My Awesome Budgeting Challenge AKA: more money for fun things, less for sauerkraut...

With the New Year here I am seeing a lot of the blogs I follow talk about budgeting.

 

The first one I read: Yeah, budgeting. I should do a better job of that, but I don't really spend to excess. I mean I don't even have television or internet. I don't go shopping recreationally. I keep my thermostat on 60 in the winter and 80 in the summer. I practically live like an Amish! Pah.

The third one I read: Hmm, the difference between wanting something and really needing it. I should do a better job of that... I justify a lot of stuff that I probably don't need after all *Cough*Gurney's flower order*Cough*

The seventh or eighth one I read: Hold the phone! Don't spend anything for a month?! What is this lady? Crazy? A spending reset? Nope. Nope. Nope. How would you LIVE? But my grocery shopping! I can't give up my grocery shopping!

Well, you can guess which one I am going to attempt... Yup. No spending on anything other than house payments, insurance, utilities, fuel, prescriptions, and pet care for a month. That still seems like a pretty big list, but I can't exactly cut those things out comfortably. A nice thing about budgeting when I don't *have* to is that I can leave myself a little bit of room. This isn't quite as bad as my graduate school $500 a month spending freeze where I literally only had that much to work with. Since I got paid on the 15th, that is when this little challenge officially began.

I have kept track of my spending for the last two years in an Excel sheet and I have noticed that with the exceptions of things like gifts around the holidays or remodeling expenses, the majority of my charges go to the grocery store of all things. Go figure. So that is where I am focusing my energies the hardest. 

But I might starve! Haha. 

I'm going to have to eat tuna for like a month.
Not because there aren't other choices mind you.
I apparently just horde tuna. And sauerkraut.
That just, does not sound appetizing at all. Ech.

I figure what the heck. It can't hurt to give myself a jump start on 2015 savings (I've got trips and other exciting things to save for by golly!) Besides, I am hoping to be moving into my new house soon and if I make myself eat my pantry clean there will be that much less I have to move. Win-win, right?

Let's just pray that the Pinetree Seed Catalog doesn't roll in until after February 15th...