One Hundred Dollars a Month

I got together with Mrs. HB for the fourth week in a row and not only did we do some grocery shopping but we also prepared a bunch of meals for the upcoming week while Mr. HB taught us duck calls. Those are the pictures you’ll see when you scroll through this post as well a few Mrs. HB sent that she took during the week.

So here we go… week 4 in her own words:
I mentioned once before that I had a dream about curtailing my spending but it has gone to a different level this week. So many comments on the razors and I must subconsciously be tortured by it on so many levels. I remember vividly gouging myself while trying to shave with cheap disposables growing up. I have a deep scar on my ankle and still to this day hate that feeling when I do cut myself. The strip of skin left in the blade. The uncontrollable bleeding. The sting when water hits it! It is torture for sure.

I actually had a vivid painful dream about this exact event this week. Strange THE NEW DISPOSABLES ARE MUCH MUCH BETTER and has the price to go along with the innovation. So I took your advice and looked into the Merkur razor but have a few questions and concerns. One is the round handle. I have used a round handle before  on a disposable and I couldn’t get the best grip on it. I also worry about the heft and how that would affect the shaving experience. Would love input for those who have used them. Thanks 🙂

Spending this week? Let’s see, I wanted to focus on the positive and how I have avoided all retail stores such as Target, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Nordstrom etc and have not used my credit cards except one time for an online purchase for my Hillbilly boys winter camp because it was the only way to pay.

And I am under budget! So I am feeling really empowered.

Before I would spend on these cards as you know on random stuff plus use my check card for other stuff like groceries, lunch, this and that but strangely not really acknowledge the credit card expenses. It’s hard to explain but I would end up with card debt that at some point had to be paid and thus created this roller coaster (not a fun one) of juggling money. I felt so much anxiety and just plain horrible.

Now that I am credit card debt free and not using them I know exactly how much money I have. And surprisingly have had a surplus. But I have to say if I didn’t have Ms Mavis watching me I don’t know if I would have had this success because you don’t know how many times I have really tried to make a “budget” and for so many years have failed.

Besides the fact that going cash is the biggest thing you can do for success I would have to say to fess up and be held accountable. Its embarrassing and humiliating but if you truly want to take control I think these two things are imperative.

Now that I have focused on my feel goods I do need to point out that I went out to lunch twice with the HB kids. It was exam week and half days so I took them out to eat.  And I have to tell this story…. HB boy found 4 long hairs in his burger.. yuck right? But we got free sweet potato fries and of course another hamburger because of it. I should have asked for the burger to be taken off the bill but the waitress was soooo nice, as was the manager, I just couldn’t. One more thing, I bought a dutch oven at a friend’s Pampered Chef party, with cash of course. 🙂

Also, I took out the dead flowers from my front planters from Christmas a couple of weeks ago and needed to get some new ones. Ms Mavis came over on the fly and I asked her where I should go. She gave me a “look” but informed me where the best prices would be for what I wanted. However strange, after she left I started to think… I figure it was just her presence that started me thinking about how could I do this without spending money.

I had been working in the garden all day yesterday and today I wanted to clean up my potting area. Well I noticed several ferns had popped up, an old tulip was blooming as well several little flowers that had survived the little snow we had last month. I also had some curly sticks left over from many years ago. So I cleaned up and salvaged the plants and sticks, replanted and watered with miracle grow. It may not look like much now but it will be interesting to see how they do. I will update in a couple of weeks.

Well, that’s all for now.

~Mrs. HB