Being Realistic...Financially

          So as I mentioned in the beginning of the month here, that I was in desperate need of a financial makeover and the month of July was the start of it all.  Now that July is officially over, how did I do?  In a nutshell, I did OK considering it could have been a lot worse, but let me explain...

          Unfortunately I strayed from all 2/3 of my guidelines that I laid out for myself in some capacity, the first being my "no eating out" rule.  I managed to go out 4 times for dinner which was more than the 2 times I had allotted myself with one of the bills being WAAAY higher than I budgeted for, but well worth it.  I also gave in a little to buying outside snacks when I ran into a Cinnabon while on my way to a movie and was craving some Moose Tracks Emack and Bolio's Ice Cream while window shopping in the mall.  Good thing about it all was even though I blew my goal of $200 I never once this month went out for lunch and managed to make due with 2 grocery store runs both worth no more than $65 each.  Yay me!

          As for the "no new stuff" guideline, MAJOR fail.  An American Apparel circle scarf, maxi skirt, and new lip stain were no where near in my budget I couldn't resist.  $70 unnecessarily spent ::hangs head in shame::

          However, the "no travel" guideline was followed thoroughly as my feet never left the ground this month with my many usual excursions.  Though a few extra trips to Boston sent my gas budget a little over the norm.

          While I could have stuck true to the guidelines for July, it wouldn't have been very realistic because in reality there will be times when I want to buy a few things for myself and get invited out to eat more than I planned, its life.  All in all it wasn't the best I could do, but it put my monthly spending into a realistic point of view and that's a great start for my new financial plan.