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Money Mamas: Update for the past two weeks.Submitted by peculiar old bird on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 4:49pm.
I have purposely avoided this blog because I have spent thousands of dollars in the past two weeks on big ticket items. Mini van, 40” flat screen TV, Blu-ray DVD player, Tempurpedic bed… that’s a shit load of money in a very short period of time. Hey, when it rains it pours. I happen to love the rain. For the need to write this entry, I have to view my bank account for the first time in over two weeks. I feel anxiety as I type this, because as I type this, I haven’t actually looked at the account yet. I’m saving that step for last. I don’t regret, per say, spending this money. However, it feels strange and naughty to do so. Like, I should be saving for the next disastrous event in my life that is bound to happen and cost the exact same amount of money. And I can’t even go to the space of questioning, “And why do I want these goods???” I certainly can acknowledge not needing them… there is always a way to get by “without.” And really, I don’t see these items not being in my life as going without. I just realized that I have another reason for keeping this blog. 1.) is to keep track of what I spend. 2.) is to work on spending less/smarter. And the newly discovered reason, #3.) so I can learn to feel better about the money I do spend - to stop feeling guilty. In the grand scheme of this spending life, my dollar amount falls pretty low. However, I could definitely spend wiser in some areas. In this regards, I can not wait until thrifting becomes easier to do (two kids under the age of three in tow at garage sales and thrift stores? Not my idea of worth it). It just so happens that we recently received large chunks of change. My husband and I have the mentality that we should update our goods while we have the chance because next year the surplus of cash may not be there. Not sure if this is the right way to look at it, but it is how we look at it. It will probably be another 6-8 years before we spend this kind of money again - as this has been the amount of time since our last series of large purchases for the same items. Of-course, we also are making sure we have a huge chunk of change left in our savings account. It's important to have a strong safety net. Monday, June 23rd: Wednesday, June 25th: Thursday, June 26th: Friday, June 27th: Monday, June 30th: Wednesday, July 2nd: Thursday, July 3rd: Friday, July 4th: peculiar old bird's blog | login or register to post comments | email this page | printer friendly version
the van's a big deal, and I'll bet you're loving your new mattress. We've been 'good' in general, still eating out too much, so being cognizent of that tendency I'm trying to pay more attention to restaurant specials/happy hours/coupons, etc. We probably have extra money coming in this month, which I will apply to credit cards that we used somehow the last couple months. Also we're going out east this summer, means time off work plus expenses so I'm trying to squirrel away for that. Oh, and 3 of our kids birthdays. I did open up savings accounts for all of us with 7.5 % interest, so feel good about that. I'm always interested to hear how different couples manage money. Ryan and I are similar spenders, and so, since we got married, have had only joint accounts. I have plenty of friends who have separate accounts for very good reasons, but I can't fathom how it would work for us. We'll see if it still feels right when he's a stay at home dad in a few years. We've fallen back into bad eating out habits and then end up 1. spending too much money on food and 2. wasting the nice organic food we bought at the store. I'm really having trouble keeping track and then end up having a heart attack when I look at my account and realize I have, like $324 to get through the month (eeeek! actually, it's not that bad because dh gets paid in cash whenever he works...) Part of this is due to the actual rent we are paying, which is a LOT. We knew it would hurt when we moved here, but we are soo much happier here (space, quiet, etc and still close to my work, etc) that the extra (ouch) $400 a month isn't too bad (or something). Also realized that we might have double, if not triple-paid the phone bill (that would be like a grand in phone bills...geez) so I need to check on that. I'm thinking of taking over on being the money person in our family. I had delegated the duty to dh because dealing with money just straight up stresses me out (I think I elaborated on the whys and wherefores of this on a previous money mamas blog) but I am honestly the better "money thinker" and am the more frugal one of us...this is important for us now! thanx for responding c, i sometimes get scared to post here because i don't want anyone to resent me for having this money to spend, or to feel worse about their own situation. money talk can bring up a lot of emotions in a person - which is why it is often the #1 topic to argue about in relationships. i am very aware of how privileged we are right now and i'm also highly aware of how possible it is that this time next year we may not be living as comfortably. eating out has always been hal and my thing to do. that and movies. since my diet has been restricted (and even before because we were living on one paycheck for three years) we don't have a lot of options. now-a-days, chipotles(sp?) is where we always go. bella can eat a big bowl of black beans and rice! we do this maybe once a week. we have also gotten back into seeing movies since bella is old enough to leave with my MIL. i definitely like managing all the money and do it with a sense of adventure and fun with a little anxiety mixed in there. hal gets way too stressed out about it if he does it. i actually enjoy it. even when we were on a tight budget. i never thought i could do it because i had no control over my spending for a while and would bounce checks left and right... mostly on stupid stuff. i was also scared to share an account with hal for this reason, i could live with fucking up my own account but didn't want to do the same to him. in the past three years i've been managing "our" money and am getting better and better at it every year. All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860) i sometimes get scared to post here because i don't want anyone to resent me for having this money to spend, or to feel worse about their own situation. I feel the same way. I grew up dirt poor, in fact I was dirt poor until i was in my 20's then I was student loan poor (which isn't a whole lot better but does afford one certain luxuries that dirt can't buy). Now that I'm married and have a real income I always feel bad about saying anything about it.
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is all the big bucks stuff you got is stuff Dh and I are saving up for or bought when we got a windfall last year. *grin*
I love this thread btw. Sorry I don't reply more.