Frugal Yet Fascinating

"Why are we in this handbasket and where are we going?"

Well let me tell you, we really covered some ground in May. It's been a neverending journey to get and keep my finances and my act together as long as I can remember. I'm not sure if that's due to my ADHD or a general lack of skills, but it's been pretty damaging to my relationships and my self-esteem over the years. Apparently, *knowing* and *understanding* isn't the same as *doing*. And I've tended to be a black and white, all or nothing type of thinker....."well I messed up so I might as well give up, I can't do this".

May 2009 is the first month I've really felt like I've been turning it around. I've been taking a lot of little steps over the past few months that have led me to where I am now, but May was where it really started kicking in for me. And I really feel I have all the good folks here at Frugal Village to thank for that. Of course there was no magic wand....I did not suddenly wake up and become perfect. But there are major improvements underway and that is so exciting to me!

In May I became more active in the FV forums and, very importantly, with the challenges. I'm finding it so helpful to track my goals in my signature and to learn from everyone else's experiences along the way!

I didn't meet ALL of my goals for May, but (with the exception of one area) I made such incredible improvement and I'm really looking forward to building on my progress to date. Here's a recap:

May 2009 Challenges:
May 2009 Eating Out No More Challenge (18/23 goal): 22/23 Very pleased with my progress in this area -- hubby and I used to eat out almost every night so this is a really good change.
May Bring a Bag Lunch to Work Challenge (13/13 goal): 13/13 days I did it! I did it! Now to keep up the good work. I figured by taking my lunch I can save anywhere from $5 to $9 a day. That's $25 to $45 a week....$100 to $180 a month....(or, with vacation time factored in) $1,150 to $2,070 a year!
May Exercise Challenge: 0/690 minutes Uh huh. Guess what we're going to be focusing on a little more in June? I was sick, worked a lot of overtime, and went on a business trip in May, but no excuses. I blew this one big time.
May Needle Arts Challenge: Lacy Diamond Afghan - work in progress I'm enjoying this a lot!
May No Spend Challenge (18/23 goal): 14/23 Ok, not so good but an improvement over where I was. Suck it up buttercup, we're going to be hitting this one harder in June.
May Try New Recipes Challenge (1/week): 4/3 Did I mention that I *LOVE* to cook? I do. And I hate to do dishes.
May Water Challenge: 2,224/3,450 ounces Fell a little short on this one also, but it's a huge improvement over where I was. I feel so much better now that I'm not so dehydrated all the time!

How was YOUR month?