Surprising savings. . . .

I returned from the phenomenally sunny and warm Oregon coast on Saturday, and bid goodbye to my parents on Sunday. Now I'm attempting to catch up to my budget and finances after a week of walks on the beach, wonderful meals, and cable TV (I must admit, one of the real 'luxuries' for me was being able to watch HGTV).

I budgeted $200 for the past week, expecting to pay for part of the hotel bills as well as some of the food costs. The beauty of having family visit, however, is that paying one's own way becomes somewhat difficult. I asked---and was politely turned down---to pay for the first hotel we stayed in. At no time was I asked to pay for any meals or gas costs!

As for shopping, I spent roughly $45 on a sweater-jacket (in a style I have been searching for), but the rest of our shopping revolved around helping my mom find a gift for a friend who was watching their house and feeding their cat in my parents' absence. To be entirely honest, the boutiques we visited on the trip were so expensive I couldn't have purchased anything had I wanted to, unless I used my credit card. Which I did NOT do, of course!

So, I think I spent about $60 for the whole week on the coast, including my new sweater and some coffee and muffin purchases I made. We ate out a LOT, and I found myself wishing that we could just go to a grocery store, buy some apples, cheese and bread, and have a frugal picnic. However, it was my parents' vacation more than mine (I can go back to the coast any time I want), so I suppressed my frugal instincts, and ate much more richly than I have in a long time.

In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't spend my entire beach budget; I realized when I returned that I gave up an entire week of night work (meaning I also gave up an entire week of pay), so my budget is going to be somewhat tight for the rest of the month.