<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > Making an Addiction a Budget Line Item

Making an Addiction a Budget Line Item

August 29th, 2012 at 04:58 pm

First, to inaugurate my new category, I saved forty cents (not .40 cents, that is hundredths of a cent, not hundredths of a dollar) a gallon at a Safeway gas station. As this is the second consecutive time I have mentioned the supermarket chain you could suspect I am paid to blog about it. Not true. If I did not have my price book I would not notice the savings, and there are many items I prefer to buy at Target, due to location and price.

I don't deny I am addicted to petrol. I looked at my 2012 Savings page and saw that in April we spent $120+ on gas refuels. That is 750 miles.

About coffee: I know I am an addict. I have a Turkish coffee set, Turkish coffee, Canadian coffee (not a type but a product name under the Murchie's brand), 5-lb whole bean bag from Costco, Folger's for emergency situations (no electric power for grinding the beans). I have a reloadable card from a cafe 1.5 miles away. My niece said I am a junkie. But I have limits. I would rather go through caffeine withdrawal than pay for Farmer Brothers coffee, even at five cents a cup as Wall Drug advertises.

But making coffee, tea, yerba mate a budget line item makes our consumption visible, and we can then (attempt to) cut down on purchases, maybe even consumption. I miss affording clothes.

I will budget September, including all those back-to-school expenses and Vitamin D3, sweaters, socks, gloves and hats, Christmas gifts.

Posted in untamed budget, frugal actions | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Making an Addiction a Budget Line Item”

  1. Homebody Says:
    August 29th, 2012 at 10:37 pm 1346279831
    1346279831

    Coffee um yes....us too. We make our own, rarely buy from anywhere already made and I till think it is probably too much. I drink Seattle's Best level 5 and was happy to find it today at Walmart for $6.00 for the bag, already ground. As we get older, we are getting lazier, don't even want to grind it ourselves! I make it at night so all we have to do is punch the on button. My SIL has Folgers down here in Temecula where I am, and I have been putting about half Folgers and half Seattle's Best in the pot.

  2. My English Castle Says:
    August 30th, 2012 at 03:31 am 1346297469
    1346297469

    Last night I sat and thought about school starting. As I was mentally weighing the loss of good weather and free time with the spark and cash that school means, I also thought about that lovely moment that is the start of each school day. "A small mild with room," is my standard order. Small is a relative term. I hand them my refillable travel mug, pay for a small, and they fill it up. It makes work so much more bearable.

    And I bought clothes today.

    What else is new, Paulette? Reading anything good?

  3. Jerry Says:
    September 2nd, 2012 at 05:20 pm 1346606448
    1346606448

    I don't drink coffee... but I am in the middle of a move to Switzerland, so chocolate may well lead into that place on our family budget. Actually, my wife read last night that the Swiss often do make chocolate a budget line item, so we'll have some insurance of being in good company, there.
    Jerry

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]