Of massages, puppets & board games: A spending diary

For those who are new, my style of “spending” is a little convoluted. I have two checking accounts. I keep the majority of my money in the secondary account, transferring $240 a week into the main account. But I charge everything to the card to maximize rewards. As charges accrue, I transfer money out of the main account into the secondary one. Then I make a weekly payment on my credit card.

A tad confusing, perhaps, but it works for me. Anyway, here’s how spending went this week.

Thursday

I woke up feeling okay, if not great.

Orkin came by and did its bimonthly spraying. I pay $92.36. Amounts of $60 or more don’t come out of my weekly funds.

The Apple charge for monthly storage hit my card for $1.08.

Around 1 p.m., I took a short break to run to Lowe’s and pick up some black pencil tile for $21.61. Getting closer to getting this dang bathroom project finally done!

I then went to Fry’s and picked up some things, mainly munchies but also a bunch of strawberries. Thanks to inflation, it was $35.11. Ouchie.

I came home, caught up on work, and then chilled out after work with noshes and TV.

I took a short video of the dryer making a rumbling noise and posted the machine on the Buy Nothing Phoenix Facebook page and on a Buy/Sell/Trade page. I figured someone might want to try their hand at fixing it. In which case a) keeps the product out of a landfill a bit longer and b) I could cancel the haul away portion of the dryer delivery, which would save $30.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any takers. Probably because I’d mentioned it was 16 years old. Oh well.

Other than that, I did a pickup order at Walgreens to get some foundation that was on sale. I got two bottles for $21.37, and the $5 from Walgreens rewards went into Saved Savings. Not bad, given that the items retail for $19.99.

I called it a night around 11 p.m.

Total spent: $150.16 ($57.80 out of weekly funds)

Friday

I woke up and got through emails, then I texted the lady at the tile store to say she could compile the quote.

I also ordered more collagen powder ($38.83). If anyone asks, it’s definitely for my joint health and not at all for vanity. Cough cough.

I scheduled my eye exam online. And I went to Macy’s to return some shoes that hadn’t worked out.

After weeks and weeks of struggling, I was really getting close to crossing everything off my list!

I also ran to Fry’s to get some cheese and crackers I was craving. Those were $6.08.

The tile lady sent me the quote, and the bullnose tile alone was about a third of the cost. And I wasn’t even all that sold on bullnose. So I looked around online and realized the shower door, that would cover most of the end of the tile.

This meant that only about a foot of tile would show (from the top of the shower door to the ceiling). So I texted the lady to ask what the thickness of the tile would be. I wanted to have an idea of how much it’d noticeably stick out from the wall. She said she’d have to contact the tile company and get back to me.

I messaged my Trivia Buddy (TB) and we both agreed on a meet ‘n greet for a MeetUp group for people in their 40s and 50s. I thought it might be good to spend some time around people my own age(ish) for a change.

I finished up the day and rested until it was time to get ready to leave for the BBQ restaurant. It was a pretty informal place, and we all chatted. They seemed nice, but I didn’t really feel like I connected with anyone.

The host had negotiated a 25% off deal for attendees, so even with a tip, my bill was only $12.15.

I took off a couple hours after leaving and plopped down very tired. I watched TV and chatted with some new dating app guys.

I ended up going to bed around midnight.

Total spent: $57.06

Saturday

I woke up to a message that someone was interested in picking up the dryer. Hooray! I said I’d be in and out that day, but he could come by Sunday.

I sat down and caught up on my spending diary.

First, I had my haircut at 1:15 p.m. But unfortunately I felt awful a couple of hours beforehand. Truly, utterly fatigued. So I called to reschedule for the following week. Then I took a nap and woke up feeling more human. Phew!

This was the last day before my diet kicked in, so I went to a specialty cookie place and got a couple of cookies and a brownie for myself. My friend was having a crappy day and was intrigued by my mention of a s’mores cookie. So I got her a couple too and dropped them off on my way home.

Then I came home, rested a bit and left for my evening entertainment.

A member of my trivia group and I were meeting at a local restaurant for food ($16.54) and then heading to a show. (The tickets were already purchased.)

Specifically, the show was a puppet troupe that was re-enacting Reservoir Dogs. I’d been to this troupe’s production of Die Hard: A Christmas Story, which was fantastic. Foul-mouthed puppets that frequently broke the fourth wall. So I was very excited!

And I wasn’t disappointed. All of the puppets were different breeds of dogs, and the play had been tweaked accordingly. So it was no longer an issue of the character being police, but instead being an employee of animal control. When they brought the “prisoner” out, it was a guy in overalls that said animal control — in a cone of shame and with a bone-shaped squeak toy in his mouth.

When a joke didn’t hit well, the manager of the troupe had his puppet say, “I knew we should’ve done Catsablanca!” And another puppet piped up, “Of all the litterboxes in all the world…” But the first guy interrupted, saying not to give away the next season.

Despite drinking plenty of water at the restaurant, I had been suddenly parched while we waited for the theater to open. So I bought a $2 bottle of water. At intermission, I once again had a dry mouth, so I got another $2 bottle.

The show was great, and the gal and I agreed to go to the next one: Jurassic Puppet.

I came home, messaged with some people and unfortunately couldn’t fall asleep until about 1:30 a.m.

Total spent; $43.81

Sunday

I must’ve really needed the rest because I woke up about 10 hours later.

It was the first of the month, so my Netflix charge ($10.85) and Disney+ charge ($3.23 through Hulu) hit my card.

I went out to run some errands.

First up, fill up the car for a painful $47.75. Then I went to CVS to use my ExtraCarePass. I spent $2.68 and, between Extrabux and a coupon, I saved $7.86, which went to Saved Savings.

I also ran to Kohl’s to return an Amazon item. So glad they have that feature.

Then I came home and did a small amount of cleaning, then relaxed for a bit before starting a post. Unfortunately, the post proved to be very long and involved, so I wasn’t done, even though I pushed bedtime back til 10:30. Sigh.

Total spent: $72.37

Monday

I woke up and got through emails and my other duties, then relaxed for a bit. Emails trickled in, but I did get a small amount of work done on the post.

I was going to a MeetUp event (board games) after my massage, so I had to get presentable before I finished my workday.

At 3 p.m., I took off for my 80-minute massage ($105 after tip because she vastly undercharges). Again, amounts of more than $60 don’t come out of weekly funds.

After I could comfortably move my neck again, I stopped off briefly at the outlet mall to return a Gap Factory online order. The shorts I chose were not flattering.

Then I went to the board game event, getting there about 15 minutes in, so a lot of people were already playing. But I found a table with an empty spot, and we all got along well.

I was supposed to be on my diet, but I hadn’t had time to have my frozen meal before I left for my massage. So I ordered the closest thing I could find to healthy/low calorie, which was a chicken wrap with basil and some tomato with mixed greens with a balsamic glaze. Definitely went over my allotted calories for the day, but at least I stuck to it as best I could. Also, it was delicious. After tip, it was $14.54.

At 9 p.m. I said my goodbyes — we’d been done playing for probably 45 minutes and the people had just been chatting — and headed home.

I got home around 9:20 p.m. and messaged a bit, finally getting in bed around 10:30 and passing out maybe an hour later.

Total spent: $119.54 ($14.54 out of weekly funds)

Tuesday

I woke up a little groggy, but got through emails and other duties just in time to leave for my eye exam that I’d finally scheduled.

There was no co-pay for the exam, and they couldn’t finalize the order while I was there. So they said they’d call me to get payment over the phone.

I came home, did some work, caught up on the spending diary from the past couple of days and sat around dreading 3 p.m. Because this was the day I was going back to the gym.

I finished out my workday, sighed with deep self-pity, and then went to the gym. It was… very bad. But I made it 20 minutes on the elliptical without dying, so I’ll call it a win.

I came home and finished a post, then ate. My trivia friend came over and we watched TV for a bit, but he cut out around 8.

I chilled for a bit more but was in bed by 9:30 p.m.

Total spent: $0

Wednesday

I woke up and got through emails, then started what turned into two loads of laundry ($7 to the Washer/Dryer fund).

I had a doctor appointment, so I dealt with work until I had to leave. I came back to very few emails, thankfully, and finished out my workday.

I chilled out for a bit, really not wanting to leave and drive to Tempe. But I sucked it up and made myself presentable then drove 22 miles. Only to find out that the bar — whose employee had, just two days ago, insisted that yes, trivia was absolutely still on — wasn’t holding trivia that night.

I cursed a bit and went back home. I chilled out and conked out around 10:30 p.m.

Total spent: $7

Total spent: $449.94 ($252.58 out of weekly funds)

Okay, so not a cheap week by any stretch of the imagination; but the overall weekly funds spent is at least vastly lower than overall expenses. That’s… something?

Of the weekly funds spending, I take comfort that 19% was just from filling up the car. And the collagen supplement (which is good for my health and which will last several months) was another 15%.

So that makes me feel slightly better about the fact that 16% of my spending went to munchies and another almost-19% went to food at restaurants. But since the latter was all for the purposes of socializing, as opposed to takeout for the sake of takeout, I guess even that isn’t bad. I’m willing to spend money on being social because it’s good for my mental health. And just fun.

How is everyone else’s spending going?

Related reading:

Of bars, movie rentals & surprisingly little takeout: A spending diary

Of improv shoes, Uber fares & more flaky men: A spending diary