How Did Frugal February Go?

by Elise Nussbaum

Elise, how did your seventh year of doing Frugal February go?

Feb. 27, Feb. 28, and — exhale. Thus ends Frugal February 2013. Will it go down as the scrimpiest, most self-denying Frugal February ever? Not by a long shot — especially toward the end. But I did manage to entertain myself and a few other people, while coming in under my spending goal (if not exactly blowing it away). Here’s how it all broke down:

The basics: $1,050. My share of the joint account I share with my husband, which covers groceries, rent and utilities.

The semi-basics: $110. Automatic charges that I could theoretically do without for a month, but not without disrupting my life: Netflix, cell phone, monthly charitable donations.

The indulgences: ~$235. I must confess, this number is inexact because I paid for a lot of this stuff in cash (so I could avoid exactly this calculation — which I have had to revise upward at least three times during the writing of this recap). I definitely would not have predicted that I’d be spending this much on fun during Frugal February. Hazily, I’d break it down this way:

• ~$93: Eating in restaurants. Oops. I just … really wanted to. However, this accounts for four separate meals, plus a smoothie, (sometimes I treated, sometimes my companions treated, sometimes we all went Dutch), so it’s not as extravagant as it might sound.
• ~$50: Snacks at Trader Joe’s. I pack a lunch, so I need an excuse to leave my desk during the day and stretch my legs. This excuse often takes the form of winter citrus, but if you’ve ever been inside a Trader Joe’s, you know how difficult, and often downright impossible, it is to make it out without a weird store-brand snack or two (or three) under your arm.
• $30: Tickets to the Vegetarian Food Festival on March 3. I got a half-off deal, so I couldn’t resist buying two. If nothing else, I’m sure we’ll nosh enough on samples to negate the need for lunch. (But as it’s in March, that won’t really matter.)
• ~$20: Robin Eggs. The best candy ever, and it’s only available right before Easter. I tend to go a little overboard when they first hit the stores, which is usually a little later in the year than Frugal February. It’s a compulsion I’m okay with, because it has an unambiguous end point. (Let’s not discuss the time I got a year’s supply for my birthday.)
• ~$14: Wine for dinner guests. I consider this to be a fiscally responsible purchase, as I had people over instead of going out to eat.
• $10: Drink for a friend. I may be a Frugal February fan, but if I pass up the chance to buy my best bud Bo a beer at her bar-based birthday bash, how can I ever cite alliteration as a motivation again?
• $10: Donation, entry to the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space.
• $4.50 — Gourmet coffee beans for my husband. He loves coffee, and I found myself in a gourmet coffee shop. I couldn’t resist.
• $3.50: Buying books at the local church book sale: Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell), Sag Harbor (Colson Whitehead), Drop City (T.C. Boyle), The King Must Die (Mary Renault) and The Pocket Dangerous Book for Boys, as a present for my nephew.

Total for the month: $1,395. Despite my moments of weakness — which didn’t seem quite so numerous as I was giving in to them one and occasionally two or three at a time — I still made Frugal February well under budget. As per tradition, I’ve postponed several spendy ventures that I should really take care of (conditioner, driving lessons, picture frames, dry cleaning), but that’s March’s problem.

Elise Nussbaum lives in Jersey City with a husband and a cat.

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