How Much Money Did You Spend This Weekend?
Most of us spend our weekdays earning money so that we have some disposable income to use when the weekend comes. I’m certainly one of these people! I’m also the sort of person who plans ahead (I have a Mad Men catch-up session with some friends on my calendar for a weekend in mid-June—I know, but everyone’s weekends are quickly booking up), and since I’ll be away for 10 days at the end of this month to attend two weddings in California (which means spending lots money to catch up with old friends and relatives), I didn’t spend any money except $51 at the grocery store on Sunday for food for the week. I actually spent most of this weekend working on freelance projects because some of us spend our weekends earning money too (“austerity measures”). What about you—was this a spending weekend, or a saving weekend?
Photo: Flickr/LoneWalkerNYC
What do you eat during the week that $51 would be enough?
@Azi Graeber@twitter So I’ve been spending $50 a week at the grocery store for most of my adult life. Things I bought yesterday: Broccoli, cauliflower, a box of arugula, grapefruit, pears, parmesan cheese, penne, pretzels, a loaf of bread, a box of mixed frozen vegetables, half a pound of cracked pepper turkey, a package of mushrooms, a package of kielbasa, onions, garlic, a dozen eggs. That’s what I remember. I eat mostly veggies. For example, I will eat an arugula salad with pears, parmesan, and walnuts I have in my cupboard for dinner, with some toast, and I’m set. Also: roasted vegetable sandwiches, or pasta when I want something quick. I’ll also eat kielbasa over rice, which I have at home. It depends on whatever I’m in the mood for—I really just eat whatever I want.
@Azi Graeber@twitter I cook for two and I aim for $70 a week. That is usually sufficient with the exception of an occasional stock-up trip tossed in there for olive oil, vinegars, nuts, etc. I eat a lot of whole grains and vegetables. I roast a chicken one in awhile, but mostly meat tends to be a side dish for me. That keeps costs down. I also try to cook from scratch whenever possible. I make my own soup for a fraction of the price of (quality) canned and I try to bake my own bread, mix up muesli, etc. Once I started cutting down on packaged food it was a lot easier to get my food budget under control.
@Azi Graeber@twitter I can usually rock out a week’s worth of groceries for about $45-50 for one person (probably less if I didn’t shop at the farmer’s market). Tofu, lots of fresh veggies, bananas, muesli (lasts two weeks), hummus, flatbread, etc. About once a month when I have access to a car I stock up on heavy items like canned beans and tomatoes. Like Aunt_Pete said, once you cut down on buying processed, pre-made food, your grocery costs go way down!
Best website ever for eating cheap – 30 a week for two people, that’s 15 each per person. http://thirtyaweek.wordpress.com/ And they live in Brooklyn. I don’t know them, just admire their site. I love talking about frugal living that doesn’t mean living less, just doing less and living closer to the ground. So I’ve really been enjoying The Billfold since ya’ll launched. Very interesting.
It was either a free weekend or an expensive weekend.
Friends kept treating me to beer and coffee, unplanned with lame excuses like “Oh you just moved to town! It’s a welcome beer and pizza!”, “You had to pick me up since I don’t have a car, coffee is on me!”.
I spent the weekend at my parents house and played hair stylist for my mom (her hair is a crazy frizzy mess from chemo and she wanted to try some in-store relaxer stuff- kinda didn’t work well, but bonding! First time I’ve washed my mom’s hair in the kitchen sink!).
I made them lunch (with their groceries) and then they made me take a bunch of their food home- “You just bought a car! You’ve spent all your money on a new apartment! You are probably sleeping on a mattress on the floor with an empty fridge- take this can of tuna!”.
On the flip side, an x-mas gift I gave jointly with my brother and sis-in-law was just “cashed in” by my parents. My portion was about $200. (We offered to pay for a weekend getaway at a B&B, which they already took, racked up some points on their credit cards and then gave us the bill. Sometimes our family gift giving feels like a small business, haha).
Aaaaaand you are welcome for the novel.
$24 on a case of beer (which i did not finish)
$15 on food
$4 scarf
$20 dress (60% off!)
$20 picture frame (40% off!)
@redheaded&crazy you better finish that beer fast, or it’ll go bad.
@myrna.minkoff duly noted
I spent $1000+ on new appliances for my kitchen. I had a mini-heart attack over it because I paid to have the dishwasher installed. I never pay for stuff like that. Part of me says “watch some you tube videos and figure it out yourself” and the other part says “you’re really busy and do you really trust yourself to do this”?
Other than that I only spent $40 on groceries.
@Tuna Surprise You made the correct decision, I think. My landlord self-installed a dishwasher at my last place and CUT TO FLOODS.
I was going out with friends on Friday, so I took $35 cash and told myself I would not spend a dime more, and it worked!
Next day I spent $13 on brunch, but whatever.
$70 on a haircut (including a generous tip because the stylist made me look fantastic)
$11 on 2 single scoops of gelato (for me + my boyfriend)
$3.20 on Metro fare to visit my great aunt in Virginia for brunch
+$20 from my great aunt “for transportation”
$7 on 2.5 pounds of organic brown rice
Me and Miranda and Logan had a totally free brunch picnic with existing materials that was so awesome and pleasant! (Well, Miranda bought a bottle of wine, but the rest was stuff we already had.)
I paid of my credit cards on Friday!! So after that I was not so apt to spend money at all. However, my boyfriend promised to take me out on TWO (TWO!!) dates this weekend, so spending was unavoidable. I spent:
$34 on two Avengers tickets. That was ridiculous.
$15 at the grocery store for wings on Sunday, ingredients for rice krispie treats, and a couple other things.
$6.70 at Starbucks for coffees for me and the boyfriend.
$.99 on an iPhone game I’m not sure I’ll ever play.
But, most importantly, I PAID OFF MY CREDIT CARDS!!!!
@elizabeast So proud of you.
@elizabeast Awesome! Congrats on paying off your credit cards!!!!!!!!
My boyfriend went out of town, and I thus saved hellza lot of money. We typically have three meals out on the weekend, plus some drinks.
Friday:
$9 at Walmart for magazines for myself and my girl friend. We were going to go out for margaritas but made them at my place instead.
Saturday:
Zip! Entertained myself going for a long run and researching vegan Indian recipes online.
Sunday:
$35 at Home Depot for dirt and plants for my vegetable garden.
$50 on groceries for the week, including spices for many Indian cooking adventures to come!
@Mike “I really just eat whatever I want” only works for people who don’t want expensive things ;)
@Selena Hoy the $30/week folks are cool, but have you seen CheapHealthyGood? Hasn’t updated in a while, but great reading in the archives.
A slightly more expensive weekend than usual (especially since I didn’t do my usual freelancing…), but I got to see my mom! And go to Disneyland (woo, annual passes)!
$15 – farmer’s market veg for the week
$4 – bus fare to and from farmer’s market
$25 – Trader Joe’s (groceries I can’t get at the farmer’s market)
$2 – iced McD’s coffee when my 1 hr commute home on the bus turned to a 2.5hr one
$11 – drinks at crappy apartment complex’s Cinco de Mayo party
$8 – footlong Subway sandwich to split w/my mom
$20 – dinner at the Italian joint in Disney California Adventure
$20 for pizza (Friday night)
$36 for gas
$9 for cat food and coffee creamer
$12 tip (my mom paid for the lunch, I left the tip)
$20 for a half rack of ribs for a dinner party last night (I think there might have been change but the boy never gave it to me)
I had a spendy weekend: about $335 on stockup stuff (groceries, bedroom paint, etc) and car insurance. How boring! I feel like I need to admit somewhere that I also spent $6 on amazon to get caught up on eps of Gossip Girl that aren’t online.
$102 at Target (mostly household stuff we need, but also included a movie for the kid and the insanely expensive sunscreen that doesn’t give her a rash), $21 for my kid to get a haircut, $190 at the grocery store (family of 3), $21 for the 3 of us to have lunch.
This was an expensive weekend I think:
On Friday I had dinner and then bought at awesome local butcher/purveyor of amazing food — the Piggery, in Ithaca, NY. That was $19 on dinner (a porchetta platter that my boyfriend and I shared plus coffee) and $28 on meat for later on. I then replenished my wine — $30.
I spent $145 on online clothes shopping — a pair of flats, denim shorts and a short trench — all things I’d been wanting to buy for a while. I bought my boyfriend an anniversary present — a watch on super sale for $75.
I also spent about $9 on various coffee drinks.
So in total — 19 + 28 + 30 + 145 + 75 + 9 = $306.
Does anybody else think a lot about submitting a “Your Last Hundred Bucks” thing but stop every time once you’ve listed them all out because your purchases are too few/boring?
Anyway, this weekend I spent $40 on gas, and $20 on brunch. Which is a lot more than I would normally spend for brunch but I did get a mimosa and then I had cash and didn’t want to think too hard about splitting up the check so I ended up paying for somebody else’s tip, I think. I’m okay with it.
$40 on drinks/appetizers with a friend who never goes out/I haven’t seen in months, warranted. $12 on new tea. $6.25 on a breakfast bagel/orange juice, weekend breakfast. $12 lunch with a friend. And then I walked for 6-7 miles to explore parts of Brooklyn, so I deserved a nice dinner, $20. And ice cream, $1.50.
I also went into a store and tried on clothes on Friday but did not buy anything. So that counts as saving $50? Maybe?
Friday and Saturday: $0
Sunday:
33.66- Two books at the fancy marxist bookstore that I couldn’t find anywhere else.
7.00- Fancy hippie ice cream cones for me and my feller.
40- Farmer’s market- three crazy colors of cauliflower (purple, orange and green- all neon!), three heirloom tomatoes, 3 onions, 3 bunches of asparagus, three artichokes (good things come in 3s?)
31.70- fancy things at whole foods- buttermilk blue cheese, 2 pounds of mussels, peppadews, medjool dates, pancetta, 2 dollar half bottle of white wine for steaming the mussels. (Sunday: Ate half the dates with blue cheese, pancetta and peppadew slices before dinner with mussels and salad and one bunch of asparagus)
Total: $112.36
@e That sounds like such a glorious Sunday. I am so jealous that you have a fancy marxist bookstore /and/ a fancy hippie ice cream area. I live in such a boring place….
@Saralyn@twitter: Los Angeles. I love it here.
@e So close and yet so far! (I live in Irvine, which is practically the dictionary definition of blah)
I like reading what everyone is spending their money on!
I spent:
- $3 on an amazingly flaky and delicious croissant from the local French bakery ($2.75 + $0.25 tip because the place was very busy and the women behind the counter are unflaggingly sweet).
- $26.54 at the drugstore buying four types of OTC meds to bring with me on a two and a half week vacation I’ll be going on this week–they were having a buy one get one free sale on store brands! I also bought a glasses repair kit (just in case) and package of seven pairs of hot pink earplugs (I’ll be staying in hostels on my trip) which made me laugh because they were marketed as being especially for women (they’re pink!), plus a couple travel sized toiletry items.
- $6.65 on getting a roll of film developed and printed at the same drugstore. I think the guy deliberately undercharged me, and he stamped my film developing stamp card twice. I felt slightly uncomfortable…?
- about $4.00 (including tip) on a mocha with coconut whipped cream (! they offered it, and I wasn’t about to say no) at the organic, fair-trade cafe in my local supermarket
- $2.00 at the same supermarket for millet from the bulk section, five roma tomatoes, and a jalapeno (all for making “Mexican Millet” for Cinco de Mayo, which makes me sound like a big hippie but it’s delicious, trust).
- $12.25 on an advance ticket (online) for a documentary I really want to see that’ll be showing as part of my city’s film festival after I get back from my vacation.
- $10.94 for an album on iTunes that I realized I didn’t own because I threw away the copy my ex burned for me (because, ew, don’t want to keep anything that jerk gave me).
It was a relatively cheap weekend for me because I spent it getting ready for vacation and trying to eat the food that’s in my fridge instead of going out!
My boyfriend and I babysat on Saturday night making $45 while we watched Zodiac (so scary!). I then spent $37 of that on various groceries and stuff we needed. We spent no money at all on Sunday (made brunch at home, took walk, went to gym, made dinner and watched Sherlock).
I actually earned money this weekend by having a stoop sale with my friends! We made over $1000 total, which is nuts. And it was super fun, just hanging out outside and talking to people.
An unusually expensive weekend for me. Yesterday I spent $220 on a ticket to Maui to visit my boof. At 1 I bought the ticket and then I was on the plane by 3. Other than that just about $40 on drinks and tapas for Friday and Saturday.
This was mt first cheap weekend in a while, being on a elimination diet for health reasons means I cannot tempt myself with eating out or drinking caffeinated/alcoholic beverages of choice.
-$59.99 for a dress from Mango to wear to my boyfriend’s graduation and probably the wedding I am going to later in the summer. Free shipping!
-~$5 in gas to visit my family, swim, eat free dinner, and pet a corgi
-~$50 for this week’s groceries
I budget my groceries out over a month so at first didn’t even think about them, usually I think of my weekends as my budget of $50 for fun times. The dress came from $$ left over on top of my savings goals from the month before, so feeling pretty good about my spending!
I bought a $27 bottle of wine, which is a splurge but it’s a real treat, plus $60 in groceries. The best deal of the weekend by far was for $125 prescription glasses from Warby Parker. Including high density lenses (+$30 on the usual $95 flat rate), tax, and everything. I even tried them on in the Soho shop. All you need is a prescription- it doesn’t even have to be super current.
Oh, and I stuffed myself for $15 at dim sum in Chinatown. That was great.
I actually have fun stuff to say because I’m in India this week! And I just can’t shut up about it! So:
Friday night – dinner at Paradise (a biryani chain in Hyderabad) and a tuktuk (those three wheeled kerosene powered taxis), including generous tips – 600 rupees (about $12 US)
I’ll do the rest in $$$
Saturday – hotel car to the airport with a stop at Charminar (the old muslim center of Hyderabad) $45 including tips, (split 50/50 with my travel buddy, and reimbursable from work)
- black pearl necklace and matching earrings (very nice, but costume jewelery quality) haggled down to $35 at Charminar
- chicken tikka sandwich and mango juice at the airport $3
- round trip flight to Goa from Hyderabad $128
- half of shared hotel room at the Taj Exotica (fanciest hotel in Goa, by a longshot) $62 (off season is awesome, and really not that hot)
- lobster dinner on the beach under the super moon $50 – which is a total reaming by Indian standards, but really worth it anyway.
Sunday – lazing around the pool at the hotel plus 3 meals at the hotel $60 plus $62 again for the room.
————-
Not officially weekend, but I’m on vacation so …. Monday we went sightseeing – spice plantation tour plus washing/riding an elephant (!!!!!) and a buffet lunch – $7 – Also the elephant washes you. PRICELESS.
And then I spent $1200 on rugs and pashminas to bring home. I did haggle my butt off though. I think it would be close to 8k in the U.S.
Yes, I’m totally bragging, and yes, y’all should be jealous, and yes, India is a massive bargain by western standards any time of year, but the off season really isn’t that hot and everything is half price. I have had much more miserable days in South Carolina, Florida or Arizona than I’ve ever had here in May.