The Lull Between Paychecks

That was almost me

I don't know if I'm the only person this happens to, but I've found that when I'm not earning money, I seem to forget the value of a dollar.  This is yet another reason that I remain glad my mother never submitted my photo to that Punky Brewster Look-alike contest where you win a starring role on the show-- I would have burned through those earnings in less than a year and would likely be living in a gutter right now.

For example, when I first moved to Rhode Island, five years ago, it took me six weeks to find a job.  That was pretty awesome as it gave me six weeks to go exploring, make new friends and acclimate to my new home, but it also gave me time to burn through almost all of the money that I had spent a year and a half saving.

Without having a paycheck to look at weekly or bi-weekly (hopefully never monthly, that would be really hard), I allow myself to fantasize that I have larger sums of money than I do. I forget that take-home pay is significantly less because of all those pesky taxes, and I forget how long it takes to save up money.  When I have that number in front of me, I can just do the math and not go overboard with my spending.  It's much easier for me to color within the lines than to go all free-form, man.

So I am presently in that lull between paychecks again, and I'm not sure exactly when I'll have some more money coming in.  It could be as much as three weeks, so now more than ever, I need to be sensible.  Also, I'm flying without a budget for the first time in four years, so everything is chaos!

So, for the next few weeks, I'm operating on a system of full disclosure.  I will be documenting every extraneous penny, and I charge you, blogosphere, with keeping me in line and calling shenanigans, should I need it.

My first order of disclosure, is to show you the awesome new boots I bought myself as an "I got an awesome job and need proper footwear for walking to work" present.  And I'm done buying myself presents, that can get out of hand really quickly.

I never thought I'd be a cowboy boots gal, but these are gorgeous!  That's it though, no more extras, focus on the task at hand which is learning how to do my new job and not just buying new clothes for this new life I imagine that I have.