Day 13: Well, it's winding down, isn't it? One day left. I've been thinking about how much I've enjoyed the past two weeks. It's really been something of an education.
I've also been preoccupied with deciding exactly how I want to go about computing my savings as a direct result of the Challenge. Logically, I saved what I didn't spend, but I don't think I'd feel right about claiming the Mercedes 500SEL I frugally refrained from snapping up over the weekend.
I suppose it would be more realistic to only count the things I normally would have bought in in the course of the Challenge and did not. Yes, but looking around at my past purchases, it's hard for me to claim honestly that there's much of anything I might not "normally" buy. My track record hasn't been good. (The woven Turkish mousepad with tassel fringe illustrates my point.)
So maybe I need to keep this very simple. I live my life, day-to-day, on a cash basis. I draw my weekly allowance on Monday, and that sees me through. What I have in my pocket at the end of the Challenge is what I saved, simply because it's what I didn't spend.
On Monday, 7/24, I had $11.40 remaining from the previous week. I collected my cash, went to the grocery and bought gas. I signed onto the Challenge on Tuesday, a day I spent no money, but I counted Wednesday as my official start. So here's my tally:
Mon. 7/24 - $11.40 - Cash on hand
Mon. 7/24 - $50.00 - Cash added
Mon. 7/24 - $12.79 - Groceries
Mon. 7/24 - $14.50 - Gasoline
Sun. 7/30 - $34.11 - Cash on hand
Mon. 7/31 - $50.00 - Cash added
Frid. 8/04 - $11.03 - Insurance rebate check cashed & added
Sun. 8/06 - $95.14 - Cash on hand
Today I picked up my weekly allowance, but that's earmarked for spending, so I exclude it from the total.
Challenge Savings Total - $95.14. I rounded it up to an even $100.00, and that is the amount that goes into my savings account.
