Getting Lax with the Budget

While I can happily report that my motivation to earn extra income has been very high lately, my motivation to tighten the budget is certainly lacking.  The past two months, I have not even glanced at the budgets my husband has made, I have a very loose idea of how much money I have spent on groceries, and I have been all for eating out whenever it's convenient.

While my husband always ensures that we are within budget and making sure we are not living above our means, I have certainly not been playing my part in finding ways to save in order to put extra money towards debt.

I've been enjoying living comfortably and conveniently and have not had any motivation to change that.

At first, I felt guilt any time I thought about it.  With each swipe of a debit card at a fast food chain and every impulse buy off the grocery store shelves, I was plagued with the feeling of failure.  Keeping my goals at the forefront of my mind has made working more hours much easier, but it has not fueled budget cuts.  Instead it just fuels the guilt of not striving for those cuts.

But I'm starting to relax a little.  Guilt will definitely get me no where.  In fact, it tends to have an opposite effect.  I grab something that wasn't on the grocery list, feel guilt with no desire to change, then think "eh, I might as well get ice cream too."

I know we could do better with the budget and saving money but at this point, it just isn't high on my priority list.  I want to relax and be comfortable (obviously still staying within budget) and enjoy living while we try to pay down the debt.  When I have the energy and feel the motivation, I can definitely do an amazing job at finding extra money, but right now the numbers look pretty good.  I'd rather exert the energy on making more money doing things I enjoy than overly sacrificing and pouring over frugal cookbooks to save it.

The balance is definitely in saving and making but there is only so much time in a day.  Right now, I feel motivated to make more so I will let that motivation guide me, guilt free.  Maybe next month I'll be a little more motivated to focus on cutting the budget.