March

Ooops!  We're over a week into March and I'm slacking.  I totally forgot to post my March resolution, from my 12 months of resolutions project!

But here it is...my resolution for March...spend less.

So spending less.  Easier said than done, right?

I've always been good at saving money.  My mom used to work for a bank and my brother and I opened our first savings accounts when were were less than 10 years old.  But right now, I'm not exactly earning a lot.  I'm halfway through student teaching and while I'm still employed part time at my church, it's only 8 hours a week...so you do the math.

Besides just not making much money, I'm also in this stage where I will soon have quite a lot of money in student loans that I will need to start paying off.  And going from a few months of not being able to save money to having regular bills to pay will be a little bit of an adjustment.

My plan for this spring has been to try not to pull any money from my savings and just to live off of what I'm making.  And so far, I've been doing pretty good.  But now I'm halfway through this period and it's getting warmer outside and the temptation for new spring clothes is starting to bud, and well, more self restraint is required.

I stumbled across this blog back in January.  It's written by a girl who found herself in some extreme debt and then decided to enact some extreme measures to get herself out of it.  I love the idea of a spending fast and spending diet...making a list of "needs" and "wants" and either just sticking to spending money on the needs list (the spending fast) or creating an allowance for the wants and sticking to that allowance (the spending diet).

I think it's crucial, especially in your early twenties, to start thinking about the long-term future and to start saving for that.  And so, this March, I'm working on spending less and saving more.  While I might not get to put a ton of money away, I at least hope to get into the habit of only spending on needs and the occasional want.  Because, let's face it....I'm human and it's okay to pick up that dress I have my eye on at Target, right?