12:20 p.m. — In addition to lunchtime (leftover stroganoff), it's payday budget time. I use a spreadsheet to track every cent of income, savings, and spending. Today I log my paycheck, upcoming donations, the water bill (shared expense, but in my name), and my personal loan payment, then transfer $375 to savings. This leaves about $600 for groceries and other spending for the second half of the month — slightly less than I would have budgeted pre-COVID, but now I'll probably end up saving some later. A note about the personal loan: I accrued an astonishing $20,000 in credit card debt in my 20s, living WAY beyond my means. About two years ago, I went cold turkey on credit card use and eventually consolidated the balance into a 36-month personal loan. The loan interest rate is way better (6.85% instead of 21%!), but I waited to get it until I had proved to myself I wouldn't go wild with my newly “paid off” cards — this is also when I started using my rewards card.