week one report

The $60 money week goes Sunday - Saturday. It's Friday morning and I still have $40 in my wallet, and I haven't dipped into the monthly fun money either. I spent $20 at the Canucks game on Sunday (tix were a Christmas/birthday gift from my brother to my sister and I) on beer and snacks. Today I'm going to pick up some UBC Farm eggs that are back on sale in the SUB (just in time!), and Saturday night we're going over to my parents for dinner to teach my mom to use the pizza stone and peel we gave her for Christmas, so free meal for us. Of the $30ish I'll still have on Saturday, we may spend a bit on some hooch to enjoy after dinner with the parents, but then we'll have some wine there and I've got to get up early on Sunday anyways, so we may not.

On Tuesday I bumped into neighbour and fellow oenophile Liminal Me (who learned that you should look before you lip off the person honking at you, they may just be offering you a ride home ;) !!) who had read about my spending plan and asked if that $60 per week includes wine. Yup. But don't think I'll be lowering myself to drinking plonk. If I want to drink something really nice on the weekend I'll just have to be more careful about where that $60 goes during the week. Paul is also trying out the spending plan, so collectively we have $120 per week. We can combine forces and do pretty well, me thinks. We've also been exploring some less expensive (under $20) wines from the old world, and there are some gems for sure.

Paul and I have for the first time started talking more openly and frankly about our spending and saving plans, which is a good thing. The first conversation got pretty tense and ended in tears, but now the air has cleared and the cards are on the table and we're working towards a common goal. Our finances are very much separate, we have no joint account or anything at this point. I pay the bills, he sends me his share via email money transfer. I take care of the big once a month grocery shop of staples and household items, he takes care of the once a week produce and perishables. He spends slightly more on food than I do, but he eats waaaaaaay more (endurance athlete = 6000 calories a day). It has worked for us thus far. So I said that at the end of the week whatever money I had left over was going to go into a slush fund for clothing and gifts. We talked about instead splitting that money up. Half will go into a personal slush fund for whatever we deem it, and the other half will go into a joint slush fund for things like vacations and wine to cellar.

Like a food diet, when you're on a money diet your success depends somewhat on the support of those around you. If people help you cheat, it doesn't help in the long run. I was talking to a friend yesterday and setting up a time for a business meeting (watch out SAFE, watch out LIT, CPR First is coming to get you!!!) and he suggested that we go to one of our favourite Indian restaurants. I explained how I was on this money diet and the restaurant may be out of my price range, and he replied that he wasn't on a money diet, so he'd just pay. That's not the point. I don't want people around me to feel like they have to cough up just because I'm doing some belt tightening. So we agreed on a $10 date. We'll either spend a max of $10 each on ingredients and make a killer lunch together (my grilled sandwich maker may be called into action) or we'll combine our dough and go somewhere that we can eat for $20 or under. I'm rooting for option 1. Although I do have a coupon for the a fore mentioned Indian restaurant, so it may work out as a part of option 2.

Now to hit the books.

Oh, and the holiday fat is nearly gone. I stepped on the scale this morning and four of those five lbs have vanished. Horray!