Chasing the Gold Cap - update #2: a spending problem

That's it. Hand over the debit card.

At face value, it appears I didn't do too horribly. Unlike what I reported last time, I'm posting a net gain today. But on seeing my two-week yield, veteran gold makers may laugh. Scoff. Chuckle. Tee-hee. Pshhh. 50,000g. That's like, the amount the biggun's pull in over the course of a day. Truth is, even as a casual seller my net gain could've been one hell of a lot bigger.
   
Gold amount at last update: 510,051g
Auctioning activity between then and now: moderate
Current gold amount: 561,888g
+/- Change: +51,837g
 
This week's confession: gains aside, I spent roughly 25,000g on items not related to gold making in the past two weeks, and technically I have 30,000g out on loan. Still, the 51k net gain I posted surprises me given how my main markets---jewelcrafting and inscription---have absolutely tanked. I've started to research flipping---buying to resell at a higher price---but I haven't been able to subdue my penchant for avoiding risk when it comes to spending gold. 50,000g for a Brawler's Guild invite on launch night? A tangible reward, and worth it. 5,000g on AH items to immediately list to try to make a profit? That's when I start sweating.

Some items of note, in no particular order:

• Paid a guildmate 2,500g for a extra Pandaren Air Spirit he had in his collection; the next day, a spirit he didn't have dropped for me, so I proposed a straight up swap. He happily agreed, but must've spent a grand because he only sent back 1,500g. Or he forgot. Oh well.
• Of the 37,000g I loaned to a guildmate for her Vial of the Sands, I've received a total of 7,500g in repayment. This will provide nice boost towards the cap when I get it back.
• Sold the Mechano-hog, breaking even on that investment. 
• Reached Exalted status with both the August Celestials and the Golden Lotus last week. Normally I'd be all like "Yay!" but my current situation warrants a "but...but...don't let it be over I want to grind more!" because finishing those reps meant a 7,000g mount from the Celestials and three mounts totaling 3,100g from the Golden Lotus. Yay.
• Sold an Eight of Cranes for 9,477g. Yes, a single Eight of Cranes, not the entire deck. My TSM Darkmoon Cards group has a fallback of around 10,000g, and someone paid it. I've added the buyer to my friends list as I'm considering offering them a partial refund, however, I have yet to see them online.
• A guildmate was looking to sell a Relic of Xuen with the intention to use the cash to purchase the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth from Mei Francis in Dalaran, specifically for the mount's armor repairing capabilities. I bought it for an undermarket price of 12,000g. Initially I thought I'd save it for my up-and-coming rogue, but quickly realized you idiot, you're supposed to be hitting the gold cap by the end of April so it's currently on the AH with the rest of the lot. Truthfully, I'm just hoping to break even.

TL:DR: Failing to reign in spending means I've managed an average of a measly 4,000g net gain per week over the course of the last four weeks. People make more without trying. Yikes. I need to get my act together. Quick-like if I am to hit my goal. February's not going to wait for me and come March we'll all be elbows deep in Patch 5.2. No goals for the next two weeks, only a mandate: no spending on goods unrelated to money-making. Here goes.

Read the Intro Post
Read Update #1
Read Update #3