Cash budget update

I'm going to be honest. Last week we spent more than budget. However, That's because I was on "vacation." But I did use cash, and only whipped out the debit card twice. Not too shabby I say for being on vacay. And Targets after Christmas clearance was last week. Thats when I buy all the kids presents for next year and birthdays. Awesome deals. Like 50 to 70% off. I'd be stupid to pass those kind of deals up and pay full price when birthdays and Christmas' roll around. So, I did go over budget last week.
However, now that things have slowed down and we are pretty much back to normal,
This week is surprisingly going very well. I have groceries for the rest of the week, and all things accounted for and plenty of money still left in the jars.
I did something today that I haven't done in years... I pre paid my gas in cash. It was the weirdest thing I have to say. But man alive it hurt WAY more handing her a nice crisp $50 bill than it does just sliding my card. And it didn't even get me a full tank! AGH! That 3/4 of a tank has to last me until next Wednesday!
The debit and credit cards have been remove from our wallets, and we only grab some cash if we are planning on making a purchase. {no more impulse buying, and yes there is a bit of cash in the cars for EMERGENCIES, and no, "I'm craving a chick fil a milk shake" does not count as an emergency} 

I can do it!!!! Actually, these things aren't really my real problem...

My name is Kyrsten and I am an online shop-a-holic.

I know I have a problem, a small one, but nonetheless a problem... And I justify it because I sell things on ebay. I take that money from my paypal account and pay for things through paypal instead of depositing it into the savings or checking account. So, I guess it feels like I'm not spending the money.

Now, Don't get me wrong, I don't go crazy, I do only buy things that we need. Formula, baby rice cereal, and some clothes/or shoes. Amazon really does have some screaming deals on things I already buy... and I do deposit money into our regular accounts occasionally... But I HAVE to be better. So, from now on, ALL money I make on ebay, doesn't go back into the internet shopping world, It goes to the bank account. And I will pay for whatever I have to buy from online out of a regular account and remove cash from jars accordingly.

So, Long story short, I know I can do this. I feel like it's a game now... How little money can we live on. It's really quite amusing. Now, I know most of you have kiddos who ask for things, If you're wondering how I get around that, For starters, My children don't really ask for things in the store. Any time they had in the past, I just told them to ask santa for it, or put it on their birthday list, and I never got a tantrum from that response, and now, Instead of asking for it, out of habit they say, "I'm going to ask santa for this, or I am going to put this on my birthday list!" They look at it, and play with it for a bit, and then put it back and we move on. Now, I will say, My kids do ask if we can have chick fil a for lunch. {we pass one everyday from picking blake up from school.} I tell them that we have chicken at home, and that I will make them some when we get there. And explain to them that mommy and daddy are saving money up so that they can buy blake lala kynzi and brent a big house with a giant backyard and a trampoline and swing set. and If we spend all of our money on chick fil a we wont be able to buy those things. {They are 4 years old they have no concept of money obviously.} It's been a really great teaching opportunity to teach them that we must forgo some things in life for better things. And that they must make sacrifices to achieve the things that they really want.

Anywho, I think in a couple of months we will be able to graduate to the envelope system, and I found this cute little tutorial, and will be making this to go in my wallet. If anyone wants to join me let me know and we will pick a day!
Good luck this week on the budget and let me know how it goes!