Reworking the budget

Now that the end of the year is in sight, I’ve been taking a high level look at my budget to see where my money has gone this year and how I want to change the budget for next year, if at all.

I don’t think you can ever have a perfect budgeting system, so there are always ways to tweak and improve.  One thing that really stands out to me is how I categorized a few things.  For example, one of my categories is “Cosmetics and Toiletries.”  Pretty basic, right?  Well, I realized that the category makes it hard to analyze my spending.  It contains both necessities and non-necessities.  I need sunscreen.  I don’t need sparkly eyeshadow.  So next year, I’m going to pull this category apart.

I also have a similar deal with my “Books and Music” category, as I include my expenses for my choir music in that category.  Dropping $30 in a month on Books and Music at Borders is very different from buying $30 worth of music for choir rehearsals.

So I will continue to tweak.  Anything to improve my savings!