This weekend didn't feel very weekend-y. We did homework, chores, and...*wait for it*...our taxes. Exciting stuff, right?
Well, speaking of taxes, we are trying to do a better job of managing our money this year. And going along with that, we're trying to be really conscious of our spending habits. We write down everything we buy in a spreadsheet. Then, at the end of the month, we compare how much we spent in each category to our monthly budget.
It's got us thinking that we have some areas where we really don't mind scrimping and other areas where we usually splurge a little.
We are the homebodiest homebodies you will ever meet, so skipping the whole dinner-and-a-movie date most of the time isn't a sacrifice for us. Plus, all our favorite restaurants {tex-mex, barbecue, seafood} are back in good ol' Texas, so we don't feel like eating out in Pittsburgh as much.
Before getting married, I used to think that having smart phones would be pretty neat. When we get our new joint cell phone plan, I came really close to convincing Adam that they were a good idea. But then I got an iPad for my TA job last semester and I never even took it out of the box until Christmas break. {It's back with the business school now.} We don't mind not owning iPhones because we just wouldn't get enough use of out of them.
So, we don't care about eating out, going to the movies, or smart phones. But we do have some areas where we like to splurge.
Like most girls, clothes are my weakness, although I'm doing a lot better in this area since getting married. And Adam does purchase the occasional book or video game.
But our real splurge area is vacations. Our family is spread all across the country, so we are quite the little jet-setters. And we like to travel in style. We'll pay a little extra to avoid those dreaded early, early morning flights. We prefer paying for the Super Shuttle instead of taking the free city bus to the airport. And there's nothing worse than cheap, gross hotels.
The more we thought about this, the more we realized that everyone has their own scrimp and splurge areas.
For most of the country, the splurge area seems to be Apple's "magical" new product of the moment...
When you think about your spending habits, where do you skip out without minding one bit and where do you like to splurge a little?
Do tell!
Well, speaking of taxes, we are trying to do a better job of managing our money this year. And going along with that, we're trying to be really conscious of our spending habits. We write down everything we buy in a spreadsheet. Then, at the end of the month, we compare how much we spent in each category to our monthly budget.
It's got us thinking that we have some areas where we really don't mind scrimping and other areas where we usually splurge a little.
We are the homebodiest homebodies you will ever meet, so skipping the whole dinner-and-a-movie date most of the time isn't a sacrifice for us. Plus, all our favorite restaurants {tex-mex, barbecue, seafood} are back in good ol' Texas, so we don't feel like eating out in Pittsburgh as much.
Before getting married, I used to think that having smart phones would be pretty neat. When we get our new joint cell phone plan, I came really close to convincing Adam that they were a good idea. But then I got an iPad for my TA job last semester and I never even took it out of the box until Christmas break. {It's back with the business school now.} We don't mind not owning iPhones because we just wouldn't get enough use of out of them.
So, we don't care about eating out, going to the movies, or smart phones. But we do have some areas where we like to splurge.
Like most girls, clothes are my weakness, although I'm doing a lot better in this area since getting married. And Adam does purchase the occasional book or video game.
But our real splurge area is vacations. Our family is spread all across the country, so we are quite the little jet-setters. And we like to travel in style. We'll pay a little extra to avoid those dreaded early, early morning flights. We prefer paying for the Super Shuttle instead of taking the free city bus to the airport. And there's nothing worse than cheap, gross hotels.
The more we thought about this, the more we realized that everyone has their own scrimp and splurge areas.
For most of the country, the splurge area seems to be Apple's "magical" new product of the moment...
When you think about your spending habits, where do you skip out without minding one bit and where do you like to splurge a little?
Do tell!
We are with you and Adam. It's rare that we go out to eat and spend much money (you can save a ton that way!).
ReplyDeleteWe eat in and are homebodies as well (sometimes probably too much). But, there is something about having a baby that does that to you. Things are easier at home. But, we enjoy watching Netflix through our Wii.
We also LOVE to splurge on travel. We always make sure our travel splurges are reasonably priced or a "Brett deal." However, I think our travel splurges will diminish greatly.
I love to splurge on clothes, shoes, or purses any day of the week. And Brett, he's a gadget guy.
I'm very much an anti-splurger like yourselves...BUT I have to agree on travel! It's one of the reasons I've forcibly confined myself state-side after study abroad. This didn't stop me, though, from taking a trip to St. Paul, MN, for spring break. :-P
ReplyDeleteAlso, at least in my world, books are probably the thing second-most worth the splurge. (*note: does NOT include most textbooks!! :-P) I've been known to pay up to $30 for a book that could easily be read on the Internet, or bought used for a much lower price, just so that I can have the satisfaction of a nice, clean, non-digital book to devour at my leisure.
Uhh...yeah. I might be a nerd or something. :-P