Week One Accountability Post (aka Carla's January Challenge, Week #1 Update)

I figured I would start off the year right by doing accountability posts. Putting it "out there" makes sense, where I and others can see how I'm doing. So while I think about it, instead of leaving it and (conveniently?) forgetting about it, here it is:

Jan 1

NO SPEND

Jan 2

$351.75 - 3 textbooks for school. I've got the money for these expenses and have already transferred enough to cover the cost of two of them. I may be returning the third.

$137.56 - textbook from Amazon. This is a duplicate of one of the three above, but I'll be returning the one I bought from the college on Monday. This book cost me almost $40 LESS!

Jan 3

$22.12 - lunch with a friend. It's been over a year since we've had lunch together, so I'm okay with this.

$16.26 - mailed two parcels. One textbook and one gift. I will make approximately $65 for the textbook.

$41.54 - Shoppers Drug Mart. I overspent here by almost $30. Olay has one of those battery operated, handheld facial brushes. It was on sale for $27.99. I got sucked in...but it's fantastic, FYI.

Jan 4

NO SPEND

Jan 5

$17.04 - bookstore. I had a $50 gift certificate. Why can I always go over??

$10.49 - large mixing bowl at Cdn Tire. I already have two medium size bowls. I DID reconsider this and am still not 100% convinced I need it, but the size is perfect for letting bread rise. I'll keep the receipt and give it a week.

$15.15 - Wal-Mart. 4 tins of Friskies cat food. Bylaw has decided that the good-quality, healthy food he's had no qualms with to this point is no longer satisfactory on its own. Likely because Dinah was eating different food and he would finish off whatever she left behind. So I bought some cheap crap (0.64 per tin) to mix in with the good stuff. I don't like him eating it, but I want him to eat, so there we are. I also bought a box of envelopes and some sticky tabs for school.

Total spent this week: 

$611.91 (!!)

Total OVERspent this week:

$55.52

Total coming back:

$233.00 (one confirmed textbook return [$168], one textbook sale [$65])

Revised total amount spent:

$378.91

That seems quite extraordinary. Part of the reason it's so high, of course, is the textbooks. Regardless, I have some cutting to do. But notice that NONE OF IT IS FOOD RELATED, apart from the lunch. This is a big step in the right direction for me. I got a couple of grocery store gift cards from friends for Christmas, so that will really help me out this month.

As for decluttering, I had a go at my junk drawer in the kitchen and actually found a whole lot of crap in there: receipts for repairs on my old truck, vet files for the cats, cords, wires, old batteries, little bags with buttons to god-knows-what, old pens, two cell phones - neither of which are activated - and a bunch of other bits and pieces. The paperwork got tossed into the recycling box and the rest of the stuff goes to the freestore. There's an amazing amount of crap out there (as we know) and an amazing number of people who will find treasures within it. They can have it! :)