Since I have today off, I've been going over my budget for my next paycheck. I get paid every other week, with a small bonus check at the end of the month (generally around $100). I've been using an excel spreadsheet to track my budget and various debts/assets for a couple of months now. I find it helpful to write down what I'm spending on everything, and then track different categories.

My general budget includes loan payments, rent, and "spending." I tend to have a problem with my spending category. Right now that includes all utilities, groceries, entertainment, and other expenses. I have a hard time breaking it down in my actual budget. I know what I generally spend each month on different categories, but I seem to have problems trying to fix the amounts in my budget. I always seem to go over in one category, like groceries, and under in another. I've been good at not going over my budget for "spending" but I've been trying to work on being more specific in my budget. For now, I'm trying to track different categories and see how much I spend on each.

This is an example from my budget for this coming paycheck (tomorrow, woo hoo!):

Budget: $820 (for two weeks)

262.50 rent (1/2 for next month)
100.00 regular student loan payment
160.00 extra student loan payment
250.00 spending
48.00 savings

Any information you guys have about how you break up your budget would be helpful.

Overall I'm feeling pretty happy about the next few weeks. I have to pay the electricity bill, but other than that I shouldn't have any utility bills coming in. I'm making a larger payment on my student loans, which I'm very happy about. I'm just wondering how to break down my categories more. It would be nice to say, $$ for groceries - $$ for utilities etc. I guess I'm just not quite there yet. Oh well . . .

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*edit* my total debt/savings break down:

Total Debt:
$3443.00: private student loan 1
$3413.00: private student loan 2
$8460.00: government student loan

Total Savings:
$1105.00: emergency fund
$366.00: regular savings
$1740.00: 401k