Remember not to be "cheap" while budgeting!

This weekend reminded me how generous people in my life are. As a result I have made a mental note to make sure to remember not to be "cheap" while budgeting!

I was out of town for the entire weekend. I packed in multiple activities each day in multiple cities. This morning as I was going over the weekend in my head, trying to track my spending, I realized how many meals were given to me for free!

Friday night I visited my sister's boyfriend's newly acquired bar & grill. He gave me a (really delicious) pizza "on the house" for making the visit!

I spent that evening at a friend's house who lived in the same city as my sister and her boyfriend. She cooked the whole group who stayed over eggs and hash browns Saturday morning!

Saturday lunch was the only meal I paid for. While tubing with friends we all split cost on food for lunch (beer and food 15 each!).

Saturday evening I went to a graduation party where there was a whole food extravaganza for dinner. Mmmmmm.

After spending Saturday night at my Mom's house, she let me raid her fridge for brunch on Sunday.

Then on Sunday evening I was invited to dinner to visit a friend who had moved out of state and was visiting her parents back home. We caught up over homemade lasagna and salad.

All of this makes me realize just how lucky I am to have the people in my life that I do. While on my mission to save, I need to keep in mind the generosity of my friends and family, and make sure not to be too cheap to return the gesture when the opportunity presents itself.

I think everyone can be generous without breaking the bank.

Here are a couple things I like to do, or plan on doing soon:

- Sharing produce from the garden with my parents, friends, and coworkers.

- I am going to a country festival for 5 days with a group of people and I always buy 2 dozen fresh bagels (with a coupon this year, yay!) for breakfast for the week. A couple bucks for a whole lot of happy campers!

-Sending cards/care packages to friends who live out of town. A card "for no reason" with a nice personal note in it feels very good to receive. I try to take the time to send a couple of these a year. Also, for my friends who are still in college, I like to send care packages on occasion. After realizing how much I loved care packages throughout college, I try to pass on the favor. I stick in lotions/products/candles/candy from the dollar store, and I am always picking up cute holiday socks right after the holidays when they are super on sale, to save for next years care packages.

This weekend made me realize these little gestures are not things that I should cut out of my budget!