Recession For Dummies

The sad state of the economy is a hot topic right now. You can't turn on the TV or surf the web without hearing the words "recession" or "stimulus package" or "Jessica's mom jeans" (maybe that last one doesn't have to do with the economy. or maybe in some weird way the stars are helping the economy by trading in their Chip And Pepper jeans for Lee jeans.)

Anyway, I think everyone in one way or another is doing their part to cut back a little bit, and be a little bit smarter about how they spend their money.

I know that Mr. KK and I are definitely trying to spend less. We've replaced our luxurious (but deliciously wonderful) weekend dinners out with home-cooked meals and Yahtzee. At the grocery store we've been swapping out expensive cuts of steak for ground beef for tacos. And we've even stopped drinking during the week, a move that is both to feel a little healthier and save us some trips to the liquor store. (Of course now when we go to buy alcohol the guy behind the counter yells across the store, "Hey! You guys haven't been in here lately? Where have you been? You're usually in a few times a week???"

This past Saturday night instead of going out for Valentine's Day we thought we'd spend the holiday having dinner at a friends house. My friend was nice enough to offer to make dinner and I said I'd bring the dessert.

My thoughts: what a great way to NOT spend $150 on dinner! We're totally going to have a cheap, relaxing night!

Or not.

The breakdown:

$7.00 – ingredients to make molten lava cakes for dessert.
$20.00 – bottle of wine to bring because we just can't go empty-handed. plus, they brought wine to our house last time we hosted even though we, too, had said, "Just bring yourselves!"
$5.00 – pint of ice cream to go with lava cakes.
$15.00 – amount it will cost to replace my hand mixer after Mr. KK, who was doing a good deed helping make dessert – accidentally poured melted chocolate into the motor of the old mixer.
$5.00 – cost of second pint of ice cream (purchased 5 minutes from our friends' house) because I was an idiot and didn't factor in the fact that we would have to travel for 30 minutes with ice cream (melting) in the car.
$10.00 – bouquet of tulips for our hostess, whose birthday was just 2 days away.
$25.00 – of course the gas light was on.

Grand total of "cheap night in": $87.00

Next time? We're going out.