This past week I was going over my weekly spending and I noticed a very specific spending pattern. I always spend money with the same people. Other than the regular spending for my daily living such as groceries, and other amenities that keep my household running, I noticed a very specific spending pattern. I always spend my personal disposable income with the same three individual people.
Who Makes You Spend Money?
My Movie Friend Bonnie. Bonnie and I have been friends for almost 4 years, and one thing that we share in common is our love for watching movies. Bonnie and I see a movie together about twice a month. Each time we go to the movies we spend $12.75 each on a movie ticket. We buy movie food which usually includes soft drinks, popcorn, and some type of chocolate. The combo we usually buy is $22.50. This means that if we don’t go out for dinner or go shopping before or after the movie we each spend $24.
This could include up to another $15 to $20 if we do decide to go out and eat before or after the movie. Of course it would be cheaper if we waited for the DVD to be released, but we both love going to the movies.
Sometimes going to the movies with Bonnie is an all day event that can also include shopping. Bonnie and I also share a love for books. Sometimes before our movie or after dinner we spend hours browsing around book stores. We share a love for books, but we don’t share a preference for our favourite bookstore. Therefore in one day we can shop at two or three different bookstores.
My Food Colleague Anthony. Anthony and I became instant friends over our mutual love for food and everything edible. Anthony is an Account Manager at the bank branch where I work. Anthony and I eat out for lunch once or twice a week. Each time we order food to our office it costs us at least $10 each, twice a week. This is another $20 that I spend each week that I should save. However, I like to eat. I like it even more that I don’t have to carry my lunch to work two out of five days.
My Travel Friend Gabriella. Gabriella is my friend who makes me spend money on the finer things in life. She and I are also friends from work, but she works in a different bank branch than I do. We are both financial planners but we work in different bank branches. Gabriella is my friend with whom I share all things girly including shopping, music and travelling to beautiful places.
Gabriella and I share a love for music. We especially love the ambiance of live music. We have been to several concerts together, and we have two others already scheduled for this year. We are planning to travel to Portugal together in late August. Gabriella travels about 4 times a year and we have made a New Year’s Resolution that one of those times will be together. We have the same taste for luxury travelling, and we share common interests; so it only makes sense that we travel together.
If you had a different group of friends or if you worked in a different office would you spend less money?
(Photo By Antwerpen)
Kristina Tahnyak
Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.
Hmm…I do have a friend that makes me spend money. While most of my friends are satisfied with hanging out at each others houses. However, my friend Dan and I get together for lunch and a beer about once a week. It is a good time, but is about $60/month in lunches with him. That’s $720/year! If I ate at home on those days, it would be more like $100/year for those days. You do the math and see if eating lunch at home saves money (and calories).
I have different groups of friends – some definitely spend more than others. Perhaps it’s a sign of growing up, but I now tend to gravitate towards more like-minded friends – we’re all on the same wavelength, career-wise, spending habits, and with our goals.
I think that there are ways to maintain friendships in both a personal and professional setting without overspending or looking like a cheapskate – for example, at work, you can let everyone know you’ve decided to only go out to lunch on one Friday a month. For friends, it’s best to be honest (if they are real friends, they’ll understand) and let them know that you’re on a budget, and you’ll need to find more frugal ways to hang out, maybe just grabbing coffee or ice cream for a good gab session.
I used to spend a lot more at my old job because we didn’t have a cafeteria or anything, so when we didn’t bring lunches, we ordered in. And that definitely cost more. I’d probably have put more effort into bringing a lunch if we didn’t always order tasty food.
I also think my friends make me spend money, but I don’t mind it. I realized that when we want to hang out, we usually go out to eat, which of course costs money. Or if I go over to their place, I usually bring beer or wine or something. But we don’t end up doing a lot of crazy stuff or spending a lot of money. So, I do spend more money when I spend time with friends, but that’s mostly because I just don’t go out a lot on my own.
Just because you go to the bookstore (or two, or three) doesn’t mean you need to spend money at any/all of them…