I know that everyone is dying to know how the party went. (haha) First of all thanks to those who offered me some advise, I got some ideas I might use in the future (Including giving Lambics a try). However, it turns out I didn’t need to use any of it!

 Usually when we hang out on the weekends with these friends we lounge with a few beers and we snack on stuff. Well, it turns out she was serious when she said she wanted to have a party. There were a lot more people than I was expecting, and there was even a DJ! Several people took liquor in addition to the beer, and so the result was quite a few drinking options for everyone!! I had already gone ahead and bought my drinks, so what we did was save them and we’re going to have them the next time we’re lounging around.

We had a good time, but it was definitely not the most frugal/responsible of weekends (mostly out of my laziness).

Here’s a recap of my spending (just on the weekend….aarrrgh!):

 Friday – I forgot my lunch, so I went to Subway thinking I’d have a footlong and save half for dinner. Total was $6.74 (I ended up leaving it at the office, so I’m having it today for lunch).

Later that night I went to the grocery store to get some ice cream and supplies for the dessert I was making. Total $16.04 ($52.38 left of my $75/week allowance).

Next stop, McDonalds. My boyfriend and I were starving and too lazy to cook. Total $4.28 ($48.10 left)

Saturday – I realized I had NO cash, so I stopped by the bank and took out $20…enough to last me all week, right? (HAH!) $28.10 left.

I went to the grocery store to get some drinks for the night. The first store I went to didn’t have what I was looking for (Parrot Bay), so I decided to go to another nearby grocery store. I get to the next store….they don’t have it either!! At this point I just want to go home. I reach over to take a look at a Bacardi 6 pack…and my purse hooks onto a bottle and brings a whole pack crashing at my feet!!!! (I’m soaked, full of glass, I want to cry.) Some guy tells me not to worry about it, so I just grab something and go (Bacardi Watermelon. I really wanted to leave it, but I figured I’d already gone through all that for some drinks, so I’m taking them dangit!) Total $7.48, $20.62 left.

I changed and later on my mom and I needed to go to Costco. I know I’m cutting it close to my limit, but I’d promised I was going to take chips and dip! I ended up finding some good breakfast bars too, making the total $18.50, and leaving me with $2.12. While I was there (starving again, as usual) I had some delicious Costco pizza and paid with cash.

Fastforward to Sunday night – I felt like having hot dogs and suggested to my boyfriend we go get some. A whopping $12 later (YES, $12 for hot dogs…$2 each and I had two, and my boyfriend had a $6 sandwich, and our friend had a $2 soda!!) and it was back home for me. I had $6 cash left….just enough for my special sandwich I have on Mondays (a strange habit of mine) but not the cheetos I like to eat with it. 😦

That would have been the end of my spending, but Netflix automatically charges my card around the 14th of the month, so that was another $14.97 leaving me with -$12.85.

Finally, yesterday I got out of work a little late, and I had a longer drive than usual ahead of me (2 hrs versus the usual 40 minutes)…and I was already starving. I stopped by TacoBell and got a crunchwrap and a taco for a total of $3.07, leaving me with a grand total of -$15.92.

 

Lessons for the weekend: Budget! (And learn to say NO to yourself)

I usually stay within the $75 I allow myself, and I don’t normally have to plan ahead, but a combination of party expenses and unplanned hunger brought me to overspend. Also, don’t suggest going to eat at a place that only takes cash when you only have a $20 for the rest of the week….otherwise you end up lending cash to others and run out of money for Monday’s lunch. =]