debt

The teacher's union and district may have finally come to agreement on the contract for this year (meaning the school year starting back in September!). We were discussing the check we'll be getting, for the retroactive pay increase. Some people are sending their money directly to credit card debt. This got me thinking about why I don't have credit card debt, and where does my money really get spent anyway. It helps to have savings to work from, but it also helps that I don't really buy that much. I looked up what I've used my credit card on in the last three months and came up with this:

	Category	% of Total Spending
	Groceries	44.65%
	Pets/Pet Care	9.96%
	Gasoline/Fuel	9.63%
	Health care/Medical	8.29%
	Office Supplies	5.60%
	Hobbies	5.11%
	Automotive Expenses	4.85%
	Restaurants/Dining	4.40%

Plus a few other miscellaneous things. I like that book stores come up as Hobbies and buying stuff at Salvation Army counts as charitable giving (part of misc.). Of course, pet care is only so high because the last three months include all of their set up costs. They are significantly less of my budget currently. The only money I spend outside of my credit card is for monthly bills, all of which are quite reasonable, except for the internet. Why must I be so dependent speedy web surfing? Anyway, my point here is that I don't spend a lot on unnecessary things, and I really don't understand a culture that insists on wasting money they don't have.

Now to spend my afternoon enjoying the sunshine, the antics of my pets, a good meal and my library book!