Monthly Budget: July

Hi!
I am still alive! I'm really trying to get back into the routine of blogging after more than a week break. Since I've become quite the cliche poor grad student, I set aside a monthly budget of $50 to spend on unnecessary things--aka things that enrich my life and makes survival more enjoyable. I'll admit, with this being the first month I had to enforce such a budget on myself, it was really hard. Until now, I've consistently worked since high school, and so I was able to buy pretty much whatever I liked, but now I've become really cautious about spending money. I even hesitated on the 50-cents used book. I was too busy with school during July to be concerned with my inability to shop freely, but now that I have a three week break, it'll be harder--especially since I have to find appropriate clothes for fieldwork and student teaching. Luckily, I have a $50 Visa gift card, and $50 in Gap rewards, so hopefully that will be enough to buy some back-to-school and work basics. I did buy the striped flats from J. Crew with the upcoming year in mind. I know I can wear these to school and to student teaching, but still maintaining a little bit of my style. And the polaroid film was truly just for fun. Robert gifted me an Instax Mini camera for my birthday three years ago, and I haven't used it since I ran out of film.

Here's the breakdown of how I spent my fun money in July:
(1) Used book: "The Big love" -- $0.50
(1) Pack of Two Instax Mini Film -- $15.20
(1) Pair of shoes from J. Crew -- $28.50

Total: $44.20
$5.80 gets rolled over for August!

Outfit post to come tomorrow so stay tuned!

Until next post,
Jasmine