Monday Check-In: How Was Your Spending?

Good morning!

I gave my father a big check for his birthday, so I planned on trying to spend less than I normally would on a hot, summer weekend. On Friday evening, I met up with two friends for a Trivia Night at a sports bar in our neighborhood. We got two pitchers of beer, a big plate of wings and a basket of waffle fries: $10 each, including tip — a night subsidized by the fact that our team won, and received a $30 credit.

On Saturday, the heat finally got to me, so I gave in and installed my air-conditioning unit, but rather than blast it all day, I went to a new coffee shop that opened in my neighborhood called Irving Farms, and spent $7 on an iced coffee and a brownie, and read a book. The iced coffee was served in a mason jar, because, why not? I then spent $12 at the grocery store because I still had plenty of food at home, but wanted things like ice cream, and lemonade.

That evening, I watched Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail. I hadn’t watched the movie in years, and forgot that the movie took place on the Upper West Side, where I’m currently living. A 1998 review in the New York Times described the movie as a “love story that entangles a man, a woman, a couple of computers and a New York neighborhood so picturesquely idealized that it feels like Paris. Even if you already live on the Upper West Side, you might feel the urge to move there before the film is over.”

So, after I woke up on Sunday morning and spent $9 doing two loads of laundry, I walked around the neighborhood doing all the things Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly did in the film: I went to Zabar’s and spent $1 on an everything bagel, and walked past the Barnes and Noble to the used bookstore a block away. I sat outside, and spent $24 (including tip) for a burger, fries and big soda for dinner. Before the sun set, I walked to the garden in Riverside Park where Kathleen and Joe finally meet, and he says, “Don’t cry, Shopgirl.” It was an awfully nice way to spend a Sunday.

Total Spending: $63

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