Living on a Budget

[Eltargrim]

So, for the first time in a long time, I'm unemployed and living off of savings. This is not a problem. The problem is that I haven't not had a steady income in a very long time, and I've never really had to watch how much I spent.

I'm basically looking for some advice as to how to stick to a budget. I've already made a spreadsheet for keeping track of where I'm at, and I spend most of my money using debit and credit, so that helps keep track of what I've spent money on.

And don't worry, I'm not going to starve/be homeless. Just need to adjust to a different financial reality.

tl;dr version: how do you stick to a budget?

[McTahr]

Not so much a budget guy myself, but I am horribly, horribly poor. (Not making rent this month poor!)

One trick I've heard good things about is not using cards. Seriously just draw out how much you should need for the week in cash, and don't let yourself spend any more than that. It's easy to get a soda or a snack or some fast food or something at the swipe of a card, but when you know you've gotta make it through the week on X amount of cash, you suddenly fuck around a lot less.

Small cost-cutting randomness:
Energy saving is a big thing. There's quite a few incorrect myths floating around about various electrical things that can cost you quite a bit. (e.g. Leaving your A/C on all day on low is not cheaper than just running it every once in a while(Actually math this one out to find idea usage, preferably. (wattage of A/C unit*hours ran/1000)*cost per kWh.) There is no notable "start-up surge" cost to light bulbs, computers, A/C units, or anything else that people say there are for. Turn it off when you aren't using it.)

Bargain shop for food. Only pretty prissy princesses need name brand cheese. (And vegans, for rice cheese! God fucking damn are my grocery bills stupid.)

Lukewarm/room temperature showers. Heating water costs money, and it's better than not showering. (Also, at lower temperatures you bust ass to get back out of the shower due to the cold, and save on water!)

[Specterbane]

McTahr's put some great advice up. I'll second living on cash only, keep all of your receipts and track those on your spreadsheet.

Same with buying the store brand. Also plan what you need before you go to the grocery store and only bring as much as you need for that. It saves to money and time cause you don't screw around thinking "Do I need this?" NO! Make a list, stick to it, always remember toilet paper.

I'll add a few things since your unemployed and I've been here for over a year after college now. When doing the job search, if a cover letter is something you'd generally do for a job you'd want then do it for every perspective job. Also try not to get discouraged if it takes a while, like I said I've been out for a year.

Another thing, take a break from working for a few weeks but keep up with the job search. After that get a part time job doing something that pays fairly well and is a regular pay check. It'll help keep you from draining your saving as quickly and keep you from getting bored out of your mind.

Final thing I've learned so far, find things that are free or VERY low cost to spend your free time on. I'm usually a lurker on here, but I've been a lot more active cause I'm not working all day and doing other stuff with my evening. I'd forgotten how much fun it was to get back on these forums, and it's FREE (aside from the cost of internet). But yeah, replay old games, reread old books, get a library card, learn the basics of a new language from a $20 book from Barns & Nobel. The key is to spend your time well and to enjoy it while you can, cause you'll probably have a lot of it soon.

I kinda rambled a bit, but I hope that helps.

[Nikose Tyris]

It is possible to live in a dollar a day (or better) for food. It's also an effective time to lose weight.

I reccommend both.

[LordBalmung18]

It is possible to live in a dollar a day (or better) for food. It's also an effective time to lose weight.

I reccommend both.

This is true, I'm doing that right now! 2 packs of ramen per day = 77 cents!

And ive dropped 30 pounds in the last month alone.

My advice as far as budgets go in addition to what has already been mentioned: Forgo pets until you have a steady income. Same goes for children but you might have less of a choice there <.<. Both are income eatting monsters that have some sort of goo constantly dripping from one end or the other.

Basically what im saying is as long as your single and unattached to any other object on the planet its entirely possible to live paying merely rent water and ramen bills. And maybe internet unless you feel like borrowing some wireless.

[Magic_Marker]

mint.com <====Look at that shit!

It's got bar graphs, pie graphs, and you can track how you spent you money for all of time!

Shit is real, man.

[Krylo]

'Borrowing' wifi.

Also, I've noticed the opposite with the money thing, personally. Vending machines are the bane of my pocket book if I have cash, 'cause it's so easy to justify a dollar or two here or there, and then you're spending twenty dollars a week.

But I've also heard using an envelope system with cash can be helpful and it makes sense to me. Basically put aside all your money for the month in envelopes marked Groceries, Rent, etc. and only touch that money for those things. And carry only a small amount of money with you at any given time. Enough to get a half tank of gas or whatever you figure is best for emergencies.

Also: Mooch. Mooching is the unemployed man's best friend.

[Wigmund]

I live off the guvmint.

Seriously, I'm currently living off of excess student loans during the school year and plan on applying for food stamps once summer rolls around.

And I also mooch off my folks for food. Stealing leftovers from your parents is an excellent way to live.

[McTahr]

And I also mooch off my folks for food. Stealing leftovers from your parents is an excellent way to live.

This. But for a lot of things. If you have to use coin-ops for laundry, and live near your folks, abuse their laundry facilities, even if you have your own set. (Saves on electric bills if nothing else.)

Of course this becomes less effective with greater drive times.

Other randoms:
Make friends with people who grow their own produce. I have a friend who practically throws fresh fruits and vegetables at me and my family because his family's garden just makes too much for them to use.

If you're schooling at all, attend the campus get-togethers. Free food is money in your pocket. Free entertainment venues are a night of not spending money.

Don't be afraid to dumpster dive if you're near a campus. Come mid-May, thousands of college students are trashing anything from appliances to bedding to furniture. (Just please please clean it before use, and no food, hobos gotta eat too.)

[Nikose Tyris]

dumpster-diving and sidewalk steals are how I furnished most of my apartment. Only rule is to never take a mattress or a bed. Too gross.

[Wigmund]

Couches are cheaper than beds. Though not as comfortable to sleep on.

[pochercoaster]

But I've also heard using an envelope system with cash can be helpful and it makes sense to me. Basically put aside all your money for the month in envelopes marked Groceries, Rent, etc. and only touch that money for those things. And carry only a small amount of money with you at any given time. Enough to get a half tank of gas or whatever you figure is best for emergencies.


This is actually exactly what I do, although I've never heard anyone else mention it before. I mainly use it for my unfixed expenses (clothing, groceries, haircuts, as I pay for my fixed expenses electronically and I'm uncomfortable leaving large amounts of cash hanging around).

However, I find simply saving your receipts and writing down how much you spend in each category (grocery/transportation/etc.) on a daily basis is the best way to stick to a budget. The information itself isn't terribly useful, but reminding yourself how much money you've spent every day keeps you accountable. It's old fashioned but it's worked for me- I make just under $15,000 a year but I've never missed a bill and have kept myself clothed and fed with some leftover money. It's important to do it every day because it's easy to lose your receipts and forget how much you've spent.

Oh, and don't use your credit card unless it's something you can only purchase with one (online transactions.) Personally, I use my credit card because I get a 1% rebate on my spending at the end of the year, but I never spend money I don't have and I pay off the balance in full every month.

[EVILNess]

I have a budget method I call the X+Y method. You allocate X as your solid amount of money, then the Y is if you need to add more to it or find a really good deal or something. The idea is that you have money to move around to cover holes.

The first place you always start with when you make a budget is bills.
Basically add up ALL of your expenses. Get all of your credit cards and add up all the minimum payments (I would pay as much as I could afford though), an average of you water, electric, and phone/internet bills, rent, and car/furniture payments. This is your X for Bills. Setting the Y is a personal thing, but I would allow for unexpected expenses or fluctuating bills. I set mine at 10% of my bills, and if my Y amount can't cover the change then I pull from my other Ys.

From personal experience I would say keep no more than 2 credit cards, and I suggest one of them is a card that you can only use at a grocery store (A walmart credit card for example) and use the regular credit card only for emergencies when you can't cover an expense with the rest of your money. Regardless, don't get into debt.

Now for the food.

If you are living alone then $50+25 a month should be plenty for you to eat on, and I am not talking about just eating instant ramen. Assuming you don't eat out every night and spend a bit extra to get yourself set up.

I would recommend spending double your budget the first month. You can also stagger the big purchases so you don't have to replace them all at once. IE Buy the sugar first, then the beans next month, then the Rice. "Easy" microwave food is also a no-no for budgets it will eat your cash.

Buy things that will last a long time and you can store. Can goods are ideal, buy some storage containers as well. Also, learn to properly portion your food. It will make it last longer. Also, remember to buy OFF BRAND.

Here is my grocery list in case you were wondering, I shop every 2 weeks to replenish what I am low on so I may not spend all this at once:


Two 1 lb packages of elbow pasta
1 doz. eggs
6 8oz. cans of tomato sauce
Peanut Butter
2 4lb bags of Beans (type varies by mood, can also sub for canned beans if you don't like cooking beans)
2 4lb bags of Brown Rice
Salt, pepper and other spices
4 cans tuna
5 lb bag of potatoes
1 lb margarine
1 package cheap bologna
1 package cheap weenies
1 lb of ham or turkey lunch meat
1-2 loaves of bread
1 lbs of fruit that is in season (Apples are good almost all year round)
1 gallon of milk


That is roughly 50 bucks at my local grocery store. I use any leftover money to buy things like hamburger meat, chicken, or steak that is on sale for a real good dinner. I usually get ground turkey cause it is cheaper than ground beef. Also, if a good sale comes up and you can grab cheap meat, then stock up and throw it in your freezer. If you live near a place with good deer hunting and you know some deer hunters then see if they would share some of the deer venison with you. It's good.

Also, buy a crock-pot. It doesn't have to be huge, but it is handy when cooking beans, or rice, or a meal. They are great.

The last section of my budget is basically comprised of what money didn't spend over the month on other things. IE the entertainment category.

Find cheap things to do for fun. Many libraries rent DVDs now for example, not to mention the whole book thing. Netflix is only $9 a month and they do offer a free trial you could probably take advantage of for a bit. There are many decent free MMOs out there even if it takes some looking. Borrow games from friends. If you really want to watch current shows then I suggest you google some alternative ways. Avoid cable or satellite tv.

Word of advice, don't be afraid to save. Get a jar and throw your leftover money for the month in it and then go cash it in for something nice. I bought a PSP and 8 games this way.

[pochercoaster]

Something else I forgot to mention: It doesn't sound like you're working with much money, but it's important to save. I would strongly advise against using a credit card for emergencies- that's what savings are for. 10% of my income automatically goes to my savings account (which I have just to keep it separate from my spending money- the interest isn't exactly wonderful). If you're working with less, save 5%.

Credit cards should be used for building credit. I mean, if you have no choice- say, you can't borrow money from someone, presumably interest free- then yeah I guess you could use a credit card.

Savings should not be an afterthought. It's much easier to consciously stow away some money regularly than scramble at the last minute. My savings paid for an emergency trip to the dentist to fill a cavity and new glasses when my old frames got busted and gnarly. (Neither of these things are free under public insurance in Canada...) Try not to spend your savings on things you don't need. You will need that money for things that you don't plan for.

[Funka Genocide]

I've grown hopelessly inured of government funding and don't function well without a substantial income.

I got laid off and took 3 months to find a job, during that time I pretty much just existed. Not really sure how I managed, don't think I robbed anyone though.

My advice: Get a new job with the quickness.

[batgirl]

Don't use your credit card for large purchases, but do use your card to build up good credit. Make sure you can pay it all off in full. For example, I usually put a tank of gas and a small grocery order on my card and nothing more. Do not use your credit card to pay bills, it will bite you in the ass.

Buy store brand food and definitely be on the lookout for sales. My market had a variety of ravioli that my sister and I love for 99 cents a bag and we loaded up before the sale ended. If your supermarket has a free membership card, get it. It will usually let you get in on member only sales. Some places give you points for however much you purchase, and once you reach a certain level of points you get 20% off your next bill or something.

Be smart about produce shopping. Certain fruits and veggies will always be cheaper than others (carrots are always under a dollar for a medium sized bag in my area and bananas are super cheap). Also, remember seasons: Apples and watermelon and summer/fall fruits so they will be cheaper than plums and pears. Avoid exotic cheeses and fruits.

Only do laundry when you have full loads. It's pointless to wash a half load if you pay for it. If you must have a shirt that's in the hamper then hand wash it.

If you can, walk or bike. Saves gas money and saves money from public transportation. I'm lucky enough to live 10 mins from my market so I always bring a little cart to pull my groceries in and hurry home so the frozen stuff doesn't melt.

If you live on campus then yea, free events = free food. If you want to drink, frat parties are usually cheap enough for you to get trashed on.

[BitVyper]

Try to keep some cheap food available in your home all the time. It's so easy to justify takeout to yourself when you're hungry and there's nothing around. For the same reason, it doesn't hurt to have a water bottle so you aren't popping coins into the vending machines because it's hot and you're thirsty.

[Magus]

I recommend getting a lot of food from your parents, it helped me get through college. If you live nowhere near them, though, home cooking your own stuff is almost always cheaper. If you do eat out (obviously you want to avoid it, but sometimes you're stuck somewhere doing something and you can't go home and come back 'cause then you're spending even more money on gas), get something filling so you only have to eat once a day (like a sub or something). I'd also recommend avoiding those value meals at fast food places because they really don't seem of much value. You'd be better off with a few sandwiches off the value menu than a value meal that gives you one sandwich and some fries for 5.99. There are also soup kitchens and so on hosted by the Salvation Army or other organizations where you can just donate what you feel like for a decent meal (or nothing at all).

Get everything free you can, as someone mentioned, borrowing someone else's washer or pooling your laundry with a friends if you have only a half load can save you both money at a laundromat. Heck, when I was paying for electricity I actually went so far as to use my school's gym's showers instead of my own (this takes dedication though, plus you might not have access to a gym or anything like that...). If you were going to pay for an entertainment thing like cable, etc. you could probably just get by with the internet instead. Or drop stuff like that completely. I'd also recommend dumping your cell phone and finding a cheaper alternative if you're not on a contract (pay as you go is not necessarily very good, but if you budget your minutes and only use it for emergencies or calls related to getting jobs, one 20 dollar card every three months is way cheaper than a monthly cell phone bill that can be as high as 70 dollars), or even borrow a friend's land line if you're doing local job hunting and need to make calls. If you're literally poor enough to get government help, SafeLink can set you up with a free pre-paid cellphone and 250 minutes a month but you'd have to pretty much be below the poverty line and not have any savings, probably.

If you need to send a letter put it in a public mailbox with the address you want to send it to as the RETURN address. I'm not sure if there are return-to-sender fees where you've lived but I've never run into any personally. On the one hand you're defrauding the postal service, but on the other hand the postal service sucks. Plus you can tell your friends you're a hardened criminal with your defrauding ways.

[Satan's Onion]

While we're talking about free things...

You might try nosing around on the Internet to see if there's a local chapter of Freecycle (or a similar group) where you live. It's basically a group or mailing list or similar where people post stuff they don't want or need anymore but which still has plenty of use left, or post in search of certain items to see if anyone has any lying around that they'd like to give away. And the kicker is, it's all for free--getting and giving.

I'm a moderator for my local group, and it can be pretty neat. Your useless crap becomes someone else's great stuff, and you can end up with some awesome things for yourself.

[Amake]

I know an electrician who says switching things on does too make a power surge. If you're going to leave a light off for less than 15 minutes before turning it on again you'll apparently save money by leaving it on. Which may be so little it's not worth mentioning, but I'm still going to. Cause that's all I've got.

[McTahr]

I know an electrician who says switching things on does too make a power surge. If you're going to leave a light off for less than 15 minutes before turning it on again you'll apparently save money by leaving it on. Which may be so little it's not worth mentioning, but I'm still going to. Cause that's all I've got.

Experience in physics and electrostatics tells me that your electrician is wrong. A circuit running is a circuit running. (Barring certain circuits involving components such as inductors, capacitors, and resistors, in which case there is a brief "charge time", typically to the value of the capacitor, which is extremely, extremely small. Most capacitors are rated in the micro or nano ranges.)

Assume a 60W bulb. Power usage for 15m is 60W/1000*.25 = 0.015kWh.
Let's say that the surge only happens over the course of two minutes. (This is a very generous assumption. Notice the bulb is pretty much full brightness from the very beginning.) 0.015kWh*1000/0.0333 = 450W pushed through in that two minutes to make this true. That's nearly four full amps of current running through your average light bulb at 120V. (Average american A/C wall outlet.) Increasing the wattage beyond a certain point heats the filament to unnecessarily high temperatures due to the extreme current, so even spread out over two minutes or more, the filament would pretty much roast if a significant surge existed.

Assume 400W computer (Roughly average non-gaming PSU running nearly full capacity last I checked). Let's say we assume that fifteen minutes of "off" time is equivalent to the power lost in the "surge". 400W/1000*.25 = 0.1kWh.
With a boot time of one minute (assumed to be when the "surge" happens) 0.1kWh*1000/0.01667 = ~6000W. I don't often see power supply units rated beyond 1kW, or 1000W. To look at this from the perspective of my 850W power supply, if it ran full blast all of the time for 15m (It does not.) then 850W/1000*0.15 = 0.2125kWh, I take a little under a minute to boot completely, to fully (relatively) finished loading, sitting at the desktop with no significant processor usage. So, 0.2125kWh*1000/0.01667 = ~12750W over the course of that minute to make this true. The wiring in the power supply would pretty much incinerate itself if it ran at that pace.

Even if we only assume that my computer ran at 300W (It most definitely runs higher than this.) for those fifteen minutes, the resulting surge wattage becomes ~4500W. Still enough to blow the PSU in a heartbeat.

tl;dr Your electrician believes false rumors. (That is not to say surges themselves don't exist, just that as evidenced by things not exploding, they are extremely small, on the scale of seconds or less of equivalent run-time.)

Not to call out you or your electrician obviously, but in a thread for saving money, may the least expensive theory prevail.

[Amake]

Yeah it seems like you know what you're talking about. I'd assumed this surge was pretty much instant, though now that I think about it going through 15 minutes worth of power in a split second would probably make any electric device explode.

[rpgdemon]

I know an electrician who says switching things on does too make a power surge. If you're going to leave a light off for less than 15 minutes before turning it on again you'll apparently save money by leaving it on. Which may be so little it's not worth mentioning, but I'm still going to. Cause that's all I've got.

Also, Mythbusters totally debunked that with lights, at least. The longest charge time was like 20 seconds, on a florescent tube light.

[Aldurin]

1. Perfect cold fusion, patent it and make enough money that you never even think about budgets again.
2. Mug the guy perfecting cold fusion, steal his secrets and research and kill him (recommended for the not so sciency).
3. Get a fucking job. This will get easier as you get closer to being broke and homeless as you will search more frantically.
4. Make the ultimate sacrifice and cancel your gaming subscriptions until things pick up.
5. Find a rich family member who you don't like but will inherit his/her fortune anyway and kill him descreetly.
6. Invent time travel and beat your past self into a senseless pulp so that he understands financial responsibility.

[McTahr]

Also, Mythbusters totally debunked that with lights, at least. The longest charge time was like 20 seconds, on a florescent tube light.

God, why couldn't I have just found this when I was posting and linked it instead of spamming google trying to find max current ratings for various appliances and running the numbers on this at 4AM?

[Fifthfiend]

While we're talking about free things...

You might try nosing around on the Internet to see if there's a local chapter of Freecycle (or a similar group) where you live. It's basically a group or mailing list or similar where people post stuff they don't want or need anymore but which still has plenty of use left, or post in search of certain items to see if anyone has any lying around that they'd like to give away. And the kicker is, it's all for free--getting and giving.

I'm a moderator for my local group, and it can be pretty neat. Your useless crap becomes someone else's great stuff, and you can end up with some awesome things for yourself.

Freecycle owns, everyone should get on it, this probably deserves its own thread.

Like pretty much what you should ask yourself is "do I like, or dislike, the idea of someone giving me a free George Foreman grill / hi-fi stereo system / sofa?"

If the answer is yes: you should be on Freecycle.

[Hanuman]

Freecycle if your area is good for it, there is about 6kilos of bread left out a day blocks from me due to it being day old and they don't sell that. Good tip, funny too: Less processed foods = cheaper than processed, since processes generally take energy and energy is money. This only really applies strictly to things made up of long shelf-life ingredients, ect.

Buy a rice cooker, buy a costco sack of brown rice. Go to a superstore, buy a lot of beans, there you go, complete protein shell. Different veggies every day, tofu, meat 2-3 times a week if you want to build muscle, fruits post-exercise, gg.

Funny thing is, rice, beans, tofu and broccoli can do you on 3-5$/day, add meat for an extra 5-10/week (ground bulk meat, freeze it). Water is free. Alternatively, for around 6-8/day you could go for big batches of chili with brown rice, tofu, meat and beans in it, add veggies (long cooking will degrade veg goodness unfortunately) and garlic and you got yourself a fairly fatty healthfood, delicious too. Stew works equally well, with both you can batch and freeze em for a weekly cook, zap em, no hassle cooking!

Either way, chinese cooking came out of the roots of poverty with the goal of health, real chinese cooking is your best bet, start growing food, or start earning more money.

[Satan's Onion]

Freecycle owns, everyone should get on it, this probably deserves its own thread.

Like pretty much what you should ask yourself is "do I like, or dislike, the idea of someone giving me a free George Foreman grill / hi-fi stereo system / sofa?"

If the answer is yes: you should be on Freecycle.

In fairness, you shouldn't join up expecting to be showered with awesome luxuries. But if you keep an eye open for good stuff you can seriously luck out.

Also, as I've mentioned, stuff that's useless to you can become treasure for someone else. Like one day a couple of years ago somebody on my local list apparently said to themselves "Man, why am I keeping all these shows I taped years ago when I could have space in my garage" or whatever--and a couple of days later, I end up with the entire run of Doctor Who between Jon Pertwee and Sylvester McCoy and what appears to be most of The Avengers :dance: .

[Eltargrim]

Not so much a budget guy myself, but I am horribly, horribly poor. (Not making rent this month poor!)

I wish you well!

One trick I've heard good things about is not using cards. Seriously just draw out how much you should need for the week in cash, and don't let yourself spend any more than that. It's easy to get a soda or a snack or some fast food or something at the swipe of a card, but when you know you've gotta make it through the week on X amount of cash, you suddenly fuck around a lot less.

My problem is the opposite; I rapidly lose track of how much I've spent with cash. I have sufficient self-control to not splurge using cards.

Small cost-cutting randomness:

All good ideas now integrated into my plans!

Same with buying the store brand. Also plan what you need before you go to the grocery store and only bring as much as you need for that. It saves to money and time cause you don't screw around thinking "Do I need this?" NO! Make a list, stick to it, always remember toilet paper.

Always remember toilet paper.

<Job search advice>

Final thing I've learned so far, find things that are free or VERY low cost to spend your free time on. I'm usually a lurker on here, but I've been a lot more active cause I'm not working all day and doing other stuff with my evening. I'd forgotten how much fun it was to get back on these forums, and it's FREE (aside from the cost of internet). But yeah, replay old games, reread old books, get a library card, learn the basics of a new language from a $20 book from Barns & Nobel. The key is to spend your time well and to enjoy it while you can, cause you'll probably have a lot of it soon.

I'm a relentless pirate. Entertaining myself will not be difficult ^_^

It is possible to live in a dollar a day (or better) for food. It's also an effective time to lose weight.

I reccommend both.

Luckily, I am in good health, and intend to stay that way.

'Borrowing' wifi.

Neighbours have an unencrypted wifi network. I've thought about warning them about it in the past; glad I didn't make that mistake!

Also: Mooch. Mooching is the unemployed man's best friend.

Mooch like nothing else!

This. But for a lot of things. If you have to use coin-ops for laundry, and live near your folks, abuse their laundry facilities, even if you have your own set. (Saves on electric bills if nothing else.)

Having done the laundromat thing for long enough, I know the extreme value of friends and family with washing machines.

Make friends with people who grow their own produce. I have a friend who practically throws fresh fruits and vegetables at me and my family because his family's garden just makes too much for them to use.

I have just the person in mind :D

However, I find simply saving your receipts and writing down how much you spend in each category (grocery/transportation/etc.) on a daily basis is the best way to stick to a budget. The information itself isn't terribly useful, but reminding yourself how much money you've spent every day keeps you accountable. It's old fashioned but it's worked for me- I make just under $15,000 a year but I've never missed a bill and have kept myself clothed and fed with some leftover money. It's important to do it every day because it's easy to lose your receipts and forget how much you've spent.

I've acquired an iPod app to take care of such. And it exports information to a spreadsheet!

Oh, and don't use your credit card unless it's something you can only purchase with one (online transactions.) Personally, I use my credit card because I get a 1% rebate on my spending at the end of the year, but I never spend money I don't have and I pay off the balance in full every month.

My credit card gives me Air Miles, and my debit has a ridiculously low number of free monthly transactions. I've never carried a balance on it, and I don't intend to start.

In short, the biggest change I need to make is my eating habits; I've been eating fairly well up until now, but too much processed food, and too much eating out. That's going to change. More mooching, and more cost-cutting.

Thank you all for your advice; I feel fairly confident at this point in my finances for the next while. I'll keep you posted as to major changes.