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At work, we got free breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday throughindividual Seamless accounts.
Sometimes Id pop in on the weekends, when I was off, just to get free takeout.
I had already been living below my means atmy previous jobthat paid so much less.
I lived in the same rent-controlled apartment Id been burrowed in for seven years.
I had two roommates.
I cookedall my meals.
I practiced frugal living in general.
Life was grand until I spiraled into a shop til you drop mode.
And folks, Iwould never drop.
I sent another small portion of it to my mom, whose sole income is Social Security.
Some I used for nights out with friends.
The rest?I spent.
And I spent it almost exclusively onclothes and shoes.
That was my thinking.
If Id ever stopped to really reflect on this, Id hopefully realize how absurd my thinking was.
But I never stopped to reflect.
Guess I was too busy shopping online.
I felt Id become an embarrassment at my place of work.
(I had most of my packages sent there to evade the porch theives lurking around our apartment).
I always donnedgorgeous and yet-to-be-seen-on-me garments, but for what?
To impress the same group of techies at my job who rarely looked up from their computers?
To dazzle theweary city crowdsas I galivanted to the subway like a knockoff Carrie Bradshaw?
It was ridiculous and so terribly wasteful.
A couple times these pieces were new with tags, unworn.
Getting To the Roots of My Chronic Overspending
I loved the challenging hunt for a deal.
My mom and I didnt have much money when I was growing up.
That really haunts me now, more than a decade later.
Another humiliating confession: I didnt keep a budget.
When tax season came, I went to the accountant Id been seeing for years.
Another writer recommended him to me, exclaiming, He will get you write-offs oneverything!
So, I went through the previous years bank statements and … holy cow.
But thats not what happened.
But the vow wasnt enough.
I needed to actually do something.
So, I made thevery simple moveof crafting a budget that included $75 a month for nonessential items.
I launched the budget on the first of the month and felt confident.
Within a week, Id spent $90 on a dress and a pair of pants.
Clearly even a vow paired with a reasonable boundary wasnt enough to stop me.
I elevatedmy budgeting game.
I started writing down every single thing I spent money on that wasnt essential.
A bagel on Saturday?
A martini with my bestie?
A new $15 blouse previously priced at $180?
I wrote it down in a notebook I carried in my $200 bag that cost me $15.
Every night, I tallied up any money I spent that I absolutely did not need to spend.
Seeing the damage in garbled black ink between sharp blue lines made me gasp.
Id managed to blow $210 in five days.
Forty-two bucks a day.
On day six of writing down every little or big thing I bought, it all finally hit home.
I was a chronic overspender and it was a real problem.
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