Week 2 Results: Money Saving Experiment

Total Spent, Budgeted: $114.08/$130
Renter's Insurance, $16.53
Coffee, $4.30
Gas, $12.70
Groceries, $20.55
Evernote, $5
Phone Bill, $55

Total Spent, Unbudgeted: $34.75/$10.64
MS Office License, $9.75
USAA Overdraft Fee, $25

Total Spent: $750.19/$1,000

Unpaid Expenses That Have Come Up
OU Parking Permit, $38
Unpaid Doctor Bill, ~$90
3 visits to the physical therapist, $75
Credit Card Account Fees, $75

First, despite what may seem like a lot of expenses this week, I noticed that this week was much easier than last week. It became easier to plan my meals in advance, or always have snacks on hand in case I got hungry. I worked from my apartment much more this week as well, helping to cut down on expenses. I  used much less gas this week as I wasn't traveling to and from Oklahoma City.

I wrote last week that my computer wouldn't boot. I managed to get it working by doing a factory reset- yay! But that also meant that I lost my Microsoft Office license. I was still able to access OU's license for faculty and staff. Getting a legal license for $9.75 was a good deal, and I need the software suite for work.

I did unfortunately get hit with two $25 overdraft fees. I called my bank, and they waived the first one. When I called the second one hadn't shown up yet. I'm going to call tomorrow about the second overdraft fee to see if they wouldn't mind waiving that one, since both the offending charges occurred basically at the same time. We'll see!

The only real splurge would be that I bought an OU Parking Permit. And that's because I got a $25 parking ticket late last week. I talked to the OU parking office and they grudgingly waived the ticket for me (after assuring me that this would be the absolute last ticket they would waive), but with how much I'm still on the OU campus for meetings and audited classes I decided to play it safe and make the investment in the permit.

Big takeaway here- it never hurts to talk to someone and see if they can cut you a break. For about 10 minutes of effort I saved myself $50 in fees, between the overdraft charge and the parking ticket.

Okay, now on to the elephants in the room. A few expenses came up that threatened to push me over my budget, that I've decided that I'm putting off paying until at least November. Seeing as how I have a cash flow problem, that is, my expenses outstrip my income, delaying payment on these items seems logical until I have the income to pay for them. This feels weird for me to write because I've always prided myself on paying bills, debts, and so on promptly.

I am NOT saying this is an excuse for me to charge everything on a credit card- that isn't what I'm saying at all. Two of the unpaid expenses, with the exception of the physical therapy visits (and the bill for that hasn't arrived yet) were expenses made quite a while ago that only just now showed up on my radar. For example, the unpaid doctor bill was from May or June or something, and is frankly kind of silly. I was prescribed an ankle brace, which I mistakenly assumed would be covered by my OU medical insurance (surely they would have told me if it weren't...), wound up costing something like $80. For a tiny piece of nylon with holes in it and a shoe string through the holes. Not that I'm upset about it or anything.

I also benefited from a few free meals and groceries this week. Everyone from the summer business accelerator I participated in got a free breakfast from OU, as part of our biweekly meetups to hold ourselves accountable. I was also treated to breakfast by my mom. She also bought me lots of groceries. That was super nice and very much appreciated. Besides substantially improving my diet, it will also keep my pantry full for the next couple of weeks.

A final thought: One day while walking around OU's Campus Corner, I noticed that I felt a little out of place. I realized it was because I hadn't bought anything that day from any of the cafes or restaurants. Psychologically, I didn't feel like I had bought my place in public that day. It is completely silly, because I was on public streets. Regardless, there was a mental urge to validate my presence there by purchasing even something as small as a coffee.

That feeling scared me a little bit. In that respect, I hope that this experience will "untrain" myself to feel that way. It wasn't necessarily a strong urge, but feeling the need to buy something to justify my presence in public isn't something I want to encourage either.

I will also say that this whole experience is great motivation to start making income. As the saying goes, money doesn't buy happiness, but it doesn't hurt either!