I work every available hour at our regular ortho office, plus one day a week at a satellite office, and every other Saturday. A few MMR gigs a month, and whatever I sells on etsy.

Last month, I made exactly $24 more than my bills cost.

That's not counting food, gas or any other female necessity.

I went back to school to make less money than I made on unemployment.

I work full time hours but the position is still part time so they don't have to give me a few extra dollars an hour plus better benefits.

Oh, well played.

Didn't you just buy a new car?

What are your bills?

That's what I was wondering.

I did, but only to lower my monthly payments. My 3year warranty was up on the Aveo. To extend it, it was some $50 more a month or something. Since I have better credit now than I did in 06 (with interest, I was basically paying $30,000 for a $14,000 car), it actually saved me almost $100 monthly to trade it in for the Toyota Yaris. The Yaris won't depreciate as much, either.

Car, insurance, 3 small credit cards(Target, Old Navy, Visa), gym, invisalign, mom(rent), school loans.

rip torn approves of this thread.

It's my first spin off I feel like a real woman today.

you should have waited until someone made a thread, i love to play with my ships

Head. Asplode.

-Sell your new car and buy something much cheaper.
-Cancel the department store cards (keep the Visa).
-Sell some other non-car stuff.
-If you work as much as you say you do, the gym doesn't seem like a good investment. You'd likely get just as much bang for your buck by running and doing various exercises at a local park (chin-ups, sit-ups, push-ups). Google "train like a Marine" to find out how to get in great shape cheap. Or take the membership fee and invest in dumbbells and a bench.

Seriously, there's plenty of fat to cut from your budget.

Take it to the personal finance thread.

You may be right about the car but I think you're offbase on the gym thing. Budgets have to take into account the person and not just the dollar side of things. The gym may act as stress relief, entertainment, networking or social time.

I get better networking done playing hockey (which is pricey) than I would by going for a train like a Marine workout in the woods.

- Seriously, there isn't anything cheaper than a Yaris. LOL. Plus, it's only a few months old, with what I owe on it, there won't BE anything left over to buy another car with.
- I'm working on canceling the Target card. For a long time it was the only card I had. I keep the old navy since it's where I get about 80% of my clothing anyway, and has a low limit/balance.
- Don't really have much to my name TO sell. . . maybe some old books? wahoo.
- Gym contract is up in March, after that I can cancel whenever. It's only $20/month. I don't run. LOL. And seriously, me alone walking through the park? Uh, NO. Even in the 'safe' areas lately, there's been reports of rape.

- I put in a request to defer one of my school loans for the time being.

The trouble isn't what I make an hour, just how many hours. If I worked 40, i'd be fine. Right now, I'm looking for something that'll run 8 hours on Wednesdays. I can drop the second office, which is only 4 hours or 6 every other week, and gain about $200 a month right there.

ding ding ding
I've never owned a new car. And I've never bought a car from a dealer.

Maybe the new car thing gives NaT a feeling of personal security that a used car doesn't. Feeling personally secure is a higher need than spending a few less dollars every month.

Instead of black and white budgeting, why not take a moment to find out what the person's needs are and then make decisions accordingly.