Budget Modification

I keep a word document called "Total Finance." Finance is essentially money management. Money management is the purpose of my Total Finance document.

This record is broken into three main categories:

1. Recurring Bills
2. Consumption Costs
3. Income

Under each category I keep a monthly and yearly total. At the bottom of the document I keep an approximation (using the totals of each category) of my yearly: total savings and total residuals. Residuals is that difference between my income and the combination of bills and consumption costs. This residual amount can be used either as a cushion in the event that you exceed your projected budget or, if the amount is significant, as an amount to be moved into savings. Presently my yearly residual is a little over $1,000. Personally, I am looking at this difference as an amount I can manipulate to increase my 401(k) contribution. Typically, a nominal yearly amount like $1K would be used for a cushion. However, I generally beat my projected consumption costs by a fair margin so I choose to treat that as my cushion.

I may be teetering a little too close to break even as I have pared down my consumption budget by an additional $3. Instead of $32, I am going to attempt to adhere to a $29 budget a day. Honestly, this is more for my yearly projections. As things have gone so far, I do not foresee having much difficulty living below this new level. The new weekly budget chart is as follows:

Consumption Costs:

Mon. Tues. Weds. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun.

Misc	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Bfast	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lunch	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Dinner	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Alcohol	5	5	5	5	5	5	5

TOTAL 29 29 29 29 29 29 29