{ the spending diet... weeks 13 + 14 }

I think its a very good thing we live in a teeny tiny mountain town where there is not even a Target. We spent the past 2 weeks in cities. Target. Good food. Anthropologie. More good food. Concerts. Lululemon. Geez. Anyway, I managed SOME self-restraint but not enough. I bought Samme some new clothes for next school year at Marshalls (super duper cheap). I bought "hot mama" jeans from a store called hot mama and this top and this dress (which I love love love). I bought this shirt. And this jacket. I bought Henry a new basketball at Target. I bought copious amounts of good food and green smoothies from Whole Foods. I bought Ben Harper concert tix + beer (worth every penny - one of the best live shows we've seen). Dinner + movies on another date night (spoiled with a free babysitter aka grandma). Nieces ballet concert tickets. A trip + tickets to Waterworld. Yikes. Anyway, back home and planning on staying out of stores for the rest of the summer (other than a few back to school purchases for the kiddos in August). How have you all been doing? Have a great weekend ~

{ the spending diet...weeks 7 + 8}

What can I say? It's confession time but I think I did pretty darn good the 2nd half of the month... The only non-essential things I bought were this PERFECT shirt for Henry and this new yoga DVD for ME. And I'm still on a mission selling misc. stuff on ebay and craigslist. How y'all doing?

{ the spending diet... week 1 + 2 }

Well... I already knew we weren't going to be totally successful this month because my husband had his eye on this.... Speaking of the ipad2...(note: we don't have an ipad (the first version) but we do have lots of MEpads! ha!;-).... we generally wait for the 2nd generation (lighter, faster, cooler)...but I was thinking that in our house we already own... 2 MacBooks; 2 iphones; 1 itouch (that the kids use?!?! - what 6 1/2 yr old needs to use an itouch?); 2 ipod nano's (sometimes used on runs/workouts); 1 ipod shuffle (no longer used); and apple TV (I don't even know how to use this). I mean, really? At some point isn't enough, enough?

Anyway, the past week we were on spring break with the kids (hiking in Sedona and a water park in Phoenix), and we managed to do good on the spending diet....we ate out a fair amount but we were staying in a hotel so we knew (and planned for) as much. I bought a new toiletry holder at the drugstore (the zipper on mine busted) and a fashion design pad thing for Samme (to keep her quiet & occupied in the hotel room while Henry was napping). But other than that I haven't purchased anything other than food + household items so far this month. (Please note that I was in a 5-mile radius of Anthropologie, Lululemon & Target on the trip and didn't go in them, not even for a peek). I've had stuff sitting in shopping carts online & in the grocery store and managed to abort purchases. I've also been selling a bunch of stuff on ebay too towards the Bora Bora fund. In addition to our Spring Break trip, we've been doing lots of fun, free things (Discovery Museum, Rec Center, hikes, bouncing on the trampoline, bike rides, starting to work on the garden, etc.) and no shopping.

I have this picture (above) of our house on my desk bulletin board to remind me how great it will be to have NO mortgage and this picture of our (fingers crossed) Bora Bora trip for our anniversary next year and a picture of the orphanage in Kenya that I want to go on a mission trip to...all to help keep me motivated to spend our money wisely.

Those of you participating, how's it going so far? How do you stay motivated to stay on track budget wise?

{ on my mind...the spending diet }

Love this quote above via Sherbet Blossom. I've been thinking about this a lot lately especially in light of the Spending Hiatus (beginning today). This year I'm calling it the Spending Diet via Anna at Then She Saved. Because to me it is like a diet - there are still the necessities (mortgage, utilities, gas + healthy food) but there doesn't need to be the random, unnecessary purchases or consumptions like Forever21 clothes and cupcakes. So, the Spending Diet has begun. I will be reporting back on a weekly basis...