So I am really not that frugal......

I just had to say this to get it out there. Also, I am impulsive, not just with shopping, but with life. Last winter I had this frugal plan and it sort of fell by the wayside. Many of my ideas do. I am great at getting ideas, but I am not always good at following through on them.

However, I am old folks. Yes, by frugal standards I feel old. I have been reading these frugal blogs written by people 10-15 younger than I am. These are amazingly smart people that had no debt and understood the dangers of it.  Why has it taken me this long?

I have always been really bad not that great with money. It has always burned a hole in my little pocket. Gel manicures, a few new clothes, nice haircuts and eating out are things that I have spent money on for so long.

So here are a few things I am going to hold off on so that I can make my $6,000 goal by the end of June.

• Clothing-I do need clothing for work, but I have plenty of clothes in good condition. I can hold off on this purchase
• Salons-I get in and out of the gel manicure routine. Gosh, they look so good. I am out now, so out I will stay.
• Hair-Yikes. My hair is short and is really in need of a pick me up. My hair dresser charges $40 and I tip her, so I am trying to hold off for a bit more time.  I have done the cheap hair place route, but when it comes to short hair that can be a gamble. One gamble that I lost last year.  I will get keep blow drying it with extra mouse.
• Eating Out-Our January eating out has been gift card based. I am working on a budget like there is no tomorrow, and while it is daunting. The pay off has been worth it. 
• Kids need sneakers. I have a gift card and Kohl's cash with a 30% off coupon. I plan to take them there for sneakers and hope they find new sneakers that they love!

Oh, and I quit the gym. I mean I quit throwing money out of the window each month. I am an idiot sometimes.

So tomorrow is day 1 of making a big deposit into our savings. Then I am going to say. "Hon, I just put $500 in savings." Hopefully he will respond with a "How did  you do that?" and be super impressed  with how I was able to make that happen.  My simple plan includes an Excel spreadsheet. I don't really get how to use it, but I can use the sum function. I get paid every two weeks. I tweaked all my bills until I got a minimum of $500 per paycheck into savings. An extra goes into a miscellaneous column for kid clothing, birthday gifts or a desperate haircut:). Basically all the stuff I did not budget for. I am trying the envelope system, but I am so bad at it. This past paycheck I over budgeted on gas and used it for food. Not what you are supposed to do. Oh well, I am learning.