So it’s the middle of the month, as hard as that is to believe, and I wanted to take some time to reflect on how I’m doing so far in my efforts to trim my finances in order to pay bills and be able to have fun, meet goals and travel like I want to.
I haven’t yet changed my cable package, but I need to do that. I hardly watch TV so I should switch to basic cable and I should up my internet speed.  I also need to plan meals and look through grocery fliers a bit more to plan food shopping trips better.  I also need to go through my freezer so that I can make sure to use up all my food before buying more. So I’m defrosting some stuff for dinner for tomorrow evening.  Another important thing is to set up a credit line.
I am doing better in terms of spending. So far this month, my discretionary spending is about $17.00 less/day, on average, than it was in July.


Restaurant Spending
So this is a great thing. I do need to make sure to keep that up, and I still need to eat in restaurants less.  Some nights, like Tuesday’s Bard on the Beach (which has already been paid for – last week, and already included in my August numbers), I’ll plan and bring something from home for a picnic for myself while we wait to go into the play
But, I’ve still eaten out quite frequently. I’ve paid in cash for restaurant meals, but I’m not eating out for lunch – much, unless I’m meeting friends for lunch.  So Restaurant eating is ongoing.
Coffee Spending
I’m thinking that I need to reduce my caffeine dependence, so when I buy my coffee, I’m mixing decaf with regular, and I’ll slowly change the ratio starting with 25% decaf:75% regular. That being said, I’m making sure not to buy coffee very much, so I’ve spent a lot on coffee but it’s not bad, and well below the rough budget I have set up.
Dance Spending
This is an area where I am trying to be responsible, but I don’t want to not enjoy myself, so this month the spending is there because I’m planning a road trip to San Francisco in September.  So, I don’t go to Seattle without having a carpool, I don’t do all the workshops that I could, and I try to volunteer – sometimes at least.
So this life-restructuring is on going but so far so good. Thouh I still have half the week to go for this first cash only week…