tracking my spending

I know how to budget and I actually love (truly love!!) doing it. I enjoy being in control of the money and where and how it's spent. My downfall has always been (1)keeping track of actual expenses and (2)saying NO to things...especially day-to-day things...that are not on the budget. Food has always been a big expense in our family and a large part of that is the fact that we drive thru places to pick up quick meals or to simply get a drink while we're out and about. For this month, I've budgeted $950 for food. This includes food from the grocery store AND food that we get from restaurants and/or drive thru's. I'm not sure if it's a great sign, that I'm only into the month by 7 days and have already spent almost 40% of my budget. I went to the grocery store today and tried to stock up on groceries for the next 4 days. So, for the rest of the month, I'll really be watching how I spend money on food. School starts a week from today and I'm hoping with the boys being out of the house for most of the day, that we'll save on snack food. Also, I'll have more time to concentrate of menu planning and cutting coupons.