I have an extremely responsible side. Perhaps responsible to the point of miserliness. Sometimes this can be referred to as penny-wise and pound foolish. For example, I will do things such as not have enough clothing or not take care of something that really needs to be tended to for fear of spending money.
The other side of this is the little things spendaholic. I don't go on extravagant sprees for high-end items. I agonize for a long time before purchasing expensive things. Nope, this is more of the I'm in Target and I need 3 items mentality. But while I'm here browsing, man, this would be awesome in my therapy room, and I'd really like a new lipstick, and oh boy, those boots are HOT! And before you know it, I've spent $100 without even realizing it.
And I'm great at rationalizing it. 'Cause I've got a new therapy office that rocks and I need some things; and lipstick is about my only makeup I can wear much of; and well, I'd been looking for some brown boots that fit for a LOOOONG time and these were so comfy and fashionable (they really were!).
Having Target a block from my office is such a BAD thing!
A few sprees like that, and I'm not broke, but I'm taking money away from paying down debt quicker...or making improvements on my home that last a heckuva lot longer than that lipstick.
I need to strike a balance between deprivation and discipline.
We did Target today. *sigh* Went in for cheap socks (the Hanes in the crappy plastic hangbag) and a towel (the nice kind, but it's a good kind of indulgence.)
ReplyDeleteCame out with $150 worth of stuff. SIGH. It was stuff we needed, but nout enough to stop what we were doing in day-to-day life and go seek it out. A new dustpan for the potting area, vitamins, new kind of shampoo (Pantene), new laundry basket (mine is held together by bungee cords), some skittles for Gracie, iced tea that was cheaper than we pay at the grocery store, some lightbulbs and Command Adhesive strips. You get the idea. Nothing fun and "wow, what a shopping spree" but enough to fill a cart and tip it all well over $150. Oh well, its' all stuff we would have gotten eventually, anyway, it's just hard to see it all stuck together on one receipt!