tighten my belt

Between some back-to-school shopping (which ended up being mostly summer clothes, meaning I still have almost all of my back-to-school shopping left to do), my trip to KC, and my kiva goal, I’m not doing well at this at all. Next month isn’t going to be good, either, with the big birthday trip for my son. All worthy causes, but they sure deplete the bank accounts quickly. I’ll have to try harder.

After running some numbers, things are looking grim. I’m doing what I can to find ways to reduce my “outgo”, but it is clear that I’m going to have address my income as well. To that end, I’m going to see about getting myself hired for a Saturday afternoon teaching job this fall.

The frustrating thing is that it won’t be much money at all, yet it will involve a significant amount of restriction in terms of my time and freedom. I will have to schedule the dates way in advance and then commit to them. There’s no getting a sub or cancelling class if something comes up – except in the case of very serious illness or emergency. I don’t like being restricted like that. I’m expecting my son to test for his recommended black belt in the near future and I don’t know exactly when that will be. I can’t stand the thought that I might schedule a class and then have to miss his test. Ugh. I’ll have to give this some serious thought.

Even though my main problem with my budget isn’t spending too much at stores, it’s a small component. I had an idea tonight that will help me to ascertain how much of a problem it really is for me.

When I go to a store, I’ll use two carts, or a basket and a cart, or even just make separate sections in the cart. One will be for absolute necessities, and the other will be for items that I could have gotten by without. Then when I check out, I’ll have the necessities added up first, get a subtotal, and compare the final charge to what I could have spent if I had been strict with myself.

Like I said, I don’t normally have a big problem overspending at stores, but I am definitely not on the bare-bones plan either. I pick up a little treat here and there for the kids, or buy something that I plan to give away in the future, or something that’s a really good deal that I think I’ll need in the future. It could be interesting to see just how much extra I really am spending.

I think it will work especially well now that school’s out and I’ll probably have my kids with me more often when I go shopping. They could push the extra cart and help me decide what’s a necessity and what isn’t. It can be a learning experience for them as well.

I continue to be typically tight with money on most things, but I spend, spend, spend on other people and on projects for my local organizations.

...the weight loss sprint! I mean financially. Between a few big bills coming up for the kids and the ongoing increased cost of having a diabetic cat, my bank accounts are being drained at an unacceptable rate. There’s not a whole lot I can reduce right now, but I’m going to at least try to be aware of what I’m spending and see if it helps.