Grand Total to Vacation: $817

The good news is that this is way under budget, as expected. How did I spend that $817 on my trip; where did the money go? After some quick analysis tonight, here’s what I discovered:

PREPAID SPENDING:
$54 Flights
$330 Hotel

ON-TRIP SPENDING:
$193.40 Food (We took turns paying, without too much of the nickel-and-dime business)
$82.43 Clothes (Totally unprepared for the HEAT!!, I bought a pair of shorts, a sun dress & new sunglasses, which I forget to pack)
$150 Transportation (buses, BART, rental car on Saturday)
$7.02 Toiletries (Again, what I should’ve packed)

The extra (”leftover”) money is going promptly to my savings. I’m even more serious about the downpayment fund here in Chicago now, having compared our real estate prices with California’s (OY!).

Want to know which places were my favorites? Whether you’re headed to SF or just enjoy hearing about trips/travel/food, check back here tomorrow.

My Weekend Wallet

The biggest lesson I learned this weekend was more of a reminder: I have got to let go. All weekend, I was thinking how I was spending a lot of money; it just felt like it was really adding up because I was spending so frequently. I ate out 7-8 times, which is a little ridiculous. Yet, it turns out, I managed to keep it at $131 total spending. And that $131 wasn’t all on food: part was that I spent $28 on gifts, $50 on my RX copay and $12 on toiletries.

How do you know when you’ve crossed the line between frugal and psycho? I don’t know. Maybe it’s when you’re worried about spending more than $4 on dinner because you know you’re meeting other friends in an hour, who will also expect you to order something.

Anyway, here’s the approximate breakdown:

Friday night

• $9 dinner, greek pita and ice cream

Saturday

• $5 breakfast, coffee/bagels
• $3 snack, Argo tea
• $15 lunch, pizza & shared dessert (at Spacca Napoli, again!)
• $4 dinner with friends, soup
• $5 dinner with other friends, shared some of what everyone else got
• $28 GIFT, gift card and card for Dad for Father’s Day
• $50 RX, Wal-Mart
• $12.83 tolietries, Wal-Mart (shampoo, conditioner, face wash)

Sunday

• $0 breakfast with family
• $0 lunch/dinner at home

Weekend Buys

$140 Clothing: Because I believe in buying quality over quantity and because I’ve been very, very good about clothing purchases over the last few months, I splurged at Nordstrom’s this weekend:

• Deep blue dress by Lush, $44
• Black t-shirt dress by Lush, $40
• White 3/4-length jacket, $30

$0 Entertainment: Didn’t spend a dime and still had one of the best weekends in a long time.

• Attended a free film festival Saturday night, put on by the very talented students in DePaul University’s theatre school, in Lincoln Park. Very late evening, but fun.
• Watched free streaming shows at www.surfthechannel.com. Have you seen this site? It takes some time to buffer, which is annoying, and there are Chinese subtitles. But it’s totally free.

$24 Gift: Wedding gift & Starbucks for my co-workers

• Target Brita water pitcher (cost split with my brother): $17
• Starbucks for my Saturday staff (we have a bug infestation; I felt bad for them and stopped by): $6.20

$28 Food: My brother paid me back for his portion of the wedding gift by covering meals out, but I’m counting the $17 as from my food budget, so I’m recording it here:

• Chicken pita at the Patio ($5)
• Ice cream at Andy’s frozen custard ($2)
• Saturday lunch at Maggiano’s ($11)
• I paid for lunch Sunday, $12, at the Patio again

Summary: I spent more than usual for a weekend, but I really enjoyed myself, and it’s all within my budget.

My Weekend Wallet

I’ll start with a confession: I almost never have cash on me, unless someone has paid me back for something. Even then, just give me a few days and I’ll spend it on something, probably food. My former co-worker tells me this is terrible, that everyone should carry cash, everyday. I know, I know, I tell her. But I won’t. I just never do. If I have it, I spend it, and I probably won’t remember on what. Credit/debt works for me because I can track it.

Besides, where don’t they take Visa nowadays?

Anyway, now that that’s out there, here’s a record of my credit card’s action this weekend, just because I find it entertaining. I did stop and get $20 from the bank (shocking to me), but only because I was anticipating the only-cash-unless-over-$10 policy at the Greek place. Turns out we didn’t go there, but my cash is now gone, of course:

Friday (half day!!):
Movie with friend at budget theatre: $4
Cake with friend (I paid since he paid for lunch): $8.50
Shopping (when did it stop being fun?), buying nothing: $0

Saturday:
Cupcakes with friends: $4
Greek pita at my favorite place for Greek pitas in the city:
Pizza at my favorite pizza place: $15
Grocery store: Sunday paper for my parents and two pints of gelato: $10.95

Sunday:
Treated to lunch at Wendy’s: $0

Total spending: approximately $42

4 adults, 3 cameras, 1 gorgeous kid = great weekend

My friends just left a little while ago, after a very fast, very fun day-and-a-half together. Here’s how I did, money-wise:

Friday night dinner, Lou Malnati’s: $20
Saturday cupcakes for everybody: $13.23
Lincoln Park Conservatory: FREE
Lincoln Park Zoo: FREE
Dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, me and my brother: $42.00

Total cost: $75.23

And it really was priceless. Every time I see my friend’s little boy, he’s bigger and more beautiful, smarter and more curious.

Open my Wallet: Friends Coming

My best friend and her family are coming to visit me this weekend! I haven’t seen their little guy for a whole year, and I’m so excited to see how he’s changed, not to mention to see my friend, who’s five months along with Baby #2, and her husband, who’s deep into his first Big Job.

What I purchased at Wal-Mart tonight:

For Baby: 1 bib: “I love my big brother!” (it’s a girl!)

For Little Guy: toy truck
1 rolling giraffe
1 Dr. Suess book

Total purchase: $16.83

I want to get more for the baby-to-be, but I’ll have to go somewhere else. So excited it’s a girl: pink, frilly, girly, fun!!