5

I've been doing a lot of budgeting lately. My goal is to beef up my savings and pay off my two credit cards. See the progress bars I created in my sidebar over there?

Here's how I break it down:

Immediate Fund:

This includes large expenses that I know I have coming up in the next six months. Like...

*Mr. Right's Birthday
*Middle Sister's Birthday
*Youngest Sister's Birthday
*Mom's Birthday
*Christmas
*Winter Clothes (I am in desperate need of some warm stuff and some stylish boots to trudge around campus in.)

Emergency Fund:

Self explanatory. For those times that are unexpected and serious. This is a must considering I don't have health insurance.

Future Fund:

This is a really important one. It includes:

*Vegas trip (Bachelorette party coming up in March!)
*Wedding (I know Mr. Right and I will be getting married within five years. This being my second marriage, I will be paying for it myself)
*Car (I'm pretty sure my car is on it's last leg)
*Grad School (I'm hoping to get scholarships and other funding but you should plan for everything-especially if I decide to leave the state)

Wishlist Fund:

For the stuff I just want and hope to have. Currently on my wishlist:

*Bicycle so I can save on gas money
*A new motorcycle because I really miss mine
*Lunch dates, nights out with friends
*Concert tickets, plays, and other events

So that's how I break it down. Currently I only have money saved towards my Immediate Fund. I'm hoping that when I start Job #3 that I will be able to start contributing towards my other savings funds.

This should be fairly easy in theory considering I have very minimal monthly expenses. However, I know me. I love to spend. Savings has always been a challenge of mine so we shall see how I do on this goal.

Right now I have an extra $1500 in my checking account that I plan to pay off one of my credit cards and half of the other one. The rest of the money I plan to use for Mr. Right's birthday and the other upcoming birthdays.

How do you make yourself save?