Where it Went 8/19 - 9/01

So tallying up this past budgeting period was a a little intimidating, but the news wasn't so bad. I did spend a lot of cash on dining out, wine and clothes. I was still able to meet my Wedding Savings goal (yay) but didn't end up getting the new contact lenses I need, the haircare I sort of need, or the driver's license I probably need. But spending money on food and wine is easy. Actually making an appointment and rearranging your day in order to spend money is less so. I must strive to do better.

But today is payday, a glorious day that I swear never to take for granted, that allows me a time once every two weeks to reexamine my goals (and my bills). So here's why my money went over the last two weeks compared to the budget I set:

Capital One - 100/100
Perkins loan - 93/93

School loan - 54/54
Sprint - 73/73
License renewal - 50/0
Wedding - 400/457
Laptop - 100/100
Contacts - 120/0
Beauty - 80/20
Groceries - 75/0
Misc. - 100/320
Clothes - 0/120

Since I didn't go food shopping before my fiance left town I ate out quite a bit (yummy Indian food). I also went out to the bar a few times with friends after work (I was lonely). And we went to a concert and I paid for the food and drinks. So...yeah, I spent more than I planned but less than I could have if I decided to be really bad. I am sad the summer is ending but at least it means less incentive to run around in the warm weather on a spending spree.

I tried to renew my license and found out I owe a fine. I haven't paid it yet.

I saved $400 for the wedding and spent $57 on Save the Dates to mail to our family and friends so they know in advance to book their travel accomodations for our summer 2010 wedding.

Stay tuned for my new budget.

We Need a Grocery Budget!!!

I am taking a break from reporting about the out-of-town wedding I attended to discuss a matter that has become of upmost important to me: food.

I've always loved food, don't get me wrong. And I have already learned my lesson about the perils of buying lunch at work. But ever since I started dating Boyfriend I have become alarmingly domesticated. I've been cooking! And not just pasta or scrambled eggs but actual meals. Truth be told before he came around for dinner I mostly ate:

• Canned soup
• Ramen noodles
• Frozen dinners
• Frozen ravioli
• Chef Boyardee ravioli
• Pasta, lots and lots of pasta
• Mac and cheese out of a box
• Hot dogs
• PB & J

In my defense, my Mother is not a great cook and didn't really teach me anything about cooking. At all. So I went straight from her house to college where I had unlimited access to the dining halls. No kidding. They changed our meal plans to unlimited in my junior year. Eat whenever you want! Oh to be a student again....

After college I lived at home and ate Mom's cooking again before finally heading back to law school where I lived in a dorm that had a kitchen but I didn't have time to cook so I survived on tomato soup and hot dogs. Seriously. That's all I ate for one year. But I aced Contracts!

My second year of law school I moved into my first apartment! Independence! A kitchen of my very own. A whole set of used cookware handed down to me with no instructions. I expanded my horizons to the occasional omlette but mostly I stuck to that list above. I've now lived in that apartment for four years and the most elaborate meal I've made there is chilli.

Then I met Boyfriend! We courted - during which time I discover his culinary habits are even worse than mine. Instead of making it a Mac n Cheese night he orders in. Every night! I reaped the benefits of this habit at first. Don't get me wrong. When you're first dating a great guy and he wants to order you a baked ziti dinner for delivery so you have time to, um, watch a movie, you go for it.

Then things really got hot....in the kitchen. It started with football season of course. I made for my new Boyfriend the only thing I'd ever really learned how to make: chilli. It took me all day in the Crock Pot but we loved it. A tradition was formed. We started going to the grocery store together and planning meals. We were a couple who cooked for each other. Life was good.

I started taking pictures of the meals I made to email to my Mom to prove that yes I do know how to make pork chops.

Yum, I made this shrimp stir fry a couple of weeks ago. And while yes it's cheaper than going to a restaurant the items you see above were really damned expensive. The shrimp was reasonably priced but when you add in the baby corn plus the scallions plus the snow peas et. al it was probably about a $30 meal. Obviously we can't afford to eat something like that every night.

Boyfriend and I shop for food for his condo together and I want to start chipping in more as I've been kind of lax with my grocery money contributions the past couple of trips. I've been reading a lot about stockpiling staples when they are on sale and I think it's a great idea. However on my limited budget I can't exactly buy much of anything in bulk. Browsing the weekly grocery store flyer I noticed that bread crumbs are 10 for $10. I think that sounds like a fabulous deal. I ain't so sure where we have the room for 10 boxes of bread crumbs though. Oh wait, how about my Really Expensive Storage Facility around the corner?

I think we need to do a little more meal planning so that we can effectively set our grocery budget. We always buy things on sale except for lunch meat and beer but we need to stock up on more of the basics....especially because, guess what, it's snowing in October!! So stay tuned for more on my culinary adventures.

I Spent $900 on Gyros?!!

You always know it's officially summer when the food carts start rolling up to the office. Where I work, in a downtown consisting mostly of office and government buildings, every day at lunchtime feels like a county fair. Not so much the fun and games, but the FOOD. Food food everywhere, anything you want from pizza to chinese.

When I first started working here, I discovered the Gyro Truck. Isn't America great? I can step outside of my office at any time I want and get a wonderful Greek delicacy? Out of a truck! Sometimes I'd eat at the Fancy Salad Truck. But mostly it was Gyros.

Two whole summers went by and I frequented the Gyro Truck just about four times a week. And no, sadly I didn't brown bag it on the fifth day. I probably went to the Pizza Truck.

And how much do these wonderful meals cost?

$6 plus one bottle of Snapple = $7.50

At five days a week for three months each year, I am just now realizing that I spent $900, a whole Emergency Fund's worth of George Washington's on very thinly cut lamb rolled in pita bread with some tomatoes and onions!

God, I do love gyros though.

But how many have I had since I finally decided to live within my means?

Zero. Zip. Zilch. No gyros for me. I walk four blocks home, play with my cat and have a sandwich or some leftovers.

What I've learned from walking past all those happy lunchtime workers is that lunch trucks will always be there but my dollars won't, so in the meantime it's better to save!