I used to treat my credit cards like an endless supply of free money. I would shop like it was a sport. At bars and restaurants, I never looked at the bill, I just tossed the card on the table. It led to a pretty nice life in my twenties, but then repairing the damage took twice as long as creating the debt. My husband put his foot down and got me straight. Today we are a one income family and I am the CFO (Chief Financial Officer). I comb through our expenses and bills carefully every week/month/year. Yes, it deprives me of some things like getting my hair done at a salon, spurge purchasing, and going into frivolous stores where I don’t need anything.
We keep a white board on our fridge and track our weekly spending. We cap our spending at a certain amount and track everything from groceries, to new shoes for the kids, baseball camp, dog food, a glass of wine with a friend, a new book (if I can’t get it at the library) and even gas. We have done this for a year now and it gets old and annoying. I told my husband I thought maybe we could graduate and stop tracking spending this closely. He agreed, and then that week we both overspent on stupid things. Doh! We shrugged our shoulders and started to record things again the very next week.
Every once in a while though you have to buy something outside the budget. Something that makes you smile and churns your mundane day into something brighter. So, today I bought some plants. I could argue that we need plants, which isn’t stretching the truth too much.
Just look at this lush and green welcoming sight! How could you not buy a plant? The nursery had several greenhouses all showing an equally awesome portrait of life. I wanted just a pinch of it. Just a tiny little pinch to bring home and observe in contrast to the wet, cold, windy day that we currently have. It’s working, I feel smiley.
Melisa Peterson Lewis 
I love seeing plantlets at this stage of their life. They are little miracles.
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If it weren’t so cold outside I would have bought more. I know taking them out of the greenhouse and into the ground may not be the best idea for a few more weeks. But when the weather turns, I’ll be back!
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Getting the book I want at the library – wow I honestly never even thought of that. What a great idea to save money! And the whiteboard we should try that. Target is the enemy! Lol
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Target is evil, and delicious. The nice thing about the library is some do electronic book lends now too.
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You are right. Credit cards make you numb to the pinch of expenses.😊 Wow! Those plants are beautiful! We are holding off on getting flowers because it’s 25°F in Chicago, and who knows it might snow ❄️ anytime.
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It’s nice to spend freely and hard to save. The hard thing is surely the better option.
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Isn’t it almost always that way 🤔
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It is in deed.
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There’s nothing like a little greenery to get you smiley … and smiley is soooo good! 🙂
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Plants contribute to happiness 🙂 Gardening things is a part of my weekly/monthly budget. I grow a lot of the vegetables we eat, it’s an essential part of our diet. Sometimes the budget has to go to seeds/tools/fencing etc, but sometimes, sometimes…it goes towards a new fruit tree, or a plant I really want. I feel just like you, walking into a beautiful nursery. Growing up my mom would sometimes take me and my little sister on the bus to the next big city, to explore inside the biggest nursery. She sometimes bought a plant, but mostly we just looked. That was a big adventure! I remember sitting on needles on the bus on the way there. Enjoy this season 🙂
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It’s so rainy right now I have so much that needs to go in the ground, plus as you said, tools, mulch, straw, it’s an endless shelling out of funds, but the rewards are worth it
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