Salzburg

This year I will have a lot less money than I have during previous trips. During previous trips, I had scholarship money, money saved up from working, and money that my grandparents had given me as a child. I spent most of that during my year abroad in Salzburg, so now I am left with, well, very little money to spare. The money I am spending now is the money that I'm earning here. That means budgeting, much more than before. Welcome to the real world, right?

New rules:

1) Leave the credit card at home. My credit card will now only be used for emergency purchases. Including but not limited to: emergency plane ticket to get home to my family, meds when I'm sick... I would say that's about it.

2) Never buy clothing the first time I see it unless it is heavily discounted and I really want it. If something is full price, I will let the idea sit with me for a week to see if I really want it. And no matter what, I will never exceed the clothing allowance I've allowed for myself.

3) Speaking of "allowance." I will budget for everything. If it's not a part of my budget, I will not participate.

4) I will write everything down so that I see how much I spend.

5) I will enjoy life with less.

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The nice thing about Salzburg in general is that there are so many things one can do for free. The other day Andrea and I biked to Hellbrunn for a picnic. A couple of weeks ago she and I sat on a bench on the river and talked. Then there are cheap things to do like student discounted museums or going to coffee hour at my church. And of course, I'm taking a lot of pictures :)

Today I haven't done that much. I walked to the mall to send a b-day/father's day package to my dad, and this afternoon I went swimming in my host family's pool. At 30 degrees Celcius, the pool felt almost like a hot tub :)

LG, Molly