I recently became a credit card holder. I was pretty excited about it, because this is my first credit card. And before you tell me of all the pitfalls of credit, I’ll tell you that I am only using the card to purchase things that I would otherwise purchase with my debit card and checking account – no fancy spending sprees for me.

Which is why I was shocked to get my first bill last week. I racked up quite the number of sales through my first month, and I didn’t use the card for anything I wasn’t already buying. But rather than a slow trickle out of my checking account through a debit card, I get to see an entire month of spending all at once, and I don’t like it.

And so I’m budgeting now. My goal is to reduce my spending by at least $100 in my second month. That means cutting out unneeded spending, though, which has been pretty hard so far. My focus this month is on fast food and restaurants, which made up most of my bill last month. I don’t think it should be much of a problem to cut those restaurants out of my routine entirely. I may also have to reevaluate my disposition toward CD, DVD, and book purchases.

What would you cut out of your budget in order to save a few extra bucks? Where, aside from things like utility bills and mortgage payments, does most of your money go?