Redecorated the Bathroom
I didn't need to do this. The bathroom was fine before. But two days before my surgery I had a "What if this is it" moment and apparently a binge trip to Target was my answer. I don't particularly like the things I bought and seriously consider putting all of my old things back in the bathroom at least once a week.
Gifts! Gifts! Gifts for Everyone!
My teaching partners. My students. DH. The animals. Myself x a lot. Sometimes buying gifts makes me feel better. Usually I just feel guilty for spending money later though.
Clothes
Sigh. I don't need new clothes. And truthfully, I don't get a lot of satisfaction from them after I buy them. I have started to realize that shopping for clothes gives me a temporary (albeit very real) high. After I buy a handful of shirts and dresses I think, "Okay, now this is all I need to feel more confident/prettier/happier/better" but after a few wears it seems that the feeling fades and I'm left wishing I didn't have to go through more piles of clothes to make room for the new ones.
Dog
As Christmas came up on us and yet another BFN loomed on the horizon DH saw an opportunity to get something for me that he had said we would put off getting until we had a bigger house and kids. And yet the reality is that we can't make ourselves have kids (apparently) and a bigger house is on hold (indefinitely). So in one of our attempts at "reverse jinxing" we thought, "Hey! Maybe if we do something a little crazy the bad timing of the thing will lend itself to spontaneously getting pregnant". It didn't work, of course, but I do love this pup. She is incredibly time-consuming and that's a good thing for a lot of reasons. On the other hand, she has been very expensive- a lot of bills we didn't foresee when we adopted our "$100 dog".
Fine Dining---or At Least Eating Out
DH and I don't take pleasure in eating at very expensive restaurants. As much as we LOVE to eat out neither of us is willing to spend much more than $25 on a meal and that's pushing it. So every weekend we find ourselves at Chipotle for burrito bowls or Chic-Fil-A for waffle fries or McD's for frappes. We have done well to eliminate a lot of the weekday eating out expenses from our budget by making a conscious effort to eat at home but all bets are off on the weekends. We live in a boring small town and going out to eat is (seriously) one of the only things to do around here in the freezing weather. I guess it's an expense both of us are happy enough to live with.
Movies
When DH and I want to see a movie at the theater we don't hesitate to spend money on it and yet if we had kids we would have to be so much more conscious about spending money on something so frivolous.
Entertainment
DH loves video games. I love books. We both love music. We are trying to curb spending in these areas by using the library and buying only one or two of these things a month but sometimes we both fall off the bandwagon.
Vacation
Our vacation is coming up and even though we're going to see family we always blow way too much money when we do. It's a tropical spot and I am nervous that we will go overboard this year in our attempt to be happy around family with a new baby. This is one DH and I will have to discuss beforehand.
I guess I regret some of the things we've spent money on this year and other things not at all. I don't want to look back on my life and say, "Man, wish I would have lived a little instead of worrying about money." On the other hand, I'd prefer not to be a pauper. I suppose there's a balance element to all of this. I heard someone say once that you can have just about anything you want but not everything. For the most part I tend to agree.
No comments:
Post a Comment