No Shopping Pact

So far, I’m 17 days into January and I’ve done a pretty great job of being frugal.  I’ve spent about $1,300 which seems like a lot, but $600 went straight to my Roth IRA (yay for trying to max out for 2013!) and $343 has been spent on rent and car insurance.  On top of that, about $300 went to my student loans.  In reality, I’ve bought a tank of gas and pulled a little bit of cash, which is mostly still in my pocket.

I would say I am rocking January, but this is probably because December should have been AWESOME with a Christmas bonus and Christmas gift money, but it was just mediocre.  Two of my girlfriends and I made a pact not to clothing/accessory shop this month because we all needed a break from that spending category after December.  To be honest though, I’m still recovering from all my new purchases as well as my Christmas gifts.  I’ve barely had time to even enjoy those things yet!

I’m really hoping to be able to put more into my Roth than I specified in my transfer plan and I’m definitely on track to do this.  I don’t have any trips planned (this includes the standard visits to my boyfriend which end up costing me at least $50 in gas and usually another $50 or so in food expenses) which means I should have more money left over than I typically do.  I’m also going to try to keep my spending in check when I go out with friends.  We spent a lot of nights at various area bars in December and that drained my purse.  I was paying with my Discover card, which is great because it earns me cash back bonuses, but I also didn’t feel like I was really parting with money.  In the future I’ll have to really think about whether I want to pay with cash or credit for this reason.

Do you adjust certain parts of your budget when you overspend?  Do you usually pay with cash or credit?  Which do you prefer?