Going for Not Broke

( Chance Agrella / FreeRangeStock.com ) I did well for a little while; I kept my spending in check for a whole whopping week, and then I fell back into a few bad habits. I am determined not to let the bad habits win. I don't really know what it's going to take to get myself on track for more than "a little while," but I want to keep working at it. The holidays are coming. My plan: A credit-free holiday this year. If I can pull it off, it will be a first for me since about 1994.

( Chance Agrella / FreeRangeStock.com ) Thanks to a lack of discipline two paychecks ago, my last paycheck is very tight. So, I sat down and figured out to the penny what I can afford to spend on gas, quick fill-in trips to the grocery store, and birthday gifts for a niece and nephew without whipping out a charge card. And then Saturday happened. I went to the store to get said gifts and pick up a can of peas for a homemade stew, then swung by my sister's house for an hour or so to let my daughter and her daughter play together for an hour or so. Afterward, I wasn't feeling well, so for the first time since I'd renewed my resolve to pay down our debt, and I swung through a fast-food restaurant on our way home. The guilt kept me from buying drinks, so I did minimize the damage. But now, I've got to wrangle an extra $9 from my budget. I'm hoping either gas or fill-in groceries won't cost as much as I'd budgeted. And maybe, just maybe, if I...

I'm no where near where I hoped I'd be financially by this point. Have I paid off anything? Nope. I won't use the phrase, "it's not for a lack of trying," because I know good and well that I have not tried as hard as I should. Today, as I left work and headed to the day care to pick up my daughter, I really, really wanted to swing into a fast-food restaurant and pick up dinner. I didn't want to cook, I didn't want to clean up afterward, and french fries just sounded oh so good. But I passed them all — Wendy's, Burger King, Sonic — went home and opened up a can of ravioli for my daughter and me. Too often, though, that's not the path I choose. It's easy for me to tell myself, "Well, we'll eat out this one time, and then we'll eat at home tomorrow." But of course, when "tomorrow" comes, I give in to the temptation again. I really do want to pay off our debt, but I think at least part of the chal...