Won't You Please, Please Help Me?

Is anyone else now singing along with The Beatles?  No, just me - okay, moving on...

Happy Friday, everyone!  I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance for the fact that I'm taking a break from my regularly scheduled blogs of fun, food and the occasional fashion to talk about something a little more serious today.  I need a budget!  Like severely.  I used to do really well with self control saving money, but with Abby's impending arrival I seem to be under the impression that I have unlimited funds on the money tree that is obviously growing in the woods behind my house.  Seriously, if I find something I want these days (whether it be for her, me, the house, etc.) I buy it - it's as simple as that.  And while most of my purchases are pretty small (i.e. $10 here, $20 there), they still add up!

Image found here

Now, just for the record, I am in no way accumulating massive amounts of credit card debt (or really any credit card debt for that matter - I learned that lesson long ago the hard way just like pretty much everyone else) or anything else like that with my current spending habits (husband, you can totally relax now); however, I am not saving nearly as much every month as I would like.  I've found that it's just far to easy to click to the Transfer Funds tab in my on-line account when I find something that I want need.

I've set budgets for myself in the past and I typically stick to them for about a month or so before I throw them out the window and deem them completely useless.  I truly think this is because I don't set up realistic budgets.  I've also thought about trying the whole Dave Ramsey thing (I would modify it a bit to fit my needs), but I honestly don't think I would stick to just spending what is in each envelope.  I think in reality I would "borrow" from the un-fun envelopes to fund the fun envelopes when they are running low.

I have started limiting myself in the number of times during a week in which I'm allowed to "go run errands" during lunch and that definitely seems to be helping some.  For you see, my new job is located in a fabulous part of town (Cool Springs for those of you familiar with Nashville) where I have pretty much any store I could ever want all within 5-7 minutes.  This makes it very easy to go "window shopping" during lunch which inevitably ends with me taking home something I find that I just absolutely must have right that very minute!

So I'm asking for realistic budgeting/saving suggestions.  Do you budget?  What works best for you?  What doesn't work at all?  Honestly, any suggestions are welcome!

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On a more fun note - I'm off to a weekend full of showering Abby with lots of cute stuff and maternity pictures with the husband - I'm so excited!  Have a great weekend!  See you all Monday!