Day 144 – Budget? What Budget?

I swear that I have been working hard to stay on budget. Chris and I have significantly cut down on eating out and I have been really good about bringing my lunch to work.

But then other things keep popping up that make it hard to stay on budget. In particular purchases and expenditures related to special events like birthday parties (dinners and presents), weddings (presents and car rentals). Don’t get me wrong, I love going to birthday parties and weddings, I just need to find a way to participate and stay within my budget (or at least as close to budget as possible).

Realizing that I leave for Italy in less than 2 months (woo hoo), I am slightly more obsessed with my budget than normal. I need to save as much money as possible in the next 2 months to afford the trip and cover expenses at home (rent, cell phone and utilities) while I am away.

Here are some things I am going to try to do to help me stay on budget and save money for the next two months.

• Ride my bike to and from work instead of buying a monthly transit pass (savings of $126/month).
• Eat the food that we already have (in the fridge, freezer and pantry) before buying new food.
• Start meal planning with an emphasis on cheaper groceries.
• Reduce the amount of money I spend on alcohol (casual drinks after work starts to add up) and drink what we already have before buying anything new.
• Switch to a cheaper home phone and internet plan (we are currently getting hosed on our monthly bill).
• Put myself on a strict budget for our upcoming NYC trip.

Fingers crossed!