Budgeting...

After establishing my need for a disposable income, I thought it would be appropriate to take a moment to talk about budgeting...

Budgeting is boring...budgeting sucks...and apparently budgeting is a necessary part of being in your twenties. At the beginning of each month, I take a look at my bank account and realize that I did not do a good job of watching my spending in the last month. This is a sad, and pathetic realization that happens to me 12 times a year. 

I get paid on the 1st and 15th of each month...

....and each month on the 1st, I feel poor,

....and each month on the 15th I feel a little richer,

....and then the 1st comes around again and I'm back to being poor.

Its a vicious cycle.

So on the first of each month I take a few minutes, and a piece of scrap paper and try to figure out my finances..

total in bank account

- rent (i hate rent)

- approx. $$ for groceries before next check

- credit card payment #1

+ 15th payment

- cable bill

- water bill 

- electric bill

- gas bill

- approx. $$ for groceries before next check

- credit card payment #2

= 

broke

Oh and did I mention that my boyfriend and I are trying to save money for a down payment on a condo/first home? Yeah...that's happening. So obviously I need to come up with a serious budget and stick to it. And the first thing I am cutting out is eating lunch in the cafeteria at work. If I ate lunch in the cafeteria everyday for a month, and spent an average of $5 each time, I would spend $25 a week = $100 a month = $1200 a year....are you f'ing kidding me?! So long cafeteria lunch...hello left overs...

If anyone has any good budgeting tips they have discovered and would like to share, I would love for you to email me or leave them in the comments.