a good reminder

no sooner did i consider my finances and their improvement since last year, than i looked down and realized may was one of the worst months i have had. and i even took a week off of spending*.

*the no spend week—i'll confess that until this month i had never successfully done it, but i had tried. this month the d. and myself went in on it and were surprisingly successful. as i say, having a partner-in-crime is a good thing (romantic or not). we started monday and i held out until saturday when i went down to the farmer's market. sunday i used my debit card for the first time in six days and it felt foreign. there are a lot of things to do without spending money, i highly recommend trying it out.

that aside, may was a disaster. my upgraded phone bill and new phone charges came through, my car tabs, my house insulation, an epic trip to portland, a wine tasting weekend and a day where i put gas in three different cars. truthfully i am impressed that i haven't over drafted, but early rent and a random paid gig are pulling me through.

jesus. i was going to ignore it (money is the ultimate ignorance is bliss). but a flurry of motivation instead found me constructing an entirely new spreadsheet for tracking my expenses and *gasp* finally using www.mint.com*—which everyone raves about and i've had forever and frankly been somewhat blase about its usefulness.

so i have a new document that has all sorts of snazzy computations and a better concept of how i have been spending and where i've been going off track. i am nearing the start of a month and i am hoping to get off on the right foot. finding places to save where i can, contemplating far more nights in and rounding up all the clutter i don't need for a yard sale.

money is exhausting, just goes to show its a never ending job.