Now that Thanksgiving is over, we are officially in the holiday season.  Tis the season for joyous times with family and friends, an abundance of delicious and fattening foods, and extra reasons to spend money.  In my experience, this is the most challenging time for a lot of people to not cheat on their diets and budgets.
 
Diets and budgets are a bit like the attacks ice ball and rollout.  They may be different types, but they basically do the same thing.  The more times the user hit’s their target, the stronger the attack grows.  If the user misses, just once, it feels like they are starting over from the very beginning.  Unlike the attacks, the goal of my diet and budget are to make them a part of my permanent lifestyle, so if I do mess up I don’t have to start all the way back at the beginning.
 
However, there is long battle ahead of me before I reach that goal.  Whenever I cheat, it lowers my attack’s power and makes the battle longer.  There are three ways that I typically cheat on my budget, planned cheating, spontaneous cheating and last-minute cheating.

Welcome to the second half of November!  I know I have been quieter than a whismur, but I am back and ready to talk.  So, let’s pick up with October’s Review and Net Worth Update.
 
For those who are new to The Grown-Up Pkmn Trainer, each month I write a financial review to xatu my net worth by writing down my thoughts on the previous and following months.  I share these summaries so everyone can gain insight into my personal finances and my thoughts behind them.
 
I started tracking my net worth to measure my progress, inspired by Budgets Are Sexy, which has helped me keep a keen eye on my personal finances.  I have been tracking my net worth since January 2015 and writing monthly financial reviews for myself since 2016.  I recommend tracking net worth because it has been such a helpful tool to watch my personal finance stat changes over time.