LoveJodyLynn | Spending Freeze Recap

We made it through month 1! Granted, yesterday I went ahead and bought my new phone charger because I was already at the store, and quite honestly I didn’t want to go to the store today in fear that with one fresh breathe of freedom I would spend too much money.

I pulled some cash out yesterday and then moved money out of my checking into my savings so I when I went to spend anything over the next few days I would think twice about it. I think that’s the key.

When I was little I used to hoard my money in my piggy bank until I couldn’t fit anymore in it. My parents would make us wait to buy things we “really really wanted” to make sure we really really wanted it. You find wisdom in the waiting periods.

You find out what really matters, what really challenges you and where you have lots of room to grow. I actually loved this month overall. I slipped a few times, I cheated, I groaned and complained, I suckered Ashlee into buying me lunch once saying it was time we open up our floating tab again because if I didn’t eat Mexican food I really thought I might die….and then we ate sushi and we both thought we really might die.

I got to use some of my gift money still for people and it almost made it more meaningful to buy them something while denying myself the same thing. It was like an extra dose of happy.

I struggled most this last week – not really because I had things I wanted (like shampoo and a phone cord) but because I realized this month that I am way too attached to food as fun instead of fuel. I think I always knew I was an emotional eater but I typically like to speed read those parts of books so it doesn’t have time to settle and I can just keep on reading while munching on my snacks. But this last week I started to freak out because I knew October was food month and well

What if I don’t get to eat blue cheese chips before I have to cut back on food (thanks Julie for buying me those)

What if I never taste the delicacy of ice cream again (thanks Ash for making sure I realized that my body still can’t handle sugar from heaven)

What if I never know the glory of a gluten induced food baby and sleep coma (oh ya that sucked….it sucked bad enough I bailed on meeting a friend and struggled through a speaking engagement)

I had to laugh yesterday at the way I “suffered” through this last week. I did each of the about things thanks to the loving care of my friends LOL and while I will never regret blue cheese chips – I really don’t need them. And these months are all about viewing what I need vs what I want. There’s nothing wrong with a splurge or a fun little snack. But there’s something more fun about learning discipline and seeing yourself grow and saying no out of strength instead of yes out of weakness.

So…thank you to the friends who helped me through September and celebrated the little wins with me. Thank you to the voices who made sure failures weren’t fatal to this experiment. Thank you to my framily and council who puts up with me these 7 months. I’m sure most of them are praying it goes by fast. And thank you to my savings account for looking a little more plump than pauper this month.

The attempt is to keep you there. And of course Oct starts with 2 birthdays, eyebrows that are OUTTA control and all the sale emails for every retailer in town! But … I’m gonna wax those eyebrows and milk a gift card to TJ MAXX for all it’s worth and celebrate the snot out of people I love.