I speak of simple pleasures. Coco Chanel said that a hot bath is good for a rotten mood, and I agree. Yesterday, having had very little sleep, I threw some dead sea salts, ylang-ylang and jasmine essential oils in the bath, and once soaking made some price book entries from my Trader Joe's escapade -- yes I could use some advice as to how to properly enjoy cheap yet luxurious pleasures -- am I to read Balzac or Flaubert or Baudelaire and pop Trader Joe's cocoa truffles in my mouth while hydrating with mixed pear juice + sparkling water? Then I could deal with the "this just in!" reports from Junior about the NHL All-Star Game and other interruptions.
I try for $100/day maximum spending, including bills. I maxed out today with gas and groceries, and will max out the next four days with bills.
YNAB end-of-month top four updates:
Food
Groceries: $480 (excellent!), Restaurants: $220 (three people, I ate out every week, but only at one place with cloth napkins or Script-typeface menus or pâté with toast points. My family ate out too. Groceries spending will rise next month: my seven-week supply of meat will run out, and eventually we will try to get our $55 membership use out of Costco.
Mortgage: $1353.71. Includes a teeny prepayment.
Car Insurance: $266.80.
Phone & Internet: $229.18. This WILL go down next month by $105 next month: we both paid the same bill unbeknownst to each other, and we no longer have a landline.
This month, while eating out, I learned of grenadine soda. A tablespoon or two of grenadine, and soda water, with a bit of lime juice. This I have been attempting to recreate at home, using what must be a decade-old bottle of grenadine syrup. We also used up the decade-old box of kosher salt. My bilingual box of salt I brought with me when I immigrated is still here and nowhere near empty.
YNAB update, plus when you can't cut back any more, add more
January 30th, 2012 at 06:07 pm
January 30th, 2012 at 06:53 pm 1327949635
January 30th, 2012 at 10:37 pm 1327963055