Home Economics

After freaking out about the lack of money in my bank account (I think I whined, "but why is it so low?"), my mother gently suggested that I should find out what I'm really spending each month.

I must admit that my previous budget guesses were pretty low, which would only mean that while the bank tellers were sleeping, little Brownie Scout Gnomes were sneaking in and taking their rightful compensation for centuries of helping with the household chores while everyone else was sleeping... just to be helpful. I always thought those gnomes (or were they trolls? fairies?) would one day seek retribution. Does anyone else know that story?

This money conversation with my folks also had elements of me saying, While I want to study and save and be a good little Ben Franklin-esque early to bed and riser,

I ALSO want to go on a climbing trip and spend time with Asheville friends and buy my groceries and clothes from only the freshest places ("fresh" clothes as in "damn, that tee shirt is FRESH, girl." No one says that to me, though) and visit friends and family and go to yoga classes

and... the run-on sentence continued on for a bit. This might have spurred my mother's suggestion to figure out my expenses.

So this morning, I downloaded all of my bank statements and credit card bills from the past four months into an Excel spreadsheet; then I split it by titles like "rent" or "going out to dinner and drinking" or "gas." You know, the essentials.

The spreadsheet looked distressing but not completely dire. Although Heiwa Sushi came up more than once in each month, I figure that I'm investing in my future by eating well now. Anyway, I vowed to watch my spending, work a lot, and view studying as work (which will cut down on the spending time and be more of an investment than Special Spicy Tuna rolls).

Jump forward to the evening after working on some Outward Bound grant research and going for a run. I went to Greenlife Grocery to get some flour, bananas, a birthday present for gg, and other essentials. Two grocery bags and $92.28 later, I was walking out of the store. I actually chuckled at the irony as I was leaving the store. I mean, I passed on the fresh flowers and bars of gold in the aisle. A few eggs, some coffee, a couple of sweet potatoes... chocolate... I got home and examined the list, looking for the double-digit culprits. Okay, so the bottle of wine... but it's a gift! (I actually made a column on my spreadsheet called "gifts and donations") The coffee... makes sense, but I even went for the "mystery coffee," which is discounted because someone ground it and then didn't buy it. I took the chance that this "mystery grinder" could have whooping cough and could have whooped into the coffee, just to save a buck. So I don't feel bad about it.

But then I saw the chocolate covered expresso beans on my receipt. $10.34. Look at the size of this bag of beans:

I don't even know if I like them so much. But now I have to enjoy them, I guess. Maybe I'll just eat ten chocolate covered expresso beans for dinner tonight.

They might cost as much as a sushi roll...