Monday Mornings

Every Monday morning when I walk into the office I have the same conversation, but with a different person than the person I had the conversation with the Monday before.  It goes like this:

Me:  Good Morning

Them:  Good Morning Angie.  How was your weekend?

Me:  It was cool.  I didn’t do anything.

Them:  Nothing?  That’s hard to believe.  You didn’t go out?

Me:  *deep breath* Nope.  I didn’t go out.  I never go out unless it’s a special occasion, like a friend’s birthday.

Them:  I see….

Sigh.    It’s always a struggle to explain to someone that spending unnecessary money on the weekends just isn’t what I do.  Why?  Because it isn’t a priority for me.  And after years of being “about that life”, it just got old. 

You see, it took some time, but I finally realized that I wasn’t spending the weekend doing all of the in

things to do for me; but rather for other people.  I wasn’t showing up at all of the hot spots for myself, but so other people could say “I saw Angie last night at…” or so I could be tagged in pictures, or so I could be seen with the "right" people. 

It never occurred to me, until years later, how much money that weekend ritual was costing me.  I mean, I had to stay suited up in designer wear complemented by the latest it bag and shoes.  Not to mention the costs of just being out and about:  parking (I live in Chicago where free parking is like unicorns.  It doesn’t exist!), cover into the club, food, drinks, tips, etc.   Those weekends out were eating up a large chunk of my disposable income!

But once I re-prioritized my life and realized that I wanted to do more, see more, experience more; it was easy to give up the $100 weekends.  It was actually very easy to give up the designer clothes, the expensive dinners, the gourmet drinks and the $20 valet.

But I gained so much more.  I had more disposable income, which meant I could pay off some credit card balances and other debt, which meant I had more disposable income.  The more bills I paid off, the more disposable income I had.  It was a vicious cycle, but I liked it. 

I began purchasing flights with cash, prepaying for hotels with cash, paying for all of my meals and activities with, OMG, cash.  It was completely unheard of, but I was traveling to the places I chose and coming home completely debt free!

Now, I’m not side-eyeing anyone who enjoys his or her weekends to the fullest by going out.  I’m just saying that for me, the money I’ve saved by forgoing expensive weekends here at home, has financed lots of weekends elsewhere!

Happy Traveling~