Trying something new

So, it has been a long while since I have written on my blog. I just checked it and I have officially reached over 1000 views!! Thanks guys!! Don't know if that is good or not but it's good to me since I have only had this thing a few months.
I have been going through a lot of things personally lately, making it more and more difficult not to sit down and type out a few things. I am going to eventually get my post on my table done, as soon as it's done.... Yeah, not done. But it's close. So I figure, I need to just get out what I am working on right now, something totally different... wait for it..... wait for it...... a BUDGET!!! The word frightens me so! I am the WORLDS WORST when it comes to money.  Thank goodness I have kept my head on straight not to bury myself into credit card debt or student loans. I have just a little debt that I am paying on to a hospital from something awhile ago, but anywho... Without divulging too much of my financial info, basically I am paying rent, gas, cable, power, groceries, insurance, hospital bill, and water. They are greatest to least in that order. That's right, no car payment yet! Woo hooo! I am lucky to make enough to cover those expenses and then some, but for some reason, I cannot save money. Which is what I plan to work on the next couple months.
 I am taking the month of September as my guinea pig month. I am going to write down everything I spend. Yes, everything. I have no idea where all my extra money is going besides maybe going out to eat. I hardly ever get to buy new clothes, and with fall coming up, I really want to save money to buy some new work clothes. Don't forget Christmas is coming too and football season!!! I am hoping to surprise my boyfriend with UGA tickets this year. There is just so much going on that I want to have the money for so I have to start working right away.
By writing down everything I want to be able to create a diagram and categorize everything. I am stealing this idea from Discover because my Discover card has a way I can track how I am spending money and I can see that I need to stop eating out or buying clothes. So, in saying that, I want to see where this extra money is going and if I can see well that if I only have a certain amount of money to last me until payday, that candy bar might not be a good purchase, or might need to hold off on groceries for another week. I have got to learn how to stretch a dollar.
Currently, this evening, I have written down all of my monthly expenses that are concrete and never change and on another column wrote the ones that are variable. This is how it looks:
Fixed Expenses:
Rent
Electricity
Water
Cable

Variable Expenses:
Gas
Car Insurance
Groceries
Medical
Renters Insurance

I also split them up to the first of the month bills and the 15th of the month bills. I spend most of my paycheck at the beginning of the month since rent is my highest bill. So, with everything written out and I know what extra I should have after each paycheck, I should easily be able to put $200 in savings each month. With that said, starting September 15th I will begin a savings account and add that each month. That should bring me to $800 just before Christmas, which is way above what I would be spending anyway since no kids and my boyfriend and I don't spend a whole lot on each other. I get my Christmas bonus right after Thanksgiving so that will go straight to savings.

So, lets see if I can stick to the plan and save some money!!
I will keep you posted!

Go SAVE!

Kaitlin