Lately, I’ve felt like I don’t get enough homework, and there’s no purpose to anything! I mean, I’m going to school, and my grades are good and high. I just have so much FREE TIME! I thought college students were supposed to be BUSY!

There are a lot of places in my life where I feel like I lack… meaning. For instance, I go to the store and see something cool. “Ooh, look at that!” I say, and then usually walk out of the store with it…

But it doesn’t have to be that way! I remember when I was saving my money to go on a mission (sigh.. those were the good ol’ days). I would only spend $10-15 on eating out per month. Wow! Shopping each week only cost me $15-20! That’s an even bigger wow! I was a money-saving machine! I had to be. I was saving to serve the Lord for a year and a half as a volunteer missionary. They don’t get paid, you know.

Then when I got back, I found that I couldn’t determine any life-changing events to save money for! I was in crisis! Or, was I?

I soon found that, with nothing especially important to save for, I was spending my money in ways I never had before–I was buying expensive presents for my friends, I bought a Blu-ray on Amazon without thinking twice about it, I bought a new laptop for college, and I started eating out because it was more convenient (#lazy).

Until this last week.

You see, on Monday, I was minding my own business, reading my homework assignments for FDREL 200 The Eternal Family, when I thought in my head, “I need to go to Japan–this year!” I immediately argued, “What are you thinking? That’s at least $2000! How’re you going to pay for it?” “I can get a job next semester. I can use the excess money of savings if I have to. If nothing else, I can get a credit card and pay it off later when I have the money.” Suddenly, all these ideas of how I could do it popped into my head, and I decided that this year, no matter the cost, I am going to visit Japan.

This got me thinking about how I spend my money. You want to hear what I came up with? Well, here it is. I wrote it all down for you.

Since the beginning of this year (2016), I have spent about $140 on eating out, $400 for groceries, and about $200 for other personal, miscellaneous stuff (random gifts, etc). I looked at that, and my jaw dropped. Whoa! And it’s only halfway through February.

This is something for another day, but I want to also learn how to budget my time so I’m getting stuff done early, and not just right on time (I’m a big procrastinator. Big shocker, huh).

There’s a lot of money-saving and time-keeping habits I need! Here’s hoping I can learn them quick enough!

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