Mid-September to mid-October is one of my busy times at work and I have been swamped. I’m starting to slow down a bit and will still have lots to do between now and the holidays, but won’t have as many pressing deadlines. Whew.

Since my last entry, I celebrated my 47th birthday and was unexpectedly dumped by someone who reappeared in my life this summer (not a total surprise based on our history, but it still hurt!). I’ve been feeling sluggish. I always have an energy drop once the dark mornings and evenings begin and I also might be fighting off an illness.

I started tracking my spending starting October 1. I want to get back in touch with where my money is actually going. So far, so good. I’ve been mostly sticking to my “no eating out or excessive junk food purchases” challenge. I’ve been consistently bringing breakfast and lunch to work each day and have usually eaten dinner at home. I had lunch and dinner out this past Saturday while spending the day with a good friend, but the total for both meals was only $17.27, so I’m fine with that! For lunch, I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich with a side of baked beans for $7.07 at a local museum and for dinner had a delicious beef soft taco and a virgin strawberry margarita (I was driving) for only $10.20 including tip at a new Mexican restaurant that we wanted to try. Yum! Both expenditures were worth it, although next time I need to rethink eating baked beans in the middle of the day. I’ve made a few tame junk food purchases (hard sour dough pretzels and chocolate milk), but I’ve definitely reduced my spending and consuming in that area.

Other financial updates:

I received my $1200 flexible spending reimbursement check today! I will deposit it into savings. This is a big deal because I had no idea I could recoup all of my money now even though I haven’t fully paid into my account yet. And, I usually wait until the very last moments before the March deadline to submit my expenses. This way I have the money now and a lot less stress!

I signed up for a four-week (4 hours total) financial workshop offered through my workplace. I’ve attended one session and although I don’t think I’ll learn anything earth-shatteringly new, it will be another way to help me to refocus my attention on my finances. I just have to commit to doing the homework!

My telephone bill was paid automatically this month and my autopay electric bill will begin next month. This will greatly reduce stress because I have been forgetting to pay my bills. Now I don’t have to remember these two and they won’t be late!

I need to create some new mini-goals!