Manage my money better

Of course, not having a lot of money makes this both easier and tougher. Tougher for the obvious reason of having more debt than income. And easier because it really forces me to focus on what my needs are.

I just cancelled my cable internet service at home, which will save me about $45 a month. I’ve been dipping into my savings almost every month and just can’t afford it right now—I’ll have to scout out some places with free wifi on the weekends and be content with checking my email during lunch during the week.

In the past 15 days I’ve spent $1478.72. My rent isn’t even included in that figure. Seriously, that’s an average of $92.42 a day. I feel like it’s all for naught too. I am tired of always paying money on responsible things like dentist visits and car repairs ($681 this month alone) and then having people ask me why I don’t go out with them. It’s not that I don’t want to go out - I do - but I can’t afford to go out for a couple drinks ($7 a piece w/tip, plus a cab ride home at $15) I need that money for groceries! Plus, going out is depressing as I haven’t had money to spend on new clothes. The last thing I bought was in March when I spent $54 for a sweater and jeans. Sorry for the venting—I’m just a might bit discouraged. :(

I think I have made strides with this. I have set up a 401K deduction and I am doing tax-free transit for work. I also bring my lunch three to four times a week, which saves me a little. I need to look at some of my other expenses though and see where I can be more effective. (Stop paying late fees—even if it’s only $5). I’m trying to look at what I’m spending on a monthly basis and cut from there, but it’s still hard.

I just took a look at my spending for the month and I’ve already exceeded $1500 and the month’s not half over! Plus, I still have to go to the dentist, take my car in for repairs this month and get a new CTA pass. Hopefully my insurance cards will come ASAP so I won’t have to pay at the dentist’s. I guess I’ll take another look at my spending and see if there is something else I can trim back on.

I’ve started trying to cut back on the amount of money I spend at work (paying for parking, buying breakfast, buying lunch) Last year I likely spent well over $5000 just for those items. I’m trying to take public transport more and bring my lunch some more too. Hope that I’ll be able to cut it to at least under $2,500, which is still a scary amount. Once I get that under control I’ll start working on my weekend spending as well.