Pop Quiz: What Were Your Last 5 Purchases?

And how do you feel about them? Could you have gotten them cheaper? Are they all mandatory expenses for being real-life human beings?

These are all things that randomly popped in my brain this morning which you’re now having the pleasure of seeing ;) But there’s also some points to it all too – like checking up on yourself to make sure you’re paying attention to everything (pop quiz!), and also to give us voyeurs something to gawk at learn from so we can potentially better ourselves too ;)

So let’s see how naughty or not y’all have been! I’ll go first… Here are the last 5 things on my USAA credit card (which I use to budget everything with), and how I feel we’re doing. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be perfect here, haha…

  1. Dental insurance @ $16.00 — I probably should just cancel it since I have yet to use it once in the past 2 years since signing up, but I’m trying to be a responsible adult here and keep it just in case :) Plus, I really need to get back to doing those 6 month checkups you’re supposed to be doing anyways – I’ve been slacking like crazy in that department…
  2. University parking ticket @ $15.00 — This time my WIFE’s fault and not mine! Haha… though she claims it was a 100% valid parking job she did, so she’s currently in the process of fighting it. Apparently you have to pay it first and *then* file a dispute if you feel you’ve been wronged… funny how that works.
  3. Safeway @ $109.85 — This is for our weekly groceries which admittedly is way too high for a couple and baby – especially seeing the comments here on this old post we did! Man some of y’all are killing it, I’m impressed! What we really need to do is win our own $100 Safeway gift card we’re giving away on TakeOurGiftCards.com ;) (Shameless plug, sorry!) To think this doesn’t even include any beer either!
  4. Beer store @ $10.89 — Ahh, there we go… looks like the wife picked up a 6-pack the other day – she’s so good to me :) Unfortunately we haven’t found a smart way to save more in this department other than drinking less (Hah!), but it’s not like we blow through much here anyways so we’re fine with the prices we shell out for.
  5. ‘Quarterly’ subscription @ $50.00 — Now THIS one was an impulse buy, which I’m starting to already regret, haha… BUT that’s only because a) I signed up to this a month ago before I wanted to try (yet again) to be more minimalistic, and b) I haven’t even SEEN the thing yet! For those who aren’t familiar with them, Quarterly is basically a quarterly subscription service to a package from one of your favorite online or celebrity personalities. You pick the one that resonates the most with you (say, Chris Guillebeau or Tim Ferris, or that you think will source some cool stuff, and then they put together these packages of things that inspire them and mail ’em to you. It’s all rather interesting, really, and the subscriptions range anywhere from $20 every 3 months to $100+, all depending on who’s package you sign up for (ow ow!). I subscribed to Pharrell Williams’ because I think he’s a freaking genius and rapper all mixed into one. Have you seen his latest song/video up there with Robin Thicke? That $hit’s hot,yo! So I dropped $50 to see what his brain comes up with next, and I’m secretly hoping it changes my life in some incredible way ;) I’ll probably hit unsubscribe shortly after anyways…

So that’s where my money’s been going in the past 48 hours… $201.74 in total! All stuff I can DEFINITELY work on without a doubt, the question now just becomes – “do I *want* to?” and “will I stick to it the future?” Haha…

The big one for us is really the weekly grocery costs – we have tons of room to improve there. The other stuff is kinda random and I do like an adventure here and there, but I do have to watch myself more and make sure I don’t let things slip just ‘cuz I’m not paying attention to it, ya know? Overall I’m pretty happy with stuff though.

Your turn! What were the last 5 things YOU spent money on, and how does it make you feel? Anything you could have done better to save money on? Or are you pleasantly content with how your money’s flowing here lately?

———
PS: Here are some of our past 5 For Fridays if you’re jonesin’ to answer some more questions :)

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93 Comments

  1. Monique May 3, 2013 at 7:06 AM

    This is a great post!
    I think I may use this for my blog…with all credit to YOU of course!
    This is great.

    1) $45 for gas :-(
    2) $46 Road house Texas Grill. Yummy food. We so could of not done this!
    3) $24 Kohls. Everything we got was on sale…however my daughter does not need 3 pairs of pants, and my hubby does not need a pair of pants either.
    4) $2.57 Pharmacy. Yes we needed the baby tylenol
    5) $40.07 To be honest I did not accompany my hubby to Walmart, so not sure what he got from there. I know we got bottled water, milk, and some snacks for my daughter…but not sure what else.
    Total 157.07

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 2:46 PM

      Go for it! I’d love for you to run it and see what your readers have to say about it – keep the love spreading :)

      Reply
  2. Lance @ Money Life and More May 3, 2013 at 7:20 AM

    Last 5 things I bought

    1) Insurance through my paycheck (heath/dental)
    2) VFIFX in my Roth IRA and a similar target date fund in my Roth 401(k)
    3) An air conditioner tune up and cleaning – $97 – Should pay for itself over the summer – If I had known they were running a 30 year anniversary special two months ago I could have done it for $30! OUCH!
    4) My cable/internet bill ~$100 – Worth EVERY penny
    5) Dog Food – Forgot to use a coupon and I’m just now realizing it… d’oh! $32

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 2:47 PM

      I wanna know how much you invested there in your VFIFX! :)

      Reply
  3. Brian May 3, 2013 at 8:10 AM

    1. $0.89 soda addiction
    2. $22.89 Which Wich dinner last night for my mother in law while she was waiting test results at the hospital
    3. $6 parking for stupid jury duty
    4. $0.89 soda addiction
    5. $1.00 bag of M&Ms at work because my days was taking too long and I needed a break and walked by the snack machine and they looked so good.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 2:48 PM

      They don’t reimburse for jury duty? Or is that what the “stipend” they give you is supposed to be for? That’s what they told me last year… “this is not income – it’s to reimburse you for stuff” haha…

      Reply
      1. Brian May 3, 2013 at 8:35 PM

        I will get an amazing $15 plus mileage for my service. I’m glad I work for a company that pays me my normal salary while I was there. This is my third time and I’m only 32!

        Reply
        1. J. Money May 6, 2013 at 12:10 PM

          Wowwwwwww. I usually get called in every two years myself, but never get accepted! This time they didn’t go for my spikey mohawk trick ;)

          Reply
  4. John S @ Frugal Rules May 3, 2013 at 8:11 AM

    Last things we spent money on…

    1 – $75 to fix something on our furnace. Side note…who would think that having furnace issues would be something you’d be having to deal with in May??
    2 – $340 to our CPA. I hate spending it, but so worth me not having to deal with it.
    3 – $25 co-pay for little Frugal Rules at his 15 month check up – worth every penny.
    4 – $20.99 for a case of beer at Costco – seems worth it after the first couple. :)
    5 – $50 for gas…I shudder to think what it’ll cost to fill it up this summer.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 2:49 PM

      Hey! We almost pay the same for our CPA too – and I agree, 100% worth it!

      Reply
  5. Edward Antrobus May 3, 2013 at 8:11 AM

    Dollar Tree $51.53 for wedding decorations for a friends wedding, which we will be reimbursed for.
    gas: $40.51 Wound up spending $.50 more because instead of being able to get gas after work like I planned, I wound up being sent to another location and had to get it on the highway.
    7-11 $1.69 I left my water bottle at my old work location and needed to buy another one.
    Walmart: $3.87 needed oil for the car
    rent: $1325

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 2:50 PM

      Nice score w/ the wedding decorations!

      Reply
  6. Melissa Wiley May 3, 2013 at 8:12 AM

    1.) Last week’s episode of Doctor Who to watch on the train so I am FINALLY caught up.

    2.) Pizza Hut Pizza last night – currently showing my condo and was forced out of my house from 4-8 for showings.

    3.) Mani/Pedi – my quarterly pedicure for “hygiene” :) and treated myself to a manicure as well.

    4.) Car Insurance

    5.) Ticket to USA v. Germany at RFK in June.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 2:51 PM

      COOOL!!! Just heard about that game – very tempted to go myself.

      Reply
  7. Renee S May 3, 2013 at 8:12 AM

    1. Fri- breakfast for today—bagel sandwich and coffee—6.00 and worth every penny :)
    2. Fri- $400 for rent
    3. Thurs- $20 copay for my cardiologist
    4. Thurs-$2.00 for parking to see my Doc
    5. Wed- $6.00 for subway with a coupon

    Reply
  8. Melissa Wiley May 3, 2013 at 8:26 AM

    And then let’s add $1.29 to iTunes for this song! Love me some Pharrell!

    Reply
  9. Cat Alford (@BudgetBlonde) May 3, 2013 at 8:42 AM

    Hmmmm let me consult my little spreadsheet…

    Uh oh, this will probably be embarrassing
    40ECD out to eat: pizza
    70ECD out to eat: hamburgers
    88USD health insurance
    150USD two mother’s day gifts
    20USD baby shower gift

    Sounds like I need to cook at home next week!

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 2:53 PM

      Now how the heck are we supposed to figure out all your fancy pants Caribbean currency? :) Love it that y’all just went out there and DID IT btw. Good for you!

      Reply
  10. Emily @ evolvingPF May 3, 2013 at 9:31 AM

    Our last 5 purchases:

    A wedding gift for $72.69: I used two gift cards so no cash out of pocket, got 3 items all on sale from amazon, and used super saving shipping. I think I did well!
    Water bill for $24.14: Fairly necessary for being a human, yes.
    Target trip for $16.38: Food and toiletries. Pretty necessary.
    Hot chocolate at a cafe for $3.75: Not necessary for being a human but necessary for keeping peace in my marriage! My husband is not as comfortable as I am sitting in a restaurant and not ordering anything. Plus he really likes hot chocolate.
    A trip to the $100 store aka Costco for $113.09: All food, all necessary.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 2:54 PM

      Haha… I’m like your husband too – I always feel bad if I don’t order anything. Plus it gives me an excuse to get something yummy :)

      Reply
  11. Dawn May 3, 2013 at 9:43 AM

    Hmm… my most telling thing is that I’m not sure exactly where I made my last five purchases or how much they were and I don’t have a single, easy way to track it.

    Do bill payments count as purchases? I’m not sharing amounts because it will make people not from NY vomit. Seriously??? Baby Tylenol for $2.57??? Gas for $45? We need to move! LOL

    Okay, last 5 purchases …

    $60 at Children’s Place for 9 pieces of clothing for the kids.. Yes, Alex needed shorts and tees for the summer. Probably the only extraneous purchase there was a Hello Kitty shirt for my daughter, but I felt bad that she wasn’t getting anything.

    Mortgage – I’m not even sayin’. BUT I added $50 to the principle payment

    $146 – BJ’s – bottled water, Quik, Milk, Sangria for a bbq this weekend, Keurig coffee (SF Bay Fogchaser if anyone is curious… at $27.99 for 80 K-cups, the best value I’ve seen for good coffee), conditioner, and a bunch of other household things I can’t remember that we were out of or needed for the BBQ.

    Credit card payment

    $61 for shoes for kids. (4 pairs) They both grew at the same time; I’m just thankful it’s the start of the season.Since they will get a lot of use out of these and they were less than $20 each (I hit good sales) I think I did well. It’s not like I went to Stride Rite and bought $50 sneakers.

    Hmm… I guess I’m not doing as badly as I could be!

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 2:55 PM

      Damn you, now I want to know how much your mortgage is! You tease! Haha… But I hear ya. My mom would always freak out when I told her what I was spending while living in Manhattan 10 years ago… More so that I was living off $6/hour and alone in the city probably though :)

      Reply
  12. Zach @ The True Generalist May 3, 2013 at 9:46 AM

    I love these quizzes cause u get to see a snapshot of everyday life and what different states/phases people’s lives are in.
    1. $6.20 – breakfast tacos this morn.
    2. $9.90 – chipotle yesterday for lunch. Had a burrito craving.
    3. $19.24 – Zicam to make sure I don’t get sick from all this lack of sleep.
    4. $7.27 – lunch on Wednesday.
    5. $798.35 – monthly student loan payment (eerrrg).

    I’m happy to say I really don’t buy much more than what I need. :)

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:42 PM

      Haha… thanks for sharing my man. I like seeing peoples’ lives too :)

      Reply
  13. Trinnie May 3, 2013 at 9:48 AM

    Last 5 purchases on my USAA AMEX:

    Chili’s $15.30–went out with some co-workers…2 of us are leaving the COS office and moving on to other offices within the company…a good-bye party of sorts

    Wal-Mart $72.70–doing my first mud run on Sunday: the Spartan Race. In my mind, I figured I’d buy cheap running clothes, shoes, and an off-brand camelbak….yeah, cheap to the tune of $72.70. wow.

    Discount Tire $84.50–this one hurt. I popped a tire yesterday, sliding on ice (yes, I said ice…it was May 2nd and CO Springs got hammered with snow) and hit a curb.

    7-11 $45.90–gas

    Subway $5.92–no clue what this is: assuming hubby bought lunch.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:43 PM

      I’m glad you’re safe at least! Unexpected ice is no joke :(

      Reply
  14. Sarah May 3, 2013 at 10:02 AM

    Birthday gift for my father-in-law: $60
    Husband’s cell phone bill: $80
    Lunch with my husband: $15
    Quarterly water bill: $40
    Mortgage: $500

    Yeah, my list is pretty boring since it’s the beginning of the month. Almost all of our “purchases” this week have been bill payments.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:44 PM

      I should try this at the end of the month, or after payday even!, and see what it looks like, haha…

      Reply
  15. Erin @ Red Debted Stepchild May 3, 2013 at 10:13 AM

    1) $2.90 – Box for books that I sold on Half.com
    2) $780 – rent
    3) $6 – One dollar beer night at a local bar! That was 4 beers between my husband and I plus tip!
    4) $36.13 – Filled up the gas tank
    5) $200 – Credit card payment

    I lead an exciting life…

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:45 PM

      Yeah dollar beers!!! How much did you make off Half.com? I’ll be needing to offload a ton of books here in the future… halfway tempted to just donate them, but we’ll see.

      Reply
      1. Erin @ Red Debted Stepchild May 3, 2013 at 4:49 PM

        $34.78 this month (after shipping costs) on 4 books and 1 DVD. It takes a lot of time (passive) to sell, but it’s nice if you can store them for a bit. For a little less (but guaranteed) money, see if you have a Half Price Books near you!

        Reply
        1. J. Money May 6, 2013 at 12:09 PM

          Cool! Just checked – no HPB near me :(

          Reply
  16. Kristen May 3, 2013 at 10:13 AM

    This should be interesting. Let’s see…

    1. $25 at Applebee’s for lunch out with my hubby – I know this wasn’t exactly necessary but my husband and I have been out on a date a total of 5 times since our 3-year-old was born so I’d say the alone time was necessary for us & our marital sanity.

    2. $5 co-pay at the eye Dr. – in hindsight I guess it wasn’t really necessary since it turns out I have 20/20 vision. But it seemed like road signs were getting blurry & I hadn’t had my eyes checked in 20 years so I thought it might be necessary. Oh well, $5 wasn’t much.

    3. $99.00 for gas?? – OK, I think I’m glad I’m looking at these last 5 expenses because there’s no way I spent $99 for gas yesterday (it’s showing up on my credit card as “EQUIVASHELL” and I did put in 12.5 gallons of gas at the Shell but there’s no way it cost almost $8 per gallon. I think I gotta do some research on that one…the charge is listed as “pending” so maybe the final amount will be different???? Hmm.

    4. $5.85 for dinner at McDonald’s for my son & me – We try not to do fast food very often but I was a little late coming home from work & tired & hadn’t planned well (I usually try to cook on the weekend so I just have to re-heat when I get home from work but had failed this time around). The $ isn’t a big deal but the junk food part annoys me. Must do better!

    5. $156.37 for our electric bill – this is actually low for us (don’t know why our electric bills are always so high) so I’m happy about that.

    Reply
    1. Trinnie May 3, 2013 at 12:20 PM

      I notice gas stations ‘pend’ charges for like $99, $100, $125–just to make sure the charge is gonna clear. When it actually processes, it will be for the amount you actually purchased ;)

      Reply
      1. Kristen May 3, 2013 at 1:41 PM

        Oh, thanks for clarifying that. I don’t have to have a heart attack now!

        Reply
        1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:47 PM

          Huh – I never knew that, but it does make sense. They have to be able to make sure the money’s there up to a certain amount. Good on Trinnie. (And awesome for you Kristen! :))

          Reply
  17. Michelle May 3, 2013 at 10:13 AM

    Haha this is hard.

    Olive Garden (yummmm Eggplant Parm!) – $20
    Gas – $50
    Lunch yesterday – $11
    Groceries – $50

    And I can’t even think of a fifth because my memory is horrible.

    Reply
  18. @debtblag May 3, 2013 at 10:17 AM

    This is going to look odd because it’s the beginning of the month, but those purchases would be:
    $2.12 worth of fruit at the grocery store. I do a big trip on Sunday, but buy fruit and vegetables midweek to get the freshest stuff
    $921 payment to one mortgage
    $1660 payment to another mortgage
    $1025 payment to student loan debt
    $0.99 to Amazon. I bought a $0.99 gift card to give to myself to use a credit card I hadn’t used in months so that it wouldn’t get closed for inactivity

    So there are my priorities over the last couple days:
    $1 in future spending at Amazon
    $2 in fruit
    $3606 in debt service

    Reply
    1. Sarah May 3, 2013 at 10:40 AM

      $2,600 in mortgage payments?! Where do you live?

      Reply
      1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:48 PM

        I bet there’s some income properties there somewhere :)

        Reply
  19. Jacob Erickson May 3, 2013 at 10:20 AM

    Awesome idea! Here are my last 5.

    1. $1.72 for some onion rings: definitely could’ve done without.
    2. $129.01 for our city’s quarterly utilities: this is a must have.
    3. $130.89 for new jeans for my wife and I: this is a want, but we definitely had some old jeans we were wearing so it feels like a need.
    4. $18 for chinese buffet: this was our weekly eating out meal.
    5. $43.15 at the pet hospital for a checkup for our cat: she was sick and needed to be looked at.

    Looks like we could’ve done a bit better, but I’m happy with our purchases overall.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:50 PM

      Pet stuff is no joke :( The remaining 9 or so months of our cat’s life we spent almost $4,000, ugh… but it’s what you do for family, right?

      Reply
  20. Financial Black Sheep May 3, 2013 at 10:24 AM

    Thanks for doing this post! Because of you I remembered there are extra paychecks this month. woohoo!

    Last random 5 things I purchased:
    Lowes- $27.93: Plants (on sale) to replace my last ones, because it isn’t supposed to snow in April. I had covered them up for the first snow, but by the 3rd snow I gave up.

    Liquor Store- $59.12: It was my birthday this week. This is the best and cheapest liquor store I know of.

    Redbox- $3.78: Movies

    Grocery Store- $59.84: Birthday stuff and some grocery stuff (most on sale)

    Dollartree -$10.24: Dishwasher soap cheapest and best I know of.

    These are pretty cheap areas, even the birthday stuff was on sale for some reason. Unless I got free stuff, I couldn’t have gotten anything for less money.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:51 PM

      So really it was your birthday ALL WEEK! Haha… one bottle a day ;)

      Reply
  21. Philip May 3, 2013 at 11:45 AM

    Interesting 5fer

    1. $27.46 HEB grocery for a few things for dinner tonight with some family.
    2. $60 for month of dance lessons (trying to learn a new dance so I can get on the floor instead of just drinking on the sidelines)
    3. $7.43 chick-fil-a dinner before lessons
    4. $10.99 Great clips hair cut (used coupon to save $3)
    5. $6.26 HEB grocery for some bottled water (3 cases) to use for mixing drinks for diet.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:52 PM

      Yeah dancing!!! Look at you go – that’s great, man! You’ve got some balls! :)

      Reply
  22. Tina@My Shiny Pennies May 3, 2013 at 11:45 AM

    1. 3-month supply of prescription for $37.50
    2. 2 Revlon lipsticks purchased through CVS’s buy one get one 50% off. I’m doing my own makeup for the wedding, so I’m testing out colors via drugstore brands. $10.19
    3. Gas for my Ford Focus. This is the first I’ve ever experienced the gas light coming on and it freaked me out. $39.77
    4. Chinese takeout for 2. $21.03
    5. My wedding dress! Even at $106.59 it still hurts. The wedding’s not til September, so I’m going to keep an eye out for cheaper options.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:53 PM

      WOW you’re good though, jeez!! Most people tack on another 0 at the end of that dress’ total, haha… Love the CVS testing too – that’s smart ;)

      Reply
  23. Retire By 40 May 3, 2013 at 12:22 PM

    1. 75 cents – 4 bananas
    2. $6 – rash guard shirt for baby
    3. $30 – Eat out with family at an Indian restaurant
    4. $5 – 2 banh mi sandwich for lunch
    5. $42 – prescription eye drops for grandma

    mm… spending a lot of money lately…

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:54 PM

      #1 is my favorite. I eat one banana almost every single day of my life :)

      Reply
  24. Brittany May 3, 2013 at 12:26 PM

    According to my credit card, my last five purchases were…

    1. Paying for utilities!
    2. My boyfriend said he’d take me out to dinner but then forgot his wallet, so I paid and he’s paying me back. So romantic, ha ha! ;o)
    3. A parking permit so I could do a Segway tour of downtown Portland
    4. My monthly subscription to Next Issue, so I can get digital versions of my favorite magazines
    5. An electrical converter for when I go to Peru and Easter Island next month

    I feel pretty satisfied in what I spent money on!

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:55 PM

      Hahahhaa…. typical boyfriend move :) Cool vacay idea though!! JEALOUS!

      Reply
      1. Brittany May 3, 2013 at 5:31 PM

        I am SO EXCITED!!!!! Three weeks of adventuring!

        Reply
        1. J. Money May 6, 2013 at 12:11 PM

          (can you fit me in your suitcase?)

          Reply
  25. Chris May 3, 2013 at 12:43 PM

    If I remember correctly,
    $15 Christian concert offering
    $17 gas
    $18 special groceries at a smoked meat shop
    $7 spent at Wendy’s for two people using two coupons worth $8 (for a value of $15)
    less than $3 resale shop, purse and 2 greeting cards

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:57 PM

      WOW you’re good. I never see any coupons for Wendy’s except for their “free frostee” thingie you can get for $1 a year, haha… but they’re so freakin’ tiny!

      Reply
  26. Moon May 3, 2013 at 12:59 PM

    This is a fun post! My husband and I just talked about what we have been spending on ‘want’ vs ‘need’ lately! My last 5 purchases showed up on my credit card (although some got posted not accordingly to when the actual purchase took place):

    1.Sunscreen, $22.98 (BOGO Free, including shipping): My husband considers sunscreen to protect us from skin cancer is a need, I consider that semi-need and a semi-want for this particular purchase because I don’t like regular sunscreen therefore I am buying something that is fancier and I will use.
    2. A makeup brush, bought on Amazon, $9.07 – definitely a want.
    3. Verizon home phone and internet bill – $109.51 – A ‘need’? I guess that’s just one of our regular bills
    4. Ticketmaster – $106.08 . 2 tickets to Straight No Chaser for hubby and I in November.
    5. Home Depot – $6.85. Mulch for the front flower bed. I consider that’s necessary maintenance and upkeep of home ownership.

    That was the total ($254.49) for the past 5 days. Even though not every item is a ‘need’, if we can spend only about $50 a day on average everyday we will be in great shape! LOL!

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:58 PM

      $50 a day would be great! $1,500/mo? shoooooooot.

      Reply
  27. Matt Becker May 3, 2013 at 1:41 PM

    Last 5 on the credit card:

    1. $50 car registration. Didn’t plan for that one. Whoops.
    2. $36.75 for gas. Man, cars are expensive!
    3. $35.04 for gas. My wife drives too? Damn, cars are really expensive!
    4. $88.56 for friend’s bday dinner. Paid for our friend and her daughter. Feels like a lot of money, but what are friends for right?
    5. $62.32 for Direct TV. Have plans to cancel this in the next few months. We’ll see how that goes.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 4:59 PM

      I’ll go out to dinner with you :)

      Reply
  28. Russell Kith May 3, 2013 at 2:29 PM

    Awesome idea…

    1) $15.89 on basic groceries. Eggs, bread, milk, fruit.
    2) $32 + $30 Baseball game tickets and food/beverages at the baseball game
    3) $64.73 Dinner out for 1st game of hockey playoffs
    4) $38 weekly gym membership. Crossfit is a little pricey but I go 5x/week and can justify it to myself.

    Those are my expenses since Monday. A little high on eating out this week but its been an action packed week.

    Reply
  29. Mar May 3, 2013 at 2:49 PM

    Re: the grocery cost, sometimes I feel like it’s easier to cut down on costs when you are buying for more people rather than just one. Bulk is always a great way to save, but buying bulk in fresh foods for me just doesn’t make sense because I can’t eat it fast enough and I’d end up throwing it away. Boo.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 5:36 PM

      I think you’re right on that one…. It’s a good thing we’re trying to grow our family then in that case! :)

      Reply
  30. Yana May 3, 2013 at 4:44 PM

    I don’t know if I should count renewing my PO Box ($30 for 6 months), so I’m mentioning it but not counting it ;)

    1. Groceries – $31.27
    2. Meat Market – $38.09
    3. Thrift store – $20.43 (clothes for me, 3 CDs for hubby)
    4. cropped pants from eBay – 13.94
    5. EJ3 Buffalo Bills draft pick t-shirt $23.45
    Total: $127.18

    I feel fine about all of this. Don’t think I could have gotten them cheaper; just wish I could have found a few pairs of cropped pants at the thrift store. #5 is for my husband, who doesn’t get himself stuff very often but lets me do whatever I want and often tells me to “pull the trigger” when I want something and hesitate. None of these are mandatory expenses for real-life human beings, because there is no such thing as a mandatory expense. We each decide on our have-tos. And the fact that we can means we are very lucky.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 5:37 PM

      Amen, my friend. We’re blessed to have enough to be content AND some.

      Reply
  31. Kate May 3, 2013 at 5:17 PM

    My last five purchases were:

    1) $7.20 – Lunch at an Asian restaurant (I almost never go out for lunch, but I somehow forgot to pack a lunch this day.)
    2) $6.00 – Parking (I had to work weird hours and couldn’t carpool like normal.)
    3) $400.00 – Appraisal for Refinance (If my house appraises the way I hope it does, this will end up saving me $75,000! I’m going to a 15 year loan at 2.5%.)
    4) $983.00 – Payment on current mortgage
    5) $136.65 – 8 months worth of Frontline and 12 months worth of Heartgard for my dog

    Reply
  32. J. Money May 3, 2013 at 5:38 PM

    AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope it appraises okay, that is great!! 15’s are sexy as hell!

    Reply
  33. Shafi May 3, 2013 at 6:57 PM

    Safeway @ $109.85

    When my kids were babies, we spent quite a few dollars on diapers. That was quite a dent in our weekly shopping.

    Reply
  34. Heather May 3, 2013 at 8:40 PM

    First of all, I think your $100 on groceries for two adults and a baby is fine! I spend about that (maybe a bit more) just on myself. I buy organic, lots of fresh veggies and fruits, wild caught salmon, etc. Also, I don’t eat out AT ALL except maybe once a week, so when you eat at home for all your meals, your grocery bill tends to be a little bit higher. For the month of April I spent $500 on groceries, yet only $30 eating out. ;)

    Ok, so here are my last 5 expenses, not really “purchases” per se.

    1. $50 ATM withdrawal — $40 went to my dog sitter who checks on my dogs while I’m at work four days a week. The other $10 went to my wallet. :)
    2. $205 BOA Credit Card Payment — Hope to have this paid off in July.
    3. $9.95 Military Star Credit Card Payment — I paid of this card last month and this was the last little bit of interest I owed.
    4. $207 USAA Credit Card Payment
    5. $35 on gas

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 6, 2013 at 12:13 PM

      Hooray!! You’re the first person to make me feel good about our grocery costs, haha.. I’m locking that up in my brain for safe storage later ;)

      Reply
  35. Jillian May 3, 2013 at 11:15 PM

    New Season $29 I Make Food 2-3 Weeks I. Advance And Freeze It So Yes, This Is A Must.
    Chevron $20 Gas, Yep, I Needed it
    Natural Mart .79 Oreos….Yep, I Should Have Said No.
    Deans Hair Salon $3Well.5 Got Hair Straightened. My Mother Attempted To Do It For Free And That Didmt Go Over So well.
    Trader Joes $26 Includes Gluten Free Beer And I Couldn’t Have Done Without It Unless I Attept To Make My Own And Currently Am Not Willing To try.

    Reply
    1. Jillian May 3, 2013 at 11:17 PM

      Deans Was $35 With A Tip Of $8

      Reply
      1. J. Money May 6, 2013 at 12:19 PM

        That’s not bad! I always here how hair cuts cost $150-$300 for women.

        Reply
  36. Mike@WeOnlyDoThisOnce May 3, 2013 at 11:38 PM

    I’m embarrassed to say that I can’t list them off the top of my head. Really gives me pause for thought.

    Reply
  37. Slackerjo May 4, 2013 at 6:59 AM

    I am so boring.

    1. $2 = load of laundry. I don’t dry my clothes in the dryer so the $2 is just for the wash.
    2. $3.75 = a bottle of Diet coke and 2 cookies from the vending machine. A payday treat as I usually don’t bring money to work.
    3. $5.64 = monthly subscription to streaming music from Rdio.
    4. 41.43 = groceries. I failed big time at limiting my grocery trips this pay period.
    5. 33.89 = FM receiver for my stereo. I broke the aux jack and I did not want to spend $200+ replacing the stereo just so I can plug my MP3 player in to listen to audio books. This was a much thriftier solution.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 6, 2013 at 12:20 PM

      I bet you’re less boring if you look at what you spent over the weekend :)

      Reply
  38. Daisy @ Everything Finance May 4, 2013 at 10:34 AM

    Love this! I have:

    $55.87 – Super market. Groceries and ingredients for potluck
    $89.25 – Groceries
    $2 – work lottery
    $4.75 – Parking (reimbursable by work)
    $21 – Gym bill

    Well. . it would appear that I don’t have much fun! But I do! I promise! Haha

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 6, 2013 at 12:20 PM

      Yeah work lottery!! Haven’t participated in one of those in forever – miss it!

      Reply
  39. Cassi May 5, 2013 at 5:51 PM

    This looks a lot worse than it is, because 3/5 purchases were from McDonalds, but I’ve been really good at eating clean and not spending money, and sometimes a McDonalds ice cream is exactly what I need.

    1) McDonalds Ice Cream- $1.09
    Nom nom nom.
    2) Gas Station- $2.74
    I bought a cold drink because it was 103 degrees out, and a post workout snack.
    3) McDonalds- $1.09
    Ice cream is so good.
    4) McDonalds- $4.02
    This day, I was out with friends so I had to eat out with them, and McDonalds was the cheapest thing.
    5) School Lunch- $3.25
    Nachos. I TOLD the lady that I didn’t want cheese, and she put cheese on. WHY.

    I seem to like food… A LOT.

    Reply
  40. J. Money May 6, 2013 at 12:21 PM

    ahahahahahahahhaa… you should buy stock in them ;)

    Reply
  41. Zimmy May 7, 2013 at 6:11 AM

    I would just switch your beer to Natural Light 5.9%. You get twice the amount of beer and get to spend a couple of dollars less.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 7, 2013 at 5:25 PM

      Oh man, you’re bringing back memories from the college days! Kinda like good ol’ PBR.

      Reply
  42. Jenni May 7, 2013 at 5:26 PM

    Netflix, $16.68 We still get a dvd in the mail, some of what we want isn’t available for streaming. The last movie we got is Argo, which my hubby and son really enjoyed.

    Grocery store this morning- generic mucinex, cough drops, $1.25 pop for the friend who was watching my class- my allergies are killing me, superscratchy throat. At least I bought the store brands!

    iTunes- DragonBox app- $7.54 it’s supposed to teach kids algebra stealth-style, so they don’t even realize they are learning it! Thought it would be worth trying and seeing if I can recommend it to my teachers. Also, having had a terrible math teacher throughout h.s. and also having no motivation, I really didn’t learn much so maybe I can teach myself algebra!

    Dog grooming- $52.00 This is our thirdchild who was dumped near our farm last winter. She is a miniature schnauzer and the mats etc. got away from us. *ok we thought she’d been dumped but now it turns out she was our neighbor’s dog and they thought she’d run off and been eaten by coyotes. To make a long story short, they are thrilled she’s alive and we get to keep her!* Anyway we try to do a good job with the grooming, and I really prefer that she have Andy Rooney eyebrows and a luxurious ‘stache, but sometimes a professional is needed.

    Gas and groceries- $77.56 We had a belated Cinco de Mayo fiesta last night, tried a spice packet of tacos al pastor seasoning with chicken- hubby didn’t like it but I thought it was good.

    A few purchases back we get to $28.30 of library fines for late books, boo! It’s still much cheaper than buying books but I need to do a better job of keeping track of due dates. I spend money on Amazon each month, probably more than I need to, but it’s the kind of small indulgence that keeps me from spending more on dumb stuff. I probably spend $10 a month on Kindle books??

    We just knocked off the $400 monthly payments I’d been making due to having to have major electrical work done on our house (circa 1948) and a new furnace and heat pump installed. We’re also saving about a hundred dollars a month from switching to the new furnace and heat pump from the old electric, plug in baseboard heaters. Woohoo!

    Reply
  43. J. Money May 7, 2013 at 6:18 PM

    Way go to, that’s awesome! And even more so on the dog not being eaten by coyotes! Haha… haven’t thought of that stuff since my days living in California. They’re no joke!

    Reply
  44. JMK May 12, 2013 at 9:59 PM

    1. groceries $167.24 ($180 in budget for the week, so yay)
    2. haircut $18.67 (includes 10% discount coupon)
    3. house alarm monitoring monthly fee $33.84 (monitoring qualifies us for $100/yr discount on house insurance, so partially offset).
    4. Dentist checkup/cleaning/xrays for 2, $330 ($316.35 reimbursement deposited electronically next day by health plan), actual cost of $16.65 will be claimed for partial refund next year on 2013 income taxes.
    5. gas $42 ($45 in budget for the week, so again yay)

    All payments made with a credit card which earns flight mileage with Air Canada – total earned on these 5 purchases, 708 miles.

    The budget only includes the bare essentials, so haircuts are not included. A haircut would ordinarily would come out of the unallocated income for the week, but coming in under budget on the groceries and gas almost covered it.

    Reply
    1. J. Money May 14, 2013 at 2:33 PM

      Nice! You’ve got this system down on lock – I love it.

      Reply
  45. Laura September 16, 2016 at 9:26 AM

    Just stumbling across this post after you linked to it today, but I think it’s a fun idea, so here we go:

    1) picked up two bottles of wine last night, which we didn’t even end up drinking… something to look forward to :) $21
    2) registered for a spring marathon!! Boston, so it’s $$$$, but hopefully worth it – $185
    3) picked up some odds and ends for a quick dinner the other night (proud of myself for not ordering out!) – $8
    4) cash, which I used mainly for dinner and drinks with my book club – $40
    5) a couple beer while watching the Pats game last week! – $10

    Reply
    1. J. Money September 16, 2016 at 4:16 PM

      You sound like a fun girl to hang out with! Haha…

      (Except for the Pats part – unless they’re playing (and losing to) the Redskins :))

      Reply

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