Word: marchings
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...beginning of March, I started writing down everything I spend money on. They say one of the simplest ways to lose weight is to keep track of what you eat in a journal. Seeing it there on the page underscores your piggishness. I decided to do the same thing with money, even though I've been tweaking my spending ad hoc for months. Helpful hint No. 1: When you try to save money by going to the supermarket instead of eating out, you probably shouldn't shop at a store called Gourmet Garage. (See the best business deals...
...know it is for me. When I started cataloging my expenses, I had a fairly good handle on how much I would spend. At least I thought I did. And then, on March 24, I realized I had less than $100 left in my budget for the month...
Then it hit me. My 30-day pass for the subway expired on March 26. It would cost $81 to get a new one (and it will probably cost more than $100 in a couple of months thanks to rising mass-transit fares). After I added up a handful of things I knew I'd have to spend money on in the coming days - a birthday card for my niece, a co-pay for a doctor's visit - I simply didn't have the money...
...going back over my list of March spending to see where all the money went. Already, I'm wondering why I have a cell-phone plan with so many minutes and long-distance service on my home phone. I still eat out a fair amount. Alcohol and desserts, I am being reminded, are pricey. My biggest nonrent expense by far, though, is travel. It all seems justified: twice to Pittsburgh to help my grandmother pack up her house and move, once to Miami for a good friend's 30th birthday. But it adds...
...March 8, I took a $73 taxi home from an airport in New Jersey. The alternative was to take a shuttle to a $15 train to the subway. It was late - the train would have left New Jersey at about midnight - so I sprang for the cab. It didn't feel like a big deal at the time. But that was early in the month - long before I knew that I'd be left with just $100 and eight days...