My Spending Diet.

It's December. And, my bank account is starting to depress me (more than usual). Instead of waiting for the new year, I'm going to suck it up and start a Spending Diet now.

Over at AndThenWeSaved, Anna gives the guidelines and one of the first steps towards a Spending Diet is to determine things that you will actually have to spend money on. The Necessities.

My Necessities Are:

1) Car Payment.

2) Cell Phone bill.

3) Car Insurance

4) Gas

5) Prescriptions

6) Netflix (I know, not a necessity, but I would be lost without it and at the end of the day, the $8 I spend on it goes a long way).

7) Food*

8) Toiletries*

*This is why I'm lucky to live at home - I don't spend a ton of money on either of these usually, but I've included them just to be safe.

Aside from those 8 things I've listed above, my money isn't going anywhere else. (Another caveat, I still have to get my mom her birthday present).

My plan for all that money saved is to first - pay off my credit cards. Or, at least one of them and get the other one down to a reasonable amount.
After that, the rest of the money will go straight into my savings account at the end of every month.

And, I will be doing this until the end of 2013.**
**I totally intend on allowing myself some more leeway, but we'll get to that bridge when we come to it. 

Crazy. I know. But it's definitely worth it and it's necessary to get my finances back on track.