February Budget Sum Up

Helloooo March! You know what that means...a review of my February budget, of course. If you saw my tweet a few days ago, you'll know that it was a very successful month of spending (or the lack thereof). My monthly discretionary total came out to be...drum roll please....$76.22. Almost 25 bucks under the $100 budget. Woot!

Here's a breakdown:

• $18.67 on coffee (Starbucks and Peet's)
• $49.25 at other restaurants
• $8.30 round trip BART tickets (public transportation)

My estimate of shelling out $20 on coffee for February was on target. I know what you're thinking...you only have $100, and you wasted 20% on coffee??? Well, this month, I'll work on lowering that amount to 15 bucks. Baby steps...baby steps...

I was able to cut down on restaurant costs by bringing lunch every day and avoid going out with friends during meal time. On the other hand, there wasn't really much I could do about the price of public transit. That $8.30 could have been a meal (or 2)! My other option would have been driving, which would set me back more due to the high cost of gas and parking in San Francisco.

Anyways, I'm pretty proud of the fact that I'm getting the hang of this. I tried to choose low cost activities on the weekends (like hiking) to exercise, save money, and hang out with friends at the same time.

As for going cash only for the entire month? It was pretty much a failure. My monthly budget is so low that it made me really aware of where the money is going to already. I used cash, but it wasn't the reason why I managed to be thrifty. Maybe this method is more useful for grocery shopping. I'll try it on at least one grocery shopping trip this month.

Last but not least, in honor of America Saves Week this at the end of February, I'm saving $15 out of the leftover money and putting it into my travel fund. As for the rest, I'm thinking about doing some sort of a contest for my blog. I haven't decided what it'll be yet, so if you've ever held or participated in contests on your blog or have awesome ideas for one, please let me know. Thanks!