inding the fat in your budget has all the allure of checking the dog for ticks, doesn't it? By comparison, diets are downright inviting. But if you can make a game of cutting the fat - those unnecessary expenditures - out of your budget, it evolves from a dreary task to something you can play and win. So let's get going.

If your boss told you that you could either take a 5 percent pay cut or leave, you'd probably take the 5 percent pay cut. So one option is to give yourself the pay cut and bank it. All of us could cut 5 percent - and more - in fat.

Focus first on fixed expenses. Just because they're "fixed," doesn't mean they're not negotiable. Many items are fixed only in that they come out of your paycheck every month or you write checks for them automatically - like rent and life insurance. So start at the top. Each budget item deserves a full airing.

Your home is your castle. But can you afford the one you have? Moving is not something you're going to do tomorrow. But if your castle is eating up more than 25 percent of your income, start making long-term plans. Add extra money to pay down your mortgage. Think about moving to a cheaper home or apartment. The 1997 tax law provides an incentive to trade down: $500,000 in tax-free capital gains on a home, no matter what your age.

Turn down the heat and air conditioning. Analyze your phone needs. Do you need so many lines? Is your cell phone essential?

If your term life insurance policy is five or more years old, you're in for a pleasant surprise. Term rates have been heading straight down over that period. You can almost certainly get a better rate. Increase the deductibles on your auto and homeowner's policies, too, to save money, and drop collision insurance if your car is paid for. Don't skip disability insurance, though. If you can't work due to a disability, you could jeopardize everything without insurance.

Think about the foods that are really pleasurable to you. Don't cut corners there. But how about bottled water? Is there any difference between the brand for $1.99 and the one for $3.99? Do you really enjoy the prepared foods you buy? Could you make something fresh and simple - and cheaper?

What can we say? The biggest enemy of a clothing budget is impulse. You need a strategy. Make a list of what you need. Shop from your list. Buy the best you can afford. Think about all the stuff you have hanging in your closet.

This item can eat up 50 percent of a budget. Don't tell yourself you're going to stop visiting your girlfriend or significant other on the weekends. But take a hard look at where you can save. Set a budget for transportation.

Negotiate for bargain airfares. Cars are better made and last much longer than they used to. Get one you like. Take good care of it and keep it two years longer. Or three. Walk instead of taking a cab.

It's tough cutting corners here. If you've found a good caretaker for your children, don't cut her pay. Supportive people helping in your business and home can make your life run much more smoothly.

This one has lots of opportunities for reductions. Pick up two months' worth of credit card bills and total up the interest you paid. If you pay off your credit cards, you will save that much every month.

Contribute to your 401(k) plan and make use of health-care and dependent-care spending accounts at work.

Of course, you must focus on discretionary spending as well. The key, however, is to choose something that makes your life better - that enriches it rather than diminishes it. For example, consider the pat advice to jot down everything you spend in a notebook. How tedious!

But try turning it around. Every time you decide to forego a purchase, you put that money in your savings bank. You skip a latte, that's $3. You walk instead of taking the bus or subway, $1.50. You pack your own lunch, $10.

Another possibility is to set aside one month of the year to economize. No first-run movies; no tablecloth restaurants; no ice cream and goodies; no travel, magazines, books, hobby stuff, long-distance calls. Look at it as freedom, not limitations.

But you must customize your trims. For a young couple, staying home one month in winter might be a fun savings game. But for a young single person just getting started in a new career or for a widower, it could be worse than a month in jail. Budgeting should not be about tormenting yourself.

So look at discretionary expenses to see what you could do here. Think of positive lifestyle changes. Stuart Kessler, a financial planner in New York, says he once suggested to an elderly client that the amount of money she was spending at the florist was too high. "But Mr. Kessler," this woman said, "fresh flowers are a necessity to me."

So that's the problem with the Simple Living movement. It makes you feel as though you can have no luxury or pleasure in life unless it's free. Forget that. But do look at your discretionary spending to see if there are lifestyle changes that could make you happier and still cost less.

For example, when I moved to the country a year and a half ago, I decided not to join a gym. I figured I would walk and bike outside instead. It didn't work out though. I missed the concentrated exercise at the gym. So I joined one a year later.

On the other hand, my family and I almost never go out to dinner anymore, something we did regularly in New York City. Now we grow vegetables, bake bread, buy fresh salmon to barbecue, pick berries and apples at local orchards and invite friends over.

Vacations, too, can be thrilling without being costly if you do some research and plan a trip that allows you to explore and further an interest. There are lots of ways to economize that have nothing to do with asceticism and that may actually enrich your lives.

You can find the fat in your budget. It just takes a little creativity and willingness on your part.