Living Paycheck to Paycheck

I didn’t keep it below $60, but I gave myself some great excuses as to why not.

I didn’t thaw the shrimp correctly and had to trash the entire bag.  I was counting on it being a substantial part of the food that I was offering, so I decided to get more food.  I also had to run out and get more things for the gin bucket.  One of these gin buckets costs almost exactly $10.00 and it was almost gone with only four or five of the guests there, so I went and got more.  My grand total came to $78, rounded to the nearest dollar.  Since the shrimp cost $10-12 to begin with, I added that to the original $60, so I came quite close.  I also had almost a full case of beer left over, a fair amount of boxed wine, and I received three bottles of wine as presents which I was not expecting, so I feel like I came out ahead.

Soon I will come out with a list of goals to help me to avoid spending more money.  One of my goals is to post each day on how much money I spend so that I can see what I’m buying.  I think that I will start this on 1 May, so that I can look at it as a month-by-month thing.

Today I will finish my taxes; when I started them last week, TurboTax showed me how much I could contribute to an IRA and what my tax refund would turn out to be.  I need to enter some new documents that I found first to see how it’s changed, but last week it looked like I could contribute over $1000 and still get $1500 back.  I can’t wait to get this money back, especially since it should bump up my net worth.

My party is tomorrow and I’m trying to combat my natural tendency to freak out.  I’m a fairly lazy person, but an obsessive list-maker, so I have a grocery list, a party grocery list, a “things to do” list (organized by rooms in my apartment), and not a thing crossed off of any of them.

On Tuesday (my actual birthday), I went out to dinner with my parents and took home leftovers.  I ate some for dinner last night and I had one of the rolls for breakfast this morning.  Anytime I’m eating something I didn’t pay for versus something I did, I’m saving money!  My parents are on a diet, so I was able to bring home four bags of potato chips, a jar of salsa, and a jar of cocktail sauce, which will save me more than $15.  One of the bags is already gone, though, because two of my best friends were over last night and I had to feed them something; I chose the smallest of the bags.

My best friend asked what I’d like as a birthday present, if she could get me anything for the party.  I asked for a case of beer.  I told her that it didn’t even have to be “good” beer.

I have about 18 confirmed people and 3 or 4 people that are probably coming, too, so it won’t be a crazy party or anything.  The guests are going to range in age from 23-26, so there WILL be beer pong, more than half of a box of wine, part of a bottle of wine, and a gin bucket.  I’m going with the cheapest gin available, no matter the brand.  I’m getting generic ginger ale and a generic can of lemonade to go with it.

I’m worried about keeping the purchases to under $60. 

This is where I find myself unable to budget effectively.  I received a $100 check from my grandparents so in my mind I’m thinking, “Well, it’s okay if I go over $60 because I have that other money to fall back on.”  I know that the extra money should be put into savings to pay for necessities, but it’s difficult to hold myself back.  I’m not good at setting limits on myself and it amazes me how well other people accomplish it.

Because one of my goals in life is to be a good hostess (i.e., welcoming to guests, making sure they have everything they need to have a good time), I hate asking people to bring anything; if they volunteer, I’ll suggest something, but I feel like a bad hostess if I invite someone to my home and am unable to cater to their needs.  I’m going to try to combat that feeling and ask one friend to supply the gin and my boyfriend to get a case of beer.  I hate doing that because he’s as bad off as me financially for this month.  Many of my friends will call tomorrow afternoon to ask if they can bring anything and I’ll use that time to request more 12 packs.  Hopefully I can keep these costs down!