I Was Picking Up Extra Shifts Just to Pay My Bills. Here's My Plan

On first glance, my budget categories seemed fine and actually necessary. Yet I was living paycheck to paycheck and having to pick up extra shifts to cover costs.

When I paused to actually take stock of each line item, I realized I did not like how much I was spending.

My first goal is to eliminate the need to pick up extra shifts to cover expenses. Second goal is to save more.

I made a list of my basic big spend categories and have decided to go line by line and examine what I can change.

Here what I spend monthly, averaged over past six months.

Category	Monthly
Mortgage	$2,127
HOA	$597
Insurance & Property Tax	$655
Utilities (gas and electric)	$56
Internet	$50
Phone	$56
Dog	$1,103
Subscriptions	$85
Groceries	$728
Dining Out/Entertainment	$308
Auto Maintenance	$354
Auto Insurance	$115
Auto Gas	$241
Gym	$56
Skin/Hair	$558
Shopping	$438
Side Projects/Hobbies	$455
Misc	$606
Total	$8,588

You might be wondering how one person could spend so much on these categories. You and me both.

It's a long list, but now that I've committed to going through it, I feel better. Having a plan and moving forward step by step down this new path feels better than being stuck with a budget that was unsustainable.

I think I'll start with something easy like my phone bill. Stay tuned!