My Guy hasn’t tried to subvert my Challenge, but he isn’t into it. He’s naturally very frugal; frugal enough to be able to work part time by choice. But he does kind of see My Challenge as a bit dorky.

Tomorrow is his birthday. I told him I’d take him out to dinner anywhere he wanted to go, and he picked sushi (which I expected). It was surprising to hear him say today, after getting a (very sweet) gift of cash from his step-dad, that he could use the money for dinner tomorrow. I replied, “Nope, you get to treat yourself with that money. I’m taking you out to dinner tomorrow.” His response: “What about the Challenge?” Jaw dropping.

I explained, “No, no, I’m taking you out. I’ve made room in my budget.” We always take each other out to dinner on our birthdays. And we pretty much always choose sushi, because we love it. Sushi is not the cheapest. But I have organized my budget so that I can fit it in.

Oddly enough, I think what got him thinking positively about My Challenge, in Month Eleven, is how nice his Christmas and (early) birthday presents were. On the frugal side, I got him many, many books using trade credit at the bookstore. I got him a Ché Guevara shirt in Croatia; he has a thing for them. I got an oval shaped desk tray thing, so that he could use the laptop in bed, and that was $1.99 at the thrift store and has been a big hit. I also gave him a 1 gig jump drive, using part money and part gift cards I cashed in survey points for. And I got him a gift certificate at The Gap, also by cashing out survey site points. For the birthday, I got him an MP3 player, an iRiver Clix, which is nicer than he expected. I explained that My Challenge didn’t mean no spending, it meant conscious spending, and that I felt the mp3 player was a good value for a great reason and I fit it in my budget.

So I think he is looking upon My Challenge with a new respect, perhaps. In the past months I've sometimes declined to go out to eat or get fast food or take out, and I think that mildly irritated him. Now he might realize more that I wasn’t enjoying getting fast food almost alway. I have migraines, I’m chubby, I have issues with large chains; it was easy for me to want to cut out fast food or going out to eat from laziness as opposed to true desire. So he did experience a small amount of deprivation, I suppose, because I wouldn’t join in some meals. So the true beauty of My Challenge was unable to shine through and impress him with the fantastic geekness of it all. But the mp3 player has spoken.

(I still say heck, he should go out to eat with the guys, or his sister, or himself if he wants it-I’m not preventing him! Come March 1st I am not going to be interested in a lot of eating out. I’m trying to eat right and work out, and I have to do that way past February! Thank goodness splurging on sushi is relatively healthy.)

The morals of the story: Remain generous while being frugal, and, be patient with men.

There may be more morals here. Feel free to be my Aesop.

In other news, I got a couple pairs of pants as hand-me-downs today. I would almost totally love them, except they are from a person who used to be a few sizes larger than me, and these are now too big for her. Great for her, and a reminder to me to keep focused on getting healthier. I’ve walked to work once and used my exercise bike 3 times this week, starting Sunday. I’ve eaten breakfast everyday, and packed good lunches, and for the most part eaten right for dinner. Working on developing healthy habits just as I’ve developed good frugal habits.