Debt Reduction 101

I got an invitation last night to an acquaintance’s 30th birthday party bash that’s coming up in October. The party is going to be held in a swank steakhouse in Minneapolis and the party will supposedly start at 8 p.m. and go until the wee hours of the dawn. (Incidentally, this party is being hosted on a Tuesday night … I’m still trying to figure out how that works …)

A prior engagement is going to keep me from going anyway, but I have to be honest – I felt a sense of real regret when I had to respectfully decline the invitation. Because it would have been like a party I had probably never been to before. I have amazing friends, but the last time I went to a party that started at 8 p.m. and went into the wee hours of the morn involved some crazy mix of liquors that tasted awesome as a 21-year-old college senior. Ten years later? I’m usually in bed by 10 p.m. I don’t know that I’d be able to howl with the rest of the birthday revelers.

The other reason I respectfully declined? At this point in my debt reduction journey, I know that I can’t afford to go to this party. The birthday girl reminds me of a Midwestern version of a “Sex and the City” character and I have a feeling that the $5 jeans I bought at Savers and the $7 top I scored recently would be a bit inappropriate. I’d want to try and find a little black dress – so there’s about $50 there. And like I said – the steakhouse where this is going to be held is swank and amazing. But the entrees? Anywhere from $25 to $125 … the drinks are probably equally as expensive. So basically, the $150 I would blow on this evening for my husband and I? It’s better spent going to my credit card bills.

And I should clarify, lest my friends sound like they’re all about money and image – the girls who invited me to this party are some of the best people I know in the world. They are also both amazingly successful and currently single, so this party is as equally as fabulous as they both are.

I really do love my life – staying at home in my PJs with my husband and my cat are more my speed anymore anyway, but wow – one of the frustrating things about growing up for me is reconciling my irresponsible and impractical side with this person who I have become. I’m not the perfect frugalista, but with only about a month to go before my credit cards are paid off … I think I’m doing pretty damn good.