I was lamenting to some friends about my inability to stick to my “treat yourself” budget and the quick and unanimous response was that my $150 allowance was completely unrealistic. A more realistic budget would be in the range of $400-$500 monthly.
First of all, whew! If I redo my budget, I will actually have a shot at sticking to it! Second, are we really spending $6,000+ a year on non-necessities? Third, I think this means that everything that is not food, rent or utilities will be counted as “treats.” Fourth, how come no one gave me a reality check sooner?
I’m going to redo my budget and this time around, I’m going to base it on facts instead of denial/delusion. My plan is to total up my January treats and base the new number off that. To be honest, I’m actually a little scared of what my January total will be because of a couple big-ticket items:
- aforementioned Dine About Town restaurant extravaganza
- belated 2011 Christmas date with V at Gary Danko
- new cell phone
And if I’m including more categories, I’ll also have to include:
- gym membership
- incidental expenses like doctor visits and prescriptions
- birthday gifts
Stay tuned for the big number next week!
