March Spending Diet!

Well, it is Leap Day, which means that my Operation Consumption Liberation (OCL) month of Snack Control is coming to an end.  If you read my last OCL post, you'll know that I was struggling a bit with the "No Eating after 8:30 p.m." part of my February challenge. Despite my resolve to get back on the wagon and stay on the wagon, I've been falling off this particular wagon left and right. 

Why can I go a month without meat or sugar without caving into my cravings, but can't make it through a shorter 29-day month without a 10 p.m. Snack Attack every few days?  I think it boils down to this: I can handle staying clear of certain kinds of foods, but I have very little willpower when it comes to not eating when I want to eat. This is probably linked to how much I dislike the feeling of denying myself that comes hand in hand with dieting. Not eating when I want to eat feels ten times more like dieting than not eating what I want to eat.  I snack pretty healthy, after all; I eat rice crackers, fruit, and low-fat string cheese, not French fries, chocolate bars, and milkshakes. 

On this note, it is clearly time for me to take a break from food-related challenges, but not from diets in the broader sense.  That's because my March monthly challenge is Curb Your Frivolous Spending Redux--a.k.a. the Spending Diet. Last year, May was my month of being a tight wad, during which I gave myself a budget of $132 to spend on unnecessary things like dining out, lattes, mascara, iTunes, haircuts, movie fares, and so on. And that was a good challenge.  This year, I'm trimming that amount by $30, for a monthly budget of $102 dollars. (That extra $2 makes all the difference.)

My homemade pizza beats Pizza Hut's any day.

I'm pretty much following last May's rules, so a quick review of essential expenses that are exempt from the $102 budget:

• Shelter (gotta pay rent).
• Internet and phone services are essential for work. 
• Health insurance, auto insurance, medicine, toothpaste, doctor visits, and eye glasses (no one should have to go without any of these!).
• Soap for laundry, dishes, and the body.
• Food and drinking water is essential (eating and drinking out, however, is not).
• Gas for my car to go volunteer, if necessary.
• Tuition and required texts & supplies for my editing and yoga teacher training programs.

I also have two exceptions to my budget:

1. If someone wants to buy me dinner or take me to a movie, that's okay; what you spend your money on is not my concern. However, I’m not terribly comfortable freeloading, so I will not be soliciting you to purchase meals, movie tickets, or new clothes for me.
2. I can spend old gift cards and previously purchased Groupon-like things as I am wont to do. That money's already spent.

That's it!  Like last year, I want to have friends over for home cooked meals this month, so let me know when you're coming over.  And may I have much more success with this challenge than Snack Control Feburary!