Gold stars, msbelle. I am very neglectful of that aspect of adulting.

I have often thought of financial discipline and weight/calories as similar. And just how some folks have no trouble spending less than their means without even trying, while others have to budget carefully, and others can’t seem to not spend, just like eating. And some have more calories to spend (because their bigger or job is more active or whatever) or just don’t like to eat as much, etc. As someone who always overspent my calories but not my budget it fascinated me.

They do feel similar, meara! And both have completely unwarranted values of virtue and shame attached to them. And once you find yourself in a hole, whether yo dug it yourself or not, it is really hard to climb out of

Absolutely! If you get in a hole of debt and there’s interest or you get in a hole of weight and it makes it harder to work out or the insulin resistance makes you want more sugar or whatever, you’re in a hole!

The concert was so much fun! Cyndi Lauper was so energetic despite the fact that she was completely melting in the heat. I got a ton of compliments on my make up and outfit. Some were even while I was seated with my crutches hidden. So, I couldn’t even tell myself they were just being nice to the disabled lady. I didn’t realize how often I dismissed compliments I that way until I couldn’t last night and my brain short circuited a bit. Probably something to talk about with my therapist next week.

I feel that, msbelle.

I just redid our CC payoff schedule to be a bit more realistic while I'm still unemployed. I had a really aggressive plan, but when I did the budget again in detail, it was a pipe dream.

It sucks that you actually have to wait for the money to come in before you can pay them off again. I did pay off two last month, though, so we're on the road. One was low balance, and one was medium balance, so... I'll take the W.

Nowadays we are used to much more disciplined spending after our sobering stretch of mutual unemployment, which discipline is good and much needed. I mean I track and budget it -- DH is grateful and will ask before he spends anything of significance.

The thing that has helped us most is the grocery and dining out budget. Man, that gets out of control fast up in here if we don't pay attention. But also, there are a lot of "treat yourself" extras that had become pretty routine that we went cold turkey on and mostly don't miss much, so it's good. Maybe now they'll actually go back to being occasional treats that feel like treats rather than a lifestyle to which we had grown accustomed but really shouldn't have. Ahem.

It'll take us a year and a half of real focus before I feel secure again on the debt, savings, and retirement-building front again, though. And "secure" is a relative term which assumes he remains employed and I find something soon and the country doesn't implode entirely. Oof. I think I just typed myself into an anxiety spiral. Breathe in, breathe out...

Cereal:

Yay, sj! I'm so glad you had so much fun and received the well-deserved compliments -- and took them for such! That's awesome. I love her.

It was just an amazing experience.

Sounds great, sj. (And I almost never trust compliments, either. Also, some of the ones I've gotten in fact suck, such as "If I had to do what you do, I'd kill myself!" which, I think is supposed to mark my fortitude, but is, honestly, the Absolute Worst. But because they sounded complimentary--if you don't think about the words, I've said "Thank you!" to that more than a few times. Also, "so brave1!"