My empty wallet.

I talk a big game when it comes to budgets. I make lists and spreadsheets. I even use math! But I’m not great at actually carrying out a budget. On Fridays I really want to go out for a dinner and a couple of drinks. A $4.00 coffee sounds totally reasonable when I’ve been up since 6 am and I have to work late. And somehow a trip to the drug store for a $5.00 bottle of lotion always turns into a $40 affair.

I’m a impulsive spender. It’s bad, I know. But since George and I are primarily paying for the wedding, I’ve been trying so, so hard to save money. The following tips are inspired by Adrienne who has some awesome ideas for saving dough! Totally jealous that she can ride her bike to work!

Here is what George and I have been doing:

• Attempting to eat everything out of the pantry and fridge before we go to the grocery store. (I particularly hate this one. I have an aversion to left-overs and weird food combos.)
• Attempting to make cheaper recipes. As someone who needs to eat gluten-free, I’m not loving this one either. We’ve mostly just been eating a lot of eggs…
• I negotiated to have our rent lowered until our oven is fixed. (It’s been broken for 2 months!) I’d rather have a working oven, but hey, it saves me a few bucks.
• George has been selling art.
• I sold a couple of gift cards I had lying around to Plastic Jungle, which I highly recommend if you ever get a gift card you don’t want.
• And this summer I plan to sell some clothes that I no longer wear on Copius. (Update: I went ahead and put a few items up.)

All of these little things help, but I feel like it’s nearly impossible to save a significant amount of money before the wedding in December. Things keep coming up! (An $80 doctor appointment! Yikes!)

We’ve talked about delaying the honeymoon until the summer, which will save some money, but after all this, I need a break!

Do you have any budgeting tips? I’d love to hear ’em and make a big ol’ list for everyone!

love,
melanie