My Last $100: Food and Uber

Photo credit: Mike Mozart, CC BY 2.0.

I have wanted to write a piece like this since I was a grad student living in Mexico. That was some time ago and I finally got around to asking Nicole if I could write this piece. So, I am excited to share some of my finances with you. I have just pulled things from my credit card statement — I pay for some things in cash too but I mark cash as “withdrawal” under my misc. category on my budget spreadsheet and I don’t always track how it is spent.

Aldi: $34.68

On Friday, I went grocery shopping. I spent around $12 of that $34.68 on meat, which is atypical for me — but I wanted to make enough food for me and my boyfriend for dinner and partition the rest out for lunches or dinners all week. The Aldi where I go is clearly trying to cater to hipsters (one of their brands of wine has a bicycle on it) but it did not have scent-free laundry detergent. I may have to go to Walmart next week if they still don’t have any.

CVS: $10.36

On Thursday, I went to CVS on my way home from work. I ran out of hair gel and wanted to try something different so I got some Moroccan oil type of cream. I don’t know. I think I will have to go back to my preferred brand of hair gel. Thus, I will have to go to Walmart. I live too far from Target and I’m trying to buy less on Amazon because I find it easier to impulse-buy things online. And Jet is just not nearly as good. You need $35 to get free shipping! And their two days is not the same as Amazon’s two days.

Uber tip: $2.38

On Tuesday, I took an Uber Pool to LaGuardia but I was the only one on it. A tip seemed like the least I could do.

Healthy Gourmet: $10.33

On Monday, I was waiting in LaGuardia and was very, very hungry. I bought a not-too-overpriced wrap which kept me from being hangry as I called the good people of American Airlines to get them to change my flight. First my flight out of LGA was cancelled, then my connecting flight out of my new connecting airport was cancelled. So I flew to a bigger hub, not to my original destination.

Uber: $23.82

I took an Uber pool to get to the airport. I could have taken Lyft, I guess, to assuage my conscience, but I already live in a capitalist society and I question how to be an ethical consumer. My answer to this is to consume a bit less and to support local businesses when possible. (The closest I got to local business support this week was a visit to my dentist, but that got paid from my insurance and HSA.)  

Amazon: $20.79 plus a bit of tax

I bought a 4-pack of mini-Pyrexes for 20.79. They have been doing a little dance in my Amazon cart for months, I sometimes moved them to my wishlist, sometimes to my cart, and sometimes saved them for later. I finally bought them. They are the cutest and I’m so excited. I bought two other things but in an effort to reach an even $100, I’m stopping here.

TheOtherGinger has continued to spend money since writing this piece.

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