A Frugal Girl Tries To Spend Money | Month #1

I recently gave myself a “Spend this on fun things!” budget for the first time in ages.

Why? Well, I do have some financial wiggle room now that I am done with nursing school and am actually working as a nurse.

And I’m also doing this because…part of the reason we have money is so we can use it. But diehard frugal people like me are sometimes not very good at that. 

Thus, I have assigned myself to spend this money in joy-inducing ways, on things that are not strictly necessities. 

You all thought $100/month (basically $25/week) was a good amount to start with, so that’s what I’m going to try.

Soo, now that it’s October, here’s my report on September. 

Week 1: $22.99

NYT Games Subscription

Interestingly, week one of this new budget coincided with the NYT Games app making The Mini (a tiny daily crossword) subscription-only.

BOO. 

I like this small crossword puzzle because it makes me feel smart. Ha. I can usually solve the puzzle in under a minute unless it’s one of the bigger weekend puzzles. 

Normally, the app costs $49.99 a year, but they had a sale offer for $17.99. That means each Mini will cost me less than $0.05, which seems like a bargain for a daily ego boost. 😉 

The other two games I play daily (Wordle and Connections) are still free to anyone.

But if that changes in the next year, I’m good to go. 

Ikea Solskur Lamp

When I helped my girl move to college, I was reminded how much I love her little Ikea lamp, and I have kinda wanted one ever since. 

Every Ikea here is kind of a drive (not worth it for a single lamp), so I looked on eBay.

Unfortunately, most of the lamps on eBay were as much as a new one from Ikea!

A reminder overlapping from yesterday’s post: if you are interested in something, add it to your watchlist. Sometimes this will trigger a discount offer, so check your inbox over the next day or two.

I got offers on almost all the lamps I put on my list: 

Then I had the idea to look on Facebook Marketplace, which can be a little hit or miss when you’re looking for something specific.

But lo and behold, someone in my area was listing one for <drum roll>…only $5! 

I was able to arrange same-day pickup, and ooh, this purchase is making me so happy. 

I love the shape of this lamp, and the gentle glow it puts out. It will be a lovely item to have in the darker days of winter. 🙂 

Week One Happiness Rating: 10/10

My NYT subscription is gonna bring me a little joy every single day, so I feel good about that purchase.

My Ikea lamp is already making me happy whenever I look at it, and I am especially happy that I was able to get one secondhand. 

Overall, my first week was a roaring success. 

Week Two: Fincon week

I worked Sunday and Monday, and then I was at Fincon Tuesday-Saturday.

My travel-related expenses came from my business checking account, of course.

And I think the only extras I spent money on were my Goodwill bins purchases ($4.71) and my Winco purchases ($5.50 for some clearance cinnamon gum to share with my coworker and study buddy, Brittany, some Nerds clusters to share with Katy, and some honey nut Chex mix for my flight home.)

Sooo, $10.21, and honestly, I’m not even sure if these qualify as fun money purchases.

But everything I bought did make me pretty happy, and it was fun to leave a pack of gum on Brittany’s workspace (she prefers cinnamon gum to minty gum, which is why the clearance package caught my eye!)

Week Three: Sick week/work week

As soon as I got home, I caught a cold from Zoe. So, I stayed home and did not spend any money. And as soon as my cold improved, I spent the rest of the week at work (masked up.)

Sooo, I did zero fun spending.

Week Four: Work and Philly!

I worked Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and went to Philly Thursday. 

In Philly, I spent $20 on parking, $17 on my lunch, and $3.50 on my ice cream.

So, $40.50, which was solidly happiness-inducing. 

Totals:

Week 1: $22.99

Week 2:$10.21

Week 3: $0

Week 4: $40.50

That adds up to $73.70 for my first month, about $26 under budget.

Sooo, I’m gonna roll that $26 over to next month and give myself $126 to spend. 

Verdict: I like this experiment!

Parts of September were pretty out of the ordinary (I do not normally fly to the other side of the country), but October should be a more normal month.

We shall see what fun ways I come up with to spend my money this time! 🙂