Budgets.

I hate budgets. They always feel so constraining. But at the end of the day, they're a good thing. I go out WAY more than Adam, so I end up spending more. All couples do money their own way. We decided to pool all of ours together and just have one checking account. After spending 4 years doing the "you owe me for X..." back and forth, it was refreshing to just share. Adam's good about not calling me out too often about spending, and I pretty much let him buy whatever he wants (as long as he will use it!). This process of spend what you want only last for so long. I want to do a fair amount of travelling this year and the only way I can make that happen, is if I cut back. But since I have a direct trade-off of what I'm missing out on, I think I can make it happen. There are days I don't want to eat my Lean Cuisine and just go buy something else for lunch. I do a lot of impromptu happy hours and dinners out with friends. Mindless spending. Not that I can't still be social and have fun, I just need to be mindful of how often and how much. I've also gotten into the habit of just grabbing a cab home after a night of drinking instead of taking the bus. I was always of the thought that it was fine and it wasn't affecting anything. It's effecting how quickly we can pay off my student loans and how much money we have to do the things we want to do. So, if I'm going to literally travel coast to coast this year, I need to rein it in. I'm on a mission to spend my vacation time this year ON VACATION and not hibernating indoors during the month of December.

Life on a budget, I welcome you with open arms.