It seems that the only way not to spend anything is to stay inside your house all day. But that's not possible considering you have to spend money just to go to work. Good thing I'm not addicted to coffee so I don't even remember the last time I stepped inside a Starbucks. But commuting to the office everyday, meals for myself alone, bills to pay at the end (or start) of the month, plus the extra expenses like lunch outs or pizza at work, birthday and wedding gifts, etc. it gets extra challenging to save money.

I know I don't spend AS MUCH with unnecessary stuff such as purses, shoes and clothes but my biggest challenge so far are those little things that add up - magazine, soda, candy or chocolates by the cashier, and all those cute things that may be so cheap but I don't necessarily need.

I know I will be able to save money just by being cautious enough not to fall into spending "traps". And I promised myself that I will try my very best to not waste any of my hard-earned money in stuff which will be of no use to me in a few month's time.

I have already accomplished a no-spend challenge for 1 month last year and hopefully I'll be able to be successful again, longer and more lasting this time around.

Half way through 2012 and I'm feeling bad that there's no significant progress to me financially. Since January, there is an extra compensation that we used to receive monthly that was cut because of budget problems. But of course, I'm happy that I am blessed with a job that still brings me joy.

So I guess there's no use blaming other factors in my life for my financial mess. I wasn't disciplined enough and at times I still spent more than I earned (ouch!). But as Walt Disney said, "keep moving forward". So here I go again, dusting myself off with yet another batch of lessons tucked on my belt and restarting.

=)