I’m back from my weekend with the girls. We had a blast – it felt like we were back in college, and we laughed until our sides hurt. We went for a great hike on Saturday, and the town we were in was having an arts and crafts fair while we were there. One of the girls went to a spa for a massage and facial, but the rest of us skipped that part. We only ate out one meal, dinner on the first night we were there. We went to a local budget diner – dinner was about $10each. Here’s the breakdown of my spending for the weekend:
- my share of the condo: $130
- groceries: $40
- dinner out: $9
- bottled oxygen for my husband: $26
- two beers from the brewery for my husband: $9
- two stuffed toys for my pregnant friends’ unborn kids: $18
- coffee and a muffin during a walk around town: $5
Grand total: $237. Awesome – that’s under my budget. I drove, so one of my friends put gas in my car, and we all kicked in for groceries, which was much cheaper than eating out the whole weekend. The oxygen might confuse some people, but it’s something my husband is always looking for. He loves the idea of extra oxygen as a health enhancer, so when I saw that they were selling bottled oxygen in one of the mountain supply stores, I had to get it. It seemed odd to pay $26 for what felt like an empty can, but my husband was thrilled, so it was a good purchase.Â
When we were at the craft fair, two of my friends bought expensive pottery. One of the girls is in a relationship with a guy who was cleaned out by his ex-wife, and she’s not sure if the relationship is going to work out because of the financial issues. But she spent $150 on a few pieces of pottery. It amazes me how people can manage to forget about their money woes when confronted with something that they’d like to buy. Out of the five of us, only myself and one other girl made it through the weekend without spending at least $100 on “stuff.” I found that I wasn’t even tempted. I used to be, but not anymore. I admired the stuff at the craft fair, but I really didn’t have any desire to buy anything (except for a $1200 painting, but that was more of a whimsical wish than a real desire, considering the price tag). I can remember a weekend my husband and I spent in another mountain town 6 years ago. We spent about $200 on “stuff” at the local art gallery. Ironically, some of that stuff is in a box in my garage right now, waiting to go to the thrift store, because I’ve reached a point where I don’t want stuff cluttering up all my tables. It’s a good place to be – a lot less expensive, and a neater house aswell.Â
Related posts:
