I promised that as part of my effort to rein in my impulse buying, I would account for my purchases. Other than food and drugstore items and the previously mentioned pocket knife, the only other discretionary purchase I made last week was a bunch of discount movie passes through my employer.
I consider this an instance where spending money ultimately ends up saving money. The movie theater now costs $11 per ticket, but by buying these passes ahead of time, I save almost $3 per ticket. And unlike certain kinds of discount passes, these don't expire and there are no restrictions on when they can be used, so if we decide we want to see a movie on its opening weekend, we can just go and not have to worry about how long it's been showing.
I didn't go into any clothing or shoe stores, and I didn't buy anything on eBay, which is probably more significant for me. But I am going to need to buy a more robust surge protector soon, because on Friday there was another power outage while we were at work, and I had to deal with more TiVo crankiness, though thankfully it wasn't of the magnitude as the earlier crisis. But it took two or three restarts and several hours for the new machine to get back to behaving properly, which was troublesome and troubling.
are you counting coffee and meals out? otherwise, go SAR go!
ReplyDeleteMovies at the Somerville and the Capitol are never more than $8, so we just go there. We'll be able to buy discounted tickets through Harvard, too, starting in July. But we don't mind waiting for the shows to get to the cheap seats.
ReplyDeleteAll I bought this past week were groceries and CVS necessities. Oh, and the birthday-present iPad! Aside from that, all I EVER buy are groceries and CVS. Not counting purchases using gift cards, either, of course.
CIHaW and APB: I'm not attempting a complete budget makeover, more trying to stop impulsively buying clothing and shoes, most of which happens online. I have a pile of things that I'm not wearing that I didn't really need to buy, or that ended up being a disappointment for one reason or other. It's more important to me to try to curtail this behavior.
ReplyDeleteFood is food. I brought lunch from home for much of my adult working life, until I reached the point where I decided I just didn't feel like doing that anymore. Our outside food purchases are usually takeout or inexpensive places. I make coffee at home in the AM, then get a third cup after I get to work, but I don't pay out of pocket--my work ID is also a cash card, so I add money to it once a month or so. I also save about 25% off the cafeteria's regular coffee price because I bring my own reusable mug.
We do sometimes go to the cheaper movie theaters, but at $8 they now cost the same as the discount passes, and the Mrs. has problems with taller people sitting in front of her. The Showcase Theater in Revere has all stadium seating so her view can't be blocked, and it's an easy drive from our house.
For lent i actually gave up buying beer and wine at the store, although had it when we went out. I was sad, but even sadder than at the end of my experiment and found i didn't lose any weight!
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