One week spending diet

We're on a mandatory one-week spending diet until we get paid again next Tuesday. Thanks to a slew of recent bills (health insurance, cable, phone, etc.), student loan payments, and my dental work (which I did pay off as planned), we have little cash left in the checking account. That makes me uncomfortable. Usually, I like to see it pretty well padded because Bank of America is very sneaky about how and when they post transactions. Sometimes I feel like they WANT to catch us off guard and see us go into the red.

We won't be going out to eat, nor will we do any full grocery runs. We'll wait on paying the water and electric bills (they won't be late, but normally we send in our payments right away). If worst comes to worst and we don't think we're going to make it on what's in the account right now, I'll transfer more over from savings - but I really do not want to do that. 

The Ultimate Staycation

After numerous brainstorming sessions and several hours of searching for cheap travel, we've decided to just stay home this summer. As boring as this seems to me - because I love seeing new places and experiencing new things - it makes sense. We'll be able to save some money, and we'll be able to finally pay off the last credit card. Besides, we're working over the summer anyway; bringing my laptop to the beach doesn't sound like a good time.

Instead, we plan to save up some cash for a work-free holiday trip in December. We know where we want to go and how much we want to spend, and we're confident we'll be able to afford it. It's something we can all look forward to.

A couple of weeks ago, Trent's dad visited. He really loved where we live, and he opened my eyes to the number of opportunities and activities we have available around here. We have parks, museums, decent restaurants, swimming pools, community events - much as one would find in any vacation destination in another part of the world. Granted, we don't have the beach, and granted, the temperature can be pretty miserable in August, but no place is perfect. 

If we keep our eyes open, we'll find things to do. We just have to put some effort into it.  

The rant of a traveler stuck at home

We read several blogs about saving, debt reduction, and frugality, and the basic message of most of them seems to be, "Save more! Spend less! Don't buy stuff you don't need!"

In theory, I agree.

In reality, all I want to do is go to Expedia and purchase a two-week trip to Costa Rica.

See, everyone has his or her vice(s), and my vice is traveling. I'm not sure it would truly qualify as a vice except that international travel - which is what interests me - is extremely expensive (I don't care what people are saying about travel bargains - I don't see the concept reflected in international airfares). Trent and I both traveled a lot when we were younger, and I, especially, became addicted to it. I love it: I love meeting new people, trying new foods and activities, and immersing myself in a different culture. For some warped reason, I also like being out of my element, a fish out of water. It scares and thrills me. I thrive on these experiences.

Staying at home? It makes me feel all wilted inside. To me, a "staycation" is about as exciting as a plateful of Brussels sprouts.

This is supposed to be the year we put ourselves on a short leash, the year we save and reduce debt and work and work and work. So far, so good. Our efforts are paying off. I can SEE our debt decreasing and I can SEE an increase in our savings, but this just makes the impulsive part of my brain shout, "HEY LOOK! You have some money! Don't you think you deserve a reward? A reward like a trip to Australia...or New Zealand...or Japan...or or or" and on and on, listing possibilities that we can't even remotely afford, even if we swim to these places and sleep in roach motels.

I really do understand what people are saying about making sacrifices now in order to ensure a comfortable future. I get it. On the flip side, I don't think the "You're only young once" argument is totally moot, either. When you're young, you're more likely to be healthy, and when you're healthy, travel is more enjoyable. When you're young, you might be more flexible about the quality of your accommodations. When you're young, perhaps you're a little less fearful (because to be honest, I, personally, have become a little more wary about my travel destinations with every passing year, especially now that I am a parent).

I can tell you that a lot of our credit card debt - the debt we're still paying off - accumulated as a result of some pretty fun vacations and adventures. Do I hate the debt? Yes. Do I regret any of my travel experiences? Absolutely not. To tell you the truth - and I know this may not be a very popular thing to say - they were worth every penny...and the interest, too.

That said, I have no desire to relapse into deep debt, so at this point, I am holding back. We have come a very long way in the last year, and I'm not going to deplete our savings or turn to my credit cards to fund a little getaway. Not right now. I need to look at this from a more long-term perspective. However, I also need to be realistic. There is absolutely. no. way. that we're not going to do some fun stuff, even as we are saving to sail. So my plan is this: once we pay off the credit card, we will save up for some sort of vacation - maybe not a jet-setting tour of Europe or Australia, but maybe we can find a good deal on something a little closer to home (in reality, Costa Rica isn't that far away, and it's supposed to be fairly inexpensive). Not only is that an incentive to keep paying down debt, but just the thought of such a possibility on the horizon may be enough to keep me out of the loony bin.

Frugality isn't easy

At least, it isn't easy for us.

In the last few days, we've enjoyed the following:

-Lunch at a local restaurant.

-Dinner at Panera.

-A 12-pack of beer.

-A couple of bottles of wine.

-Lattes at Starbucks.

That's in addition to the money we spent earlier this month. Our February "fun budget" was blown by Valentine's Day.

Honestly, I wish I could say that this doesn't bother me in the least, but it does, a little. Money-wise, we're like yo-yo dieters: we manage to stick to the plan for weeks, then go on a binge. And once we start spending, it's hard to stop.

We could make some valid excuses. We didn't spend that much. We don't go out all that often, compared to other people. We're a lot more frugal than we were even six months ago. We enjoyed everything we consumed.

These statements are all true. However, what I'd like us to do is gain some consistency in our spending. Perhaps our current expectations aren't realistic. For instance, instead of planning to go out twice a month, maybe it's more realistic for us to have a casual restaurant meal once a week. Maybe we should plan on treating ourselves to coffee every Thursday or Friday afternoon, and get a little tradition going in that respect.

We read a lot of blogs about saving, frugality, and simple living, and while I've learned a lot from them, I don't think we can just do what works for those people. We're learning that we aren't ready to make consistent cuts to every small luxury, but we can't indulge in those small luxuries every other day. We need to figure out what works for us so that we can consistently save over the long term.

Valentine's Day: What's the Damage?

Honestly, I think Trent and I both find Valentine's Day a wee bit annoying. Is it a day to celebrate our love for one another, or a day to needlessly spend money on flowers, chocolate, cards, and dinner simply because society tells us everyone else is doing it, so we should, too? 

...Ahem. Not to sound jaded or anything.

Jaded or not, we did go out, and we did spend some money in the process. Here's a fiscal breakdown of the evening and whether it was, in the end, really worth it:

Babysitting, three hours: $36. Our babysitter is a wonderful person, although we don't see her all that often now that we're going out less. Our son loves her, and she knows what she's doing. She's not the type of person to call us in the middle of dinner just because he's been crying for two minutes or doesn't want to go to bed. Plus, she knows CPR. She gives us peace of mind. Verdict? Worth it.

Dinner: $30. This included a 20% tip. We made use of a $10 off coupon. Our meal consisted of bread, salad, pasta, and soda. The food was good, and so was the service. Verdict? Worth it. 

Coffee and dessert: $8. We had a coupon for a free coffee at Panera, so we stopped by after dinner. Earlier in the day, we'd purchased two cupcakes from our favorite local bakery; we enjoyed those with wine when we returned home. The coffee and conversation were worth it. The cupcakes were good, but at almost $3 a piece, they were also expensive. Verdict? Kind of worth it.

Wine: $18. Having lived in coastal California for a year, we've developed an appreciation for a good bottle of wine. Usually, though, we shell out just $5 for basic Pepperwood, Penfold's, or Crane Lake. This time, we splurged on pinot noir. We opened it, let it air for a few minutes, and eagerly took the first sip. Silence from both parties. Then, "...This is okay. But definitely not great." "Yup. Unfortunately, I completely agree." No complexity or subtlety in that bottle. Verdict: So not worth it.

Total cost of Valentine's Day date: $92. Chance to spend time together, sans child: Priceless. I'm joking a little, but we hadn't had an opportunity to go out alone in six weeks. We value the now-rare hours we don't have to share with anyone else. Next year, though, we'll keep the date, buy a much cheaper bottle of wine, and bake our own dessert. It'll be just as fun and just as romantic, but perhaps a little more frugal.

Hungry for a bagel

Trent and our son are at Panera right now, getting me the wheat bagel with honey-walnut cream cheese spread I've been craving for the past two days. I feel a little guilty, but we can take this out of the fun money budget for the month of January.

Trent and I used to go out to eat or order takeout three or four nights a week. We lived in a location where very good Indian, Japanese, French, and Italian cuisine were easily within walking distance; we could smell the aromas from our apartment window. Nowadays, we go out to eat maybe twice a week at most, and our destinations are places like Panera and Chili's - where we don't have to worry about our kid being too loud or disturbing other patrons. It's a distinct improvement to our budget.

I'd like to say we'll stop going out altogether, but realistically, that won't happen. We need to be realistic if we're going to save. Especially because we work from home and spend what seems like 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, cooped up in our modest-sized condo, we sometimes hanker for the chance to get out and experience society. Going to the park and participating in our running group helps, but we need to find other (cheap) options, as well. Those will become more readily available when the weather warms up.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my bagel and not worry about it. For us, frugality isn't about depriving ourselves. It's about setting and staying within limits, and we're doing that.

-Susanne

Coupon trap

Don't fool yourself into thinking your are always saving money by using coupons. A 50 cents off coupon on a brand name cereal may bring the price down to $3 a box. You are spending three bucks not saving fifty cents. A store brand cereal that tastes just as good maybe selling for two bucks. Spend two bucks, don't "save" 50 cents.

-Trent