A new, and belated, entry

Money Spent: $89.37
What: Car Insurance

Money Spent: $5.00
What: Subway

Money Spent: $10.63
What: Under-the-bed storage bin

Sorry about the insurance entry...as I hooked State Farm up with an automatic withdrawal system, I tend to forget that I pay around $90 a month in car insurance. Well, I didn't forget to record in my financial files, but I overlooked it here. Can't say too much about it, though. I forget what my premium is, or what is covered, but just assume it's standard for a 21-year-old female with a clean driving record.

Concerning Subway: it was a Friday evening, my brother and I were starving from "playing" tennis for the past few hours, and the food stash was running low at our house. However, $5 for a footlong meatball sub (don't judge me because I don't eat like a girl) is a pretty good deal. However, whenever I say I'll save the other half, I usually end up eating 3/4 of the entire thing and throwing away the rest. That can't be good.

The last bit of spending was actually a necessary item that I had been preparing to purchase for some time now. I didn't want to make an extraneous trip to Wal-Mart, so I waited for the boyfriend to come home and take me on a "date" there. Heehee. Aren't we romantic. But in all seriousness, my closet at home and at school has been close to overflowing for months now. And since my wardrobe recently saw an influx in new "professional" clothes for my internship, I needed to move some sweaters and sweatshirts out of the closet. Now if only I could find some way to store that prom dress...

Lucky for me, though, is my paycheck from a week ago. Plus, I received a refund check from school for $30--money left over from one of my meal plans. I plan on cashing it in sometime this week and using that cash in my wallet. If there's anything that annoys me more, it is having to whip out my debit card for a $10 purchase. It barely encourages frugal spending.

Also, look out for an upcoming entry about a recent spending spree on iTunes. I know, I know. I told myself to stay away. Luckily, the total isn't going to come out any more than $6 so don't wet yourselves. But I can't say for sure until I receive a receipt. Until then, here's hoping I keep the wallet in my purse, where it belongs!

Vending machines steal money

Money spent: $1.25
What: 20 oz. Dr. Pepper

Money spent: 50 cents
What: A roll of mint lifesavers

And did I get my lifesavers? NO! Because the vending machine is broken ate my money. Thanks vending machine.

In all seriousness, though, I usually do not turn to vending machines for my daily sustanance. However, working in an office, I need some kind of caffeine to get me through the day and my two younger brothers have consumed all of the pop at home. Consumed it selfishly, I should say. Who needs it more--someone who sits in front of video games all day? Or me, slaving away at a computer interning my butt off? I think I've made my point...

Those girlie necessities

Money Spent: $26.59
What: Toothpaste, Cover Girl foundation, Make-up brush, Shaving Cream

Yes, not those kinds of necessities. Geez, get your mind out of the fifth grade. I told you I would record everything I purchsed this summer, and that includes toothpaste and shaving cream. I mean, a girl's teeth gotta stay...clean. And if you're confused by the high price tag of my CVS-aganza, I have to point out that cosmetic products are way too expensive. But faced with the viral marketing of cosmetic companies who want to convince American women that we NEED 20 products in order to leave the house...let's just say it's not cheap to be a girl. Plus, I've (shamefully) grown into a brand snob over the years. I don't care if Revlon's foundation is $2 cheaper. I only trust Cover Girl--sorry. Counterproductive I know, but I feel that if allow myself the illusion that spending a little more on the products that make me feel pretty is a luxury, then I'll won't take them for granted.

On the good news front, if you've noticed, it's been over a week since I last bought gas. Just wait until you see me filling up next...

Not surprised

Consumers Wary Over Economy, Reports Indicate
New York Times

Economy reports released Tuesday offered another indication that Americans remain wary of the current state of the economy, as falling home prices and the rising costs of gasoline force many to make difficult spending choices.

Read more

Like getting the wind knocked out of you

Money spent: $54.62
What: Gas

It's times like these that I start to get scared about my budget. It's times like these where I second-guess my desire to purchase "necessities" like a new laptop battery, an external hard drive and a new pair of earbuds. Did we really have to go to the Cheesecake Factory, for God's sake? Yes, cocktails with my best friend was nice, but that dinner is 3/4 a tank of gas. Am I going to think of everything in this manner from now on? My God, the iPod I have desired for so long...that could fuel me for at least a month and a half.

It's times like these where the everyday luxuries of life become...not so everyday anymore. Maybe this wallet crunch will make us--as Americans--re-evaluate our lifestyles. What defines us as a superfluous, consumer-driven culture may no longer be part of the budget anymore, and we may need to retreat to our frugal, pioneer-spirited past in order to survive. Or perhaps a new culture will emerge. One driven by adventurous, optimistic youth rather than complacent baby boomers. One that will have be neither blue nor white collared, but green. And I know that sounds like a campaign slogan (and no, I never supported Ms. Clinton), but it's true.

Something has to be done. Something has to re-evaluated. We can't whine, worry or bloviate about it any longer. If $4 gas is here to stay, well, something has to go. I tried to make a budget at the beginning of the summer, and my boyfriend warned me about "budgeting" $50 for gas every two weeks. What can I say, I was living in summer 2007. Now, I know that something else--something bigger--must change within my lifestyle so that I can make my way in this brave, new world. If only I knew what that should be.

Cocktail Hour

Money Spent: $30.04
What: Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory

The story behind this expenditure is actually quite sweet and sentimental. My best friend is going to be working for a graphic design firm in Boston this summer. She left today and I don't know when I'll see her next. We rarely get together during the school year, so it might be months. I hadn't yet seen her this summer, and I missed her surprise going-away party. So we decided to throw all prudence to the mall and enjoy a truly girl's night out. We went to the Cheesecake Factory, ordered fabulously expensive cocktails (the first experience of the kind since we had both turned 21 last fall) and two dinners that neither of us could finish. We then wandered around the mall, browsing aimlessly in a sea of senseless chit-chat. Sure it was expensive. But spending time with a best friend of nearly 17 years was well worth the extra cash.

Date night

Money Spent: $4.94
What: "Oceans 13" rental

My boyfriend was home from Detroit for the weekend--we deserved a cheap date night. And since he bought the $5 ice cream from UDF, we were actually quite progressive in our dutch action. The movie was confusing and mediocre compared with the brilliance of the series' first movie, so I'm not sure if it was worth it yet...maybe we should have gone with Blazin' Saddles.

On a different note, I think it's awfully ridiculous that it costs $5 to rent a movie. I seem to remember the days of $3 rentals...and then $4 rentals. Now, it's barely less expensive than seeing a movie at the theater. *Sigh* Oh, how I lament the downsides of inflation.

Life's staples: gas and music

Money Spent: $35
What: Gas

Money Spent: $9.99
What: Vampire Weekend cd

Ok, so gas is the easy one to explain. Again, I was stopped before my gas tank was full...I guess they cap you when you use a debit card? Which makes no sense, considering that rule should actually exist for credit cards, not debit cards. Remember, debit cards come with cash pre-loaded. Credit's the shady stuff. Suffice it to say, $35 only gave me three-fourths of a tank, which will do for now. I was awfully pissed upon pulling into the station. On my way home from work earlier that afternoon, I had passed a UDF selling $3.89 for unleaded. When I pull into Kroger a few hours later, it had already spiked to $3.99. Now, I may not understand all the complexities of these so-called "gas wars," but wouldn't it make more sense to spike the prices during rush hour, when most people buy gas anyway? Just a thought. Everything turned out ok, though, since my family's trusty Kroger Plus Card gives us 10 cents off a gallon anyway.

Vampire Weekend may need some explaining. So I have been really holding myself back this summer. I am an iTunes junkie, ok? It's an awful habit, but those 99 cents songs go down like empty calories. Delicious. And considering I rarely listen to the radio during the school year, I almost have to buy the songs to hear them. During the summer it's a little easier to keep up with the music scene owing to my long commute to work everyday. Radio really is a blessing...except for commercials. That's why Internet radio is awesome. It really is nice to write for a living--there's no reason to listen to anyone else, so our employers allow we scribes to drift off into SlackerRadio-land all day. That's where I discovered this gem of a group. All right, I'm SO over pretending I'm impossibly cool and am able to stumble over unknown bands everyday. But to give myself credit, they are relatively new and are still creating some hype in the effervescent indie world--so score one for the trendsetting poseur. *Gives oneself a pat on the back* Ok, in all seriousness, I heard "Oxford Comma," fell in love, watched some YouTube videos and decided with the same impulsiveness in which I descended upon The Shins that Vampire Weekend was a new favorite. That kind of love doesn't come around often, so can you blame me for rushing home to download the album on iTunes?

Now I have something to listen to on the way home from work...you know, when there's nothing but crap on the radio.

The first of five years

Money Spent: $180.98
What: Car payment

You know, I felt a tad bit of sadness watching the envelope with my check being swallowed by the big, bad mailbox. Down the chute went my childhood, the innocence of borrowing mom and dad's car, the relative lack of responsibility that I've enjoyed these past 21 years. I just console myself knowing that it'll all be worth it in the end. Especially when it comes to that transportation/getting to work...thing.

Payback

Money Spent: $5
What: Bruegger's Bagels

I know, I know. I'm trying to be a frugal lunch-er this summer by diligently packing a turkey on wholegrain wheat everyday. I usually toss in a small square of dark chocolate to nibble on when my energy starts to lack (and enrich myself with plenty of antioxidants!), as well as keep a baggie of Sun Chips and Smarties in my desk. However when a co-worker offered to pick me up something from Bruegger's...I couldn't say no. I hadn't been to the delicious deli since I'd been home, owing to the fact that I rarely eat out while at home and my college town is disappointingly lacking in one. However, I have grown an affinity for a certain sandwich at Bruegger's--turkey, garlic cream cheese, lettuce and a sun-dried tomato spread, hold the onion. Delicious. Plus, I'm still new to the office so it was also an attempt at fitting in and making friends.

Did it work? No idea. Was my sandwich delicious? You bet. Am I sad that I had to surrender $5? Not really. Like I said, I don't get out much.

Oy with the car already!

Money Spent: $3.75
What: Car wash

What can I say? The damn thing is white and there's been so much construction lately, I can't help if the black tar coats the bottom half of my car. It must be done.

The last step in making it mine...hopefully

Money Spent: $34.25
What: License plates, car registration

Money Spent: $37.01
What: Spare car key

It was a day to get things done. You know, those nasty little steps that are everyone's least favorite step in buying a car. First you stand in line at the BMV, you make sure you have the appropriate documents that will satiate the bureacratic beast...then you drive from one car dealership to another, looking for SOMEONE who can carve a spare key on Saturday. However, hopefully with these steps accomplished, I can take one more step towards calling my precious white Bu mine.

The beast never rests though...coming up next week: my first car payment!

On a good note though: I received my first paycheck from my summer job, infusing my checking account with some much needed cash. Also, I read an article that said while most businesses are suffering from the drop in the economy, Wal-Mart is still sitting pretty. What can I say--it pays to sell stuff cheap.

Oil and Water

Money Spent: $1.50
What: Water

Money Spent: $44.85
What: Gas

This post is a day late. But a barrage of heavy storms and tornado warnings sweeping through my hometown last night kept me in the basement and off the Internet. However earlier, during a less stormier part of the evening, I went to the local YMCA for my attempted thrice weekly workout. I usually bring an old Dasani bottle and continuously refill it, but upon approaching the sink last night I was stopped by a soaking casserole dish from that night's dinner--a dish that was exuding a strange odor, if I may say. Cautious of getting any closer, I decided that since I had been using this said water bottle at work as well as during my workout, the risk of a bacterial infection was probably getting high. Therefore, with the remaining dollar in my wallet, I bought a new Dasani out of the machine at the Y.

On the gas side, I figure that I need to fill up about once a week or every week and a half (if I'm lucky). My 2004 Chevy Malibu isn't a gas guzzler, however nor is it a Prius. It's still new to me, so I'm not sure how big my tank is but with unleaded at $3.89 at my local Krogers, combined with the 10 cent discount of a Kroger Plus Card, I scored about 11 gallons for a little over $44. This is slightly lower than my last fill-up, in which I spent around $45. *Sigh* If only gas weren't necessary. If only I could turn to more environmentally friendly methods of transport, like the folks in the news are championing. However, living in a rural suburb about 20 minutes from anywhere isn't very conducive to bicycling to work. And since public transport is practically nonexistent in Cincinnati (especially in the "affluent" suburbs), it looks like the only conserving I'll be doing is limiting my trips beyond work and the YMCA.

GM to drop Hummer?...don't tease me

I post this because it's relevant--nothing is more American, it seems, than the consumeristic obsession with buying insanely large, insensible vehicles for your Starbucks runs. But with a boyfriend working with the Detroit automaker, I have a soft spot for the company. GM is receiving a lot of flak on sites such as MarketWatch for not making this decision sooner, but at least it's a step in the right direction. My only concern is for the thousands of blue-collar factory workers, and their families, who will be suffering due to the layoffs. Yet again, I see the economy of my home state spiraling even further down the tube. The greatest news though? Selling the Hummer brand. Anything to get those atrocious monster trucks off the road, I am behind 100 percent. I mean, seriously. Have you ever had one of those monstrosities bear down on you on the highway? *shudder*

G.M. Closing 4 Plants in Shift From Trucks Toward Cars
The New York Times

Responding to a consumer shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles, General Motors said Tuesday that it would stop making pickup trucks and big S.U.V.s at four North American assembly plants and would consider selling its Hummer brand.

The moves, announced Tuesday by the company chairman G. Richard Wagoner Jr., will slash 500,000 units from the automaker’s overall production, and pave the way for increased investment in smaller cars and passenger vehicles.

Mr. Wagoner said that rising gasoline prices had forced a “structural shift” by American consumers away from truck-based vehicles built by G.M.

“These prices are changing consumer behavior and changing it rapidly,” Mr. Wagoner said at a briefing before G.M.’s annual meeting in Wilmington, Del. “We don’t believe it’s a spike or a temporary shift. We believe it is, by and large, permanent.”

In what he called “difficult” decisions, Mr. Wagoner said that G.M. would close plants in Janesville, Wisc.; Moraine, Ohio; Oshawa, Ontario; and Toluca, Mexico by or before 2010. (read more)

Books as far as the eye can see

Money Spent: $10
What: Books

I'll start this blog with a particularly favorite purchase of mine: books. Not only am I an English major with a penchant for traditional and modern classics, but my genes have predisposed me to be a collector. With my father's under-the-stairs LP collection and my brothers' battle towards DVD-ownership supremacy, it was only natural for me to chose the literary pursuit of reading as many books as humanly possible. Although I adore libraries on an intellectual and philosophic level, I have never been one for budget-friendly lending. It may be fiscally irresponsible, but I need to own my books. I need to see them on my shelves, lining every imaginable flat surface of my room. My books are a part of me, and they're the one frivolous expense that I allow myself. They are my weakness--bookstores, you might say, are my Achilles heel.

However, I try to remain cost-conscious in my pursuit of literary bliss. Never have I been one for aesthetic scruples--a book is a book, and it does not matter if it was printed last year or 50 years ago, the content (and what is most important) remains the same. I have spent my life combing the various nooks and crannies of my own house, scavenging for treasure buried on forgotten shelves. I have pilfered many of my parents' volumes over the years, eventually adopting them as mine, without them ever being the wiser. I also frequent stores such as Half-Price Books at least once a month, nearly always leaving with something in hand. I usually spend most of my time in the clearance section in the back, searching for the practically brand new "Anna Karenina" for only $3 (and I've found it...with the purple Oprah sleeve from Barnes and Noble) I have even been known to meticulously go through boxes of free books at hippie arts festivals, rescuing two water-damaged but still useable "Ship of Fools" and "Gone With the Wind" (both of which I loved).

Today's purchase wasn't free, but it was close. It was the Cincinnati Public Library's Friends of the Library Book Sale, an annual event that draws surprisingly large and diverse crowds of intellectual bargain hunters to the streets of downtown Cincinnati. It was my first year and as long as I'm in the Queen City, it won't be my last. For a grand total of $10, I found nine books: eight novels from authors such as George Orwell and Eliot and one collection of poetry from Pablo Neruda. I managed to score three Pulitzer Prize-winners for fiction as well. Three of them ranged in price from $2 to $3, while most of the others (all paperbacks by the way--immeasurably cheaper if you're looking to buy in bulk) were a mere 50 cents each. Not a bad deal. Although I'm trying to limit myself to a $50 spending budget every two weeks, I think this was an accceptable trip.

An Introduction

Americans like to spend money. No, I correct myself. Everyone likes to spend money. In some way, fashion or method (honorable or otherwise) we acquire the precious commodity, and are then faced with an innumerable array of opportunities in which to spend it. We could save it for either ourselves or our children’s future, use it to buy something necessary for our daily life or even use it to play in the ever-changing, always unexpected world of the “market.” Or, we merely squander every nickel and dime in the quickest, dirtiest way possible.

Spending habits are also a sign of the passing years and the social systems which evolve out of rising and falling prices of the goods and commodities that make up so much of our life. The state of the national market, as well as what is available for consumers to purchase, defines who we are as a nation, a culture and humans.

This project evolved out of a very typical situation: I, a college student, needed help assessing my financial state before I was shoved unceremoniously into a “real world” filled with such things as mortgages, household budgets and other such still-foreign anxieties. My spending isn’t atrocious—I’ve always been relatively frugal and keen as to how much money I can spend. But I also wanted to consider my spending on another level; one that is socioeconomic, anthropological as well as philosophical. Yes, that seems quite far-fetched and I will probably never mention those terms ever again (they should probably remain in the college classroom). But I hope that by chronicling my spending for at least the next three months (my last summer vacation before I am a college graduate), I can identify patterns, discover my role in this freewheeling and oftentimes unpredictable economy, as well as gain a little insight into U.S. consumer culture.

Oh, and I also need to balance my checkbook so that it’s not as frightening. That’s something I’m sure we all can relate to. Yikes.