“Spending Money” Archive
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I opened my first cell phone bill since the big switch last month. Expecting a lower bill (as promised by the sales guy – of course), I happily opened my bill to discover…
A big fat number reading – $324.
Cough. Ack!! $324?!?!?
Thinking my husband or I somehow went over the minutes or violated some sort of agreement, I searched the bill looking for answers.
Overages: none.
I waited a minute or two for my blood pressure to return to normal and called the cell phone company. Turns out, activation of new service requires you to pay the current month, one month in advance, activation fees, and taxes on everything. They did give me the amount I will be paying in future months and, yes, it will be lower than what I was paying but… a little warning about the first month would have been helpful.
I’ve got to sell a lung real quick.
Youch!!
I scrimp, I save, I budget but there are two things that can empty my bank account in three seconds flat:
My mortgage and Costco Wholesale.
I suffered an attack from both yesterday.
My mortgage cleared my account in the morning and even though I’m prepared, even though it’s budgeted, it’s always a little disheartening to feel rich one day and broke the next. It’s like watching a car full of cash leave my checking account each month.
For some reason, I thought yesterday might also be a good time to go to Costco. We ran out of paper towels and we would soon need napkins and toilet paper. This trip SHOULD have cost $45.
I tried to make a straight line down the center of the store, directly to the paper products (conveniently placed in the BACK) but found myself saying, ‘Peaches? OF COURSE I need a huge flat of peaches. Sure, it’s only hubby and me and we’ll have to eat 17 peaches each in the next 5 days, but I CAN’T live without them.’
It’s as if all logical thought and reasoning disappear at those roll-up doors.
I loaded the cart with apples, pre-cooked dinners, dog food, and paper products. My exit cost me…
$191.
I’m tricked into thinking I’m ‘saving money’ by purchasing toilet paper 92 rolls at a time but those rolls are typically accompanied by loads of items I don’t need.
It’s not as if anything I purchased will go to waste, but it will take 10 years for us to use it all. Fortunately, my husband worked a side job a few weekends ago and we had the cash, but that’s $191 that won’t be going into our emergency fund this month.
I think I’m going to have to break up with Costco.
I decided to dedicate my Saturday morning to rearranging all the food products in our pantry and throw away any outdated goods. I figured this might be my only shot to get organized for a while and assumed this task would take about an hour.
THREE hours later, I slipped my final can into an organized row.
And for the part I am ashamed to admit…
I had to toss 6 trash bags of food. I easily wasted several hundred dollars of grocery budget by letting my food expire. As someone who worked in a grocery store, I guess I missed the lesson on first in, first out.
It’s not that I don’t know how it happened. I come home from work, exercise, tidy the house, and tiredly open the pantry doors to grab whatever food is in front. I simply lack the energy to move things around – especially in the last 9 months.
Off to Walmart I went to purchase $15 worth of plastic bins. Using plastic bins as drawers in my linen closet has helped to keep my shampoos, lotions, and body washes organized so I figured I’d give it a shot in the kitchen. Pulling out 10 individual cans to find one in the back? Not going to happen. Pulling out one clear plastic bin? Pretty darn easy.
Ugh. Why didn’t I think to do this years ago! I wouldn’t have to live with the guilt of all that wasted food!!
The roommates have been out about a month now and we are starting to receive our very first utility bills for just the two of us. We all used the same common areas and shared the TV so I didn’t anticipate much of a dip when they left. Sure the water bill would drop a little but that’s it…
Or so I thought.
The water bill did drop a little, only about $20. Since our water bills are sent every two months, this wasn’t a full cycle for two of us, but it’s a pretty good indicator of what we’ll be paying next time.
The cable bill dropped more than $30. They took their cable box and DVR with them and I didn’t realize the monthly expense of the extra cable box. That’s what I get for writing checks and not reading bills!
The most shocking bill of all? Electric. Since we’ve had roommates from the day we moved into our home, we never knew what the total would be without them. The statement would always hover between $135 and $160 per month. This month? $78.
We don’t have roommates to cover half the bills BUT…
Overall, we aren’t that far from what we’ve been paying.
Who knew we were so ‘green’!!??!!
Through careful Craigslist shopping, my husband and I have been able to purchase almost all the items we need to furnish the baby’s room. I went out to the garage, saw the neat stack of used furniture, and broke into tears. Rather than see brand new furniture boxes with happy baby photos on the front as I had always imagined, I saw “someone else’s stuff.”
I felt like I had failed all my picket fence dreams.
Several of my friends are having babies and they share their stories of shopping for furniture at pricey stores and picking out themes. Meanwhile, my ‘theme’ is – buy study wood furniture that matches… sort of. Don’t get me wrong, it will look great and I’ll spend 90% less than my friends, but I couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed that I spend my weekends at garage sales and traipsing through people’s homes asking for deals.
Yesterday morning, the head of HR stopped to chat. He and his wife are expecting their third… and ‘very, very, unexpectedly, accidental’ child. They have to start over on purchasing baby goods and he mentioned the ‘killer deal’ he got on a crib from Craigslist.
I choked on my caffeine-free tea. ‘What?!?’ I gasped, trying to take a breath.
Keep in mind, this guy makes well over 100K a year.
“Yeah, it’s great. Why should I take the hit on retail? Let some other sucker pay it” he said with a huge grin. He saw the shock register on my face, grabbed my arm, and said, “Oh my gosh Rebekah. Please don’t tell me you bought something new right? It’s such a rip off!” he said.
“No. The room is furnished thanks to Craigslist and garage sales” I said.
“Thank goodness! I knew you were smarter than that” and he continued to chat away.
Do you even know what a relief it was to hear that – especially from someone who can afford nice things? I was flying high finally thinking I hadn’t failed, I’d simply been smart about my finances… for once.
All the furniture is paid for with cash. I guess I do have a theme…
Financial Responsibility.
My company has a very generous per diem rate for traveling employees. You’d think after all this time spent penny pinching, I’d be pretty awesome at spending other people’s money – especially on the one item I tend to pinch the most… FOOD.
On my first night out, at a restaurant chosen by my coworkers, I could have ordered the filet mignon.
Totally covered in my per diem rate? Yes.
Something I love and haven’t had much of… OK, OK, haven’t had any of for as long as I can remember? Yup.
Something I didn’t order because I couldn’t wrap my silly little brain around the concept of spending nearly $40 on instead of the$12 veggie plate?
Yes.
The veggie plate was fabulous by the way.
In the whole scheme of things, our company is HUGE and very few employees are paid to travel. Will my week of penny pinching someone else’s dollar make a difference? Not in the very least.
Admittedly, I should have loosened up and ordered something I REALLY, REALLY wanted at least one of those days but I guess my frugality isn’t as easy to ditch as I thought.
I haven’t been running lately, not because my doctor told me to stop, but because I feel weird about jogging down the road while my poor kid gets jostled like a smoothie in a blender.
My overactive dog likes running. He does NOT like walking. To prove it, he pulls relentlessly at his leash to show his annoyance that I’m now moving at the speed of a sea turtle. I let him get away with his antics for a few days until my sore hands could take it no more. I tried ‘delicately’ tugging back, stopping when he pulled, and outright begging him to stop but nothing helped.
I went to the pet store and purchased a $17 collar that promised to stop all tugging. I did exactly as instructed in the directions. I let him sniff it, gave him treats, let him wear it with no leash, gave him treats, put on a leash with no pressure, gave him treats, and grabbed the leash ready for a good pain free walk.
Given the fact that the $17 came out of our grocery budget and we’d be eating ramen for 2 days, I had fairly high expectations.
Ha.
He planted all four paws firmly on the concrete, completely unwilling to move. ‘Oh. So mature Hutch!’ I yell. I dragged him about 3 feet or so until he suddenly started walking. ‘ I win!’ I thought… until I looked back in time to see him throw himself on the neighbor’s lawn, roll over onto his back, and whine loudly as if I had kicked him.
The neighbor, of course, picks this opportune time to walk outside and wave hello. ‘Congrats on the baby’ he says over my howling dog, who now has his paw caught in his collar. ‘Thanks!’ I say, trying to ignore the fact that my dog is giving a better death act than most Oscar winners. I pause. ‘Um. I promise I’ll be a better parent than pet owner’ I say loudly as my dog walked over to my neighbor’s feet to throw himself at them… still howling. ‘Uh huh’ the neighbor says doubtfully.
I quickly pick up my wayward dog, STILL howling, and walk down the street before suffering further embarrassment.
It was a slow hour long process with lots of whining – mostly mine – but I think we finally figured out how to walk in peace.
Now, off to figure out how to make my husband not throw a similar tantrum in the neighbor’s yard when he hears we’re having Ramen for two days.
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My Debt
- Original Debt: $97,293.06
- Paid: $1,927.89
- Remaining: $95,365.17
- Emergency Fund: $1100
- Broken Down
- Line of Credit 2: $0.00
- Line of Credit 1: $0.00
- Credit Card 1: $0.00
- Credit Card 2: $245.00
- Credit Card 3: $405.00
- Credit Card 6: $1,785.00
- Credit Card 7: $2,381.17
- Consolidation Loan: $11,000.00
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- Auto Loan 1: $16,093.00
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- Auto Loan 2: $25,064.00
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