This isn't so hard ... right?

Not.

I'm trying something new this month. No frivolous spending. We'll see how long it lasts.

Now, in all honestly, I'm being pretty lenient on what I allow myself to buy. For example, on Sunday I was at a pool/grill/fireworks party at my friends' place. To the best of my knowledge, they are not coffee drinkers. I have an addiction. So picking up a couple bottled Frappucinos was necessary - one for the afternoon and one for the following morning since we crashed in their guest room.

Sidebar: WHY does Starbucks insist on putting sweeteners in their Frappucinos? Don't they realize some of us like coffee + milk or cream and NO sweeteners? I hate that I consumed the empty calories and I didn't even want them. 

The biggest sign that I'm actually sticking to this no-frivolous-spending thing? I went to Target the other day and DIDN'T BUY ANYTHING. Not one thing. I went in looking for the following:

• Navy blue camisole sports bra, to wear under a bathing suit cover-up worn as a dress. Didn't have navy blue.
• High intensity sports bra. They didn't carry my size. (I even checked their web site - nope.) 
• Leave-in conditioner. Didn't have anything that sounded like what I wanted. 

In addition, I casually checked out work-out clothing, bikinis and cheap & pretty panties (you know the 5/$20 stuff) but stopped myself before I got too far. And for once, I did not check out their shoes. And I just now realized I didn't check out their shoes. I don't think I've ever set foot in a Target and not gone out of my way to look at their shoes. Just for funsies.

Anyway, stay tuned for more super exciting posts about all the things I'm not buying. Also I'm burying this at the end of the post intentionally: The reason I'm doing this is because we've decided to move in with my parents. If we suck it up for a year or so with them, we should be able to pay off all of our credit cards and perhaps save up a down payment for a house. I figure more frivolous spending = more time living at my parents' house. And I certainly don't want that.

Debtie Downer: Learning Lessons While Managing 20-something Debt

I should probably
pick up a copy

Like most people our age, The Sailor and I have "some" debt. OK, a lot of debt. The frustrating thing is, we don't have much to show for our debt - we don't drive flashy cars (unless you consider a 2003 Toyota Echo and 2007 Toyota Corolla flashy), we don't have a large flat screen TV mounted a top our fireplace, in fact, we don't even have a home of our own, and we don't even have a TV that either of us paid for with our own money, we don't wear designer clothing (unless it can be found at a resale store). What do we have? College degrees.

The bulk of our debt is tied up in student loans, and those loans come with hefty monthly payments that don't leave much leftover to pay for things like rent and groceries. Save up for an emergency fund or a downpayment on a house? With what? Pay extra on our credit card bills? With what?

As a result of so much of our money going to student loan bills, we relied on credit cards for awhile. Until those pretty much got maxed out. Then what? We're in a recession, finally they stopped automatically increasing our limits. I'm scared to think how far we would go if they kept increasing those limits.

Yes, I realize spending on your credit cards until you reach your limit is not a good financial plan. 

So what have I learned through this?