Actually, I'm not living above my budget at all, in fact I'm living on less than half of what I bring in each month. I suppose the small snippets you get on my LJ might make it seem that way, but it's the exact opposite. In fact I've joked to a couple of people recently that back when I never had any money, all I could think about was the things I wanted to do and buy, and now that I have money in the bank, I don't want to spend barely anything. I keep bitching at Ian that we're going out to dinner too much because I would rather cook at home. LOL.

At present, I have over 2X as much in my bank account as the limit I'm planning to get on the secured credit card I'm intending to get (and my bank will hold the security in a GIC for me, earning interest). Even subtracting that amount, I will still have twice as much money in savings as I will need for the trip in July (we're doing it on the cheap and staying with friends). I absolutely refuse to buy ANYTHING on credit anymore - I won't even allow myself to make purchases on the credit card once I have it unless I have the cash in my bank account to pay it off immediately. I am only anxious to get the credit card in hand for convenience's sake - despite the fact that I have the money to pay for the damned thing, the car rental company won't let me reserve a car without a credit card, and because Ian has no driver's license (and I will therefore be doing all the driving), he can't use his to do it even though he offered.

And once all that is over and done with, I will be saving up for a used car, not financing one. :)