Fun Money Update | a gap, as usual
Last time I did one of these was in May; I ended with a balance of $341, and then I added another $100 in both June and July, which makes a total of $541.
And I already know, even before typing up this post, that I didn't spend all of that!
Car wash ($29.95 x 2)
I kept my car wash membership going for July and July, so that's $60.
It's still making me feel rich and fancy, so I'm carrying on with it for now. 😉
A brunch ($50)
Sonia and a friend visited for the weekend, and I treated the three of us ladies to brunch and tea.
Ummm.....a lamp ($30)
We took a pilgrimage to Ikea while they were visiting.
And I am sheepishly reporting that I bought another lamp.
My shopping companions convinced me. Ha.
(Not that it is difficult to convince me to buy a lamp!)
Total
All of that adds up to $140.
So, I'm ending this report with $401 in my fun money account.
However, I have a small future spending plan:
I am going to buy myself an iced latte at the end of my work week for each of the next six weeks, as a countdown to my part-time work life.
There are three work weeks left in July, but I have $17 on my Starbucks gift card right now, so hmm, I probably won't really dip into my fun money for this until August.
And then there will only be three weeks left until I go part-time!
I think the iced coffee is a great idea! Another fun thing could be filling a box with small treats (like mini packs of candy) and having a treat at the end of each week.
I went to a charity shop yesterday and got an adorable top, originally homemade, which is red with illustrations of fairground rides on it. I don't usually wear red but I really loved it!
You find the cutest lamps!!! Enjoy!!
I like your coffee idea to help count down the weeks! A little something to look forward to is always nice.
I don’t really have a fun money stash, but I did buy a $2 trifle bowl at an estate sale last week. A proper trifle bowl (i.e.deep enough) was definitely not a necessity, but I will enjoy using it and not just for trifles!
As I posted yesterday on the NCA, I've just made a rather big-ticket and long-postponed purchase. While spending this much money wasn't exactly "fun," I suppose that in one way this could be defined as a "fun money" purchase.
On learning that a local furniture chain will be closing its original store after 99 years in that South Side location, I got myself down there bright and early on Saturday for the "We're closing our doors" sale. Both of the recliners in my living room are in horrendous condition, especially mine (which was a hand-me-down from my in-laws' house after my MIL was moved to institutional care in 2006). So I'm now the proud owner of a spanking new rocker-recliner with dark brown leather upholstery (about the same color as my sofa). The cost was a cool grand, but that seems to be about the minimum one pays for new non-crap furniture these days. Everything I've been looking at online under that figure looks like cheap junk to me--and, alas, I can't afford even Stickley's sale prices (although I live in Stickley's home town). And considering how much time I spend in my recliner--watching birds and traffic on the street, cruising the internet, etc.--I think it's a good investment.
My "good juicy rationalization" for the purchase (to quote the Jeff Goldblum character in The Big Chill) is that I'm buying a chair this year instead of going to the JASNA Annual General Meeting. So, since going to the AGM is definitely "fun money" for me, I suppose buying the chair could also be defined as such. I don't have a designated "fun money" account.
Im so amazed by your restraint. Stationery and related supplies are my weakness and I have to be very mindful not to go overboard. They bring me a lot of joy to use, but I have to be careful not to get more than I can reasonably keep up with!