Month: October 2007

When I make money mistakes like I did last week I try to make up for them.  What I mean by this is I try to earn extra money or save extra money in the amount of the mistakes I made.  This serves two purposes.  One is I’m able to feel less guilty about wasting the money because I made it back.  The other is any sacrifice I have to make to make up the money will make me less likely to repeat the mistake.

Making up the money mistakes of last week won’t be easy because they are rather large in relation to my income and my budget.  If I had made a small money mistake I could easily make it up by just cutting my food budget or working an extra shift at work.  Making up this money mistake will take a little longer.  Does anyone else try to make up for money mistakes?

I wasted $250 yesterday. Add that to the $100 I previously wasted and it comes to $350 for the month. This money could have been much better spent. I can afford to spend $350 on frivolous things if I want but I didn’t get anywhere near $350 enjoyment out of spending this money. I think this is completely out of my system now and I just have to forget about it and do the best I can with my money from now on.

I decided to play some poker Monday night and lost $100. When I went to play I rationalized that I’ve been doing well with my money and deserve to have a little fun. That is true but playing poker isn’t a good entertainment option for me. After playing for a couple of hours I was up very slightly but I didn’t leave. I have somewhat of a gambling addiction and whenever I gamble I’ll most likely stay until I’ve lost all the money I’ve brought.  This is what makes gambling a poor entertainment option for me.

Losing the $100 isn’t going to create a hardship for me but it would have been nice to have that to pay off my student loan or fund my Roth IRA quicker.  I’m going to try to make up the lost $100 over the next month.  I’m going to delay getting home internet for a month to make up some of the difference.  The rest will come from picking up extra hours at work or cutting my budget elsewhere.  This will cause me to feel some consequences from losing the money and make me less likely to repeat the mistake.

I do think I can loosen up on my spending some though.  I just need to find some other entertainment options that I enjoy and feel give me value for the money.