My credit card balance has been ballooning like it did when I was unemployed. Me no likey. So starting this month, I’m going to try and cut my spending and try to stick to a budget. I’ve done all the math. I’ve calculated the expenses that I can’t cut back on, like rent & gas, and I figured that if I can stick to a monthly budget of about $400 for food & other miscellaneous expenses, I can get my balance to near $0 by July (assuming I get a good amount back on my tax return). Breaking that down further, it leaves me with $3 a day for lunch, $5 for dinner, and about $160 a month for misc. expenses (or $5 a day). I think that seems reasonable.
I even made a pie chart to breakdown my monthly salary:
The biggest chunk goes to the AmEx card. And surprisingly enough, I spend the same amount on rent/utils and gas. Stupid long commute. I've also accounted for my Starbucks fix. And of course, I gotta put away some for savings.
I think the most difficult part more me is eating out. My co-workers eat out all the time, and it usually costs anywhere from $6-$15. It’s also about the same thing, sometimes more, when I go back home and eat out with my friends or with my cousins. So for the time being, I’ll get bringing my lunch to work. I’ve already sorta got a plan, too. A $5 Subway footlong can be lunch & dinner. Same thing with a $5 hot-n-ready pizza from Little Caesars. I love the “double dip”. So I can save $3 a day there and apply it to the weekend budget. And then there’s always Costco & their hella cheap food court. Can’t go wrong with anything on their menu.
Another difficult thing is cutting miscellaneous spending. Here’s a list of random stuff I bought in December (non-christmas related): sony digital camera, case, sd card, & extra battery (cause I lost my old camera), wifi card + adapter (for my hackintosh), bluetooth adapter (for my car, since the built-in one sucks balls + there was a mail-in rebate that made it hella cheap), replacement iPhone batteries & a iPhone case (for Jaymi & Shann’s phones), a master shake ceramic mug (I couldn’t NOT buy it, it’s so awesome), and an snsd wall calendar (um, well....I need a 2011 calendar, right?) November was just as random, just as costly. So now I have to make a conscious effort to NOT buy whatever just for the heck of it, to just buy what is absolutely needed, like toilet paper or laundry detergent. Oh, and I should probably stop buying stuff for other people. Apparently, I do that a lot.
I’m basically going back to “broke college student” mode, or survival mode. I’ll see if I can stick to this budget for a month. Maybe I can try to come in under budget! If I can do a month, and get used to it, the following months should be cake.
