Revolutionary: Have your budget reviewed!

I'm one of those people who is always stopping at Dunkin Donuts in the morning (not for coffee, for breakfast). I know this is at least partially a product of the fact that I'm not quite comfortable cooking in my current living situation (renting a room w/ kitchen privileges), but it is also partially just laziness.

I'm in the process of buying a house, and figured it was a good idea to draw up a budget. I thought it was a better idea to have Alison critique it for me!

Here is my current budget!

And here is a link.

What do you guys think? Have any thoughts? Want me to look over your budget? Drop me a line!

~Katharine

PS - After this whole closing thing, I should be posting more often, but darned if this isn't the most stressful thing I've ever done.

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Frugal Failure: Part Deux

Note from Katharine: Sorry it has been so quiet around here lately... the summer semester has been murder, and with Alison away, there was no one to stop me from neglecting the blog.  Hopefully posting should go back to normal in a week or two!

Maybe my goals are kind of crazy, I don't know. Maybe Kathy has the right idea about not telling you all her definite goals. But I think that doing that, being accountable to our readers, and sharing my stuggles helps me stay on track, so I can deal with a little humiliation...

I few weeks ago I attempted at the $20/week budget. Since I'm not actually paying any expenses (I gave up my car, I'm living at home, etc.), I thought that this would be completely doable. But I guess the title of this entry tipped you off to how my experiment turned out. Within four days my budget was blown!

It started out innocently, $0.50 for a pinch of organic black chai tea leaves on Friday. That turned into $2 for a pound of stawberries for the waffle brunch that Kathy and I shared. It then escalated exponentially to $12 for lunch at an Indian buffet in New Haven (generally the place is a good deal, but definitely not on Sunday!). Returning home that night with only $5 in my wallet, I devoutly affirmed my commitment to the $20 Way of Life. Little did I know that as I approached the seemingly innocent and frugal public library a fine of $2.50 awaited me! Alas, $3 seemed just too lonely in my pocket, so that night I met up with my friend DJ and went to ice cream with him. Broke in 4 DAYS! Unbelievable... My only redeeming quality was my ability to go completely cold turkey for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Here's how I wanted it to go: $5 for couponing, $5 to take a family member out to coffee (quality time), $5 for necessary expenses, $3 to save, and $2 to donate to charity. It sounded so reasonable, but now you and I will have to wait to find out how my next attempt goes, seeing as spending a week in Toronto will not be workable on $20 or anything close.

Stay frugal!

Cheers,
Ali

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