March Madness: My money mindset for 31 days, Day 10

Day 10: Lobsters, foie gras, and friends on the cheap
Days Remaining: 21
Budget remaining: $754.32

Today’s Expenses: $168.13
Metrocard: $116.50
Lobster and a foie gras burger: $51.63

Communting

BEEEEEEEEEP pay me or walk to work yells the turnstile blocking me from the L train on 1st and 14th. Great…my unlimited Metrocard just ran out. Lucky for me, I carry around my trusty WageWorks card, which let’s me put pretax dollars towards getting around the city. Again, a nice little perk from work. I take the train twice a day at a minimum going to and from the office during the weekdays and likely at least twice during the weekends. Conservatively, that’s 10 trips a week, or 1.43x a day on average, multiply that by $3.25 to pass through the turnstile on a per trip basis and that comes to $4.65/day or $144.15/month to commute to work. At $116.50 for a 31-day unlimited pass, I’m saving a minimum of $27.65/month through bulk purchasing for the subway. Unlimited cards will increase next month to $121 (I think), but I may be Citibiking to work at that point anyway (weather permitting), which means I’ll be switching my commuting plan.

Mindset

Drinks with the guys
Daily spending has been going pretty well the first 1/3 of the month. In fact, I have a little more room in my budget than I was expecting, because I’m spending less than I anticipated on groceries each week. The savings are coming from not buying as much seafood as I used to.

I’ve been invited out to drinks with friends tonight, and I feel confident that I can continue to keep pace with my friends and my budget by switching to soda-water and lime for every other drink, just like I did last week. Unlike drinks with my coworkers, and I’m starting to notice something different when I’m out with the guys. They are buying me drinks repeatedly. I can’t even finish the first before I have another one being handed to me (Yeah, I should just keep crying about this). Not that I don’t appreciate it, and not that I refuse them, It’s almost as if my previous spending habits once cured in me found root in my closest friends. My mind immediately jumps back to when we were all in college, and I would carelessly spend money on drinks just so that they would have a good time and stay out a little longer. After all, what’s the harm in a few bucks between friends? Maybe they’ve always been doing it and I’m noticing it more now or maybe they’ve decided to keep the good times going no matter what, but in either case, I value it more now either way.

Lobster and Burger
After drinks, we all decided to get a bite to eat. I haven’t spent anything at the bar, and I’m really enjoying the evening so far. A few suggestions are being floated, one expensive place I avoid in particular thanks to a long wait to be seated, and we end up at Lobster and Burger on 39 west 19th Street. I had heard of it and am definitely craving a burger. After a short wait, we head one level down and take our seats at tables surround by decorative lobster traps. The group is still ordering drinks, but I switch to water for the rest of the evening. As I look at the menu one item, in particular, catches my eye.

The Big Boss Combo: 6oz burger with foie gras, whole 1lb lobster, butter, fries, and salad.
Price tag: $50.00

I remind myself Don’t buy low-end convenience food. I’m out to dinner, ahead of budget, and I’m going to get my burger medium-rare and lobster steamed.

At least that’s the plan…

As the dishes come out and I take my first bite of the burger, I don’t get the flavor or texture I was expecting of a foie gras topper. I ask my friends that had been here before if they think it may have potentially been mixed into the patty, but the assure me that’s not how it’s served. Good, I can get this switched out pretty quickly. The place is a little busy, so I don’t see my server right away and instead switch to my lobster. After the first bite, I realize that it’s grilled not steamed. As the server comes over, I explain what’s wrong with a starter of a “Hey, I don’t want to be this guy…” and a side of “I’m sure the kitchen made a mistake.” I think I did a pretty good job being amiable about the whole thing, and the server quickly apologized and went back to the kitchen to correct the issue.

When the server comes back, he explains it was an honest mistake while inputting the order into the POS. Most times I don’t send food back if what I have is good enough. The problem is that “good enough” doesn’t cut it when I’m spending 12% or more of my remaining monthly budget on a meal (factor in tax and tip for those curious about the number). The server lets me know that the order will be fixed and he heads back to take care of his other customers. I find myself feeling more annoyed than I usually am in these situations as every minute ticks by, and the food I’m not going to eat sits in front of me. Five minutes later, he returns with the foie gras topper for me to place on my now cold burger and removes the grilled lobster from the plate.

I’m not sure how the kitchen pulled it off, but the topper TOTALY makes up for the cold burger it’s resting on. It’s not as great as it could have been, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t very good. I finish the burger just as my steamed lobster comes out. My friends finish their meal as I dig into the lobster, which is f*&@ing excellent. I feel a little bad that they have to wait for me to finish.

As we settle up the server makes a final apology and lets me know that a substantial discount of $30.00 has been placed on my order, which I thank him for and leave a 20% tip on to show my appreciation. My friends and I split the bill and discount four ways (it’s the least I can do for drinking on the cheap earlier) and call it a night.

All in all, not a bad night. Thanks for reading.

Day 11: (Coming soon) →

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