Generally speaking, half way is a good thing.

If this were any other challenge, making it to half way would be a good thing.

Given that I am paid by my employer on a monthly basis, and on the 15th of each month, the half way mark is where this challenge really began.

The way things normally work for me on this monthly salary schedule:

• 15th day: Get paid
• 16th day: Spend it all
• Rest of month: Wait around for next pay day for the next cycle

This time, I've got all that money sitting there and nothing to do with it. The bonus is that all that cash I would have otherwise wasted has made a significant dent in my credit card liability.

I've decided that the easiest way to conquer this challenge is to leave my cards at home and do not under any circumstances visit any shops. Neither of which I've actually done yet. In my defence I have not actually broken my no spending vow to myself yet.

I will admit that at times I've thought about giving up and giving in, but when I think about it, the only person I would let down is myself. No one else actually cares if I spend or not (CEO's of MYER and David Jones excluded), the only person who would care is me.

So regardless of how excited I am about some of the new season lines, and the old season lines on sale, I'm sticking like duct tape to my resolution.

At the end of the day if I fail, if I cheat or if I lie, the only person I am failing, cheating or lying to is myself. Frankly I deserve to be treated with a little more respect than that, if only by myself.