Budg-what?

I got my last paycheck from the old job on Friday, plus the money from vacation I hadn't taken, which turned out to be virtually another month's pay. That was a nice little surprise. But the knowledge that the pay is no longer flowing means I'm now thinking more often about spending than I have in quite a while.

(I also went to a Washington Nationals' game over the weekend, with most of my non-ticket expenses covered by a gift card I'd earned as a reward from my job last year - I guess it became a parting gift.)

I stopped balancing my checkbook long before people stopped using checkbooks. It's obviously my ridiculous - probably undeserving - good fortune that it has been quite some time since tracking income and outgo was a major concern for me. But I guess I've seen to it, through taking on this little adventure, that that may not be the case for much longer.

This lack of fiscal responsibility stems from a series of events:

• a job right out of grad school that paid so little and took so much time that the only expenses I had were food and shelter (I sacrificed health insurance for a nicer apartment, which still wasn't that great). 
• the unfortunate blessing of security through an inheritance, which left a large enough sum that not only could I invest some, but could also fall back on it when needed,  which I did during the last time I left a job, which led me to...
• the sale of a condo in a ridiculously overpriced housing market that generated enough money, even after investing most of it, for me to work a part-time job for two years while I looked for something better to do. 
• subsequently getting a job that paid well enough that, combined with the other funds, it eliminated any budget worries.

It's those other funds, actually money from the investment of those funds, which I now fall back on for the time being, again while I figure things out. But there's not quite as much readily available as there was a few months ago, because I recently purchased a new car. Ah, hindsight, you're such a nag.

A decade ago, during a stint of joblessness that lasted about seven months, I developed an "unemployment diet" that I actually kept to pretty regularly - a peanut butter sandwich and chips for lunch, a cheese sandwich and green beans for dinner (beverages varied). That was it. I don't remember how long I did that, but it was for a good stretch. How I didn't get sick of it after three days is a mystery. That was also the last time I would have done any serious finance monitoring.

I'm not sure if I'll need to do something like that soon, but my waistline has expanded since then, so it may be something to consider doing for that reason alone. I'd certainly be cutting back on the meals out.  I'm going home in a couple weeks, and refuse to deny myself a fun trip by worrying about penny pinching, so any strict austerity measures that might be needed are going to be delayed at least that long. I guess we'll see how it goes.