SSF: the good and the bad

I am officially one week down in my September Spending Freeze!  To be quite honest, it has not been as hard as I expected it to be.  Don't get me wrong, there are most definitely some weak moments I have in my mind.  It is when I push through these weaknesses that I remind myself "I can do this" and feel very confidant.  

Some tricks that have helped me are:

1) Just Press Delete- The number of e-mails I get in a day from Groupon, Living Social Deals, Daily Deals, ANY deals is ridiculous.  Add on to that adds from JoAnn's and Micheals (oh do I ever have a weakness for craft stores) and my inbox is flooded by 10am with anything and everything to spend money on.  This week I have learned to just press delete.  Don't open.  Don't read the title.  Just delete!

2) Make Lunch Fun- Now that work is in full swing, packing lunches is a necessity.  I have been on the look out for a cute lunch box for work but every time I saw one, I decided it wasn't worth the money.  Well, good ol' Wal Mart came in handy this past weekend when I found this little cutie for only $7!!!  

My apologies that it isn't the best picture, the week has been a little crazy.  

Now that I have a cute lunch box, I am more motivated to put great food in it for the day!

3) Get Out and About- Since we can't spend money on entertainment, eating out, coffee, etc. we decided to spend my last day of summer hiking!  We are spoiled to live in such a beautiful place, and this hike is my absolute favorite.  

The other thing we have enjoyed doing is going to the nearby park late at night and swing.  Last weekend I was cooped up inside all day, the husband wasn't at work, and I couldn't go out because I knew the temptation to shop and spend would be too much.  By the time D got home from work, I was going stir crazy!  So, we piled into the car and headed to the park and acted like 5 year olds at 10pm at night.  It feels so good to just act young and careless sometimes!

Now, there have been some definite temptations this week.  

These include:

late night cravings for frozen yogurt

my energy level plummeting on my way to class and my body begging for coffee

getting home at 7:30pm wanting nothing to do with cooking dinner

nail polish at Target

seeing my favorite breakfast spot and dying for their scrumptious pancakes

forgetting to pack snacks on a day I was out running errands for hours, popcorn at Target never smelled so good

spotting the cutest shoes on a co-worker and counting down in my head how much longer I have to wait until I can think about buying them

I pulled through and the temptations did not win!  I did, however, use one of my exceptions.  While at Target getting last minute (absolutely needed) items for my classroom I spotted IT...the dress...my back to school dress...on the clearance rack....for $7!!!!!!!!!   At least I didn't break the bank with this little exception!