Now that the end of the year is in sight, I've been taking a high level look at my budget to see where my money has gone this year and how I want to change the budget for next year, if at all.
I don't think you can ever have a perfect budgeting system, so there are always ways to tweak and improve. One thing that really stands out to me is how I categorized a few things. For example, one of my categories is "Cosmetics and Toiletries." Pretty basic, right? Well, I realized that the category makes it hard to analyze my spending. It contains both necessities and non-necessities. I need sunscreen. I don't need sparkly eyeshadow. So next year, I'm going to pull this category apart.
I also have a similar deal with my "Books and Music" category, as I include my expenses for my choir music in that category. Dropping $30 in a month on Books and Music at Borders is very different from buying $30 worth of music for choir rehearsals.
So I will continue to tweak. Anything to improve my savings!