I work hard for my money.  So hard for it, honey.  And lately I’ve had to take a very realistic and somewhat disheartening look at my finances.  Seems I’m spending a heckuva lot of money on stupid, mindless things.  My mom calls it “throwing money down a rat hole.”  I’ll begrudgingly admit … she’s right.

I sat down with pen and paper and made some rational decisions about my irrational spending habits.  In the past week, I’ve cancelled my newspaper subscription.  (I was lucky if I read the morning paper two days a week.)  I got rid of my $70 a month home warranty.  (Which instantly means the house will fall apart.)  And I gave up going to Starbucks.  (That one hurt.  That one cut to the bone.)