Can I take this moment to tell you I’m doing pretty well? Since starting this blog I’ve upped my net worth a bit. I am paying down my debts. I am spending less on frivolous purchases and better controlling my urges to splurge. I have not bought any clothes, even though I’m kind of sick of the clothes I have. My credit card debt has not increased. My student loan payments have become more manageable. I did impulse-buy a couple of books today, but a couple of books will not undo me. I can buy two books and maintain my (relative) solvency.

I’m a little proud of myself, and also a bit less stressed about money. To be sure, I have a long, long, tortuously long way to go. But it feels good to know I’m making progress. The little things do matter. They will continue to matter. They will accumulate, amass. As will the big things. Even more with the big things. And then one day I’ll be debt-free.

Next on the list of little improvements: groceries, housewares and alcohol. I must tinker with my habits in those important spending realms. Two necessities and a vexatious, delectable vice: I love them lots but know I should and could cut back.

For now I’ll slowly sip the impromptu cocktail I mixed for myself (six fresh cherries, seeded and smashed; a single ice cube; a shot of Grand Marnier) and find solace in the fact that, for me and my bank account, the future looks a bit less bleak.