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!
That was a very affordable fun money expenditure. Ha.
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.
My mother-in-law bought us a Stickley couch when we got married 23 years ago. I went to the Stickley store with her and spent hoooourrrs sitting on every couch and looking at all the upholstery options. That couch has survived all four of our children and several moves intact so far, even the upholstery. (I didn't know it then, but the brownish, small-patterned choice I made very quickly because I was very tired by then was PERFECT for hiding its age.) It was expensive even then, and I imagine would be terrifyingly expensive now, but it sure has held up.
DH and I bought our couch at Stickley, too (back in our younger and more carefree days). We bought it the day Prince Harry was born, Sept. 15, 1984. I tell people it's the same age as Prince Harry and much better behaved.
Lol!
Hopefully it's not getting as threadbare as Harry is getting bald.
I'm not worried as much about Harry's balding head (which he gets honestly from both the Windsor and Spencer sides) as about the large empty space inside.
Not worried about nor do I think there is an empty space - more worried about the extremely bad decision now King Charles made when Diana was killed. What the Hades was he thinking making those young children march? Jackie Kennedy had JFK Jr. salute but not march behind the coffin!
my boss bought all stickley furniture when she bought her new coop about a year before she passed away. i had never even heard of it until then. but it has an excellent reputation. i am glad yours has held up and that you didn't have to buy it.
I think if it enables you to enjoy the things you enjoy, it's fun money.
oh no why aren't you going to the jasna meeting? you love it so much. use your chair in good health. it sounds lovely. 1k for a good chair is not much these days. i hope you don't beat yourself up over it.
I'm not going to the JASNA AGM this year for several reasons, but primarily because it's in a city in the Far West. I no longer travel by air, and getting there by car or train isn't really feasible. But as a volunteer proofreader/fact checker for JASNA's journals, I've already read a lot of the papers based on presentations to be given at the AGM--so I'm not missing out on everything.
Thanks for the explanation. You don't really owe me one. Good reasons not to go and I am glad you are not upset.
My Grandma bought a new recliner a while after my Grandpa passed. She truly spends hours there every day and calls it her "happy place." I'm glad she has a good chair that supports her comfort and agree a new, good value piece is both "fun" and necessary (if we have the means). Kind of reminds me of Kristen's car purchase - super fun and fulfilling but in a useful way.
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!
Last week I paid for a PBS membership. I've very much missed watching PBS since we got rid of cable a few years ago and I am so glad I finally did it. Now I just have to restrain myself from purchasing one of their logo shirts!
Yay, Kate! Thank you for supporting PBS!! "Supported by viewers like you."
That's me! 🙂
Once can always use another lamp 🙂 We actually need two more floor lamps so I'm going looking today at some consignments/resale shops. After I go to my happy places–the library and Aldi, of course!
Our daughter is coming home for awhile so it'll be nice to have her and her kitty back in the house.
Our weather has certainly been better recently but the forecast looks HHH as this week progresses (hazy, hot, & humid for those of you not used to Mid-Atlantic speak).
And lastly, I have poison ivy on my legs which I'm very susceptible to; it's as though it jumps on me if I so much as look at it! I. Hate. Poison. Ivy.
I don't have a fun budget per se, except when I went to the King Arthur Baking store. That time I "forced" myself to spend a certain amount so I don't revert to my usual "I can do without" and "I don't need a gadget/mix, I can get the same result w some extra labor instead."
However, sometimes I pretend I'm rich and spend the money. Most recently, I bought soda from the hotel c-store rather than do without, and bought fancy meats and cheeses for lunch rather than something less expensive. (It was very tasty.)
Dr. Bestest Neighbor was a college classmate of someone who was high up in the King Arthur hierarchy back in the day. Dr. BN is almost 90 and this person would be long since retired, but I believe that the BNs still get discounts on their KA orders. Ms. BN is crazy about the various mixes for scones and other goodies.
Oooh, iced lattes! Such a summer treat and a great countdown.
If lamps speak to you then so be it. Buy them I say. I retired early last year and yes I absolutely have fun money. It's a huge priority at this point. Mostly for travel. When at home I am pretty frugal to afford the travel. I try to make sure my money is going to what matters to me as I'm a believer that money actually does buy happiness when you spend in line with who you are and your priorities.
Love the warm light -
I have fun money, which is intended for clothes and other splurges. If I spend more on clothes, I have less for lunches, books, concert tickets etc. And vice versa.
I normally divide (most of) my fun money in buckets but do not mind moving amounts to other buckets if needed. One bucket is "lifelong learning", where I like to have an amount for workshops or interesting books. Most recently in that category I bought secondhand spanish novels as a change from Duolingo and online newspapers. The buckets do function as a reminder to myself that there is more in life than just new shoes and icecream. (Or books, sigh)
Sometimes it hurts to spend money, and sometimes it is just fun. We don’t budget, just live as cheaply as possible and then KA-BLOOEY when we want something (but never “on credit”)
Last week I temporarily lost my mind when I went to Hobby Lobby for buttons for a sweater I’m knitting for my 8-year-old neighbor. Then I walked through the yarn, which is mostly yucky stuff until I saw some 100% cotton in turquoise that perfectly matched the turquoise earrings I was wearing. I was helpless. There were three different dye-lots, so I carefully chose 3 of one and 3 of the other, skipping the lot that only had 2 skeins. The checker said that the price was about to go up on the yarn, and congratulated me on the wisdom of buying the yarn. I confessed to breaking my yarn diet. The whole thing, including the buttons, was probably about $30.
Even when I think I am going all hog-wild on a splurge, it ends up being a bargain.
Good thing, because I had to replace the cord and the plug-in box for my phone, 2 items I bought barely more than 2 weeks ago but WOULD NOT CHARGE the phone. BestBuy has a 2 week replacement window. KA-BLOOEY! So much money wasted buying bad products.
i'm with you, i reign in the spending until ka-blooey. i am so happy you added to your yarn. if it makes you happy why not. i bet you will b thrilled with the result.
I chuckled with I saw your KA-BLOOEY lol. Yes, spending can feel that way sometimes!! Despite my best efforts to be frugal (I often talk myself out if buying things, even in a thrift store), sometimes KA-BLOOEY happens... Good on you for buying the yarn. I'm sure the end results will be charming and warm.
Oh Central Calif Artist Jana I would just go to Best Buy and explain the situation. I’ve found that they have been really responsive when I’ve had returns.Its so frustrating but it never hurts to ask:)
My son and his girlfriend arrived on Saturday. They were my North Star of moving into the River House and having it somewhat settled before they came. We have had a wonderful two days. Fun Money will be spent when we head up to Tahoe for a few days. I am making River Rafting reservations. We had Chinese Food at a sentimental spot last night.
I am 100% behind the weekly coffee purchase! I get Starbucks every Tuesday morning when I go into the office. It's become a ritual with one of my coworkers and I look forward to it every week. I go into the office on Wednesdays too, but I drink the office coffee on those days.
Does Blue Bell Ice Cream count as fun money expenditures? Because it sure is fun to eat it!
Brava, Kristen! I love the count down drink treats!
In the summer time I use my fun money reserves on estate sales, tag sales and fishing trips. One of my sons needed a toaster oven, I found a really cool upgrade to the one I have, I bought it for $15 and gave him my 4 yr old one.
I also purchased a full set of All Clad stainless; stock pot, fry pans and sauce pans for $30. Oh my word.
Summer is visiting again this week in hot for us temps. I made ice during our cold weather last week.
Any money that is left over after bills, space rent, credit card payments, one loan payment, food, cat items, gas, other car stuff, etc is considered "fun money" by this old lady ROFLMBO. Fun money mostly gets spent on craft supplies/craft storage/ picture frames but just today I branched out and bought some purple in ear headphones from QVC (my first purchase EVER from QVC). The noise level at my job drives me cuckoo and I'm the only person who doesn't have headphones.
I also need to buy more lamps as I currently have 3 overhead light fixtures in different rooms that are NOT working (they went pffft Saturday and I tried new light bulbs as well as flipping breakers, also one of the fixtures is a ceiling fan, checked to see if the ceiling fan worked--no luck with any of it.) I'd rather buy a few new or new to me lamps than pay an electrician to figure out what is going on, at least for now.
My late husband was a big supporter of having cash in his wallet. So every week for 30+ years I would withdraw a set amount for each of us. We could use the cash however we wanted. He was very good at saving his, me not so much. Sometimes the amount would increase or decrease depending on our life circumstances but we always had our cash “rat hole” (his favorite term for it.)
I have made far too many fun money expenditures. I need to do better! I started working in September, after having not had a paying job for 18 years! thanks homeschooling 🙂 I have revamped my wardrobe a little but, but it was very needed. I have slowed down. We also went to Hawaii as a family and we enjoyed it, didn’t say no to very much. Now it’s time to rein it in and get back to some form of a normal.
My spouse and I each have a monthly individual fun money amount, but I find neither of us ever comes close to exceeding our allotments.
I spend mine primarily on iced coffees, lunches out with friends, and costume jewelry, one of my weaknesses, lol.
I have more of a spending plan... In June I plan 60 for my pool membership. Last year I went 29 times in the 10 weeks that it is open. I bought pizza for an outside concert series ($30) and bought ice cream from an ice cream truck from a different outside concert series and that was about $12.
I love your latte plan! I commented last week about my latte-a-day routine to get myself through an always-bad month at work. (It adds up, but I do budget for it and it’s cheaper than quitting my job.) A weekly countdown latte is more frugal, and I think would have the same effect. I might try this out this upcoming year!
I usually listen to Life Kit on NPR, and today’s episode is titled “A financial planner’s guide to spending without guilt.” The topic lines up with your post today, so I just thought I’d mention it for anyone else who is interested.
Thanks for this, Katie!
Maybe a Wednesday latte to celebrate the halfway point (if your weeks are m-f) ... I used to call Thursday evening "weekend eve" to give it a good vibe even though I had to work most weekends as well as weekdays. I had such Sunday dread during the rough seasons.
Thanks for the lol! Yes, lattes during the hard month are more frugal than quitting your job!
Adding to Bonnie's thought, a coworker from Mexico calls Thursday "viernes chiquito" or little Friday. The thought sometimes helped with my end of week momentum. I guess many jobs don't roll like this (ahem, hospital nursing), but for M-F routines it applies!
I don't have a fun money budget, but it sure is a good idea!
I do treat myself occasionally, however. I suppose my latest treat was taking a road trip to visit my sister. I live in Illinois and she lives in North Carolina. We're both getting on in years, so getting together is harder than it used to be.
We had to make a run to the airport so I went to IKEA as well. I was looking for a lamp to put outside on the deck. Unfortunately, their option for an outside lamp used a lithium battery and wasn’t rechargeable so I passed. I did see the lamp you bought, though. While I didn’t really spend “fun” money at IKEA, I do have a fun story. All of the restrooms are unisex, which is fine with me! As I was washing my hands, a middle-aged man came up beside me to wash his hands. He commented the new-fangled faucets (motion-sensors for water, soap, & air in the same tubular fixture) seemed like they were more trouble than they were worth. I agreed with him having had this conversation a number of times before in a public restroom. However, as I told him, I’d never had it with a man.
My fun money got spent on a shaken espresso drink for the drive home!
all my money is a fun money budget. glad u r enjoying yours. glad u like lamps. spent the weekend in irvington with my two b-i-l. hubby says we will never live full time there. so i am sorta relieved. my cell doesn't work in irvington i can get texts but not calls. we had dinner in a mexican restaurant that my m-i-l may she rest in peace used to take us to. she always treated us and so the bill was kinda high. but we did have one shirley temple. the kids really enjoy them. i like to make them happy. we got out dog buddy a new harness he pulls so much they get destroyed. he had a trainer and he still pulls like a nut job. it was much more reasonable than what we get from chewy of manhattan.
My town is currently doing a hot chocolate showdown for winter (Ballarat, Australia) so my fun money has been going to trying the different offers 😁
Oooh, I would 100% be interesting in trying that!
A hot chocolate showdown sounds amazing. I've heard of chili contests and the like but the cocoa one is new to me.
This is my birthday week, so today I decided to get a pedicure, the second in my life. I also chose as a gift these new plate bowl dishes I've been wanting for YEARS. Very fun! And featuring yellow, which makes me happy.