<prompt> Human: Hi everyone,I am a 22 year old male living in Canada on my own girlfriend moving in soon.First of all - here is what my monthly budget generally looks like: I split my budget into two week sections - basically my work pay cycle.Few things to note: GroceriesFood is quite high, I realize. This is basically a safe number - when I am motivated to cook, I have a bunch of that leftover at the end of the month and it goes into savings, or emergency account or whatever my current goals are. If I eat out a lot, this amount still manages to cover that - that is why it is so high. I know one way to save would be to not eat out and cut back this amount a lot. Gas also may seem a bit high - it is a little higher than what I actually use, but I kind of use that as a secret savings. I have a separate account for gas money, and it slowly builds up as I put 100 there each paycheque - since I dont use it all. I keep it there most of the time for when I have to drive on long trips to visit my family. I wish I could lower my auto insurance. I live in Canada and am 23 years old. I have looked and cannot find cheaper anywhere. I need my car for work, so I dont really have a choice. All the regular payments you see are minimum payments. I am actually cancelling Netflix because I do not need it. My parents have said I can just use their account. I have looked at lowering my phone bill - but I need at least an option of data for work. I sometimes have to tether to my phone in remote places, and if I lower my plan anymore - my data charges will be outrageous. Im sure most of you see that phone amount as ridiculous, but remember I live in Canada. Internet is a bitch. Here in Canada there are like 2 companies that have reasonable internet. They are both expensive as fuck. I have complained to the company I am with many times and actually got several discounts - which left me at about 60 - so I really dont think I can go any cheaper than that unless I want super slow internet. Google Music is not really necessary - but I believe it is a very fair price for the convenience of music and I use it all the time. My paycheque amount that I have there is the lowest I will possibly receive - it fluctuates due to different CPP and EI payments - and also due to overtime. Sometimes that number can be quite high if Ive worked a lot of overtime.As you can see I dont seem to have many options left for saving money. I have gone through each item and tried to bring it down as much as possible. I think cutting down the foodgroceries budget would be my best bet now. Other than that, I just have to try making more money and working more overtime. I should be getting a promotion pretty soon here, so that will hopefully help.Hoping someone sees something that I dont and can help me cut down cost somehow. Thanks so much for reading, and sorry if I wasnt clear about anything. Let me know if you need more info!Edit: Another little extra - I am looking for tips on avoiding credit card spending. I have a bad habit of spending money on my credit card without thinking and then realizing I have about 1500 to pay off - which leaves even less for savings. Currently I have it paid off - so I am doing well, but I am just looking for some tips to try and avoid it from happening again.Assistant: Youre spending nearly 50 of your income on housing, and nearly 25 on food. You desperately need to improve these areas. Are you eating lobster 5 nights a week? I cant fathom how one person spends 800month on food. Will your girlfriend be paying rent? If she pays half thats a large amount of cash flow freed up. Human: I agree, I do need to improve on these areas, but you didnt read my post. I do not use 800 per month on food. I just budget that as an extreme safe amount in case I eat out a lot. I normally only use half that at the most.I realize I still need to improve those areas by eating more at home - which I will definitely be doing soon. Thank you for the input.One question though - how can I improve on my housing costs? Besides selling my condo. It is a two bedroom condo - so I could always rent out a room I guess - but do you have any other ideas?  <response>: Then dont budget for a safe amount - budget for what you actually use, or even better, what you need to use.It seems like, without realizing it, you are giving yourself permission to spend that kind of money on food every month. Sure, you may not spend that amount every month, but you are still giving yourself the mental room. Give yourself less room and live by it. 