Sasha, I’ve been out of work for the last couple of months and because of that I’ve had to scale back on a lot of social activities. My friend’s 30th birthday is coming up and her best friend has planned this big dinner out at a fancy restaurant in the city. I live in NYC, so things are even more expensive here. Do I go and not eat for a week or do I go and just eat a salad and pay my portion of the bill. Should I know the answer? Because I don’t. O
Sorry to break it to you, but I’m not feeling either of those options you just threw out there. For one, I can’t endorse malnutrition and secondly there is nothing lamer than eating only a salad when you’re out for dinner. Plus, there's always the chance that when the bill comes to the table, someone will forget you’re paying your own portion, which means a) you’ll get guilted into splitting it with everyone or b) it’ll get really awkward when you have to explain the whole salad thing.
So let me hit you up with two better options:
1. Skip the whole dinner out and just meet up with them for drinks later. Get tanked on cheap wine at home, go to the bar, buy you and your birthday BF a drink, dance your face off and then bounce. Your night will cost no more than 25 bucks.
2. Call up your homegirl and explain the situation. Tell her that while you’d love to celebrate with her that night your finances aren’t stellar at the moment, so you'd like to take her out for brunch on the weekend. Buy a card and a pretty lipstick and everyone is happy.
Hope this helps! Thanks for writing in. Keep sending your life and style questions my way to [email protected]
