Firstly it was my godsons birthday, then I just needed to stock up on household and personal items and lots of stocking up on healthy eats that I'm now more health conscious, instead of buying 2 fers that are loaded w/refined carbs and HFCS, I'm opting for $3 for 3 lemons. You get the idea.

Anyhoo...I had allocated making an extra $500 payment to the car this month, but I'll now need to use that to pay off my already paid off credit card...lol...odd I know. I don't put more than I can pay off on any one card in a given month. And I only charge things I'd end up paying cash for anyways, like gas, groceries...etc. Nothing frivolous and aside from my godsons Birthday and my DVDs, I've been a good girl.

It's not catastrophic by a long fall...I'm pouting a bit b/c now I'm a bit off in paying back the car quickly, but I'll catch up again. Plus all I did, I enjoyed, liked, wanted. No harm no foul.

I also think I needed a mental break from the PAY IT DOWN NOW mode I've been in since November thru February. After falling off the wagon so to speak, I'm ready to get strict again.

After I pay off the car, a few things I'd like to work on:
- Setting up a gift fund, where I put aside say $20/mo. That's almost $250 in a year and more than enough to cover bday functions. My godson is really the only person I'll do something for.

- Setting up a grocery budget. Since I've put buying clothes on hiatus, I tend to spend my extra shopping hours in the grocery store. Which in and of itself isn't bad. But I'm also constantly playing w/meal plans so now that I have one I plan to stick w/for the next few months, I need to go twice a week, once on weekend once midweek and I need to take it easy @ the Farmers Market. I go nuts when I see all the fresh produce and it only lasts but so long.

- I need to budget period. I don't have much monthly bills, like gas, electric, cable etc. All my bills are fixed, so I need to do a better job of paying the fixed (actually I do an excellent job @ that) but I need to do a better job of managing the money that's left over so I'm not 1) putting 100% of it towards my next debt, then feeling deprived till I get funds again or 2) spending the extra b/c I'm no longer paying off credit card bills.

*whew*

Ok, things feel a bit clearer now. So yea. To sum it up, I went out of control. Regained control. Need a game plan for the future future.

Laters.