So I've worked out my upcoming budget for the next few months and it's...hm. Tight. But not impossible. My question is ... how do you typically decide how much to spend on "fun stuff" like American Girl? I asked my mom and she said, 'Whatever's reasonable.' But I know my family doesn't have tons of money to spare to help me out. My monthly budget is about $600. I spend around $300 on food, $150 on gas, and the rest is for miscelaneous expenses. I'd like to keep some 'buffer zone' in my account in case of emergency, but I want to have a little fun too. Hmmm...

Here's where the mangling comes in ... by the official talley, my text books would have come out to $550-600. By ordering used online and searching out people who'd already taken my classes, I wound up "only" spending around $300-330. Do you guys think it would be terrible to spend, oh, around $100-120 on a new AG doll or "big" accessory? What if I sold my old textbooks back to the school? I feel like I need a splurge BUT, I splurged a bit last month, too.

Argh. I'm so conflicted! I feel like a penny pincher and a fun spender are wrestling inside my heart ... Waaah! Why can't I have a job already? Then at least I wouldn't feel bad spending money that's available to spend.