Budget Thoughts

The light in my kitchen is out. I should replace it soon. For now, let’s recap a month of spending.

For the most part, I stuck to my budget. The goal of eating at work more is coming together. I did alright on this. Ironically, I was aiming to do a good job today but it was a day to eat out. The menu is not always something I want to eat.

I think the hardest balance I am having on budgeting these days is what takes things too far? Where is the point of inconveniencing myself and where is the point of smart money management? It is hard to tell.

I know the last few months I’ve lived a bit lavishly. This month I did a lot better and saved almost half of my take home pay. That’s great and it’s what I’m aiming to do each month. I think I could hit near 60-70% savings but I wonder if that is too much inconveniencing.

However, I know that there are some big ticket spends that I could cut out. Expensive activities can be replaced with cheaper ones. There’s no reason I shouldn’t play basketball and drink a few beers outside the convenient store instead of going out and then to a few bars.

Like I said, it’s hard to draw the line. What extra spending is worth it and what extra spending should be curtailed? What do you think? Where do you draw your lines between reasonable entertainment spending and frugality?

I’m proud of meeting my savings goals but I still feel that I spent unnecessarily and that I didn’t focus as much as I could have last month. Doing both of those things better would lead to more savings and a better life. Time to keep my head down and keep working on it. Cheers all!