Goal 3: Be a Money Guru

Confessions of a shopaholic is one of my absolute favorite books/ movies, probably because I get all the jokes.
I confess, I am terrible with money! On this front I am trying to be better, more zen like and less like Edward Norton's character in Fight Club:

"Like everyone else, I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct. If I saw something like clever coffee table sin the shape of a yin and yang, I had to have it. I would flip through catalogs and wonder, 'What kind of dining set defines me as a person?'"

My husband who is the math brain of the family has sorted out how to make a budget from the very cool money makeover books we received for Christmas. I was amazed to find that we were blowing tons of money without thinking about it. From now on we are spending/ saving all of our money on paper before we ever paid that way we never come up short. I realize that many people probably have always done this and I am just irresponsible and childish but it never occurred to me to account for every dime.
I am now the spender of allocated funds and therefore can't slip up and buy Gucci boots. It's a good feeling to know that if I stick to it there will be money in emergencies and maybe even in the future. I'm even coupon clipping in mass quantities. Maybe a shopaholic can change her ways?