more calories than you eat you will start losing weight.  Well, if you spend more money then you have then you have debt (I'll call that fat). So I will be focusing in on money in money out. This is going to be so hard for me because I love shopping! And I live too close, I am in walking distance to Target and the mall. What I'm a sucker for is the clearance rack. The most I will spend on a shirt is around $12...so not that much but adds up if you are buying 3 shirts at once.  Also, I'm huge on accessories, I love scarves, earings, bracelets, socks and when you don't spend over $10 its easy to justify it by saying its cheap however when you add it all up it can be over $100!!!

So here is my new goal:

I'll start with putting away 10% of my paycheck to savings. This is going to require a budget.  I want to see my savings account grow. So, just like how I decided to "eat clean"  I'm going to "spend clean"   My first challenge will be 30 days without buying  what I WANT. I have already wrote down what the necessities will be (i'm getting anxiety just thinking about it) and believe me it's  hard trying to determine what is a necessity and what is a luxury. I'll give you an example;  paying for a car wash.   Is this really a necessity?  To me it is, I'm going to allow myself to pay for my car to get washed...My car is black so when it is dirty it looks horrible and washing it myself is out of the question.
The temptations already started this morning. I want to get a little crochet bootie pattern. They are around $4.95..not a lot of money right?  But see, that is what I do. I always spend $5 here and there which could easily add up to $100/week.   I have to say no! This is hard for me. I usually don't even think twice about it but this morning I had to stop myself. I will be searching online for free patterns.

So I do have other goals I would like to accomplish however money is what I will be focusing on this year.
Hope your having a great start to 2013!