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I thought I was doing so well. I had one big expense this paycheck (the $370 plane ticket for my mom’s birthday) and other than that, I kind of feel like I don’t really know where it all went. I think more is being taken out for my benefits than I had planned on, and maybe I got a little overzealous with making debt payments (in the last week, I’ve put almost $400 to either dental bills or student loans). I also had some annual expenses come up – domain renewal at $83.40, and my monthly gym membership of $78 hit. When I look at it like that and see an almost $600 outflow, my current (scary!) balance makes sense.

It’s just so funny – after about a year of living in a financial comfort zone, I now have what I would have considered in college to be a lot of money in my checking – and now I’m sweating bullets, nervous about what expenses will come up over the next 7 days (I don’t have any credit cards!) Now I’m having to plan ahead and really know when my autopays are scheduled – my phone bill is due next Tuesday at around $60, and that should be it until Friday. How am I going to make it?

I’ve had a longstanding date for after work tonight, celebrating my birthday with co-workers. I plan to spend no more than $20 and pay in cash. Tomorrow I have some errands that I don’t anticipate costing more than $20, that I will again probably pay in cash for. I also work in the morning, so that will occupy me, and I have a lot to get done at home (more time away from the wallet.) Sunday I work again, almost all day/night, so I’ll eat work catering,  (I also typically grab an extra plate to have for lunch the next day :)) and throughout the week, I’ll have two more work-provided meals. I do still have some free offers leftover from my birthday last month (free sandwiches, pizza, etc) for the inevitable nights where I’m too whipped to even microwave ramen. Otherwise, I’ll be eating my stockpile of yogurt, cereal, and vat of homemade spaghetti roomie made for dinner last night. (Another reason why I think you need a stockpile even if you have no fear of losing your job – the same thing might happen to you!)

Have you ever misjudged your cashflow? How did you deal?