Thursday, April 06, 2006

March 2006 Entertainment Expense

In the month of March, I spent a grand total of $0.99 on entertainment.

So, how does an urban gal manage to keep her entertainment expenses to less than a dollar per month? Well, fortunately (or unfortunately) for me, it was a busy month. Work, night classes and church obligations kept me pretty busy. But before you start throwing a pity party for me, I should also mention that my dining expenses came to a grand total of $309.33, the bulk of which was spent on lunches with coworkers and dinners with friends. In other words, most of my leisure time centered around going out to eat.

Next month should see a noticeable uptick in the entertainment category because I'll be heading out of town for a few days. And I've also got tickets to see the musical 'Wicked'.

I will say one thing about my friends. They've got the art of hospitality down to a science. They're great about inviting people over for low-key, informal get-togethers. And they're just as willing to spend the evening playing board games or watching a DVD as they are going out for an expensive night on the town. If you're trying to stick to a budget, you need friends like that. I remember when I first graduated from college, I was making $22,000 a year, while my best friend at the time was making $56,000. No matter how many times I tried to explain that I couldn't afford to try the latest or greatest restaurant and then a movie or play afterwards every week, my protests seemed to fall on deaf ears. And since all of our 'friends' at the time also made more than I did, I had the choice of either staying at home or spending more than I could afford to. Thankfully, I escaped that crazy stage in life by going to grad school.

Anyway, you might be wondering at this point just what it was that I spent 99 cents on last month. Think iTunes.

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