Oh, the joy of pay day is so fleeting. Two weeks of waiting dismissed with a couple of key strokes and auto pay over the internet....sigh...

I just made a major payment on my MBNA. It is finally well below $6k and continuing to decrease rapidly. By my calculations it will be paid off by November. I just love looking at the timeline and seeing how rapidly it will be going down. This is a goal that is within my reach.

Now to just sit tight and not do any spending until the end of the month...that always looks so possible when I have just made a huge payment on my cc's. Its during the middle of the month when stress happens that I get weak and start to feel like I need to spend.

I have errands mapped out for the rest of the week; running to get stuff after work. I am going to re-examine those lists and see if I cant use things that we already have rather than going out to buy more. If I can find substitutions with items already on hand, it helps to get rid of clutter.

Tonight was nachos - using up leftover taco meat and cheese to get rid of leftovers in the fridge. Made plans for the rest of the week, but left it flexible enough to squeeze in as many leftovers as possible. Added up food spening for the past three weeks and it was about $260. This includes going out three or four times. I think that's pretty good since we werent trying, just monitoring. However, at the end of the month, I will add up again. And next month I will make an effort to reduce the cost.

I havent been cooking nearly as much, so we are eating lighter. In addition, I've been holding off going to the grocery store, which forces us to look a little deeper into the cupboards and use up what we already have. So far its been painless. Let's see how long that continues.

Spending for today: $53.50 - personal appt, but paid in cash.
$4.04 - a.m. coffee. Tomorrow's coffee will be free. I've got 10 punches on my card!! Then I think I will try to give it up again. I got suckered in by the card.

I went walking on my lunch hour. That was good. I think I'm losing weight. My clothes are becoming more and more comfortable. Hope to walk again tomorrow. Will have to plan wardrobe accordingly.

This has been a long day. I am very tired. think I'll curl up in bed with a good book. Probably fall asleep over it.