Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Don't need it don't want it don't gotta have it

I had a mini revelation of sorts tonight. It was awesome. What's that? You want me to share it with you? Oh...sure!

(For the record, I really do know that I'm a geek. I like it that way. The End.)

Tonight was my Target night. I try to do that about once every 2 weeks...get out of the house for the purpose of being non-mommy, non-wife, non-employee and just be good ole me. Usually this results in exciting purchases like toilet paper, toothpicks, or greeting cards. But tonight--tonight was a good Target night. I found some cute pants & an adorable top for work. And these really amazing earrings that go with like a hundred shirts I have (did I mention they were amazing?).

Of course, there were a few things I actually had on my list, like a replacement tv stand so that my children don't injure themselves when the old tv stand from 11 years ago finally stops wobbling back and forth & lands on top of them. I love to browse at Target...who doesn't? I walked around the whole store, picking up this shirt, those pants, that cute pair of earrings. Since I work full time, I can justify those purchases. And they were on clearance--a very important fact!

But you know what, about the time that I was heading to the checkout counter, it hit me: I don't need that adorable shirt, those cute pants, or those amazing earrings. I just don't need them. Yes, I can justify it. Yes, it was on sale. Yes, the money was in the budget for them. Yes, I wanted them. I really didn't need it...and for the first time ever, I realized that I really didn't want it either. Crazy talk, I know.

I'm not entirely sure I can put my finger on what happened tonight. After all, I am one of the world's cheapest individuals. I've weighed my want for an item against the price and put lots of stuff back, knowing I could get a better deal a few months down the road. I can deny myself things. But today, it was just different. I actually wanted to make a better choice with my money, more than I wanted to buy the stuff.

All this Dave Ramsey stuff is wearing off on me. "Debt is normal. Be weird." It's my new motto.

1 comment:

Jennyfair said...

I like that! "Debt is normal. Be Weird." It's actually possible when you learn how to shut yourself up. Workin' on that! In the commune you can borrow my pants and my earrings :)