June 6, 2007
I haven’t got anything exciting to report: I made it through no-spend months of April and May by hook and by crook, and not without some scars to show for it. Definitely didn’t no-spend like I had intended, having bought a couple few things here and there, but I was, at least, hyperaware of overspending my budget of ZERO. For example, the money spent on eating out was minimized greatly as I didn’t allow myself to slip in the occasional bought lunch at work, but I still took my family out for Mother’s Day. I’m mean, it was Mother’s Day. You don’t skip Mother’s Day for budgetary reasons unless you’re actually broke.
I was still allowed to spend on highly routine things like grocery shopping, and the odd fill-up. And, er … *guilty conscience* a pair of jeans because I couldn’t squeeze into my existing pairs of jeans. Come on, girls, you know what I’m talking ’bout, right?? Apart from looking like you’ve got sausages for legs, it’s just not comfortable. In defense of my professionalism, I needed some jeans that fit. And boy, these fit.
Oh, but the other way I avoided spending was not my usual ya-don’t-need-need-it routine. That only worked for a few things. For other things, I just put off buying until later. My tickets for Comic Con, for instance. I should have bought them at the end of last year’s Con as usual. But I didn’t. And every month thereafter didn’t seem like a good month for frivolous expenses. Now that it’s June, I’m fresh outta time. I had to buy them now because after June 7th, the prices go up again!
And then I decided to commit to another round of yoga for part of the summer. After wasting my money on the last set of classes last year and not attending every class, I’ve learned my lesson. It’s only $51/6 classes, but 1) I have to leave work an hour early, and 2) that’s another chunk of money I’m spending. And it’s only the first week of June!
Forget bored-spending, I have to watch this rebound spending!
May 1, 2007
“Let me ‘splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up….”
Gas: 183.11
Food: 23.36 (Restaurant/eating out only, doesn’t include groceries.)
Clothes: 100.60
Personal Care: 10
Travel: 0
Entertainment: 0
Wow, that looks like it was a miserable failure. Actually, I really bought the clothes in March, which is what kicked off the no-spend months to begin with, but it showed up on my credit card statement on April 2nd. I think that means it comes off. I think that gas should get a free pass too, because I always have to pay for gas for the cars, whether or not I drive that month.
So, really:
Food: 23.36 (Restaurant/eating out only, doesn’t include groceries.)
Personal: 10
Travel: 0
Entertainment: 0
Total: 33.36
Now that I’ve meddled with the data, I think it looks like a rousing success!
No, really, the eating out and other personal spending are the two true variable categories where I actually have a choice to make about whether or not to spend the money. Sometimes I don’t have a choice, I have to spend it on a haircut, etc., but other than that I don’t have to spend on entertainment, or eating out and I can be more careful and plan ahead when I’m going to travel.
I did have one slightly shady transaction which was the pair of sunglasses that my friend bought for me. It’s a little shady (no pun intended) because she bought them simply because it was no-spend month for me. It’s a close cousin to mooching, I’m afraid.
April 22, 2007
A work acquaintance spent last week nagging me about my boring life, and how I needed to get out and have more fun “at my age.” After some thought, it didn’t seem like such a bad notion to enjoy life a bit more and I resolved to go with the flow if merrymaking plans arose, rather than squashing them with my usual “I’ve got to work” mutter.
Well, you know how that goes…. you don’t just ease into it, life just comes at you in a torrent of commitments. I planned to get my hair cut on Saturday and take BoyDucky’s friend out for lunch or dinner for his 30th birthday on Sunday. Friday evening, I swear, I could hear the gods tittering at my “planning”. This is how the story really goes:
Friday: My state tax refund hit my account, yay!
Saturday: A good friend’s mom turned 60, so I was invited to a surprise birthday lunch. After lunch, East Coast Friend (ECF) proceeded to find and buy me an awesome pair of sunglasses because she a) has been looking for sunglasses for me since high school, and b) she knew I was knee deep in no-spend month 1. I really only looked because I figured we’d have no luck again, I definitely didn’t expect her to get them for me!
Saturday afternoon: I was asked to relief babysit for BoyDucky’s brother and sis-in-law so BoyDucky’s family could have a family birthday dinner. Except I got into an accident on the freeway to the house. The idiot driving an SUV pulled that cutting-across-four-lanes move, and was going to take out the front of my car, so I had to pull into the first lane to try and avoid him. He hit the rear tire of my car anyway, and caused another car to go spinning across the highway behind us. My tire is flat, the hubcap is gone, and the wheel well is beat up. It could have been a lot worse, considering what he was doing, but now I have to deal with insurance, fixing my tire, fixing my car…… *sigh* Geebus. Babysitting Backup Friend (BBF) and I shared our consolation prize: Costco Dog and salad. As we were over an hour late to babysit, BoyDucky’s family postponed their dinner plans until Sunday. So that meant that the originally planned birthday dinner had to become a Sunday brunch. Except we were meant to have brunch with ECF and Co.
Sunday: We tried to schedule one earlier and one later, but ultimately had to split up for our respective brunches, instead. Then we gals had some good clean fun at ECF’s house w/ECF playing hairdresser and the rest of us playing Care Bears: The Game That Melts Cold Hearts. No reading required. Ages 4-8. Doesn’t that motto strike anyone as a little mean?
I’m back now, with Moom’s tag to work on, dinner to make and work to do. *Sigh* I can’t wait to hide at home next weekend!! (with my spiffy new sunglasses perched atop my shaggy hair, of course.)
Oh, and Stater Bros. has their Ragu pasta sauces on sale for 99 cents a jar. Silver lining, anyone?
Spendy spendy:
$5, Costco
$0, sunglasses (courtesy ECF)
$0, Sunday brunch (courtesy BBF)
$???, car accident