Budgeting 101

For the six years after I graduated from college, I was living check to check. I was a struggling journalist, with a starting salary at my first paper in 1997 of $22,000. I was told by a college counselor that you should at least be making your age in thousands plus two when you graduate from college. I was 22 when I graduated. I didn't make the cut.

In 2000, I left Tennessee for New Jersey to write for a larger paper. My salary was around $24,000 when I left and it jumped to $37,000 when I moved. But even with the bump, I was moving to a place with one of the highest cost of livings in the nation, not to mention the highest car insurance in the nation. I got two raises in the 14 months at that paper before I was promoted to a larger paper within the company and that came with a decent raise. Two and a half years later, I landed at my dream paper and my salary doubled! That was 2003. And for the first two years I was there, I was getting raises every six months!

Since 2003 I have not lived on a budget. I wasn't living check to check. I could buy $100 shoes without thinking about it; $1,000+ bags and not feel the hit. I bought a BMW. I was shopping freely and not worrying about the bills getting paid, because there was plenty of money to go around.

But now, I am forced to live on a budget again. I took a buyout in December from my dream paper. I was fortunate enough to get a year's salary and benefits and I'm collecting about half of my salary from unemployment, but the job front is so depressing right now, it may take me longer than a year to find a job.

So, I enrolled in a debt free and budgeting class at my church. I'm three weeks into the nine-week workshop. Since then, I've curbed my spending and thinking twice about my purchases.

Here's a list of what I've done so far to save money:

• I use Chanel mascara, which is $30 a tube. I ran out two weeks ago. But rather than buying another tube, I found some L'Oreal mascara that I got free at an event. The brush wasn't nearly as good as the Chanel brush, so I'm using the Chanel brush in the L'Oreal mascara. $30 saved.
• I like to get a facial every eight weeks. The facial is $90. I knew I wanted to continue that treat through my unemployment, so I asked for spa gift certificates for Christmas to get me through a few treatments. When I got a facial on Friday, it was free for me, and that included the tip.
• I had a subscription to O at Home, which recently folded. I got a postcard in the mail the other day saying the remainder of my subscription would be transferred to O, The Oprah Magazine, but if I didn't want O, I could get my money back. I have enough magazine subscriptions, so I opted to get my money back. $17 saved.
• Phillip and I aren't crazy about leftovers and end up wasting a lot of food. But for the last two weeks, I've been making meals that will last three nights, like lasagna or soup. If food is left after three nights, I freeze it rather than throw it out.
• I've been freelancing, which provides a few hundred dollars a month.
• And I used a cobbler for the first time in my life. I have some really cute black boots, but the sole needed repairing. The old me would have thrown out the boots and spent about $150 on another pair. Instead, I paid $25 to have the boots repaired and now, they will last at least one more season.

It's been a slow process, but each effort will add up to budget success.