Money Diet, Week 14: Comments and children and snacks, oh my

Jellybeans, hollow chocolate rabbits, an Easter ham, a few dozen, dyed, hard-boiled eggs that later became egg salad: Considering all the ways I could have sabotaged my diet this week, I'm feeling pretty victorious. No, I didn't lose any weight this week, but I didn't gain any, either.

Welcome to Week 14 of what I call "The Money Diet." As regular readers know (if I have any regular readers), since January 1, 2010, I've been adding up what I'm saving every time I avoid eating snack food and junk food. I'm sure there are better, more effective diets out there, but it's worked out pretty well for me so far. I've lost 19.5 pounds this year and theoretically saved more than $200 (I say theoretically because sometimes, instead of buying, say, chips, I'm buying fiber bars and nonfat yogurt, which aren't cheap; on the other hand, sometimes I simply don't buy anything, so I know I'm saving something).