Weekend roundup, day of reckoning, and more
Our own heads can be our best friends or our worst enemies. In this week's Frugal Blog Network roundup, Almost Frugal presents a question from her mom: What denominations of money do you like to have, and what does that say about your personal finance mentality?
Frugal Babe looks at wedding gifts outside of the traditional formal china and crystal that just might be a whole lot more meaningful. Continuing with the gift theme, Not Made of Money is already giving some thought to Christmas giving without going broke.
Tight Fisted Miser made a mistake with his school loans, and it temporarily put a dent in his budget. He's kicking himself for it, but I'll bet that he never makes a mistake like that again.
In other happenings in the f.z. world, my TV turnoff challenge (which includes greatly reduced internet playtime) continues. Yesterday, I went way over the 1.5 hours per day of recreational internet use I had planned for this challenge, but otherwise I'm on track. Next week is when most of the season premieres start. Is anyone planning to miss the start of the new fall season? What are you doing with your time instead?
And finally, my day of reckoning came last week with my annual physical. The good news is that the thing I was a little worried about (mild to moderate hand tremors, if you really wanted to know) seems to be no big deal and definitely not Parkinson's. The bad news is that the doctor insisted on weighing me, and she confirmed the hideous truth: I lost nine pounds early last year (after gaining fifteen), and it's come right back. It's carrot stick city around here for a while, but I need to get on top of it. I wrote a while ago about what I've experienced as an inverse relationship between weight and finances. Not surprisingly, the very dilemma I wrote about back in February has come up again: losing weight makes me want to spend money.
I don't think this is an uncommon phenomenon, but I don't know why these two elements of self control are so closely linked. I just know that for me, they are.
How do you balance your weight against your wallet? Do you even face this dilemma in the first place?
2 retorts:
Well there are practical reasons why losing weight makes you want to spend money. As you go to buy clothes that actually fit. And of course you feel so fabulous, you want to get fabulous things to match.
I think the key is to keep financials posted somewhere to keep you humble. And, if you can afford it, maybe allow for a small spending amount each month. Kind of like dieting (I've always said there's a lot of the same mindset in both), if you give yourself a small indulgence, it's easier not to binge.
Also, that way, when your new, thinner clothes start getting tight, you know you have to get back on the treadmill.
Abby - What you say makes sense. I like the idea of keeping myself humble - that's so important. Having said that, I just spent a bunch of money on 40% discounted Boston Marathon workout duds with $5 flat shipping. I don't care so much about the Boston logo (although I'll probably never qualify for it again), but the fact that the market is fairly narrowly targeted means that they had a decent range of sizes/styles/colors left even at a fairly significant discount.
I justified it on the grounds that I haven't replaced most of my running and workout clothes in nearly eight years and no matter how much you wash spandex, eventually it starts staying a little manky even when it's clean.
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