A Frugal Miser Attends a Wedding

I spent the weekend in beautiful State College, PA, where I attended the wedding of a good friend. I don't go to that many weddings, and after I lost my job I hesitated about going to this one (this friend is also a client of my former employer...that's how we met). But I managed to have a great time and not spend much money. In fact, I didn't spend a dime on food:

Leading Up to the Wedding

• Cashed in a flight credit for a flight I had canceled at my previous employer. I didn't see any reason in letting it go to waste, especially since the wedding was for a customer of my previous employer. Cost of flight: $0
• Gift card at Target and Congratulations Card: $26.08. I'm not a big fan of purchasing "things" as gifts, even though at first that would seem more thoughtful than just buying a gift card. I can recall few gifts that I've received that I would have purchased for myself, and I assume most people are like me.
  

Saturday

• Bought $15 worth of gas to travel to the Atlanta airport. Traveling from my home airport would have required a second night in a hotel.
• Wedding began at 3 PM - I arrived with just 15 minutes to spare. Reception started around 5 PM, which included food and drinks.
• Checked into Best Western, redeeming more of the travel cards I had purchased before I lost my job. Brand new hotel - I was impressed.
  

Sunday

• Ate breakfast at the hotel. Took a box of cereal, muffin and a cup of coffee with me for later.
• Checked out. Cash expense was zero since I used a travel card. Actual room cost was $98.00.
• Filled the rental car 26 miles from the airport. They say you should refuel within 10 miles, but I knew the tank would still be on full. $18.01
• Arrived at the airport a bit earlier than I had to, which saved me from going over the 24 hour rental period on my compact car. It was a Hyundai Accent, by the way... nice car all things considered. $32.56
• Ate the cereal and muffin for lunch. Then I had cookies and a soda on the plane.
• Airport parking: $20.00. Ouch. It didn't occur to me until I was pulling into the airport that I should have found an offsite lot. I would have saved $10 or so if I had done this.
• Refueled my car: $18.00

Total cost of attending a wedding in State College, PA: $227.65.