….and it’s all gone to hell!

At the start of the year, I vowed that I would do better about spending money and eating at home. Annnnnnnd….then my mom came to visit. My mom took the four-hour trip from her house to mine to drop off some extra items she had from her house. I have wanted to turn my garage into a family room since we moved to this house, and with my mom deciding to leave her apartment, she needed to rehome some items. I was pretty happy about her visit.  No one from back home has come to see me in the 18 months since we left. 

After we offloaded the couch and shelving she brought, we decided to go out to dinner. Well, she wanted to, and I just went along with it because it made life easier. So we drove out to Texas Roadhouse and ordered a few things to share. We came back and hung out, talking about some projects I would like to work on. I was hoping getting her to talk about these would encourage her to want to stay longer than just one night. After crawling into bed, I thought about where the day was going, and I felt bad about spending on eating out when I had a perfectly full fridge at the house.

The next day, I had a planned night out with some friends from work. We went to play bingo, and I told myself I would limit my spending to $30. I was able to stay pretty close to that budgeted amount with a discount for the bingo hall, it was a surprise that I had it, and it put me in a good mood. I went to the onsite bakery and food hall at intermission and purchased additional food with my friends. Another $36 later, and I knew I was screwing up my plan. 

I watched my friends spend more money on additional games and then additional gambling after leaving bingo. I am not typically a big gambler at a casino, so it wasn’t a hard thing to stick to. As I walked back to my car, I thought back on the night and how it made me feel. It was nice to have a night out with friends and enjoy their company. I was proud of my restraint in not participating in additional activities outside my plan. 

So tomorrow is a new day. I am going to try to be more resolute in my choices and deliberate about my actions. 

Have you ever assessed how failing to meet your plans and goals made you feel? What missteps did you make, and how did you correct the course?

-Chick