Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

I had plans to meet up with some friends for dinner on Friday night. I fixed myself a grilled cheese after work and snacked on some cashews on the way over. I did not purchase anything at the restaurant but still enjoyed myself. It was nice chatting with friends, some who I had not seen in a while. After dinner, we went to a local ice cream shoppe. I ate a delicious chocolate chip ice cream cone and socialized some more with friends.

Friday Total Cost:$3

Saturday

My friends were married on Saturday, so I spent most of the day getting ready for and attending to wedding things. They had an open bar so no money was spent!

Saturday Total Cost:$0

Sunday

On Sunday, I went to the mall to see if I could get my dress fixed. The final result was a $140 credit and my dress was sent off to the seamstress. Afterward, I had lunch at Chipotle, then walked it off at the Ken Lockwood Gorge. Then put it all back on with some ice cream at Gronsky’s Milk House.

Sunday Total Cost:-$130.80

Total Weekend Cost: -$127.80!

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

Since this was a long weekend, I took advantage of the extra day by doing nothing on Friday. I made a small dinner and got caught up with bills and things. Not too exciting, but it had to get done.

Friday Total Cost:$0

Saturday

I spent Saturday at the shore with some friends. I packed a lunch, brought a drink and some snacks. We took a route without any tolls and less traffic. An hour later, we were relaxing on the beach. My friends ate lunch at a place on the boardwalk where a slice of pizza and a drink was $8. I sat at the table with them eating my yummy sandwich.

Later that night, I had plans to watch the UFC fight at Buffalo Wild Wings. I knew I would eat there, which is why I did not want to eat out earlier in the day. Unfortunately, BWW changed their boneless wings into disgusting fried crap so that was rather disappointing. The Blue Moon’s helped washed the ickiness down.

Saturday Total Cost:$20

Sunday

I spent Sunday morning chatting with a friend at Pantera Bread ($2) then lounged around in the afternoon. I met up with some friends to watch fireworks in the evening. We had a great time! I had some pizza and beers there as well.

Sunday Total Cost:$7

Monday

I spent my long weekend day just being a bum. I made beer pancakes for breakfast and they were oh-so-delicious. Since, it was ridiculously hot outside, I stayed in and watched Zombieland on Instant Watch. Then made myself a quick dinner of grilled chicken, broccoli and a baked potato with my seasoning salt.

Friday Total Cost:$0

Total Weekend Cost: $27

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

I’m just going to warn you now, this was the most non-frugal weekend ever! Fortunately, all of the extra spending was budgeted. Friday night started out cheap. We stayed in, ordered Thai food ($7) and watched Shutter Island.

Friday Total Cost:$7

Saturday

I knew that Saturday would be an expensive day. I spent the morning getting highlights ($115) then stocked up on a prescription ($80). I came home in time to watch the World Cup game then headed out again to eat yummy Mexican for dinner ($6). After dinner, I played poker at a friend’s house and lost a buck.

Saturday Total Cost:$201

Sunday

I have been “window shopping” online for a dress to wear to two upcoming weddings for the past month but am wary to make such a purchase online without being able to try it on. It is getting close enough to the July wedding that I might not have enough time to return a wrong size, so I decided to take a quick stop at the mall and just see if anything caught my eye. After a disappointing run through several stores, I tried on two dresses at Bloomingdales. With the help of Twitter fashion gurus, I picked a Lipsy dress ($295…eeeek). I have never spent that much on clothing before but I budgeted the dress expense into this month, I do not have any special occasion clothes, and I know I will wear it twice at the very least. However, I am keeping the receipt and staying on the look out. If I fall in love with something cheaper, I will return it. It is times like these that I am glad New Jersey does not have sales tax on clothing!

Sunday Total Cost: $295

Total Weekend Cost: $496 (ugh!)

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

A group of friends and I went out to dinner to treat a friend for his birthday. The six of us split the bill for $17/each; that way everyone was paying a bit of the birthday boy’s meal as well. It was far more than I normally spend on eating out, but was a special occasion.

After dinner, we went back to my house and just hung out for the rest of the night. I did not go out and buy any special food; I was already prepared to make cookies!

Friday Total Cost:$17

Saturday

I spent Saturday playing the Mod Nation Racers demo which is fabulous! I also bought some supplies and plants for my first-ever vegetable container garden (wish me luck!).

For dinner, we went to a local hotdog shack for 3 with everything and a thick shake, that was all $6.

After dinner, we all went over to a friend’s house to play a casual game of poker. It was a $5 buy-in. I was just playing for fun and did not consider the five dollars to be a big loss. However, in the end, I broke even! (Total luck, I have no poker skills whatsoever).

Saturday Total Cost:$63

Sunday

Sunday was a cloudy day so I decided to be productive and went for a run, planted my vegetables and did some laundry. I watched a Netflix Instant Movie and just hung out the rest of the day. Since I was social both Friday and Saturday, it was nice to just have a day to lounge around.

Sunday Total Cost: $0

Total Weekend Cost: $80

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

I started the night with some yummy home-made mac n cheese. Then some friends called so I met them at Chipotle (but didn’t eat anything) and ended up going out to a bar after. One beer was bought for me and I did not drink anything else. It was a nice low key night with friends.

Friday Total Cost:$0

Saturday

I spent Saturday at the New York Auto Show. My boyfriend covered the Ferry tickets and I paid for admission ($28 for both). We spent the next three hours walking around looking at all the neat cars, while I asked a million questions about engines. It was a great time! We ate a hotdog and shared a drink on the way out. Once home, we made a quick marinara sauce (since we had already spent enough money for the day) and watched a movie on Instant Watch.

Saturday Total Cost:$28

Sunday

Sunday was a gorgeous day! I made pancakes for breakfast, spent the rest of the morning lounging around, then went for a run in the afternoon. I had leftover pasta for dinner and watched another Instant Watch movie.

Sunday Total Cost: $0

Total Weekend Cost: $28

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

I had Friday off and I splurged! I treated myself to $40 worth of cake supplies at Candyland Crafts with the thought to attempt making a cake for an Easter dinner on Sunday. After my shopping spree, I went for an evening run (which was wonderful) then spent the rest of the night playing Heavy Rain on the PS3 that my friend is letting me borrow over the weekend. I had a get together planned for Saturday so I did not mind having Friday just being a loungy evening.

Friday Total Cost:$42 (excluding the groceries)

Saturday

Saturday was a gorgeous day! I spent the morning running on the Columbia Trail. Then I cleaned the house because I planned on having people over. In the evening, I had some friends over to watch the sad sad sad MSU game. It was still a fun time. We played some games, ate some pizza and I made soft baked pretzels. I footed the bill for the pizza. It was only two pizza’s and not everyone was eating so it was just easier than collecting money. I had already planned on that ahead of time so it was not an issue. I have learned from experience, that if you do intend to collect money from everyone for a pick-up meal, get the money ahead of time.

Saturday Total Cost:$29.85

Sunday

Sunday was Easter! I spent the morning trying to make a cake. I am a terrible cake maker. This attempt was supposed to be a layer cake, but one layer fell apart so I turned it into a single-layer cake. I still managed to decorate it and it, somehow, turned out quite cute! I took it to a friend’s family’s Easter dinner where it was a hit. I had a great time with my friend and her family and ate a ton of food! Since that took up the whole day, I didn’t spend a dime.

Sunday Total Cost: $0

Total Weekend Cost: $71.85 (aye carumba!)

One of the simplest ways to save money is to bring your own lunch to work everyday. It is easy to make excuses, “I don’t have time to pack a lunch,” “I get sick of sandwiches,” “I hate leftovers.” Enough already! There are a ton of lunch foods outside of sandwiches that are just as easy to bring to work. There are also many ways to kick your standard sandwich up a notch. Many foods even taste better the next day and are especially easy for cooking newbs!

Chili, Soups & Stews

These meals do not take long to put together. The most time consuming aspect is letting them simmer for 30-60 minutes but you can just watch TV or do pilates while you are waiting.

Chili is nothing other than tomatoes, meat, beans and spices! Put it all in a pot and walk away. Leave it in the fridge and bring it to work the next day. It’ll smell great and taste even better!

Chicken noodle soup is just as easy! I’ve already posted my favorite super-easy chicken noodle soup recipe. It’s simply chicken broth, chicken and veggies. Again, just boil, simmer then eat. Soup reheats perfectly and the flavors usually blend together to taste even better when reheated.

Similarly, beef stew is just beef bouillon, beef, water and veggies. You can season it to your preference. This will be a super easy dinner and an even yummier lunch.

Chili, soups and stews work so well when reheated because it completely eliminates the “soggy food” complaint. It is also very filling and not too messy to eat for lunch. In fact, you probably already purchase soup or chili for lunch at that overpriced cafe down the street!

Salads

Another easy lunch option is a salad. This involves a little bit more prep, but it is pretty easy to tear up some lettuce and put some chopped up veggies in a plastic container, then a side of salad dressing. There’s a zillion different veggies you can add to keep your salads from getting boring and redundant.

Sammiches

Lastly, we have sandwiches. Wait! Hear me out! One very easy way to punch up your sandwiches is by turning it into a wrap! Easy, right?

You can also change up your meats, cheese and, most importantly, the condiments. Instead of buying ham, try prosciutto. Put down the cheddar and try muenster. Also, using a spread like pesto or hummus adds a lot of depth to a lil’ old sandwich!

In Desperation…

Hey, if you’re really crunched for time, just throw a can of soup in your bag and you’re good to go!

Readers, I ask you… how do you keep your “brown bag” lunches from being boring?

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

Friday was another crazy day on the job front so I let loose on my budget a little and celebrated throughout the weekend. Friday evening, however, I just wanted to relax. I played some more Kingdom Hearts, watched the Olympic opening ceremony and had a relaxing night at home.

Friday Total Cost:$0

Saturday

I already had plans on Saturday night to go out to dinner to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I bought a six pack of Yeungling ($5.99) to bring to the restaurant (it was BYOB) and planned to use one bottle to make beer bread. Once at the liquor store, I got a little greedy and felt I deserved a six pack of Smithwick’s ($6.99) as well since the job hunt is going so well. I probably could have done without it, especially since I’ve only had one bottle but I know it will definitely get used up!

Dinner was great. We went to a cheap local place where my humongous burrito was only $4.50. I took 1/4 of it home to eat for lunch the next day. After dinner, I went to a bar with some friends. Again, I splurged and spent $4.50 on a beer just to be social. This doesn’t cause me to be over budget at all but I can’t help but know that it was a silly and unnecessary purchase. The evening overall was fun and I had a great time hanging out with friends.

Saturday Total Cost:$24

Sunday

On Sunday, I did chores around the house and went for a good run. I spent the evening watching the Olympics (what a great money-saver!).

Sunday Total Cost: $0

Total Weekend Cost: $24.00

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

Friday was great day. I scored two job interviews and was given a KitchenAid mixer as a gift from my boyfriend! To celebrate, we went out to a local bar with some friends in the evening. One drink was bought for me but really the evening was just spent socializing. After the bar, we walked across the street to a pizza place where some people ordered food but I declined the cheap grease and made myself a snack at home.

Friday Total Cost:$0

Saturday

We were invited to a friend’s house for dinner Saturday night. The spinach pie she made was fantastic and I brought some home-made chocolate chip cookies for dessert. We went out to another local bar by their house after dinner. I didn’t spend any money there and had a great time chatting with my friend.

Saturday Total Cost:$0

Sunday

Sunday was spent lounging around the house until the Super Bowl. I was invited to another friend’s house for a small Super Bowl party so that is where I spent the evening and had my dinner (mmmmm chicken wings!). I brought a cheesecake that I had made earlier in the day and had a fun time.

Sunday Total Cost: $0

Total Weekend Cost: $0!

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

On Wednesday, I went out for drinks with friends and spent $9. I considered that my “weekend money” so I really wanted to lay low over the weekend. Friday night, I did just that. I watched a movie, made myself dinner and just relaxed at home.

Friday Total Cost:$0

Saturday

Saturday was another loungy day. In the evening, some friends came over to play a game of scrabble and chat for a bit. That was more enjoyable than going out to a bar again. Plus, it was cheap!

Saturday Total Cost:$0

Sunday

I made plans earlier in the weekend to go bowling with some friends Sunday evening. Since I hadn’t spent money the prior two days, I felt that this spending was justified. We played two games of bowling which cost $13.75/person (including shoe rental). I didn’t buy anything else there and spent the rest of the night relaxing in front of the roku.

Sunday Total Cost: $13.75

Total Weekend Cost: $13.75 (yay!)