Frugal Failure: Part Deux

Note from Katharine: Sorry it has been so quiet around here lately... the summer semester has been murder, and with Alison away, there was no one to stop me from neglecting the blog.  Hopefully posting should go back to normal in a week or two!

Maybe my goals are kind of crazy, I don't know. Maybe Kathy has the right idea about not telling you all her definite goals. But I think that doing that, being accountable to our readers, and sharing my stuggles helps me stay on track, so I can deal with a little humiliation...

I few weeks ago I attempted at the $20/week budget. Since I'm not actually paying any expenses (I gave up my car, I'm living at home, etc.), I thought that this would be completely doable. But I guess the title of this entry tipped you off to how my experiment turned out. Within four days my budget was blown!

It started out innocently, $0.50 for a pinch of organic black chai tea leaves on Friday. That turned into $2 for a pound of stawberries for the waffle brunch that Kathy and I shared. It then escalated exponentially to $12 for lunch at an Indian buffet in New Haven (generally the place is a good deal, but definitely not on Sunday!). Returning home that night with only $5 in my wallet, I devoutly affirmed my commitment to the $20 Way of Life. Little did I know that as I approached the seemingly innocent and frugal public library a fine of $2.50 awaited me! Alas, $3 seemed just too lonely in my pocket, so that night I met up with my friend DJ and went to ice cream with him. Broke in 4 DAYS! Unbelievable... My only redeeming quality was my ability to go completely cold turkey for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Here's how I wanted it to go: $5 for couponing, $5 to take a family member out to coffee (quality time), $5 for necessary expenses, $3 to save, and $2 to donate to charity. It sounded so reasonable, but now you and I will have to wait to find out how my next attempt goes, seeing as spending a week in Toronto will not be workable on $20 or anything close.

Stay frugal!

Cheers,
Ali

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Frugal Fun in Toronto!

Exciting news! On Thursday I will be leaving for Toronto!! As you can tell from my use of exclamation marks, I am so very excited about this. However, I am also a little nervous. I'll be staying with a friend who is, let's say, a little more financially secure than I am and also a LOT less frugal. Needless to say, if anyone is from the Toronto area/familiar with it, I would love love love any suggestions of free, frugal, and fun activities!

So far we've planned to visit the University of Toronto (I'll hopefully be meeting with someone from the Museum Studies Program), the Parliament building, and an art museum that my friend told me is free at a certain time. I love museums, parks, and historic things in general, so suggestions of that nature would amazing. Also, any food freebies/cheap eats--I would much rather spend my money on fun than food.

My plan for travel is, I think, quite excellent and frugal. I will be taking a Greyhound bus from New Haven to Toronto. Roundtrip I am paying a total of $88! I feel that this is a pretty good deal, especially since it would have been $97, but because I registered for greyhound Road Rewards I'm getting an extra 10% off. At this point, I unfortunately have to discourage any excitement about the new Greyhound Neon busline from Penn Station in NYC to Toronto. They advertise low-fares, even 1 seat per bus that is sold for $1, but my advice is to not get on the Neon bandwagon. Sure, it sounds great, but you will never find the $1 seat and the customer service people will definitely not help you (even if you offer them a special review on your blog)...Take the regular Greyhound line, its cheaper in almost every senario and without the disappointment of not getting the dream fare.

Also, since the busride is 14+ hours, I will be trying to entertain myself. Sleep sounds most promising, new downloads from Publicliterature.org will take up a lot of room on my MP3 player, and I will be carrying a bag full of meals and snacks (any advice on meals that travel well without a lunch box/cooler?).

Happy Travels!

Cheers,
Ali
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