Frugality isn't easy

At least, it isn't easy for us.

In the last few days, we've enjoyed the following:

-Lunch at a local restaurant.

-Dinner at Panera.

-A 12-pack of beer.

-A couple of bottles of wine.

-Lattes at Starbucks.

That's in addition to the money we spent earlier this month. Our February "fun budget" was blown by Valentine's Day.

Honestly, I wish I could say that this doesn't bother me in the least, but it does, a little. Money-wise, we're like yo-yo dieters: we manage to stick to the plan for weeks, then go on a binge. And once we start spending, it's hard to stop.

We could make some valid excuses. We didn't spend that much. We don't go out all that often, compared to other people. We're a lot more frugal than we were even six months ago. We enjoyed everything we consumed.

These statements are all true. However, what I'd like us to do is gain some consistency in our spending. Perhaps our current expectations aren't realistic. For instance, instead of planning to go out twice a month, maybe it's more realistic for us to have a casual restaurant meal once a week. Maybe we should plan on treating ourselves to coffee every Thursday or Friday afternoon, and get a little tradition going in that respect.

We read a lot of blogs about saving, frugality, and simple living, and while I've learned a lot from them, I don't think we can just do what works for those people. We're learning that we aren't ready to make consistent cuts to every small luxury, but we can't indulge in those small luxuries every other day. We need to figure out what works for us so that we can consistently save over the long term.