I work full time and make okay money. I pay my rent and other bills every month, don’t go out a lot, and haven’t gone anywhere on vacation the two years I’ve been at my job. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong because I barely make it from paycheck to paycheck. --- WHERE’S MY MONEY?

DEAR WHERE’S: Although you may not think so, budgeting can be a deceptively simple skill. But it takes practice and discipline.

Some banks offer on-line tools to analyze your debit card spending. If your bank has this service, check it out. You might be surprised where your money’s going.

Now if you’re really brave, you could tuck your plastic deep into your wallet and give the Great Cash Experiment a try.

Figure roughly what you spend in a week on small-scale necessities like transportation, gas, food – the kinds of things you currently debit or charge. That becomes your weekly cash allowance. Withdraw only that much from the bank and use it for all your incidental weekly expenses.

There’s no better way to get an accurate idea of where you’re spending money than when you have to actually fork over some cash for your purchases.

There will be times – and plenty of them – when you’ll need to go to the card; but if you stick to the plan for a few months, not only should you have a clearer feel for your particular cost of living, but you might end up with a little extra jingle to put into savings or be used for a self-rewarding micro-splurge.

I’ve been seeing a girl for nearly two years and things are going really well. We go to the same college but come from different parts of the state. On long weekends and breaks, we switch off spending them at her parents’ house and mine. Her mom and dad are cool with us sharing a bed when we’re at their place, but my mom and dad don’t allow it, even though they know we pretty much live together at school.

What can I do to convince my parents to let us sleep in the same bed when we’re at my home? --- JUST WANT TO BE WITH MY GIRLFRIEND

DEAR JUST: Your mom and dad are not alone. An informal poll of several of my fellow parents of young adults resulted in a majority consensus on the side of separate sleeping accommodations during home visits.

While your girlfriend’s parents have different opinions on this subject, your mom and dad are entirely entitled to their own views. Hopefully they accept your relationship and respect you and your girlfriend as adults. You need to return that respect and follow their house rules, even if you don’t like some of them.

Your love will keep for a few nights, and by making things less awkward for your family, everyone has a less stressful chance to enjoy visits and the opportunities to get to know each other little better.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I have a friend who’s been one of my best friends since my first day as a new freshman at a new high school in a new town. I love her and she has seen me through some rough times. When I was dangerously depressed a few years ago she was one of my rocks. I’ve been slowly recovering, still struggling sometimes, but trying to keep away from the darkness, just as she seems to be heading deeper into it. She is in therapy and takes meds, but she is impossible to deal with at times. Everything I do is wrong, and she twists everything I say around to be an attack on her.

I can’t turn my back on her, but all my other friends and even my family say I might need to cut the ties for my sanity’s sake, but she has been such a big part of my life for so long it isn’t easy. Plus given my experience, I know I could help her if she’d let me.

So, do I cut and run or stick it out? --- HURT AND Confused bff

DEAR HURT AND CONFUSED: You’re the kind of friend we all need in our lives, and being no stranger to the darkness, I get why you believe you’d be a perfect resource for someone in crisis. But the thing is, you also need to safeguard your own on-going recovery.

Since your friend’s getting professional help, you need to step back and let the pros do their job. To your great credit, you don’t want to abandon her, but modern life further tilts an already slippery slope.

In this age of constant, instant communication, failure to constantly and instantly respond to messages annoys many in good circumstances. To someone literally not in her right mind, any delay – no matter how reasonable – may feel like a betrayal.

For your sake I suggest avoiding daily for the time being. Try periodically reaching out with an old school letter or card expressing understanding, support, and continued friendship. It’s amazing how much more you can say if you have to really think about what you’re putting down on paper. Whether it’s a thing of beauty or a proofreader’s nightmare, you’ll have given your old friend a piece of yourself – from a hopefully safe distance for you.

When she receives your offerings she can read, shred, frame, or put them away unopened, depending on her emotional and mental state at the moment. She may respond by blowing-up your phone; or the silence may be deafening. Whatever path she takes don’t be surprised by her reaction, and don’t take it personally. You’ll have held out your hand and your heart, and sometimes that’s the best we can do.

Good luck to you both.