Three cheers for President-Elect Obama. His optimism runs freely on the streets of Portland this morning.

Though once the revelry mellows down, he's going to have his hands full. What, with the economy in the crapper and all.

It'll be nothing but finance reviews and spending restrictions for months - and there's nothing merry about that. I should know, I've been elbows-deep in a budget myself (on a slightly smaller scale).

See, I'm in the market to buy a house. And while there are first-time home buyer grants to help me out, I still need a little more out-of-pocket cash for a down payment.

After talking with my mortgage lender friend I established a savings goal. Looking at my income versus my expenditures, I should be able to save a nice chunk of change in a jiff.

Why, then, am I not rolling in cash now?

I mean, I wear the same clothes I've had for years. I don't drop $80 on snazzy dinners. I don't own any cool toys like surfboards or kayaks or boats. I don't travel to Europe every year or own an exotic bird.

I honestly don't know where all my money goes…

Ah, yes. That could account for some of it.

So I vowed to reign in the spending, eliminate special-interest loopholes and deductions and protect tax cuts for the middle class.

Wait, no. That wasn't my plan at all. Must've heard someone say that recently.

Instead I wrote out a budget, including the necessary rent and utilities, food, gas, etc. I even included some spending cash every week so I could still eat and/or drink in public every now then. (Stole that idea from a friend who takes out $100 cash every Wednesday so she's not lured into superfluous spending by that cheap and easy friend Debit Card.)

"This is it. No more frivolous spending," I'd said determinedly on Tuesday.

And for the last 24 hours I've done a tremendous job.

Except for the drinks I bought at Empire last night (it was an election watch party at a bar….what was I supposed to do? I was practically strong-armed...you know, emotionally.)

And then there were the Munchkins I bought for this morning's editorial meeting at the office. (You've heard about the layoffs at Blethen, so yea, I'll go out of my way to secure my job. If new owners don't see the talents I bring to my role as content producer, then hopefully they'll still keep me around because I'm "the broad who brings the donuts.")

So the budget has a few kinks. But I'm determined to be a 30-year-old with a house. I think I can forgo a few happy hours for that.