I’ve
been trying to budget myself better the last year or so, making sure that I put
money away into savings after I pay all my bills and still have a little left
over to build up my checking.
Unfortunately,
I usually fail – sometimes miserably – at this task. While my bills always get
paid and I do manage to increase my savings account month to month by a pre-set
figure, my checking is abysmally low month to month and not getting any better.
In
my defense, I’m not a spendthrift. Really.
I
almost never go out for drinks. When I do go out, I try to order the cheaper
yummy stuff on the menu. I rarely buy myself new clothing or shoes despite peer
pressure to cave in and get those oh-so-cute stilettos that made my calves look
awesome.
Essentially,
I say no purchases ALL THE TIME. Yet I’m still managing to blow my budget month
after month after month.
After
studying my results repeatedly, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the
little things that getcha. I might think that bringing my own meals to work four
out of five days of the work week is acceptable, but that $5-15 I spend the
other day adds up to $20-$60 after four weeks.
That
doesn’t sound like a lot, admittedly, but when you add it to the rising cost of
gas, groceries and life’s other little indulgences, it can all-too easily add
up to a pretty penny.
Then
again, it’s my life and my money, so I can technically mess it up as much as I
want to… even if I come to personally regret it later, usually after every
30-31 days. Congress has no such excuse when it comes to those fun but
unnecessary extras.
Thanks
to the Sunlight Foundation, taxpayers
are discovering that we paid close to $2 million on the House of Representatives
alone last year. Not on necessities like security, electricity and running
water in their respective office buildings but on donuts, bagels, coffee and other
snacks.
Two
million dollars!
Like
my stop at Dunkin’ Donuts on a Friday morning, that might not seem like a lot
in the face of the trillions Congress spends every year. But take it from the
calculating (though not budgeting) expert… it adds up!
It
adds up right alongside the money the IRS is throwing willy-nilly at illegal
immigrants, and the budget increases government departments get every year
regardless of whether they need it, and the cost of protecting the
President when he jets off to Ireland for “official business” (i.e. vacation),
and all of the other things that the government does that it doesn’t at all
have to do…
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