spend less money

I’ve been so so so so good these days, haven’t really bought anything for myself “just because” in awhile. This means a lot of money has gone directly to my savings account over the months and has just been sitting there, and it also means that it wasn’t TOO big of a deal that a small chunk of it went to an interesting purchase I made today.

I bought myself a Kindle 2!

No, I certainly do not need this, but I WANT IT. As you may have heard, I love the books. Some people who love photography buy themselves expensive cameras. So, I am buying myself a goddamned Kindle 2 and I don’t want to hear a word about how silly it is!

Very excited for its arrival (on Friday!)

...the idea of a cash allowance. I was reading about this somewhere on here, and I think it could potentially be an excellent plan for me. Going to let myself have $100 in cash a month for spending and see how that goes. For this month, I will give myself $60 (on Friday) since we’re a week or so in already.

I will only use my debit/credit cards for bills and necessities…NEEDS. Anything falling into the WANTS category will be paid for in cash only. If I feel like I must go out to lunch…cash only. If I feel like I must buy a book or clothing item or something that I don’t actually need at this very moment…cash only. We’ll see how this goes.

I’ve been trying really hard with this goal lately. Unexpected expenses have forced me to cut back anyways, but I can still do better. Every little bit helps! I am determined to get out of debt before I move out of this place.

What I’ve been doing:
- Staying out of bookstores! I have a book-buying problem. I’ve been trying to read what I already own and go to the library for anything else. Also made a rule that I’ll primarily buy only fiction to add to my collection, unless there’s a really good reason to do otherwise. Am planning on setting up some sort of rewards system for myself upon completion of projects, where book buying is the reward to strive for.
- Only buying really standard clothing items right now. I have a closet FULL of things I rarely wear, mostly because I don’t get out much. I wear scrubs to work, and K and I are total homebodies, so really there’s no need for anything new. I’m making do with my existing wardrobe, altering or changing things a little to fit my current style. I bought a winter coat and a new pair of flats to replace the worn out ones, but that’s been it for shopping recently. I’m also working on making my own accessories! It’s so much more rewarding that way.
- Packing a lunch (almost) every day. I have to allow myself a little foodie fun once in awhile, but for the most part I’ve been bringing all the things I eat at work from home. I’ve been pining over these adorable little lunch pails for quite some time now, but have resisted so far. Perhaps I’ll gift them to myself upon completion of some goal on 43T.
- Less driving = less gas and parking tickets. I hope to eventually get rid of my car entirely.
- Kicking the mocha habit. I’m strictly a coffee (or tea) drinker now, and 99% of the time I brew it at home. Five dollars a day for an espresso drink really added up every month!
- Kicking the boozing habit. That gets expensive too! Now when I go out, I barely spend any money, even if I treat myself to a fancy fruity beverage once in awhile. I’d rather have a nice smoothie or a wheatgrass shot any day!

I still have my vices. I don’t think I’ll stop buying expensive Aveda skin and haircare products, or fancy soaps and lotions anytime soon. I still want to be able to enjoy my life, so there’s a line that has to be drawn.

I want to be:
- Spending less money at the iTunes store. I’ve bought a lot of new records in the last few months, and haven’t really even had time to fully enjoy them yet. Need to cool it on the impulse purchasing. And I’m more likely to listen to podcasts anyways, which are free.
- Eating less often from the Whole Foods hot bar! K and I have an addiction to the prepared foods section at WF. I can spend $10 on a salad from the salad bar, or I can use that $10 to buying salad fixings and make better ones at home (with fancy homemade dressing).

I am very frustrated right now because I’ve been pretty good about my spending lately, but these ridiculous things keep happening with my car and wiping away all my progress. I was parked in front of K’s house last night and somewhere between waking and sleeping, my bumper was smashed into and fell off. I couldn’t find a body shop open anywhere around here until Monday so I don’t know how much it’s going to set me back just yet. There’s no serious damage, but I don’t feel comfortable driving with the bumper hanging halfway off, so it’s parked in front of my office until further notice.

I’ve been thinking about getting rid of my car for awhile now. Perhaps this is a sign? It’s become a very expensive hassle for me lately.

I guess I’ve been doing pretty well with this goal, because today an emergency came up and I was able to drop $250 bucks without touching my savings account, without blinking an eye, and without it affecting me financially all that much. The money was there for me to use in case I ahem lost the keys to The Club in my car and couldn’t drive it to work this morning without the help of a locksmith. But that would never really happen, right? ;)

And of course, this in itself is spending money, but that’s not the point. The point is, I wasn’t scrambling around trying to come up with extra cash or tapping into my savings account. It was there, I used it, and I’ll be able to go on about my normal life without having to cut back on anything this month. That, my friends, is progress for me.

“Stick To A Budget” was obviously getting me nowhere. I’m just not a spreadsheet type of gal. I really want to get serious about paying off my debts and getting all my financial affairs in order. I make enough money now that this is entirely doable, as long as I cut my spending down a little.

A CUT-BACK LIST, OF SORTS:

1. My daily mocha habit costs me $5 (almost) every day. If I were to cut this down (maybe only having them on my days off), it would save me around $50 bucks a month!

2. I have an unlimited data plan for my Blackberry. I use text messaging a lot, but not so much with the internet stuff. I’m not even sure how much it’s costing me. Getting rid of the data plan part would save a little money each month.

3. I’ve been lazy about preparing lunches for work lately, and have been going out much more than I should. Maybe I could limit this to once a week.

4. I need to stop going into bookstores, unless it’s for something specific. Period.

5. Keep my impulse buys under control. There are some things I need, which is fine, but a lot of things that I really don’t. I should think through every purchase.

So, I downloaded Accounts & Budget Free v5.0 from Alauxsoft. It’s actually very easy to use and modify to fit my needs. We’ll see how well I still to my projected budget, especially with the holidays coming up.

I downloaded a great spreadsheet program, PearBudget. It’s very easy to use. I think this well help me out a lot. I will have my budget planned out starting with April. Yay!