I'm having a consumption hangover.

I've spent so much money in the last week, even in the last three days.

It's a combination of just starting school and trying to do all my errands at once. It also has to do with the fact that I spent more money than I have. Here's the rundown:

Got my cat spayed: $67*
Rented a car to get to spay center: $106 (plus $20 in gas)
Because I had a car, went grocery shopping: $78
Also went to Target: $212
Books for school: $114
My once-a-season dry cleaning: $59
Total: $656

I feel gross.

In retrospect, I could have saved some money with a little more conscientious planning. I rented a car for two days just to be on the safe side; in fact, I did get home early enough to have returned the car on the same day. That would have saved me about $50.

I could have, uh, not bought so much stuff at Target. This is the thing, though: I looked over my receipt two or three times, and I look around to see if what I bought is not being used, and I've decided that everything that I bought -- mostly toiletries, cat stuff, and things to keep me warm** -- was either essential or will be in the future. It's just that I saved up my list to buy it all at once.

I am not looking forward to my next credit card bill. I know I feel too guilty to spend any money in the next couple weeks, though, and I shouldn't have to, because I've essentially filled my needs for the next month at least. Anything that I buy in the near future would just be superfluous.




*I actually saved some money getting my cat spayed at TEAM, a non-profit spay/neuter clinic in Connecticut. My vet wanted between $200-$400 for the same procedure!!
**I'm trying to save on my heating bill by keeping my heat down a bit, but it gets cold. I bought another blanket, some curtains, and a space heater. I don't know about the environmental tradeoffs of using electricity vs. gas heating though; I know it will just save me money in the long run. Can anyone out there help?

What's better than having a cellphone do everything I want it to?

Having one that gives back to organizations that I care about.

I just switched my cellphone service from Verizon to Working Assets Wireless, which gives a percentage of my bill to progressive causes that I already support. Ok, it's only 1%, but that's better than the 0% I was giving through Verizon, right?

My new cellphone costs the same with the same services, and I feel much better about giving my money to a socially responsible organization than a big conglomerate like Verizon. Plus, I'm so relieved to finally have a phone again. So, my new cellphone is getting lots of attention and love right now for more than one reason!

I was just thinking yesterday how I "needed" another chair in my apartment, and last night, there one was, on the side of the curb, free! It's actually sort of comfortable and I haven't yet got any disease from sitting in it.

Celebrate the small things...

Sometimes I longingly look back at the days before I knew about lifetime value, amortization, and depreciation.

I ruined my mp3 player while I was in Costa Rica. It cost me about $200 in September of 2005, about 16 months ago. Given that I didn't spend any money on the music that I put on there (don't worry, I used only legal downloads and my own CD's), and the fact that I used it constantly for about a year of that time, in accounting terms I should feel like I got my money's worth.

But in real world terms, this baby had probably another year or two of play left in it, and knowing that potential, it's hard to be satisfied with my past use of it.

I do now know the value of electronics though (my cellphone also died on the trip), and will take much better care of them in the future. For now, I don't feel that I deserve (or can afford) to buy a new one, though.

Whenever I go to New York, I spend so much money.

I went Friday, and spent approx. $38 just for food: $3 for a coffee and bottled water, $12 for brunch, $10 for tea, and another $15 for dinner. Not to mention transportation ($33.50 for the Metro-North roundtrip, $7 for a subway day pass) and all the things that I buy when I'm there: this time, books from Bluestockings.

Part of it is my excitement in seeing my friends, wanting to spend time with them in places we love. Another part is just my excitement of being in New York: all the stores that I don't get to go to often, feeling like I can splurge because I'm only there for a day. I guess it's sort of a mini-vacation for me, but at the same time I need to either cut down on my expenses or feel ok for spending money. It is a good thing for my wallet that I don't go very often, but I don't want to feel bad about spending money every time I do.

In terms of my spending in Costa Rica, I did manage to keep it under $100. I avoided the temptation of taking home a little bit of my vacation with me and only bought souvenirs for others: 5 bags of (fairly traded, organic) coffee for $4-5 each. In fact, I spent most of my money on a lavish dinner at a restaurant that catered to Westerners on one of our last nights in San Jose.

I probably spent more money on the outset, preparing for the trip. Because we were to spend a few days in the rainforest, I was pursuaded by a few people (a tropics nurse, my brother, myself) to buy a few outdoorsy stuff: some nylon pants, a rainhat, bug spray, etc. Because I did this at the last possible minute, I ended up buying more expensive clothes than my budget would normally allow: $28 for a rainhat?!

It's easy when you have a school doing your trip planning for you, otherwise I'm sure I'd be seeing the money leave much more quickly. But maybe I can keep this in mind for next time...

I just took a glance at my refridgerator door, and what I saw startled me: lists upon lists of stuff I "have" to buy.

I like to keep lists because it's the best way I found to keep my thoughts organized. I keep them all in different places: my planner, my computer, and apparently, also on my fridge. I keep lists of stuff I have to do, people I have to talk to, assignments I have to turn in.

I also keep shopping lists, one for groceries and random lists for types of items (clothes) or certain stores (Target) if I know an excursion is coming up. In general, this also helps me keep track of how much stuff I'm buying, too.

The reason that I did a double-take this time, however, probably is because of the timing of the lists. I just did a food shop (thanks, Peapod, another post for later) and I just visited my parents, which means home shopping. So I shouldn't "need" anything right now. But I find myself looking at two lengthy lists and automatically thinking "ok, what else do I need to add?"

Why is this happening? Is this reaction coming from a lack of something else in my life? Am I that bored with my vacation, or that controlling about every aspect of my life?

More importantly, why am I letting myself do this?

My consumption is really starting to bother me.

I'm back! Actually, I've been back for a few days. I had a great time in Costa Rica, learned a lot, etc. etc.

I'm still gathering my thoughts and trying to put them in coherent sentences. Until then, enjoy this artist who thinks about what she buys even more than I do: Obsessive Consumption

Although I was doing so well with the blogging, it's time to take another break.

I'm heading off to Costa Rica for 10 days on a class trip. We'll be looking at how the country has managed to make conservation into a profitable industry through ecotourism, sustainable agriculture and forestry, and partnerships with for-profit companies from the U.S. and Europe. Doing so makes Costa Ricans -- from politicians to farmers -- realize how important it is to conserve the unique and diverse natural resources the country holds, hopefully allowing these resources to be around for hundreds of years to come. (If only we could do this here!)

As a tourist from the U.S., I'm very aware of my role in a country that's struggling with immense poverty. I'll uphold my pledge of responsible tourism with the awareness that my individual behavior reflects on my school and my country.

At the same time, I'll be acutely aware of the amount of money I spend on this trip. This trip is not a shopping or party binge for me. I'm going with only $100 in cash with the knowledge that, as long as I don't lose it, this amount will take me far in this poor country. I have my credit card for emergencies (my food and lodging is already paid for), so I should be all set.

With that, I'm off. See you in 10 days.

Speaking of utilities, I have done one small thing that's going to increase my electric bill.

I've switched to all renewable energy.

Connecticut has the great option of letting electricity customers to choose from clean energy options. This means that for every kilowatt I use, that same amount of clean energy will be delivered to the grid. In essence, I'm using zero fossil fuels to light up my apartment.

I've chosen Commmunity Energy to fuel my electricity with wind energy and landfill gas. Doing so increases my electricity bill by 1.1 cents per kilowatt. I think it's definitely worth it.

My heating bill has been kinda high lately. $146 for November!!

Although global warming means ultimate destruction of our planet as we know it today, I'm thankful for a mild winter so that I don't have to use so much heat. But it's still been surprisingly high, probably due to the rising cost of fossil fuels and the propensity for my old house to lose tons and tons of heat.

I've done a few things to try to stop all the escaping warm air: I've covered most of my windows with draft-reducing plastic, and I've lined my doors with insulating tape at all the places where light can shine through. I already have area rugs down on the hardwood floors and I'm going to get curtains, which I think will help a bit.

Oh yeah, and I'm also wearing tons more sweaters and keeping the heat as low as I can stand it (around 62-64 on most days, lower at night).

However, being a renter, there's not much else I can do. I can't go insulating the attic or wrapping the water pipes, which I'm sure are exposed. I wish the most that my landlords would change the windows but know that won't happen for a million years.

So, hopefully with the combination of no snow and these winterizing things I've done, December's heating bill won't be so bad.