I think that For July and August, I will be dividing them into their own posts, instead of posting the two months together. For one thing, I am finding that in the summer, I am spending money more often on un-budgeted expenses. The girls are with me all the time, and there is simply more opportunity to spend while we are running around and having fun. I, apparently, also felt more of a need to wax poetic about the times that I did spend on what - in accordance with the terms of the spending fast - would be deemed "frivolous".
July - $113.03 in un-budgeted expenses. ($35.00 on Girls nights)
I started out this section of the Spending fast with with a couple of trips to Denny's, which was kind of planned, but since it was not really in the budget, I am claiming both trips to Denny's in McAllister. My kids went separately to Camp Grandma. I dropped Thing2 off for a week, and My mom and I met in the middle, between our two houses, in McAllister, Oklahoma. The following Monday, we exchanged, and I took Thing2 home, and she kept Thing1. It is equidistant for both of us, and they have a nice offering of restaurants to choose from. We chose Denny's, because I knew that I could get a salad or an omelette and be fine with that. Since my Mom was providing meals and snacks for the weeks that my kids were with her, I thought it would be the courteous thing to do to buy the meals during the exchanges.
The first meal was actually in June, but that is documented on the Spending Fast Post about May and June.
July 1st - Denny's $44.18 - This was for 5 people.
July 8th - Denny's $31.02 - This was for 4 people.
7/10 - $15.00 Beef O'Brady's - I was invited to go out for drinks with some of my girl friends, and I did it. Life has been hectic, and it has been months since I have had any kind of gal-pal time. We sat, chatted, and drank for a little over two hours. I had a salad with full fat ranch dressing on the side. I dipped my fork and speared the leaves, so it was a DDP (Dip, Don't Pour - thanks Hungry Girl for that tip!) situation. Full fat Ranch. It has been years since I had that, and it was as good as I remembered. :-) I also has a blended alcoholic drink along the lines of a frozen margarita, but it was a fruity blend. The last time I had been to Beef O'Brady's, I had had another drink that I did not see on the menu. I described it to the owner, and he tried to re-create it. We did not get it right, but it was still mighty tasty. Of course, a friend that joined us a little bit later ordered a Hard Apple Cider. I could have kicked myself for not thinking of it. Oh well, I will remember better next time. :-) So, between my salad, frozen adult beverage, and tip, I spent $15.00 on one single meal. I feel a little bit of "You know better, that was wasted money", but something that I am coming to realize through this year long spending fast is that there are some things that ARE worth the money.
It is kind of becoming like that MasterCard commercial that listed the price of various objects necessary to create a certain memory, and the tag line was "priceless" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVHfTUYUqjs&list=PLE9B6A8F561CC674)
2 hours spent in good company with no child interruption, spending 15 bucks replenishing the "me time" tank in my body so that I have more to give to others? Priceless :-) This year is helping me to hone what I really find important in my life.
An unexpected side effect is that my house is getting incrementally cleaner. I am not exactly sure of the connection, I have been meaning to clean my house for a few years now, but since I am not running as much since I am not going to places where I would have typically spent money, I have more time at home. I am taking time to get organized. That is how I am entertaining myself a little bit. I am finding quite a bit of satisfaction in looking around and seeing my progress, and it is no longer quite as daunting to make a plan for the rest of my house.
7/14 - $20.00 at Johnny Carino's. A friend from church invited the girls and I to meet her at Johnny Carino's for lunch after church. Her daughter, a friend of Thing 1's, was going to summer camp directly after the meal, so it was an easy opportunity for the girls to be able to say goodbye. After some careful consideration, I decided to go. We wound up going with a third friend - who happens to be transitioning to Paleo! So, they have these things called Johnny Carino Points, which give you free meals after so many points. My lovely friend had discounted kids meals on her card, so my Italian Wedge, the kids meals, an Italian Soda, a Sprite, and my lemon water only set me back 20 bucks, including tip! I handed her a $20.00 and she called it done! The generosity of friends is amazing. :-)
7/28 - $17.83 at Beef O'Brady's. After church, a meeting was called for the Missions Group to get a consensus of the direction that we would like to go in once our new building is all done and moved into. Ours burned down over a year ago, and we are almost able to move into the new building. I got a salad, and each of the girls got a kids meal.
I need to rein in the eating out. 5 times in one month is excessive. Even though I ate with points in once instance, and did not spend more than $45.00 on any given experience - even when 5 people were involved, I still need to put a stop to it. This is supposed to be a spending FAST, not a spending "occasional splurge because I have been soooo good lately". Although, I must say that I do not think I would have eliminated any of the trips to the restaurants. Individually, I had a good time at each, and the fact that I have halted the other instances of fiscal leakage means that I do these things with less guilt, and less worry about how I can afford it. However, I feel that I broke with the spirit of the fast by breaking bread in restaurants so often this month.
I like the examination of spending that this is forcing me to do, and the thinking through of where my money goes to a greater extent than I have done in the past..
Groceries for July - $423.86 (Underage of $244.14 added to rollover of $317.28 for a grand total of $561.42 in the grocery rollover amount)
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