Freedom to Spend

So, I spent more money today than I did all last month.  I ordered my bicycle headlight/battery, went to Publix, and donated to the Sarah Mac Band's upcoming album.  Some might ask why I even bothered with FF if I was going to spend all this money today.  Well, I didn't plan on ruining my bike battery.  Once that happened, this upgrade makes sense for me right now (especially since I was able to save so much money last month).  I also decided not to get a new watch.

This is probably all of my spending craziness.  I had been waiting for weeks until today so I could throw my money at the SMB.  I only had to ride a couple days without my sweet tail light but that's OK because I have my helmet mounted tail lights.  I understand that expenditures on SMB are purely discretionary and I could have gotten away with only spending $50 on a new battery for my tail light.

I did surely save money in February, though, when I turned down offers to eat or drink out.  The convenience of paying for fast food is nice, but it really does add up.  Alcohol at the bar is way expensive too.  So is driving.  It's not a big expense for me except when I travel, but think about all the money I saved by riding my bike.  Gas is about $3.69 here these days.  If you say that I'd get about 14mpg in town and only count my commuting to school and Damn Good Bikes (I rode more for things like time trial, visiting Carlos, baseball game, volunteering, and other randomness) then that's about 22 days to school * 8 mile round trip + 4 * 18 miles = 248 miles ~= 17.7 gallons ~=$65.37.  So you see, those bicycle lights will pay for themselves in about 3 months!