I’m going to New York!

Okay, so it’s only for a long-ish weekend at the beginning of November but I’m still really excited. I haven’t left the country since…my last trip to NYC almost two years ago. This time it’s going to be a girls’ weekend for a friend’s birthday. My budget looks something like this:

Item	Cost	Status
Accommodation	Free	N/A
Flight	$328	Paid
Spending money	$300	Cash
Shopping	$100	Credit
Gift	$50	TBA

My trip is the Friday to Sunday night so my budget is pretty basic. Accommodations are free because the birthday girl lives in New York. Her boyfriend was kind enough to invite me and two other girls to come down and surprise her and even foot the flight cost if money was tight. I thought that was an incredibly kind offer but I certainly didn’t take him up on it. If I didn’t think I could afford to go, I wouldn’t go. 🙂

My flight is through Air Canada and I thought it was slightly pricey, but based on my daily price monitoring, prices weren’t budging. I’m not going to check again because I may cry if prices have gone down! I have about $100 in US cash from a prior trip, so I’m going to pull my accumulated vacation pay from my part time job – about $120 – then just pull the rest from my account. My shopping budget is fairly low because I’ll likely only buy a few tops if I see them but otherwise I don’t think we have a ton of room for shopping in our itinerary.

Finally, gift simply refers to a birthday gift! I’m budgeting a bit more than I would usually spend because it will act as a birthday gift/thanks-for-housing-me gift. I’ve been thinking of picking up a sweater at the Gap as I know my friend loves fall clothing, but I haven’t found one I know she will like. I’ve resorted to emailing her and asking her to pick out a few she likes. Not quite a surprise, but better than getting her something she ends up hating!

Yikes, I’ve only just realized this is quite a bit for a weekend, but I know it will be totally worth it!

Life update: Lifestyle inflation has crept up on me

It has. Since I last posted, I’ve been settling into my new job quite nicely. I now work for a company that has great clients, quality work, and most importantly, an amazing workplace culture. In fact, for several years in a row, it was rated at the top of the list of best workplaces in Canada. Now I can tell you firsthand that it is that good!

Gushing aside, I finally feel grounded. I’m working hard at work (as opposed to sometimes feeling like a waste of space while interning) and I have some stability in my life. After a few years of instability, I do not take this for granted one bit. Another thing I love about stability is a stable income. And of course, two stable incomes is better than one! I continue to waitress and though it keeps me busy, I somehow still feel fine. I continue to push back the end date of my side gig because as much as having weekends is nice, so is maintaining a third of my overall income. Here is the exact breakdown:

I may not make a ton but having two incomes is sure as heck helping me fake it till I make it!

Lifestyle inflation?

Okay, I exaggerate a bit. I’ve simply gone from spending next to no money to spending…money. For instance, I bought a new phone. A smart one. And we all know that I’ve never had a smartphone. Now I have a Samsung Galaxy S3. Rogers gave me grief in order to get said phone and associated plan (post to follow), but now I have it and it’s a bit of an adjustment. I haven’t quite gotten into it but once I do, I’m afraid it will slowly take over my life. Luckily the bf had a Future Shop gift card that he kindly gave me in order to buy myself a case for it. Right now it lives in a sock!

I’ve also bought some new stuff:

Got these at Payless for work. Say what you will about Payless but I’ve found some great shoes there!

I LOVE these khakis from the Gap. And at $12 can I really go wrong? I’ve been wanting coloured pants for awhile so this was the perfect steal.

This is what happens when I haven’t shopped for about a year! I may want to pick up a few more items for work. Right now I’m in the process of creating an inventory of my current wardrobe, donating things I don’t wear, and seeing what I can work with. Here is my exploded closet:

That’s the update on me! How are you? What are you doing to enjoy the fall weather? Please share!

Blogger note: Has it seriously been over a month since I last posted? I’ve been having trouble coming up with posts so as an alternative, I’ve run away from blogging for awhile. I miss it dearly and I think it is vital that I keep myself in check and start posting regularly. How do you blogstars do it?