for the first time in a long time (happily for my chrsitian peeps), i will not be writing about my church after a weekend. and no, its not cos it got burnt down, but because there was no service yesterday. for me, the perfect weekend is one with books, news on television and the internet....sprinkled with some lazying about and politics. just to start out by saying, that i had the perfect weekend.
for no reason on friday, i just decided to experiment with my expenditure flow. you know, over time i have realized a worrisome trend with my weekend spending. during the week, i can actually spend next to zero. well, thats because when i had my car, the fuel money would have been paid upfront and administered by my driver with close supervision. i would use my office phone to make all my calls (shhh, don't tell my boss i said that), and eat my one really good meal for free at work during lunchtime (don't let my size fool you, i'm actually not a foodie person). and so, except for the "bros please send me money for project/ credit/ books/ assignment" i receive from the quite significant semi-dependents i have given myself charge over, my weekly expenditure can be zilch.
however, for fear of exigencies happening over the weekend, and in my early church days that meant the offerings i had to plan for during sunday service, i usually ensure that i have significant cash at hand on fridays before i leave the office. mostly i hold roughly 66USD for the "no plans weekend" (aka perfect weekend) and about 100USD for a pre-booked activity filled weekend (o the horror), but realized that no matter how much i took home on friday, it never makes it to monday morning. and i mean no matter how much. and i honestly dont spend on trivialities but somehow, something is bound to happen any given weekend, that will ensure that the money is spent. infact, there was a time when i began to think that maybe there was an underground telegraph line where visitors tell themselves to head for Orok's house, whenever i had enough money for any weekend.
and so, this weekend, i dropped my ATM card at work, emptied my pocket into my office drawer and went home without a dime. yes, you heard right. 0.00 USD. i just kinda of thought, hang on, if each time i take money home, i get weekend activity commesurate with that amount, doesnt that mean i will have the "Perfect weekend" if i take no money home? naturally, i quipped to my 'free ride colleague' on the way home about my plan and she said it was a very dangerous thing to do, considering that anything could happen, including but not limited to the need to move at short notice for help or in an emergency. I refused to have it. I however began to doubt the sense in what i was doing on my way home and as soon as i arrived my house, went through all my shirt pockets and dug out 300naira (about 2USD).
so on saturday, i needed to get spray starch to iron my clothes, no biggies, i'll just sprinkle good old water. then my tongue kinda felt funny, so what, i used good old salt to brush and felt better. then i remembered i needed to call my folks, oh well, it'll just wait till monday. needless to say, i spent all 300 naira by this monday morning because I had to cut my hair yesterday, an emergency of some sort considering i was beginning to look like a cross between osama and ahmedinejab. but, nothing. else. happened. or maybe they did but i couldnt do anything about them so they just had to wait.
so i guess my theory was right. you can only spend as much as you have, and no more. suddenly, depending on how much your have at your disposal, trivial things become necessary, or necessary thing become trivial.
So yeah, here i am, back at my desk on monday morning, healthy as can be because i ate so much less this weekend and happy as a lark. no additional debt and zero expenditure over the weekend. but i dont think i will try it again, because i had to pass on so many things that would have made me a tad happier if i had the money to splurge.
i hope y'all had a better weekend than i did. and oh, by the way, i may have found the political party to join. Will keep you posted...as soon as i can step away from my Blackberry. :)
for no reason on friday, i just decided to experiment with my expenditure flow. you know, over time i have realized a worrisome trend with my weekend spending. during the week, i can actually spend next to zero. well, thats because when i had my car, the fuel money would have been paid upfront and administered by my driver with close supervision. i would use my office phone to make all my calls (shhh, don't tell my boss i said that), and eat my one really good meal for free at work during lunchtime (don't let my size fool you, i'm actually not a foodie person). and so, except for the "bros please send me money for project/ credit/ books/ assignment" i receive from the quite significant semi-dependents i have given myself charge over, my weekly expenditure can be zilch.
however, for fear of exigencies happening over the weekend, and in my early church days that meant the offerings i had to plan for during sunday service, i usually ensure that i have significant cash at hand on fridays before i leave the office. mostly i hold roughly 66USD for the "no plans weekend" (aka perfect weekend) and about 100USD for a pre-booked activity filled weekend (o the horror), but realized that no matter how much i took home on friday, it never makes it to monday morning. and i mean no matter how much. and i honestly dont spend on trivialities but somehow, something is bound to happen any given weekend, that will ensure that the money is spent. infact, there was a time when i began to think that maybe there was an underground telegraph line where visitors tell themselves to head for Orok's house, whenever i had enough money for any weekend.
and so, this weekend, i dropped my ATM card at work, emptied my pocket into my office drawer and went home without a dime. yes, you heard right. 0.00 USD. i just kinda of thought, hang on, if each time i take money home, i get weekend activity commesurate with that amount, doesnt that mean i will have the "Perfect weekend" if i take no money home? naturally, i quipped to my 'free ride colleague' on the way home about my plan and she said it was a very dangerous thing to do, considering that anything could happen, including but not limited to the need to move at short notice for help or in an emergency. I refused to have it. I however began to doubt the sense in what i was doing on my way home and as soon as i arrived my house, went through all my shirt pockets and dug out 300naira (about 2USD).
so on saturday, i needed to get spray starch to iron my clothes, no biggies, i'll just sprinkle good old water. then my tongue kinda felt funny, so what, i used good old salt to brush and felt better. then i remembered i needed to call my folks, oh well, it'll just wait till monday. needless to say, i spent all 300 naira by this monday morning because I had to cut my hair yesterday, an emergency of some sort considering i was beginning to look like a cross between osama and ahmedinejab. but, nothing. else. happened. or maybe they did but i couldnt do anything about them so they just had to wait.
so i guess my theory was right. you can only spend as much as you have, and no more. suddenly, depending on how much your have at your disposal, trivial things become necessary, or necessary thing become trivial.
So yeah, here i am, back at my desk on monday morning, healthy as can be because i ate so much less this weekend and happy as a lark. no additional debt and zero expenditure over the weekend. but i dont think i will try it again, because i had to pass on so many things that would have made me a tad happier if i had the money to splurge.
i hope y'all had a better weekend than i did. and oh, by the way, i may have found the political party to join. Will keep you posted...as soon as i can step away from my Blackberry. :)
Comments
You're right though, you only spend as much as you have. Zero Naira was risky though but u made it thru.