This week's question:
What frivolous things do you spend money on? Do you ever get buyer's remorse?
I think that what we spend our hard-earned money on says a lot about who we are. Think about that one for a minute.
I am a Snickers shake from Arctic Circle.
All of us have different budgets and different spending habits. We are accustomed to different lifestyles. But we all have an extra few dollars now and again, and I got to thinking about how we use them.
I tend to spend lonely, purposeless dollars on junk food and organizational supplies. For example, laundry baskets because "this new system is going to make everything so much easier", spiral notebooks because I am always jotting down notes and lists and scribbling out budgets and trying to figure out how on earth I made it work last month. And when I can't stand to add and subtract anymore I go to the cupboard and raid the stash of chocolate that I hid from the rest of the family.
All of those extra organizational expenditures are getting me nowhere because right at this very moment my desk looks like this:
One end of my kitchen counter looks like this:
And I have a box of miscellaneous paper junk that's been occupying a corner of my bedroom for, oh, a year or so.
Is it possible that my compulsive purchasing of organizational supplies is telling of one of my weaknesses?
As for the junk food, I am an emotional eater. Oddly, I don't eat when I'm upset or stressed out, I eat when I'm bored or when I need to relax. Like as soon as all the kids are in bed. I stuff my face full of ice cream and candy and chips so that the calories can spend my sleeping hours attempting to fill in the dimples in my thighs.
I can live with that. A bag of chips here and a gallon of MnM's there won't kill a person, (unless you ate it all at once), but it's the eating out that gets to me.
Every time we go to a restaurant I get buyers remorse. So expensive! Yesterday our family stopped at Carl's Jr. for a quick pre-grocery shopping meal and dropped thirty dollars on some chicken strips and a guacamole burger. I have nothing to show for it now except a zit on my chin.
So I think I'll try to save some money and improve myself at the same time by skipping the restaurant outings more often and finally sorting out those piles of random paperwork that are taking over my house.
So how about you? What do you think your frivolous purchases say about you?
I compulsively buy books and pixie stix. So obviously I have a fear of the truth coming out, that I am an uneducated fool, and try to drown that pain with stacks of awkwardly smart sounding books and also an addiction to pixie stix or kitty cocaine as I like to call it.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of pixie stix, I saw Alice and Wonderland,(the connecting I'm making here is Johnny Depp, who also played Willie Wonka, who invented pixie stix)on 3D Imax. And it was awkward and left us unsatisfied, but the Mad Hatter was worth it, imo. So you get a movie review too.
Goodnight, and good luck!
Hmmm.... that's a tough one. I don't usually get buyers remorse that often because I compulsively plan even somewhat large purchases like clothing or books (yes, I consider those somewhat large purchases right now!). I probably plan them to a fault - looking for coupons, waiting for sales, scouring the internet for the best deal. If I got paid to do all this research, it would be one thing....
ReplyDeleteSo, I guess the only thing I could say I really regret on a regular basis is the fast food purchases. My family usually eats fast food once a week, sometimes twice. Usually we stop for lunch after our weekly errand runnings on Saturday mornings because at that point, I'm too exhausted to think about making lunch.
Recently, we started making a rule that you could only order off the dollar menu and it has cut our spendings in half. I was amazed at how much they charge for a kids meal when I realized that all you are really paying for is the crappy toy and the brightly colored bag. It's insane! So, we are now a dollar menu family and we may not get the fancy burgers or sandwiches any more, but I don't feel guilt afterwards either. :)
Well, you know you can get books for one cent on Amazon.com, and 50 cents at library discards, I hope. Of course Amazon will charge you up to 4 dollars shipping.
ReplyDeleteYou know you can get free books at the library right?? Who pays for books??
ReplyDeleteI'm a junk food buyer. :) That's where my spare money goes.
You know you can get free books at the library right?? Who pays for books??
ReplyDeleteI'm a junk food buyer. :) That's where my spare money goes.
Yes, I'm a big fan of the library too, but there are some books that I like to purchase (hardback copies) and those tend to get really spendy! Amazon is one of my favorite sites!
ReplyDelete(And I also get really tired of being hold #126 of 187 at the library.... sigh....)
Now I see why I never got a copy of Camerons baptism program!
ReplyDeleteI but stamps and cards.....and stationary. So I can totally understand your organization thing.
Wait till you see my nightmare of an office.
I think that my frivalous thing I buy is eiher:
ReplyDelete1. A new shirt. I enjoy going to Ross Dress for Less and finding a new shirt to wear. It usually costs me less then $10. I feel it is important to be fashionable and not look to out of date. I try to find something that will look good with either a pair of jeans or dress pants. so there.
2. Dinner out with my hubby. If I don't have to cook it then all is well. I enjoy the adult conversation and being waited on. Who doesn't right? However, we always try to find a place where we can use a restaurant coupon or punch.