Ok. Game over. I lose. I’m broke and living paycheck to paycheck. This SUCKS. But fortunately, there’s still money in the bank, food in the fridge, and gas in my tank. I’m not in dire straits here, in fact, far from it. When I say broke, I mean I have under $1000 liquidated for any number of things that need taken care of. Sure, that money may be spoken for in the form of travel I have to do for the holidays, but it’s still there should anything happen. Let’s see if I can tally up expenses, my current system and really explore my situation.

I currently have set up 3 different bank accounts: two checking, one savings. A certain amount gets deposited into each account every 2 weeks, and then I use those funds for different things. For example: Drawing from one of my checking accounts is my college loan, my cable bill, my cell phone, and my gym membership. That is all I use it for, and I siphon enough money to cover these bills and leave me with about a $100 cushion.

From my second checking account, all of my “frivolous” spending is accomplished, except for the very real monthly expense of my mortgage/food, which is one stable number every month. The savings account is there to fund larger purchases, which, thankfully, I should be done with for a while. Now I’m going to build up that reserve for the purpose of paying off the credit cards once and for all.

So how about cutting some of this shit out so I can start saving money? How can I do that? Well, I figure by eliminating items I pay for that are ultimately disguised as “necessary”. For example: I have committed to ridding myself of my cell phone. Since I don’t have a land line either, my biggest obstacle is going to be making/receiving phone calls without a phone card or those horrible pay as you go phones. How do I accomplish this? By signing up for Skype. Skype is an internet phone calling service which uses your internet connection to make/receive calls. Much like VOIP, but without a physical telephone. Since I am at the computer the majority of the day for work and some of the night, it’s a feasible and workable option. Skype also includes voicemail should I not be around to take a call. I ended up signing up for the unlimited calls to the US and Canada plan for $2.95 a month. Honestly. $2.95 a month for phone service. It gets better: I signed up for a full year, and got 50% off, so in total, I paid $20 for a full year of service. Now, you do have to purchase an “internet phone number” for the calling service, so I did so, at $24. I threw in $10 of credit for outbound text messaging (Skype doesn’t do inbound yet), and my total is $55 for an entire year of service.

One year of Cell Phone Service: $660 (no data plan!).

One year of Skype: $55.

Savings: $605.

Not a bad start if I do say so myself. Now, what else am I spending money on that could be put to better use? I’m paying $15 a month ($130 a year) to World of Warcraft. Not only is this a money sink, it’s also been a time sink for me for a while. I’m going to cancel it for the summer in leiu of other things. Maybe I’ll go back, maybe not. I’ll assume I’m off of it for 3 months.

Savings: $45

Next up on things I can cut out: Blockbuster Online video Rentals. I pay $22 a month for one movie at a time and unlimited in store rentals. At ~$4 per rental, I’d need to get 6 discs a month to make it worth my money. With the exchanges, that’s not a problem, but I don’t watch every movie either, if I’m going to be honest. It’s not necessary for me to continue to throw this money away. Canceled.

Savings: $264

I’m doing pretty well at this point, yes? How can I continue on this streak? Tomorrow I will call my insurance company and let them know I’m driving less on the way to work… 3 miles each way, and taking a shuttle. I will be starting this trend in the fall, I believe. Not only will I save on insurance, if I’m able to do this, I will save a ton on gas as well. I can only estimate how much I can save if this works, until I get some quotes from my insurance companies. I’d imagine not driving 40 miles a day will have a signifigant impact, however. With any luck, and some planning, I’d even be able to stop driving my car period.

Savings: $800 (high? I drive an explorer.)

If I continue on this plan and reel in other unnecessary spending I tend to do (eating out has been much less of a problem recently, but still continues to plague me, as do impromptu trips to the grocery store). Better planning can help cut that down. It won’t be signifigant, but everything helps. See: WoW Cancelation.

Savings: $50

So, that’s my plan. Some of it has been implemented, some of it will have to wait, but all in all, I think cutting down and cutting useless shit out is going to make a pretty big difference.