grocery shopping again today — over budget again; about $35. i didn’t stray from the list except for two bags of edamame (on sale, and my faaaavorite veg, so an impulse $4 buy), but a couple things were more expensive than i had anticipated, such as the $8 bottle of sesame oil. but i think i should be able to make it a week and a half without heading out again, if not two full weeks. actually i’m impressed with how far last week’s $21 made it; i’ve still got apples left, and leftovers for a couple more lunches, so this week i basically got veg and accessories. i have a feeling the estimating prices for the grocery list thing gets better over time; as it is now, i just don’t really know how much a bunch of 6 bananas actually costs, pretty much at all. at least lettuce is priced by the head so that’s easy…

i am going to go ahead and spend $30 registering for the annual ohio soapers gathering — my spring trip out to ohio that i’ve done every year for about the past 8 or so, which i was going to have to cancel this year because my bio class had a mandatory test scheduled that day. but today i was talking about the class to some friends (and how, frankly, i don’t see how i can get a C based on how awful i am doing on his tests — i don’t get it; i’m not accustomed to failing, and frankly it’s pissing me right off, but apparently i can’t cope with his tests), and as the rest of the class is basically a test a week from here on out and there’s no credit /but/ tests … although i feel a bit like a failure for giving up, it seems like torturing myself to continue on going if i’m not going to pass. so i’m going to go in tomorrow and, before my math class meets, drop the bio class, which if nothing else frees up my saturdays so i can go out to ohio and see my friends. and technically, that’s not til may so i won’t even have to buy gas for the trip this month. ;)

i haven’t entirely stopped buying things, though, to be perfectly honest. i had to register for my first depaul class, which was $300, on top of the $25 fee to process my application. plus i had to pay for my car insurance this month, which was almost $500. these are not discretionary expenses, though, so they don’t count against me… but they are moderately disappointing as, to be honest, i was kinda going in to this thinking that at the end of the month, i’d have the vast majority of my monthly funds left in my checking account ready to be ogled. i had put aside money for the insurance — i actually have what i call my “irregular expenses fund,” which is basically an accounting of annual/etc fees i have to pay (car insurance, sox tickets, amazon prime fee, consumer reports subscription, etc — stuff that comes up in chunks once a year, basically), all averaged out, and i save a monthly “bill” towards paying for that stuff. so the car insurance was covered by that, not my regular monthly spending money, but still, $500 in expenses is a bit sad to have coincident with, … pretty much trying not to spend $500 chunks.

i have been able to successfully avoid a bunch of other spending i normally wouldn’t think too much about, though. i’ve been really wanting to go on a perfume hunt — i have a gardenia scent that i really love, but it’s by Crabtree and Evelyn and they discontinued it several years ago (i actually picked this bottle up while browsing through shops in brighton, so that’s been a while now), and i’m running low and want to find a replacement, but i know if i go in to macy’s and find a saleslady to help me find a replacement, i’ll be dropping like $100 or something. so i’ve continued putting that off even though i really miss being able to wear gardenia. (curse you, C&E, you always discontinue my favorites! i’m still mad about Veranda!) and now i’m out of iTunes credit so i’m stuck without being able to buy any new music, and i really want to pick up an album by this one indiepop group out of Montréal, so that’s annoying. also i really frigging want to be able to buy coffee on my way to work again. i know it’s a horrible waste of money, but dammit, i like dunkin donuts coffee!

i guess it’s a useful exercise. i do like feeling a bit cat-who’s-got-the-cream about my magnificent self-restraint. and i do like not having my quicken insights page have increasing red-print amounts on my credit cards (not carrying a long-term balance, but still, i habitually make all my regular purchases on my cards, so between pay-periods they accumulate charges which i have to stare at and feel guilty because it’s red-print numbers next to a credit card account name). and i definitely like not acquiring more stuff. i spun up a bag of louet pencil roving i’d had for most of a year, and started on a second, so that’s almost like being able to buy yarn, kinda, i guess… except it’s way more awesome yarn because i spun it up by hand — ha, take that, Lorna’s Laces. (just kidding, Lorna’s, you know i love you!) that’s even a net loss on the stuff front, since the finished yarn takes up less room than a bag of roving – win! i was kind of thinking, actually, of trying to continue Buy Nothing Month into may. it’s not so bad really, not having the coffee, i guess. and next month, hey, no car insurance due, so i might actually save money…

at the end of the day, though, madonna just bought a $40m townhouse today, so all things being equal, i don’t feel so bad about my $35 groceries.