Beer and Budgeting

Moving in is expensive. It's all the initial costs that add up. Furniture, kitchenware, appliances, cleaning tools, tool tools, bedsheets, clothes, start-up groceries...the list goes on. I started using an online personal financing tool again recently to track my expenses. A few days after our lovely Ikea trip, it sent me alerts saying "In the past 30 days, you spent $1083.56 on Home Furnishings. Usually you spend $0." Sorta gives you an idea of how much we spent (although a portion of that was for our couch, which my roommates reimbursed me for).

We spent somewhat liberally the first day. From then on we got stingier and stingier. By the third day of shopping, we were all exhausted (not just physically or mentally - financially exhausted).

The following week we decided to check out the Sam Adams brewery in Jamaica Plain. This was probably one of our most worthwhile excursions to date. Not only was the tour free, but each visitor received a complimentary 7oz Sam Adams glass to take home - after they filled it with three of their specialty brews. We also found out about their upcoming Octoberfest festival at the brewery and decided to check it out. For $15, you received a 20 oz beer mug with your first fill-up along with admission to the event. It was basically what you would imagine Octoberfest to be like - lots of beer and drunk white people. They even had a German band! But here's where the Asian in us kicked in. Here's the deal: each person comes in the door with a complimentary mug. Probably a good 60% of the people there were belligerent past inhibition. Some were so drunk that they left their mugs behind. Having just moved in, we were in need of more dishware. See where I'm going with this? Don't judge us. We saw an opportunity and took it. Rather, we took six. Here's a picture of Tim with our loot for the night:

Advice for today? Hit up local breweries for glassware.

Our next stop? Harvard dining halls. Hellooooo silverware!