I apologize if you're having trouble posting. Here's something that might help.

http://community.stretcher.com/forums/t/328.aspx 

Hi Fashioroadkill,

   Welcome to the forum. I used to think it was all the big things that took all the money, but lately I am convinced it is all the little things in between. With bigger things, mortgage, utilities, groceries, etc... you know these are set purchases, basics of life. It's all the little things that build up taking a dollar here and a dollar there. I was at my wit's end today too. :-)

 Kabin, we just tend to notice the larger things more.

I think that most of my money goes on my kids. 

Save every single receipt for 30 days to track your spending--especially all those unplanned stops for a snack or whatever.  It is a humbling eye opener.

Brandy,

   I am also convinved that if we didn't have to pay for those big items we could buy more of the small things...

rolo:

Save every single receipt for 30 days to track your spending--especially all those unplanned stops for a snack or whatever.  It is a humbling eye opener.

 Exactly. That's what i've doing for the last six or more months. I keep track of everything: even the most tiny things that are less than a dollar. I use an Excel spreadsheet and i use labels for each expense. Then I do a pivot table using the "labels" as rows and each month as column. In that way I could notice some important patterns in my expenses. And I could cut down a lot of "invisible" things that we're sucking my money.

I agree that's an eye opener. I keep doing it now even I don't have to reduce my budget, just to see if I go off track