*slip*

As some of you remember from my New Years resolution post, one of my goals for this year was to go cash only in my purchases. For the most part I've been quite successful. There were some slips in January however, and I feel that for the sake of keeping myself accountable, I should put them up here.

Our company had it's Christmas/New Years party the second weekend in January. I think they had started planning the party a little late and all of the good venues had filled up, so they moved it into the new year. We had an evening in the ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel MacDonald. Absolutely gorgeous.

I love this hotel

I had a dress picked out that I planned to wear for the evening. We're not a super stuffy office at work, there's only a handful of guys that wear suits, and that's only if they have a client meeting that day. I figured it would be suitable. The day before the party I was talking to one of the ladies in the office, discussing what we were going to wear. I described the dress and her eyes got wide and she said "Oh no, that's not fancy enough. It's a semi-FORMAL cocktail party".

Well crap.

I went home and raided my closet only to discover that the dress I was planning to wear was the most formal thing I owned before it jumped to my all out formal graduation dress. So Saturday afternoon, the afternoon before the party, I was doing the mad dash power shopping in West Edmonton Mall. How bad could it be, all the New Year's dresses should be on sale, right? Wrong. Almost every store I hit had already cleared out their party gear, leaving me pretty hooped for well priced selection. I ended up scouring the racks in Winners, coming up with just 2 dresses in my size. I ended up settling on this silver silk Michael Kors cocktail dress. It was originally $225, marked down to $77. A bit more than I wanted to spend, but I was short on time. The picture doesn't do it justice, but lets face it, what more do you expect from dressing room lighting? Debit Card Damage: $80.85

The next one really was no more than lack of restraint. I should have gone home, grabbed the money, and come back. Instead, I shopped impulsively. I really need to work on that. Victoria's Secret was having a clearance sale: 10 pairs of underwear for $20. I don't remember when the last time I got underwear for $2 a pair was. Thankfully (and kinda sadly) their bras don't actually fit me, so the damage was somewhat curbed in that respect. I'd been meaning to get some underwear, so that was a plus. Right price, wrong method of payment. I accept responsibility for this one. Debit Card Damage: $21.00

This one was related to me being sick for a couple weeks. After a week of being sick, and nothing really helping to curb it, it occurred to me that what I was feeling felt more like a sinus infection than a cold. I checked online, and sure enough the symptoms were a direct match. Monday I went in to the doctor's office to be checked out. Sure enough, sinus infection. So, out came the prescription pad. Rather than going home and getting the cash out of my envelopes and picking up the drugs the next day, I bought them immediately after the doctor's appointment. I already had a raging sinus headache, and I was looking for relief. Debit Card Damage: $14.64

The last one was a case of me breaking down and buying some music on iTunes.
Credit Card Damage: $8.43

Total non-cash damage: $124.92. The rest of my spending for the month of January was done with cash: eating in, eating out, socializing, toiletries, you name it. Not good, but much better than it would have been otherwise if I wasn't trying to go cash-only. It's definitely making me rethink and plan my spending.  I'm hoping February goes a little better, because I really don't know what happened with my finances last month.

*Forgot a date. Spent $3.50 on hot chocolate. Total damage $128.42*

First Date Finances

As I mentioned yesterday, I went on a date on Saturday, and despite both of us being quite nervous it seemed to go pretty well. In fact we're going on another one this week.

I know the generally accepted first dates are typically coffee or drinks, but ours turned into a full day adventure. We watched the Oiler's skills competition (playful hockey competition for those of you not familiar with the NHL), played several games of pool, and went for dinner.

I know it's traditional/customary for guys to pay for the first date, but I realized something this morning that has me thinking. While we were at the skills competition, he was paying for everything with cash. After we played pool, I believe he paid cash again. When we went out for dinner, he paid with a credit card. I'm well aware that it wasn't a cheap date, and I'm feeling like I should have chipped in somewhere. I don't like to think that a guy is putting himself into debt just to take me on a date!

I have a couple movie passes, so I'm covering the cost of the (much smaller) date this time. We're going during the work week, so I know this one won't turn into another 12 hour adventure. But I'm still wondering if I should have chipped in on the first one. How do you feel about first date payments? Do you go traditional, or do you believe the "he pays" is obsolete? Do you think when you switch activities that you should start chipping in? (So the first date was essentially 3 dates) I'd like to hear from you on this one.

Used

I'm conflicted at the moment.

I had an absolutely great time last night. I went for dinner with a friend at Mongoli Grill (a build your own stir fry place), then went to the season opening Oilers game (hockey for you not in the know. Battle of Alberta - Edmonton vs. Calgary, freaking awesome game). Bought a jersey, had a Starbucks & Baileys, cheered on my team to a fantastic 4-0 win and had a general good time.

... and I feel guilty.

Why? My friend makes loads more money than I do, and he paid for all of it. Well, almost. I paid for my coffee, but he probably would have paid for that too if he had been ordering at the same time. Dinner (business expense, we discussed work), game tickets (family has season tickets) and jersey (he swears it's an early Christmas gift). That's a couple hundred dollars. I know he's SUPER generous with his friends and family, has all of his debts paid off, makes 6+ figures and year and has nothing to do with it but spend it or save it... but I feel guilty accepting it. It's too much, and I don't feel like I can reciprocate. He's seeing someone, and not that kind of guy, so don't even let your mind go down that route. And please don't roll your eyes about "oh, what a terrible problem to have...". It doesn't feel good. Unless I can reciprocate it, I feel like I'm using him. I'm so much more comfortable with our usual Starbucks and farmer's market wandering.

Advice? Anyone?