I have put myself on a budget in an effort to save part of each paycheck. After adding up the expenses that come out of my paycheck, I now have a weekly allowance for "spending money". Up to now I have been going paycheck to paycheck and not keeping up at all with what I'm spending on. Mostly food by way too much unnecessary stuff. So, a specific amount in cash for the week and when it's gone, I'm done spending!
Found an interesting website that encourages saving by not spending. PiggyMojo lets you set a goal for saving money and then text or tweet the $ amount whenever you decide NOT to make an unnecessary or impulse purchase. Fun concept though I didn't sign up since it'd be just one more thing to keep up with. But, hey, just thinking about not spending as saving is proving helpful to my Small Money efforts because I'm choosing not to get the junk food or whatever more often than before.
Another Small Money effort is getting by on $30 gas / week for the car. Some weeks it's a stretch but it's been 4 weeks and so far so good. I'm more intentional about what I go and do. I spend less on stuff I don't need or really even want because I think twice before going out. I really want to see if I can keep it up so I've checked the bus schedules and it looks like that will work out fine for the 2 days/week I have classes during the day. (Classes start tomorrow) And I save by not spending because the bus is free with a student ID! There will be a new car trip for a once a week evening class so we'll see how that fits in.
