No Spending Day of the Week: Thursday

I decided to have a "no spending" day of the week. The hardest decision: which one it would be.

• Monday: I am always tempted by the start of the week, and usually have something forgotten from the grocery shopping of Sunday.
• Tuesday: My weekly "dinner out" ritual, that I want to return to
• Wednesday: Coffee cart?
• Thursday: Coffee cart?
• Friday: Coffee cart?
• Saturday: Coffee in the a.m. with friends, errands
• Sunday: Breakfast out, groceries and household necessaries.

Yeah, so why Thursday?

Better question for me: why not? I became conscious a few years ago that I was consistently buying myself "something pretty" on Mondays, on my way home. Like a bottle of wine, ice cream, shampoo, whatever -- anything to "treat" myself.

Little drips...

Bad practice. It is, after all, the little drips and drops of cashflow that really undo us. I know I won't drop $150 in one afternoon... but over 2 semesters... I will drop that much JUST on coffee. Or a muffin. Or lip balm. Or a magazine. Or... see what I mean? And that's $150 on top of groceries, rent, bills, gas, necessary expenses, entertainment, etc. That is just the frosting on the cupcake: not quite essential, but filled with calories, nonetheless.

...become huge sinking drains of cash

In essence, I need to resist impulsive/thoughtless shopping. I need to resist the coffee cart, period. The money goes directly to the athletic program, which I protest, since the cart is in the arts school and we have 1/10 the budget of the sports programs, so boo! hiss! Also, that's $2/cup... which is ridiculous on an $8/week basis. (The personal is political!)

  

But Thursday is the day my "working" day out doesn't start until 3:30--certainly time enough to drink and brew enough coffee at home that I can be done with it or bring a thermos for my 80-minute class. Y'think? Thursday I am usually in a good mood, feel I have accomplished a lot by the end of day, and rarely feel the need to reward myself with a "pretty, shiny" to boost my spirits. Or I'll have to be conscious not to schedule a haircut or doctor's apppointment on Thursday, thereby giving me a free day from appointments, as well (double bonus!)

Setting Thursday as "The Day" means I'll be conscious about it, too, and after succeeding with one day, I can move on to a second day. Like a "no spending" Monday.

So, for 2012 Thursday becomes "No Spend Thursday." Let's see how it goes.