Money worries

I have rising feelings of panic at the moment - I've just been doing one of my weekly catch ups on the expenditure and bank balances, and it's not a pretty picture. I'd be ok for this month if it weren't for the fact that I'm going away to Norway for 5 days on Thursday, which is certainly not going to be the cheapest of trips, and I'm already slightly over my budget for the month, even before I've paid for that. That in turn means that any surplus at the end of the month to make extra repayments to my credit cards is shot.

In addition to that, my credit card took a hit yesterday as I did a run to Snow and Rock to get kit - partly for the Norway trip (a new waterproof) and partly for my running and biking (new water bottle, bike shorts, helmet and spare inner tubes / puncture patches). None of that is absolutely, strictly, 100% essential in the most puritan of terms, although it will all be well used, and is stuff I've been umming and ahhhing over getting for a while now, but I'm still suffering the inevitable feelings of guily and "did I really need that?" now.

I just feel a bit like I'm slowing slipping deeper when I'm meant to be trying to crawl out of this. Aside from yesterday's kit shop, my general spending has been getting a bit better, but I'm realising now the cost of my constant socialising, and weekend's away - even when I'm not drinking particularly. My petrol bill's getting fairly hammered, there's been a fair few meals out to pay for recently and it's the odds and ends of cash that seem to add up to one huge amount and just disappear when you're not looking.

Looking ahead in my diary, it doesn't seem to get any better. I'm grateful that I have so many friends who invite me to so much stuff, but I worry now that it's more than I can afford. I might need to think seriously about some social curtailment to save myself whilst I'm still just about afloat. I barely have a weekend at home at the moment between now and the end of July.