Sweet lemons
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 7:22AM Wow! What a crazy weekend! I love holiday weekends because there's always too much to do, too many parties, too many folks to see. But in the end you always end up having a great time with a lot of great people and you don't end up sacrificing your chores and other responsibilities to do it.
See that? That's what I would have written if I'd have done something over the weekend.
So I came in the door on Thursday afternoon and didn't open it again until Monday morning...well...unless you count the pizza guy on Friday or the fire alarm that went off for the building on Saturday causing me to walk out and go downstairs, walk around the building then go back upstairs.
I watched some episodes of Numb3rs, did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, ate the aformentioned pizza, played Diablo 3 and otherwise did nothing particularly noteworthy. Heck, I didn't even get drunk.
Now, before you feel too bad for me...that is to say if you were...I had an invite for Monday and could have found someone to hang with but by the time Monday came around I just couldn't get up gumption to put on pants (instead of my cozy pants...you perv). So, the whole hermit impression I did was self inflicted.
I thought about going to the grocery store but Mint said that was not a wise choice. I denied myself Best Buy for the same reason. Both the movies and going to a bar for a drink were also scratched. It's "end of month" empty wallet season.
Okay, to be fair I did spend $52 on pizza. WAIT! That's with tip! And it was two large pizzas, two orders of chicken wings and a dessert pizza. I was able to get three meals out of that so it was less than $20 per day as that was my only meal for the day. See! Not so bad. Sure, I could have cooked but the pizza was my treat for the weekend.
I did buy Diablo 3 for $60 (another treat). That was an impulse buy and I could have gotten by without doing it but here's the thought. I only buy a game that will give me the same number of hours of entertainment as it costs. I know that Diablo with get me more than 60 hours of entertainment so it is a wise investment. I suspect it'll be more like 120 hours or more which brings the investment cost down to $0.50 or less. When you think of a movie for $8 (or call it $20 once you get a drink, Milk Duds and a bag of popcorn) that only runs two hours that $4 (or $10) per hour! Some pretty expensive entertainment. Even if you throw in the get there early and stay late time you can maybe stretch it to 4 hours but you're still around $2 to $5 per hour.
I know I've discussed this in this blog before but it bears repeating.
Every time you leave the house in any way but on foot or mooching a ride from a friend, you are spending money. Sure, if you stay home you are also spending money in the form of electricity, food and water so it could be argued that it's cheaper to pay for the gas to go see a friend than to stay home but I counter that even when you aren't home electricity is being consumed by the AC, refridgerator and a dozen other "always on" devices so it is at least somewhat wasteful if you aren't enjoying the comforts that you are already paying for. I'm not quite THAT crazy yet but the point is valid. We spend a LOT of money on our homes and yet some of us, after spending all that money, can't seem to get out of our homes enough.
Literally true or not I find that it's a good rule of thumb for me to just stay put unless I have room in my budget to do things. Does that sound crazy to you? Maybe. But the difference is that I end up saving money at the end of the month rather than going in debt. I'd like you to be honest with yourself and look at your own budget. Can you say the same? If so then good for you! If not might I reccommend a few more days at home enjoying what you already have.
So here it is on Tuesday morning and I need to get ready for work. I had a nice, long, quiet, relaxing and fiscally responsible weekend alone and I loved every minute.
