That said, I’m finding that our budget (an actual, numerical amount, which is relatively new, though I have always watched our spending and kept it down as much as possible) keep sme on track. Instead of thinking, “I have X left, how much can I spend?” I think, “I have X left… Do I really want to spend it now?” If it’s in the early part of the week, that’s great. If it’s later in the week, I often think, “Well, I have X left… But what if I could manage not to spend it? What if I could come in under budget?” (Which, incidentally, how I think about diets, too, which is more dangerous. “Hey, if I eat 1,500 calories a day plus work out, I could lose 1.5 lbs/week. So if I eat 1,200 calories a day…” I’m working on it.)

This works for me. And it calms my guilty conscience about spending when we’re so sick/exhausted/whatever to cook and need to order in. Which happens more than I’d like. But that’s what happens when two people with chronic illnesses marry, I suppose. Still, it reminds me that it’s in the budget. So it’s not something to constantly beat myself up over. I prefer to spend nothing. But when that’s not possible, I take comfort in just finding that I don’t spend every penny each week.

Abigail’s last blog post..The $60 weight-loss nanny