An old habit.

I’ve already talked about my stupidly cliche love for Starbucks a few times. Despite wishing I could stop going so often, I can’t. You’d think that being on a tight budget would cut my trips down significantly, and in a way they have. I used to go at least twice per week (sometimes as much as 5 or 6) and spend at least $4 per trip. In 2013, I spent $540.19 at Starbucks.

But, this year I have improved… just not by much. I mentioned how I already re-loaded my Starbucks gold card before the New Year, so I had $40-something that I was just going to treat like a gift card, spending it throughout the year so I could have my fix but in moderation. Well, January isn’t even over and I have $19.01 left. 😦 Quasi-fail.

Given that I’ve been able to stay well under my weekly budget so far, I definitely have extra cash in my money jar to spend as I please, and it could be at Starbucks if I want it to be! But, my lack of self-control is ever more apparent now that I’ve seen how quickly I’m going through the money on my gold card.

In other news, my fiance’s birthday is today and we’re going out to dinner. I’ve decided that even though I have spent my actual money on his present (non-allowance money, that is), I will take the cash out of my jar and use it towards his dinner tonight. It took a lot of thought, but my reason for doing this is simple: this is a dinner out. Any other dinner out I would have to budget for accordingly. Just because it is his birthday doesn’t mean this one dining out experience has to be a free-for-all! So, I’ll be using one of my gift cards, along with some of the cash in my wallet and from my money jar tonight. Hopefully it won’t be too bad!

Wish me luck!

Weekly Allowance: $60.00
Weekly Allowance Remaining: $55.84

My beloved gold card.

No, I’m not talking about a credit card. I’m talking about my Starbucks Gold Card. I’ve been a member since it first became available in early 2009. It’s used like a hybrid between a gift card and a debit card – you add money from a bank account or credit card to the Starbucks card and use it to make purchases. You get a discount on all purchases and random free stuff, like a free birthday drink and other things.

Well, late in 2013, my auto-reload went into effect, so now I have $40 on my Starbucks Gold Card. It may sound like I’m cheating, but I’m going to treat this like a gift card. The money was taken out of my account in December, so it isn’t like I can get it back – it’s stuck on my card until I use it. So, I’m using it eventually. Sorry, folks, if you’re disappointed. 😦

Also, when I posted earlier about unsubscribing to all of the e-mail spam I get from stores, I didn’t exclude my Starbucks Gold Card emails. The reason? The freebies. I got an e-mail today about a limited-time, one-day offer for a free latte. So, I redeemed it on my way to work this morning. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am!

As of writing this post, I haven’t gone out to Trivia with coworkers yet, nor have I gone shopping for dinner-making items for my girly coworker get-together yet. So, for now…

Weekly Allowance: $60.00
Weekly Allowance Remaining: $60.00

J