Budget = Freedom?

I have to say... I think having a predictable paycheck is the greatest thing in the world. I made my first budget last month when I got paid, and pseudo-followed it for September, but once I get my paycheck this week I will officially be "on a budget." And it's glorious... or as Babs and I say (sing) - gloooooooooooooOOOOoooooooooooOOOOOOOoooooooooooOOOOOOOooooooo-rious. You know... like in excelsis deo.

I really do feel like having a budget is totally freeing. My finances book that I've used since going to college - Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach - tells me to pay myself first, as in save save save! It's been hard to do that in the past, when I didn't know exactly what my paycheck would be every month, and so I'd pinch to try to save at the end of the month, but of course that never worked.

Now, AC takes 6% of my pre-tax earnings out automatically for retirement, and I set up my various checking and savings accounts to do automatic things, too, so that another 6% goes to my own personal Roth IRA, I have a savings egg, a vacation egg, an insurance account where I'll budget monthly for my annual car insurance, a checking account that automatically pays all my bills online, and a checking account that goes towards spending.

And what's awesome is... since I've budgeted that money for spending, I *can* and *expect myself to* spend it. It's awesome. Right now I have $50 left until the end of the month that I'm not sure what to do with, so I think I'll apply it towards next month's clothes budget. :-)

The only thing that's suffered is my credit card spending - I feel a lot less inclined to use it now because it adds another step of tracking, whereas if something comes right out of my checking account, I track it automatically. This probably is not a bad thing.

Woo! I just love this stuff.