Current Status

Okay, I have a budget now.  And I've become very aware of exactly what I'm spending and where.  So now it's time to see where I can reduce my expenses in some of the discretionary areas.

Let's start with the current, actual spending (upon which the budget is based, since there just isn't much wiggle room right now):

First the areas in which I don't believe I have enough discretion to worry about right now:

• Healthcare: Doctors, Prescriptions
• Vehicle: Gasoline, Maintenance, DMV, Insurance
• Housing: Mortgage, Landscapers
• Utilities: Trash
• Debt: Debt Maintenance Payments

That leaves me with the following that I have a lot of control over:

• $300 - Food: Groceries, Restaurants, Fast Food
• (varies wildly) $200 to $750 - Personal: Allowance, Poker, Education, Vacation, Subscriptions and Dues, Gifts, Other Entertainment, Misc.
• $495 - Utilities: Gas, Electricity, Cable, Internet, Water, Cell Phone
• $35 - Debt: Finance Charges, Debt Reduction Payments
• $0 - Misc: Savings, Other

Okay, that's a pretty good baseline.  I've got about $1500 worth of stuff each month that I can control to some extent.  And that's half of my expenses each month.  Let's start taking steps.