To Save or Not To Save...

I am continuing to read Confessions of a Shopaholic and I thoroughly love it! In this week’s reading, Becky experiences a lot. She is so concerned by all her bills that she decides to take a stab at winning the lottery in order to pay off what she owes. She gets very wrapped up in thinking that she will win the lottery and she plots out in her head how she plans to spend the 10 million dollars that she is suspecting to win that afternoon. She visits her parents that evening and they enjoy a casual dinner. After dinner they watch the lottery on TV and much to Becky’s dismay, she does not win. After this downfall, she decides that she must do something about her money problems, so she goes to the local bookstore and buys a book on how to be frugal. The book instructs that on the first day of their new savings regimen the person should spend money just as if it was a normal day and keep track of all purchases in a notebook. Becky completes this task and discovers that she spent 177.96 pounds in one day! She is taken aback by this number and she decides to really crunch down on her new way of living so for the next few days she brings her own lunches to work and she refrains from shopping much. That weekend she goes out to dinner with friends, but she justifies this spending because it is for the good cause of “breaking bread with friends”. The next day she goes to a museum suspecting it will be free but she quickly discovers that there is a 5 pound entrance fee. There is also a 15 pound season pass so she buys this, planning to come weekly and save lots of money. She also discovers a museum gift shop and buys a large assortment of items, claiming that she is simply doing early Christmas shopping, even though it is March. Becky is struggling to stick to her regimen and she is finding many excuses to purchase things. I wonder if she will ever start saving?