6:20 AM, Christmas Morning
Yesterday, I went shopping. Yikes. What was I thinking? I got off work at 12:30 and sprinted to the bank, paycheck in hand. I had not bought my son the first thing yet, and still needed another present for my Mother-in-law. Does it seem like I put things off till the last minute? Maybe I did. But I just didn't have the money before....I spent what I had as I got it. Living paycheck to paycheck is an ugly thing, sports fans.
The good news: I got to the bike shop 20 minutes before closing time and found a $300 bike on sale for $210. *sigh of relief* With that out of the way, I really only had to pick up a few stocking stuffers and a second present for Mom. Marissa wanted to go to the mall. She had promised a present to a friend of hers. So off we went, and it wasn't nearly as crowded as I expected. It was almost like a normal saturday....maybe a little more. Mom had seen a bathing suit she liked in Sears. She REALLY liked it; kept touching it...but didn't want to spend money on herself before christmas. They might go on sale after, and it's sears, she can get that back home....It's my philosophy that if you see something you REALLY want, you better buy it. Of course, I'm not very materialistic, so my "REALLY wants" are few & far between.
Naturally, I went back to get the swim suit. It may seem like an odd christmas present, but it's 70 and sunny here and 30 in Ohio where she's from...she's been laying out by the pool all week. I've broken out the heavy sweaters and the fuzzy slippers. I feel like such a wimp.
They sold the suit. They only had one in her size the day before, and it was gone. What are the odds? I mean, they had TONS of suits and it's chilly out!
Choice number 2 was easy. We had talked about cell phones for the kids, and I was on the fence. I did not want a monthly bill because of 2 bad experiences with poor service/dropped calls/roaming charges in my home area (that was sprint - can you hear me now?) and with HUGE hidden charges on an ATT phone. Mom mentioned that she had been considering a cell phone for emergencies but didn't really want the bill either. I looked into it and found a pretty good deal on Virgin prepaids....25 cents a min for the first 10 mins a day; 10 cents a min after that. Compared to a plan, it's ridiculous, but the beauty is, when you run out of minutes, the phone won't work. Cell phone, $59.00. minutes, 25 cents. Value of a dollar lessons...priceless. My kids will run out of minutes in 2 days, and they will have to earn the money for airtime after that *pictures coming home to clean house*
Oh, did I mention I bought one for both kids and mom? Yep. They'll be thrilled. Well, maybe not mom. She'll be cautiously pleased, but at least this is a no-commitment way to try a phone. If she needs it, she has it. If she uses it ALL the time, she can get a more practical one with a plan. If she never uses it, she just has to buy $20 minutes every 3 months to keep it active - and she can make long distance calls just before the minutes expire or something. At least she'll have it for emergencies. She can even give it away if she hates it. No contract, no obligation.
I think it's going to be a very good christmas.
Next year will be even better. Things have been looking up since I started my new job a few months ago. By this time next year, I think money issues will be non-existent. It's my goal for the year, to have money in the bank...even after christmas. It's not my resolution; nobody keeps those. It's more like my personal goal. We are not poor by any means, but we are barely comfortable. Next year I hope to be nicely padded.
The good news: I got to the bike shop 20 minutes before closing time and found a $300 bike on sale for $210. *sigh of relief* With that out of the way, I really only had to pick up a few stocking stuffers and a second present for Mom. Marissa wanted to go to the mall. She had promised a present to a friend of hers. So off we went, and it wasn't nearly as crowded as I expected. It was almost like a normal saturday....maybe a little more. Mom had seen a bathing suit she liked in Sears. She REALLY liked it; kept touching it...but didn't want to spend money on herself before christmas. They might go on sale after, and it's sears, she can get that back home....It's my philosophy that if you see something you REALLY want, you better buy it. Of course, I'm not very materialistic, so my "REALLY wants" are few & far between.
Naturally, I went back to get the swim suit. It may seem like an odd christmas present, but it's 70 and sunny here and 30 in Ohio where she's from...she's been laying out by the pool all week. I've broken out the heavy sweaters and the fuzzy slippers. I feel like such a wimp.
They sold the suit. They only had one in her size the day before, and it was gone. What are the odds? I mean, they had TONS of suits and it's chilly out!
Choice number 2 was easy. We had talked about cell phones for the kids, and I was on the fence. I did not want a monthly bill because of 2 bad experiences with poor service/dropped calls/roaming charges in my home area (that was sprint - can you hear me now?) and with HUGE hidden charges on an ATT phone. Mom mentioned that she had been considering a cell phone for emergencies but didn't really want the bill either. I looked into it and found a pretty good deal on Virgin prepaids....25 cents a min for the first 10 mins a day; 10 cents a min after that. Compared to a plan, it's ridiculous, but the beauty is, when you run out of minutes, the phone won't work. Cell phone, $59.00. minutes, 25 cents. Value of a dollar lessons...priceless. My kids will run out of minutes in 2 days, and they will have to earn the money for airtime after that *pictures coming home to clean house*
Oh, did I mention I bought one for both kids and mom? Yep. They'll be thrilled. Well, maybe not mom. She'll be cautiously pleased, but at least this is a no-commitment way to try a phone. If she needs it, she has it. If she uses it ALL the time, she can get a more practical one with a plan. If she never uses it, she just has to buy $20 minutes every 3 months to keep it active - and she can make long distance calls just before the minutes expire or something. At least she'll have it for emergencies. She can even give it away if she hates it. No contract, no obligation.
I think it's going to be a very good christmas.
Next year will be even better. Things have been looking up since I started my new job a few months ago. By this time next year, I think money issues will be non-existent. It's my goal for the year, to have money in the bank...even after christmas. It's not my resolution; nobody keeps those. It's more like my personal goal. We are not poor by any means, but we are barely comfortable. Next year I hope to be nicely padded.