New Year's spending, saving & resolutions

Happy New Year! Before the holiday I blogged about how I was going to do New Year's Eve for $33. The grand total? $26.41. I bought a six pack of Mich Ultra Pomegranate Raspberry beer (which is delicious, by the way. It's not overpoweringly sweet, just has a hint of a fruity aftertaste.) for $6. We had a designated driver, so I didn't have to pay for a cab. I paid $10 to get into a bar in the Vista and spent the remaining cash on food and a few beers. Overall, I had a fun New Years and woke up hangover-free.

One recent splurge was a haircut for $48. I still can't bring myself to go to a $10 kind of place. But I used to get haircuts every six or eight weeks, which is a habit I have since reformed. However, I'm embarrassed to admit that last haircut was in early September, like 19 weeks ago! Yikes!

Now, it's seven days till payday. I have $52 until then, but all I have to buy is gas, which sadly has been going up in price. I'm trying really hard to conserve money, passing up on week night happy hour adventures and superfluous shopping trips so I can pay off my Visa card as soon as possible. I am so close, only $450 left, that it's my main priority. I'm aiming to put at least $150 toward it this month, in addition to allocating $100 toward my Discover card.

Good news: I got my SCE&G power bill. I owe $119, down from $141 last month. I experimented with using my gas heat more and my space heaters less — and staying wrapped up in socks, hoodies and blankets. I figure if I have the space heater on, I'm still sort of cold and if I keep the gas heat turned on to 65, I'm chilly, so I might as well see which is cheaper. I recently read that SCE&G has dropped the price of gas heat, so it was dumb luck that I cut back on electricity and used the heat more.

One final thought — it's New Year's resolution time. Here's what I've come up with:

•     Run a 10K race

•     Donate more clothes than I buy

•     Cook one new recipe each month

•     Eat more whole grains (this will be the most difficult task on my list)

•     Read one classic for every two contemporary books I finish

•     Pay off Visa and MasterCard

•     Save: Open an online savings account to help motivate me

Feel free to post your own goals, financial or otherwise, in the comments part of my blog.

Comments

[Mary]

I was surprised by the $48 haircut. Then I figured my $12 dollar haircut every month equals yours. So maybe it is not really a splurge after all. Unless we consider good grooming a splurge...and it's not...and we don't.

Keep saving!