Monday Check-In

I am so ready for winter to be over.

It’s Monday, which means it’s time to check in on our weekend spending.

I spent this weekend at the Mission Creek festival in Iowa City, and I was able to talk to all but one of the people on my networking list, plus I got to hear a bunch of readings and meet a bunch of people in the publication industry.

I also spent a little more money than I’d planned. I ended up paying $25.54 for one Uber and one Lyft ride to and from the Burlington Trailways station — see, there’s a Burlington Trailways bus that goes between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, and Google told me that the city bus made a stop at the Trailways station, but the city bus removed that stop from their route and I found that out the hard way. Like, “had to ask the bus driver why the bus didn’t stop at the Trailways station and then had to stand at the next stop in below-freezing weather until I could get an Uber to take me to the Trailways station, and no I couldn’t just walk because it was all highways.”

(I am ABSOLUTELY going to drive next time.)

The below-freezing weather also spoiled my plans to save money on food; I had planned to drink my bottle of Huel al fresco, because the festival venues weren’t exactly spaces where you could consume your own food (restaurants, bookstores), but it was way too cold to sit on a park bench for lunch, so I spent $8.93 for the privilege of eating a salad indoors.

I also started my summer travel spending this weekend: $110.37 on a Traveler’s Rest festival pass and $330.51 for three nights in a Missoula hotel.

Total spending: $475.35.

How about you?

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