Plan to PLAN

My first blog should have been titled "The Idea". It was just a general thought and sort of a direction for the coming year - it was not a plan. A plan of this importance needs to be thought out, concise and thorough, not a sudden brain wave and a quick blog post!

I am not however in any mood to plan tonight - I am already in bed, with my cosy bed socks on, my heat bag under my legs warming my sore calf muscles and my half finished cup of camomile tea on the bed side table. Not to mention tired as hell!

But I do want to blog on this site regularly so that it stays at the top of my mind. So I think my hope tonight is to set out what I need my Real Plan to cover so that I am best prepared for the coming months!

BUDGET!

Well I don't know about you but i have tried and tried and TRIED to budget in the past and each and every time i have FAILED! And I think that the main inspiration for this blog idea - there is obviously money going out that I am not accounting for. So where does it go? But in order to start on the right foot I am going to set myself a budget to begin with. I will endeavor to make it as comprehensive as I can and then if I am still failing to met it at least (i hope) I will know WHY!

RULES

• I need to set my self rules. Like what do I do with any extra cash if I do a grocery shop or fuel the car and come in under budget (unlikely i know but just on the off chance, I had better know what to do). Do I roll that over into the next weeks budget, buy myself something special or SAVE IT?? Any clues?
• I need to discuss this plan with my housemate as we go halves in most costs in the house so she will need to be on board to some degree.
• What is my contingency plan if I "Need" to go over budget? What if my car blows up, or Aston needs something in a particular week (like medicine) that I have not budgeted for? Where will this money come from?
• What is my plan of attack for the credit cards? How much of the good cash (the stuff left over) do I save away for a rainy day and how much do I use to try and impact the huge CC debit I have?
• If I should pay off a card that is in my budget - where is that money then allocated?
• Can I still buy Frankie Magazine every 2 months? Or should I just hope that Kel buys it first (I did pay for 12 months subscription to Dumbo Feather so that's fair - right?)
• How often do I need to blog (daily, weekly) and how detailed should I be - "I spent $20 this week on stuff for me I didn't" need OR "I spent $13 on magazines and $7 on coffees"?

I think that is enough "think tanking" for one night! My tea cup is empty and my eye lids are heavy so it's a start and that's the important thing!

cheers,