He assigns every charge on our credit card to a category, the goal being to keep us within our budgeted amount for each category every month. So once a month, he brings his laptop in and he asks me about all of the "unexplained" charges on the card so that he can assign them to the right category. I always enjoy this special time we spend together as a couple.
NOT.
Over the weekend, as he came to me with his laptop and I did not roll my eyes even a little bit, he had about 12 charges he wanted to discuss constructively.
I was able to parlay all of them into legitimate charges with the exception of one: $37 in March to a woman named Anne Marie Hamilton (last name modified slightly even though this has absolutely no bearing on her whatsoever). I wracked my brain for several minutes to no avail.
Grayson made the point, "You also paid her $37 in August." So in my head, I'm thinking, What's a seasonal expense? What would I buy for the same exact price twice a year? Is is a subscription to something? And why don't I remember her name?
So I Googled her. Nothing. Grayson decided to report the charge as fraudulent, see if anything came of that. Desperate, I went to Facebook. I found a woman with that name, but we had no mutual friends.
BUT. There was a picture.
I said, "She looks REALLY familiar. Hold on. Hold on. Let me think. WAIT! THAT'S MY HAIRDRESSER!"
See, she's only cut my hair twice (seven months apart, obviously), and in any case I would have expected the charges to come across under the salon name (which I DO know). So this totally threw me for a loop.
Internet, I am SO glad we didn't report my hairdresser for fraud.
5 comments:
Oh my word! How do you do this? Even your everyday 'boring' stuff is funny. Yea for budgets! We try to stay on top of it too.
This post was too funny! I had to stop myself from guffawing too loudly!
I have the hubby that categorizes as well, and I, too, am forced to sit through the "unexplained charges" interrogation. Christmas time is the worst for that--all the sellers from etsy, ebay, paypal, etc. I can never remember what every charge is for, so then I need to go and do exactly what you did--search the internet :)
Dear Hubby was even worse. His mother had a notebook of every single penny that they ever spent. On our honeymoon, DH pulled out a similar notebook and said that we would do the same. Nope. We may be poor, but I don't want to be reminded about it everyday. We've been frugal, but always saving. It has paid off. We paid off our house 5 yrs ago and hubby took early retirement.
Thankfully, after our girls were out of the house, I allowed myself a "spa" day, every 4-5 weeks. I get a manicure and hand massage (which feels so good for the arthritis) haircut/colored and eyebrows waxed. The bill is anywhere from $65 to well over $100, depending on if the color is done. It took me a good year to get past the guilt. No more.
omg ... too funny! sounds like your husband and mine are cut from the same clothe ;-)
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