Sunday, August 3, 2008

Weekend Spending

Here is the breakdown:

~Friday
Metro Smart Trip Card - $5.00
CVS (household items) - $30.00
iTunes (album)- $10.29
Airport candy - $3.00
Chinese Food - $8.00
Family reunion dues -$20.00
Dinner -$0 (thanks Auntie!)

~Saturday
Family trip (including lunch) - $60.00
Dinner - $27.00

~Sunday
Taxi cab ride to Amtrak station - $43.00...ugh!
Coffee and snack - $3.00

TOTAL: $163.29

Note: Flight and Train tickets purchased in advance.

I attended a family reunion in Miami over the weekend and had a very nice time there. I didn't end up spending as much money as I anticipated because I avoided a family bus trip to a shopping outlet. You can't spend if you avoid temptation right? Overall, I had a nice time in Miami despite the high temperatures. My train ride today to visit my Dad and Step-mom in Tampa after the reunion ended did not go as smoothly as my flight to Florida due to a lovely child that sat behind me and kept banging the tray table up and down despite my protestations and his even more lovely grandmother did nothing to stop this behavior...ugh!

I definitely need to tweak my budget a little more. I am sadly going over spending in all of the categories I previously set. I plan to completely revamp it based on my spending trends on Mint.com. I also plan to start tracking my week day and week-end spending starting in September. I am waiting until next month, because I would like to enjoy the rest of the summer before buckling down with the improved budget. I will have to allow for the new expense of my cell phone because I guess I should give my Dad a break from paying my cell phone bill since he's been paying for it since I was in high school. It sucks being an adult sometimes...

I resolve to track my spending better because I am tired of not seeing faster progress with building up my emergency fund. I'd also really like to crush this credit card debt so I can open up my Roth IRA in early 2009.

2 comments:

Lady Dove aka Pheralyn Dove said...

Nice to see you can take some quality time off and still be mindful of spending. Just stay the course, Small Budget Big Style Chick! Sometimes you may not be as disciplined (like on summer vacations). But getting back on track helps you stick to your goals and helps your readers stay inspired. Thanks for your advice.
Lady Dove

JusFrugal said...

$30 at CVS?? C'mon girlie, you can do better than that!!